ITALY: As the Venice Film Festival draws to a close, the buzz ahead of the Golden Lion prize ceremony is building

This year's festival has no clear favourites as the Venice Film Festival draws to an end, people are beginning to ask themselves who will take home a Golden Lion. As the world's oldest film festival draws to a close, the question as to who will take home a Golden Lion is on everybody's lips. There has been a steady flow of stars on the red carpet this year in Venice including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Woody Allen and Johnny Depp, crucial to the success to any festival. Film critic Jay Weissberg of movie magazine 'Variety' says this year's line-up hasn't lived to up expectations. "On paper, the festival looked really strong. Whether it's fully lived up to that, I don't think it has. I think that there are certain films by some great directors which have been disappointing but there have also been discoveries, interesting themes. No film has really stood out in people's minds or saying 'this is absolutely a winner' but I think in some ways this makes it exciting," he told Reuters in Venice. Hollywood has turned serious with one eye on the Oscars in February, but it is elsewhere the jury may look when choosing which of 23 competition entries at the Venice film festival wins the Golden Lion on Saturday (September 9). "The film that everybody is talking about as a possible winner is the Kechiche "The Secret of the Grain" and I like the film very much. Is it too long? Yes, everybody admits that it's too long. It beautifully captures a family, it captures a milieu and you really feel you know these people. Obviously you're spending more than two and half hours with them so some people find that a problem but I like the film very much. The other films I like very much are the 'Assassination of Jesse James', again which has divided the critics and some people find it impossibly dull, they think it's much too long," said Weissberg. If the jury decides to reward pure film making ahead of political cinema, then the pre-award favourite is "The Secret of the Grain" ("La Graine et le Mulet"), directed by Tunisian-born Abdellatif Kechiche. The movie tells the story of an Arab family in the south of France drawn together by the old father's dream of owning his own restaurant, and is an examination of what the director calls the immigrants' "right to be different". Highly rated by critics, though unlikely to be seen in many cinemas, are arthouse entries "Les Amours d'Astree et Celadon", portraying nymphs and shepherdesses in a rural idyll, and "En la Ciudad de Sylvia" by Spanish director Jose Luis Guerin. Should the jury decide to make a political point, Brian De Palma's shocking "Redacted", which reconstructs the real-life rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her murder by U.S. forces, could be in the running, critics said. Weissberg said Cate Blanchett's performance as Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' off-the-wall "I'm Not There" was a strong contender in the female category. "It's funny about the Blanchett character because you barely think of it as a female performance. She's so extraordinary, she's completely believeable, she's the only in the film that you look at and you think 'oh my god, that's Bob Dylan'. The way she sounds, the way she looks. It transcends any kind of gender role in a way and that is absolutely going to be a major contender in everybody's minds. But, again, it's something that you're not thinking about 'oh gosh, that's a woman playing Dylan', it's Dylan. So, I think that's very strong. Also Tommy Lee Jones in The valley of Elah and Casey Affleck are the two front-runners for me in terms of best performances," said Weissberg. Aside from Blanchett's performance, another favourite is British actress Kierston Wareing in Ken Loach's "It's a Free World". Male leads generally outshone the females, with Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" impressing many as a creepy social misfit. Venice favourite Clooney, who has a home in Italy, was praised for his portrayal of the corporate "fixer" in "Michael Clayton", as was Tony Leung in Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" and Jones in "In the Valley of Elah." Tommy Lee Jones' lead performance in Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah" - about a soldier murdered after returning from Iraq - has been praised but the film has sharply divided critics.

ITN Source | September 12, 2007

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