Venice Film Festival 2014

The 71st Venice Film Festival is over. Of the 28 movies I saw, these are my personal favorites.

Best film: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"

Runner-up: "殯棺 (The Coffin in the Mountain)"

honorable mentions: "闖入者 (Red Amnesia)", "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)",  "Ich seh ich seh (Goodnight Mommy)"

(Retired widow in Beijing feeling demons from the past awakened by a mysterious intruder in "闖入者 (Red Amnesia)" (u.l.); Futility and trancience of life comically dissected in "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)"  (u.r.); Former superhero waging a comeback on Broadway while fighting to stay sane in "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (central); Identity and motherhood questioned with the most brutal consequences in "Ich seh ich seh (Goodnight Mommy)"  (l.l.); Greed, infidelity, guilt leading to the abandoned remains of an unknown person in "殯棺 (The Coffin in the Mountain)" (l.r.))

Best director: Alejandro González Iñárritu ("Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)")

Runner-up: Roy Andersson ("En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)")

honorable mentions: Chaitanya Tamhane ("Court"), Benoît Jacquot ("3 coeurs (Three Hearts)"), Ulrich Seidl ("Im Keller (In the Basement)")

Best lead actor: Elio Germano ("Il giovane favoloso (Leopardi)")

Runner-up: 黃渤 (Huang Bo) ("親愛的 (Dearest)") 

honorable mentions: Michael Keaton ("Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"), Benoît Poelvoorde ("3 coeurs (Three Hearts)"), George MacKay ("Bypass")

(黃渤 (Huang Bo) as the father obssessed with finding his kidnapped son (u.l.); Benoît Poelvoorde as the man caught between two women who happen to be sisters (u.r.); Elio Germano as the gifted, tormented poet/philosopher Giacomo Leopardi (central); George MacKay as a marginalized teenager trying to do good (l.l.); Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor looking for meaning and salvation (l.r.))

Best lead actress: Charlotte Gainsbourg ("3 coeurs (Three Hearts)")

Runner-up: 趙薇 (Zhao Wei) ("親愛的 (Dearest)") 

honorable mention: 呂中 (Lü Zhong) ("闖入者 (Red Amnesia)") 

Best supporting actor: Edward Norton ("Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)")

Runner-up: Michael Shannon ("'99 Homes")

honorable mention: Timur Bondarenko ("Белые ночи почтальона Алексея Тряпицына (The Postman's White Nights)")

Best supporting actress: Clotilde Hesme ("Le dernier coup de marteau (The Last Hammer Blow)")

Runner-up: Chiara Mastroianni ("3 coeurs (Three Hearts)") 

honorable mention: Jennifer Aniston ("She's Funny That Way")

Best screenplay: "殯棺 (The Coffin in the Mountain)"

Runner-up: "闖入者 (Red Amnesia)"

honorable mentions: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)",  "親愛的 (Dearest)", "Il giovane favoloso (Leopardi)"

Best editing: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" 

Runner-up: "殯棺 (The Coffin in the Mountain)"

honorable mentions: "3 coeurs (Three Hearts)", "Bypass", "Im Keller (In the Basement)"

Best cinematography: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" 

Runner-up: 野火 (Fires on the Plain)

honorable mentions: "Bypass", "3 coeurs (Three Hearts)", "Sivas"

Best art direction: "黃金時代 (The Golden Era)"

Runner-up: "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)"

honorable mentions: "Ich seh ich seh (Goodnight Mommy)", "Белые ночи почтальона Алексея Тряпицына (The Postman's White Nights)", "Pasolini"

(Early 20th century China with all its flair and dilapidated glamour recreated in "黃金時代 (The Golden Era)" (u.l); Morbid hilarity Swedish-style realized with cold, taxidermic aesthetics in "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)" (u.r.); Coziness and serenity of country life in Russia expressed through storybook interiors in "Белые ночи почтальона Алексея Тряпицына (The Postman's White Nights)" (l.l); Tension, paranoia, cruelty rendered through stern, oppressive tidiness of an Austrian mansion in "Ich seh ich seh (Goodnight Mommy)" (l.cen.); Opulence and decadence of Italian high society from the 70's revived in "Pasolini" (l.r.))

Best costume design: "Pasolini"

Runner-up: "The Cut"

honorable mentions: "Ich seh ich seh (Goodnight Mommy)", "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)"

Best film music: "The Cut"

Runner-up: 野火 (Fires on the Plain)

honorable mention: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" 

Best sound: 野火 (Fires on the Plain)

Runner-up: "Ich seh ich seh (Goodnight Mommy)"

honorable mention: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"