Considered as one of the biggest Film festivals across the globe, the 64th Venice Film Festival provides a definite platform for well known directors to showcase their work within the glamorous backdrop of Venice Lido. The Venice Film Festival came to a grand end on 8th September, 2007 after a week of cinematic bliss.
The festival had a starry contingent inclusive of top notch Hollywood celebrities. The last day of the festival saw the awards night with some deserving winners bagging few of the most prestigious awards. This year’s festival was considered as the best in decades with more excitement than ever before remarked Telegraph’s Film Critic David Gritten.
‘I’m not there’, a star studded film capturing the journey and life of legendary singer Bob Dylan bestowed Cate Blanchett with Best Actress Award for her impersonation of the singing sensation. Hollywood’s very own numero uno actor Brad Pitt was rewarded the Best Actor award for his exceptional work in Robert Ford’s, ‘Assassination of Jesse James’.
The Film festival encountered a probable controversial film as well. Brian De Palma bagged the Silver Lion awards for the Best Director for his film Redacted based on a fictitious story of a group of US soldiers who victimiz an Iraqi girl, rape her and eventually see the end of her. Ang Lee’s, ‘Lust, Caution’ a love story based in Japanese occupied Shanghai in 1940’s, got the master craftsman the Golden Lion award for Best Film at the Film festival.
British’s run in the festival was a disappointing one considering there were record 4 films lined up for Golden Lion. Despite opening with great enthusiastic reviews, British movie Atonement, the big screen adaptation of Ian McEwan novel, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy failed to make a mark in the awards ceremony. But there wasn’t a complete let down though with Paul Laverty winning the Best Screenplay for the Ken Loach film It’s a Free World and ‘Dog Altogether’ being awarded with the Best Short Film award made by Paddy Considine.
The real winner though in true terms was the festival in itself. The presence of some superstars like, Brad Pitt, Sir Ridley Scott, Woody Allen, Richard Gere, Sir Michael Caine, Charlize Theron, Ewan McGregor, Jude Law and Keira Knightly brought more credit and glamour to the 64th Venice Film Festival. With a glitzy award night felicitating the best in the Cinema circuit today just kick started the award winning movies run to upcoming awards. The night closed a weeks experience with grandeur and class making the Venice Film Festival as one of the most successful and critically acclaimed film festival
