Tarantino ready to work as oldest festival opens
Source: Agencies |
September 2, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Venice film festival opened yesterday with jury president Quentin Tarantino, who must ultimately decide who walks away with the coveted Golden Lion award at the closing ceremony on September 11, saying his time on the island would be more work than play.
"There's a lot of really exciting movies, exciting directors. It's a fantastic line-up," he said. "I'm keen with anticipation. I've been on a few juries and I love it. It's a joy to me. But it's work. We're not here for vacation."
The opening movie was "Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer in New York whose position is threatened when a beautiful newcomer arrives.
The thriller, directed by Darren Aronofsky, officially kicked off the annual celebration of cinema on the Lido waterfront where stars, fans and reporters rub shoulders for 11 days.
Festival director Marco Mueller has opted for youth in his choice of directors of the 23 competition films, and he will also hope the presence of Hollywood mavericks can make up for the expected shortage of A-list celebrities this year.
Venice, the world's oldest film festival and one of its most prestigious, sees the premiere of "Essential Killing," in which actor and painter Vincent Gallo stars as an Afghan Taliban fighter who is captured but escapes on his way to a secret detention centre in Europe.
The subject matter, and Gallo's reputation as an uncompromising, eccentric artist, make it one of the more eagerly anticipated movies in competition.
Actor and director Casey Affleck presents documentary "I'm Still Here", about his brother-in-law actor Joaquin Phoenix's decision to retire in 2008 and reinvent himself as a hip-hop musician.
A TV chat show appearance last year as a mumbling, shaggy-haired guest had industry watchers wondering if Phoenix's new act was a hoax, and already critics are debating whether "I'm Still Here" is more "mockumentary" than documentary.
And Julian Schnabel directs "Slumdog Millionaire" star Freida Pinto in "Miral," about an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war.
"There's a lot of really exciting movies, exciting directors. It's a fantastic line-up," he said. "I'm keen with anticipation. I've been on a few juries and I love it. It's a joy to me. But it's work. We're not here for vacation."
The opening movie was "Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer in New York whose position is threatened when a beautiful newcomer arrives.
The thriller, directed by Darren Aronofsky, officially kicked off the annual celebration of cinema on the Lido waterfront where stars, fans and reporters rub shoulders for 11 days.
Festival director Marco Mueller has opted for youth in his choice of directors of the 23 competition films, and he will also hope the presence of Hollywood mavericks can make up for the expected shortage of A-list celebrities this year.
Venice, the world's oldest film festival and one of its most prestigious, sees the premiere of "Essential Killing," in which actor and painter Vincent Gallo stars as an Afghan Taliban fighter who is captured but escapes on his way to a secret detention centre in Europe.
The subject matter, and Gallo's reputation as an uncompromising, eccentric artist, make it one of the more eagerly anticipated movies in competition.
Actor and director Casey Affleck presents documentary "I'm Still Here", about his brother-in-law actor Joaquin Phoenix's decision to retire in 2008 and reinvent himself as a hip-hop musician.
A TV chat show appearance last year as a mumbling, shaggy-haired guest had industry watchers wondering if Phoenix's new act was a hoax, and already critics are debating whether "I'm Still Here" is more "mockumentary" than documentary.
And Julian Schnabel directs "Slumdog Millionaire" star Freida Pinto in "Miral," about an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war.
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