The competition for this year’s Venice International Film Festival is stacked, to say the least. While there’s plenty to talk about regarding gender disparity, combined with the addition of Roman Polanski, just on paper, it would appear that Venice 2019 is going to have one of the most interesting competitions from any film festival this year. And with this morning’s announcement, we have some first look images from some of those films.
READ MORE: ‘Ad Astra,’ ‘Joker,’ ‘Marriage Story,’ ‘The King’ Bowing At 2019 Venice Film Festival
Perhaps the most high-profile, and frankly, odd, competition selection is Todd Phillips’ “Joker.” Though the cast in the film is likely the envy of many other competition films, led by Joaquin Phoenix and co-starring Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Brian Tyree Henry, it’s interesting to see such a big comic book film featured at one of the biggest film festival stages in the world. Can Warner Bros. land an unheard of victory for comic book films in Venice? We’ll see.
Another all-star cast can be found in Olivier Assayas new film, “Wasp Network.” Featuring Penelope Cruz, alongside Ana de Armas, Edgar Ramírez, Wagner Moura, Gael García Bernal, and Leonardo Sbaraglia, “Wasp Network” is based on the true story of five Cuban political prisoners, who were imprisoned for espionage charges since the 1990s.
In addition to “The King,” acclaimed actor Robert Pattinson has a second film playing at this year’s Venice with Ciro Guerra’s “Waiting for the Barbarians.” Pattinson is joined by Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Gana Bayarsaikhan, and Greta Scacchi in the cast. The film tells the story of a military troop waiting for an impending war with barbarians, but things change with someone comes to the camp and notices the cruel and unjust treatment of prisoners of war.
And there really isn’t much to say about Hirokazu Kore-eda’s upcoming film “The Truth.” The cast is amazing, with Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke, Clementine Grenier, and Ludivine Sagnier. And it’s the follow-up from the director who won the Palme d’Or in 2018 with “Shoplifters.” It’s a must-see, obviously.
Yes, as mentioned above, Venice made waves (though it was expected) by selecting the latest Roman Polanski film, “J’accuse” for the official competition. The film stars Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Grégory Gadbois. In light of his recent expulsion from the Academy and his “blacklisted” status in the US, it’ll be interesting to see how he is received in Venice.
Shannon Murphy has the distinction of being one of two female directors that were selected as part of the official Venice competition. And her film, “Babyteeth,” seems to have the type of cast that warrants “must-see” status. Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Essie Davis, and Ben Mendelsohn all star in the drama.
