U.S. fare plentiful at Venice fest
Allen, Figgis, Ivory, Ferrara in lineup
World premieres of new films from Woody Allen, Bryan Singer, Mike Figgis, John Dahl, Larry Clark, Abel Ferrara and James Ivory, plus European bows of pics by Steven Spielberg, Warren Beatty, Peter Weir and Steven Soderbergh, are among the highlights of the lineup, which was unveiled Wednesday at a press conference in Rome.
Opening film will be the Euro premiere, out of competition, of Spielberg's war drama, "Saving Private Ryan," with the director and star Tom Hanks attending to promote the critically acclaimed DreamWorks/Paramount pic.
Rare appearance
In a rare appearance of a studio film in the Venice competition, Fox's political satire, "Bulworth," is in the running for the Golden Lion, with director-star Beatty due in town for the screening. This will mark Beatty's first-ever appearance at a fest with one of his own pictures.
Other U.S. competition entries include Dahl's "Rounders," which toplines Matt Damon as an ace card player. Dahl and Damon will hit town to promote the Miramax film, which also stars Edward Norton, John Turturro, John Malkovich and Martin Landau.
Ferrara returns to Venice with "New Rose Hotel," a bizarre detective romance with Asia Argento, Christopher Walken and Willem Dafoe, all of whom will make the trip. Also competing is Fine Line pickup "Hurlyburly," directed by Tony Drazan from David Rabe's play and starring Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn, both of whom are expected to attend. Kevin Spacey, Meg Ryan and Chazz Palminteri also star.
Sony Classics' Irish feature "Dancing at Lughnasa" has been selected to compete, with director Pat O'Connor and star Meryl Streep due on the Lido; while leads Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths and director Anand Tucker will attend for October Films' "Jackie," about the tormented life of late British cellist Jacqueline Du Pre.
Italian representation
Italy has three titles in competition: Gianni Amelio's 1950s-set drama about two brothers, "The Way They Laughed," the director's first feature since his critical hit "Lamerica" in 1994; Francesca Archibugi's story of family relationships, "The Pear Tree," and Daniele Luchetti's drama about a youth faction of the World War II partisan movement, "Little Teachers."
Among other European entries, France is represented by the concluding chapter in Eric Rohmer's "Four Seasons" quartet, "An Autumn Tale," Yves Angelo's "Voleur de Vie," with Emmanuelle Beart and Sandrine Bonnaire, and Nicole Garcia's "Place Vendome," which stars Catherine Deneuve.
Palme d'Or-winner Emir Kusturica will compete with his latest, "Black Cat White Cat," which flies a Yugoslavian flag, Romanian veteran Lucian Pintilie weighs in with "Terminus Paradis," idiosyncratic Portuguese helmer Joao Botelho brings the comedy, "Traffic," Spain's Julio Medem presents "Lovers of the Arctic Circle" and up-and-coming German director Tom Tykwer features with "Lola Runs."
Title shortage
Selection committee members say the mainly Eurocentric and American slant of the competition was dictated by a shortage of interesting titles this season from East Asia, Africa and Australasia. Sole entries from outside Europe and the U.S. are Argentine director Fernando Solanas' "The Cloud" and Iranian autuer Mohsen Makhmalbaf's "Sokout."
President of the main competition jury is Italo director Ettore Scola, flanked by fellow helmers Hector Babenco (Brazil), Sharunas Bartas (Lithuania), Kathryn Bigelow (U.S.) and Reinhard Hauff (Germany), French critic Daniele Heymann, Indian-born producer-director Ismail Merchant, Chilean author Luis Sepulveda and British thesp Tilda Swinton.
While fest director Felice Laudadio kept the U.S. presence to a minimum in his debut edition last fall and made damning statements about the dearth of creativity in American moviemaking, this year's program shows a change of heart, especially in the "Nights and Stars" midnight section devoted to spectacular entertainment.
"Last year I caused a fuss when I said that American cinema was being killed off by special effects," said Laudadio. "But I'm happy to say that none of the American movies I saw for Venice this year relied on special effects or technology unless they were functional to the story."
Human cinema
"American filmmakers have rediscovered that they must write stories that aren't just technical feats, but stories about the real world that can convey real emotions," he continued. "This is the new tendency -- the return of human cinema."
The U.S.-heavy midnight lineup includes the world preem of Phoenix Pictures' "Apt Pupil," Singer's controversial adaptation of the Stephen King novella about a Nazi war criminal. Stars Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro will attend.
Also bowing is "Kids" director Larry Clark's sophomore feature about a surrogate family of heroin addicts, "Another Day in Paradise," starring James Woods and Melanie Griffith. The section's surprise film is hotly rumored to be the premiere of John Frankenheimer's "Ronin," with Robert De Niro and Jean Reno.
Other midnight slots have been taken by Soderbergh's "Out of Sight," from Universal, for which stars George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez will attend; Bob Rafelson's HBO Raymond Chandler adaptation, "Poodle Springs," with James Caan in tow; Spike Lee's "He Got Game" from Buena Vista, with Denzel Washington and Mila Jovovich due in for the screening; and Warners' "A Perfect Murder" from director Andrew Davis, with Michael Douglas attending.
Non-competition spot
Weir's "The Truman Show," originally was invited into competition, but Paramount reportedly opted for a non-competing spot. Director Weir will be on the Lido with stars Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich and Ed Harris.
Selections from outside the U.S. in "Nights and Stars" include "The Red Violin," Canadian Francois Girard's epic about a magical, cursed violin, with stars Samuel L. Jackson and Greta Scacchi attending; French costumer "Lautrec," about the life of Bohemian artist Toulouse Lautrec, directed by Roger Planchon; and Italian rocker Luciano Ligabue's writer-director debut, "Radio Freccia."
Key out-of-competition titles include Allen's b&w comedy, "Celebrity," with the director's alter ego shoes filled by Kenneth Branagh, who will be in Venice. Judy Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Basinger, Melanie Griffith and Winona Ryder also feature in the star-laden Miramax release.
Also out of competition is Ivory's contemporary drama "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries," with Barbara Hershey and Kris Kristofferson both attending; Claude Lelouch's "Chances or Coincidences"; Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's "You Laugh," adapted from Pirandello; veteran comic Alberto Sordi's "Forbidden Encounters"; actor-director Michele Placido's 1950s-set "Of Lost Love"; and Peter Del Monte's drama, "The Ballad of the Windscreen Washers."
Startup distribution arm
Stars Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush will be in Venice with Shekhar Kapur's period biopic, "Elizabeth," which then goes out in September as the debut release from Polygram's startup Italian distribution arm. Fest closer will be Doris Dorrie's comedy, "Bin Ich Schon?" Laudadio points to the inclusion of two German features in official selections as evidence of the renaissance in quality productions from that country.
The new section being unveiled at this year's fest is "Perspectives," which Laudadio describes as a forum for directors developing new film language and new means of expression and for established filmmakers moving into new areas.
