Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film, The Room Subsequent Door, which tackles the hefty themes of euthanasia and the local weather disaster, received the distinguished Golden Lion award on the Venice movie competition on Saturday.
Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, the movie obtained an 18-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Venice earlier within the week – one of many longest in current reminiscence.
Almodóvar is a darling of the competition circuit and was awarded a lifetime achievement award at Venice in 2019 for his daring, irreverent and infrequently humorous Spanish-language options.
He additionally received an Oscar in the perfect international language class for his 1999 movie All About My Mom.
Now 74, he has determined to strive his hand at film-making in English, telling reporters that it was like science fiction for him.
Talking earlier than the premiere, he mentioned his film highlighted the significance of cherishing life, but additionally made clear that individuals ought to have the ability to die with dignity at a time of their selecting.
“It’s a movie in favour of euthanasia,” he mentioned, criticising international locations such because the US, the place so-called “mercy killing” is prohibited, not like in his native Spain.
Whereas The Room Subsequent Door had been broadly tipped to win, the runner-up Silver Lion award was a shock, going to Italian director Maura Delpero for Vermiglio, her slow-paced drama set within the Italian Alps throughout the second world battle.
Australia’s Nicole Kidman received the perfect actress award for her risque function within the erotic Babygirl, the place she performs a hard-nosed CEO who jeopardises her profession and her household by having a poisonous affair with a younger, manipulative intern.
Kidman was in Venice on Saturday, however didn’t attend the awards ceremony after studying that her mom had died unexpectedly.
France’s Vincent Lindon was named finest actor for The Quiet Son, a topical French-language drama a few household torn aside by extreme-right radicalism.
The very best director award went to the American film-maker Brady Corbet for his three-and-a-half-hour-long film The Brutalist, the epic story of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, performed by Adrien Brody, who seeks to rebuild his life within the US.
The competition marks the beginning of the awards season and frequently throws up massive favourites for the Oscars, with eight of the previous 12 finest director awards on the Oscars going to movies that debuted at Venice.
The prize for finest screenplay went to Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega for I’m Nonetheless Right here, a movie about Brazil’s army dictatorship, whereas the particular jury award went to the abortion drama April, by the Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili.
Among the many motion pictures that left Venice’s Lido island empty-handed had been Todd Phillips’s Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Woman Gaga, the sequel to his unique The Joker, which claimed the highest prize in Venice in 2019.
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Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, with Daniel Craig enjoying a homosexual drug addict, and Pablo Larrain’s Maria Callas biopic Maria, starring Angelina Jolie because the celebrated Greek soprano, additionally received plaudits from the critics however didn’t get any awards.
The Venice jury this yr was headed by the French actor Isabelle Huppert.
Primary award winners
Golden Lion for finest image The Room Subsequent Door
Silver Lion (runner-up prize) Vermiglio
Finest director Brady Corbet for The Brutalist
Finest actressNicole Kidman for Babygirl
Finest actor Vincent Lindon for The Quiet Son
Finest screenplay Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega for I’m Nonetheless Right here
Particular jury award April by Dea Kulumbegashvili
Finest younger actor Paul Kircher for And Their Youngsters After Them
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