The Venice Film Festival: Competition Becomes Serious

This years Venice Film Festival has become serious with competition films about the Iraq war and the impact it has on U.S society, police brutality in Egypt, big corporation corruption and the mafia in Italy. It’s good to see some films that actually have a little bit of depth to them.

In total, there are 22 movies vying for the Golden Lion award at the end of the 11-day long celebration of all things cinema. The Venice Film Festival is known for it’s red carpet glamour, late night parties and critical kudos of being part of the world’s oldest film contest.

The Hollywood-heavy line up for the festival was assembled by director Marco Mueller and opens on Wednesday with the big screen adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement, starring Keira Knightley.

“For me cinema is now the best answer to war,” said Marco in a recent interview.

The two competition films based on the war in Iraq are Paul Haggis’ In The Valley of Elah, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, which is based on the real-life murder of a young soldier who returns to the United States from Iraq.
The second is Brian De Palma’s Redacted, which follows the story of a U.S army unit that persecutes an Iraqi family and also examines the way media cover the conflict.

It won’t be all serious though, with comic relief being provided by Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited, which stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Bill Murray.

Other movies tackling topical issues are Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney as a ‘fixer’ who does a major corporation’s dirt work, Italy’s Il Dolce e L’Amaro about the mafia, and Egypt’s Heya Fawda investigating police brutality.

The annual festival will end on September 8 is a key showcase of art house cinema and an early marker ahead of the Oscars in February. The long list of Hollywood stars are expected to generate a huge buzz before the main event.

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