Venice Film Festival | Venice 2010 Special

Hello movie lovers, and welcome to IndieMoviesOnline's Venice Film Festival mico-site. The team will be reporting from the Venice Film Festival (1-11 September, 2010), with reviews of the films being screened, plus all the festival's news. Quentin Tarantino is heading up the jury this year, to judge entries from stellar directors including Darren Aronofsky, Sofia Coppola, Takashi Miike and Tom Tykwer.

Day 8: Wednesday, 8th September 2010

Naomi

Venice (International Critics' Week) – An act of madness by a jealous husband threatens to destroy everything he has spent his life working for, as well as his hopes for the future. That is, unless he can cover up his misdeed. Paul Martin tries to find out where the bodies are buried.

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The Town

Venice (Out of Competition) – Ben Affleck's star-studded return trip to Boston sees him not only directing but also starring as the bank-robbing mastermind who wants to leave his criminal past behind. Emma Rowley and Paul Martin take a tour of The Town.

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Surviving Life, directed by Jan Svankmajer, screening as part of the Venice Film Festival 2010.

Švankmajer's Surviving Life showcases stranger side of Venice 2010

As you might expect from a serious film festival, Venice 2010 has been dominated by screen dramas, with eight of the 13 movies I have seen thus far falling into that taxonomic bracket. This though does not indicate an exclusion of more exotic fare from the line-up on the Lido this year, and on Monday I took in just such a feature – Surviving Life, directed by the veteran Czech animator, Jan Švankmajer.

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Day 7: Tuesday, 7th September 2010

Zebraman

Venice (Out of Competition) - Squirrel Girl, look out! Famed for the hyper-violent Ichi the Killer and Audition, this altogether softer offering from director Takashi Miike is granted a Venice showcase, with Paul Martin being on hand to check out the tale of a schoolteacher seeking to earn his stripes and save the world from alien invasion.

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Promises Written In Water

Venice (In Competition) – Vincent Gallo has returned with his first directorial feature since The Brown Bunny earned him boos at Cannes. So, asks Emma Rowley, did Promises Written In Water fare better at the critics' screening in Venice?

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The Passion

Venice (In Competition) – Can a rural production of The Passion help an ennui-afflicted movie director recover his er, passion? Seeking answers, Paul Martin takes a trip to Tuscany.

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Day 6: Monday, 6th September 2010

Essential Killing & Meek's Cutoff

Venice (In Competition) – Two films about a struggle for survival in a harsh environment put their characters to the ultimate test. How much can they endure and what will they sacrifice to survive? Emma Rowley takes a look at Essential Killing and Meek's Cutoff.

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Angele et Tony, screening as part of International Critics' Week at the Venice Film Festival 2010.

Angèle & Tony

Venice (International Critics' Week) – It's love on the rocks of the rugged Normandy coastline in this first feature from writer-director Alix Delaporte. Fishing rod in hand, Paul Martin tries not to carp about this odd couple romance.

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Day 5: Sunday, 5th September 2010

Post Mortem

Venice (In Competition) – Two years ago director Pablo Larraín delivered an attention-grabbing debut in the shape of Tony Manero, a hypnotic blend of political allegory, slasher flick and black comedy. Paul Martin finds out if the Chilean filmmaker can repeat that success with his second feature, Post Mortem.

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Potiche

Venice (In Competition) – François Ozon's campy comedy was received with rapturous applause and much laughter at Venice. It stars two of France's biggest stars – Deneuve and Depardieu – and its high-profile publicity campaign would seem to ensure national success. But, asks Emma Rowley, will Potiche travel?

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Gorbaciof

Venice (Out of Competition) – Italian acting superstar Toni Servillo plays the quirk-laden title character, trying his darnedest to keep from going under in desperate circumstances. Paul Martin takes in a pedestrian tale rescued by a compelling lead performance.

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Menace in Venice

This is Emma, guesting on Paul's blog, (so Paul's mum – you can skip this one). I thought I'd steal a bit of space to deliver some first impressions of Venice as a newbie to the city. It's not all lagoons and gondolas, you know.

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Day 4: Saturday, 4th September 2010

Miral

Venice (In Competition) – Julian Schnabel has gone from directing a tight, claustrophic film about locked-in syndrome (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) to a vast epic that covers 60 years, many lives and two states in conflict. Emma Rowley asks: does he pull it off?

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Lido life

It had all been a huge mistake. Despite the email trail seemingly providing evidence to the contrary, my press accreditation for the 2010 incarnation of the Venice Film Festival had in fact not been approved, meaning I would have no greater right or opportunity to watch any of the myriad films playing over the course of the next 11 days than that bloke who lives in the skip at the end of my street back in London.

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Day 3: Friday, 3rd September 2010

Somewhere

Venice (In Competition) – A jaded film star scratches out an isolated existence in the depersonalised environs of a hotel room, before a young girl breathes fresh hope into his lonely life – does director Sofia Coppola deliver a fresh take on familiar material, or has something been lost in translation? Emma Rowley and Paul Martin check in, in order to check out Somewhere.

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