The gothic, sex-driven comedy “Poor Things,” which was directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, took home the coveted Golden Lion award on Saturday at the Venice Film Festival.
The British-produced movie, which starred Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo, astonished festival attendees with its outrageous tale of a woman who commits suicide and is revived by a crazy doctor who swaps her brain with that of her unborn child.
Bella Baxter, played by Stone, is a little figure with an adult body who becomes more independent and enthusiastic about her sexual explorations as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery through a fantastical interpretation of 19th-century Europe.
The major character, Bella Baxter, is an amazing creature, but she wouldn’t be there without Emma Stone, also an amazing creature, according to director Lanthimos, whose earlier works include “The Favourite” and “The Lobster.”
Eight of the previous 11 Best Director prizes have gone to movies that had their world premieres in Venice, which kicks off the awards season and frequently produces strong contenders for the Oscars.
The top acting honors at the festival were given to two American actors: Cailee Spaeny, who portrayed Elvis Presley’s ex-wife in the biopic “Priscilla,” and Peter Sarsgaard, who starred in the somber family drama “Memory.”
The sole Asian submission among the 23 films vying for the top prize, “Evil Does Not Exist,” an enigmatic rural drama directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi from Japan, won the Silver Lion for second place.
The 11-day film marathon ended on Saturday with a ceremony that attracted a wide range of top films to Venice but significantly fewer celebrities than usual due to a protracted Hollywood actors’ strike that prohibited many A-listers from attending to promote their work.
Actors and writers are calling on streaming services and movie studios to modify their contracts and put restrictions on the usage of AI.
As he accepted his prize, Sarsgaard emphasized the need for AI to be restrained and cautioned that the problem has effects far beyond the entertainment industry.
“The eight billionaires who own the machines will receive this sublime experience of being a human. The first of many industries to collapse, he continued, if we lose that battle in the strike.
Agnieszka Holland of Poland’s “Green Border,” a horrific film about migrants imprisoned on the Polish-Belarus border, received a special Jury’s Award at Venice, among other honors.
The award for best director went to Matteo Garrone of Italy for “Me Captain,” another compelling film on migrants that follows two adolescents from Senegal as they travel across Africa in an effort to reach Europe. Seydou Sarr, the movie’s youthful lead actor, was recognized as the greatest up-and-coming performer.
Guillermo Calderon and Pablo Larrain won the award for best screenplay for their work on “El Conde,” a parody movie about General Augusto Pinochet of Chile.