Giorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things won the Golden Lion in Venice

FEMA’s expectations were fulfilled, with the film “Poor Things” by director Giorgos Lanthimos winning the Golden Lion award at the 80th Venice Film Festival, which concluded on Saturday evening at the Sala Grande hall in the Lido. The Greek director’s film “Poor Things”, starring Emma Stone alongside Mark Ruffalo, received the highest award at the ceremony, with Willem Dafoe receiving it.

And this is the first step in the wonderful continuation of the film that everything shows will also reach Oscar nominations.

The Greek director receiving the award said: “Thank you to the festival, which received the film with great enthusiasm.” He thanked Ariane Lambert, his crew, the Searchlights production studio and above all Emma Stone, “the amazing creature.” This movie is Emma.”

Big names judged the films of the official competition program, which was headed by Oscar-winning American director Damien Chazelle (“La La Land,” “Babylon”). Three female directors: New Zealander Jane Campion (“The Power of a Dog,” “Piano Lessons”), American Laura Poitras, whose documentary “All Beauty and Bloodshed” won the Golden Lion last year, and Frenchwoman Mia Hansen Love. (beautiful morning). Irish director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh from “Ghosts of Incerin”, Argentine director and screenwriter Santiago Miter from “Argentina 1985”, Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, and actors Saleh Bakri (Palestine) and Suu Kyi (China).

In “Poor Things,” the stunning Emma Stone carries the entire movie, playing a woman who commits suicide in the first scene by falling from a bridge into the sea. But this will only be the beginning of a new life for this woman. In the hands of the world (Willem Dafoe) she will transform into Bella Baxter and from there she will go through all the stages until she is fully mature.

It is a strange film, in which realism and metaphysics merge in a very special way – the way we usually find in the Greek director’s strange films anyway but always interesting. In fact, Lanthimos uses the myth of Frankenstein’s monster as a tool to talk about the rebirth of women, through a film that still resonates today, despite its era. Lanthimos collaborated on its script with the screenwriter of his previous film, “The Favourite,” which in 2018 won the Grand Prize of the Committee and the Female Performance Award for Olivia Colman.

Poor Things is the third film to win a J. Lanthimos Award in a special festival featuring the award. His first film to win a prize in Venice is Alpes, which in 2011 won a screenplay award for Lanthimos and Efthymis Philippou.

Japan’s Ryuichi Hamaguchi won the Grand Jury Prize for “Evil Does Not Exist,” a minimalist poetic work that celebrates the magic of nature while alienating it from the human factor. We remind you that Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” won the Academy Award for International Film.

As Fima predicted, two films dealing with the controversial issue of immigration were not absent from this year’s Mostra Awards. The film “The Green Borders” (The Green Borders) by Agnesca Hollande won the Jury Prize, and the film “Io capitano” (I am the Captain) by the Italian Matteo Garrone won two awards: Best Director and Best New Film. It was won by Senegalese actor Seydou Sarr, who could not hold back his tears on stage, thanking the festival and the committee.

Garoni spoke about the exploitation of hundreds of African youth who risk their lives in search of the European vision, a topic he addresses in his book “Io capitano.”

For her part, Aneeska Holland said in a wonderful and heartfelt acceptance speech: “As we sit here tonight, some people are still hiding in the woods, alone, discredited, hungry. They risk losing their lives and some of them will. Not because we can’t help them but because we don’t want to. But some people who prioritize humanity do.”

In acting, American Peter Sarsgaard won the Volpi Cup for his performance in the film “Memory” by director Michel Franco, where he played the role of a man suffering from epilepsy, and Cailee Spainney also won the female role for her performance in the film “Priscilla” by Sofia Coppola.

“This moment has always been about communication for me,” Sarsgaard said of one of the most important reasons for receiving the award. “Sharing human experiences. We must not lose it.” In this way, the actor spoke of the actors’ strike for a profession that relies on human communication and is threatened by artificial intelligence.

Finally, Chilean director Pablo Larraín won the screenplay award with Guillermo Calderón for his film “El Conde”, a political fantasy in which dictators like Augusto Pinochet and tough politicians like Margaret Thatcher are portrayed as vampires. Larraín also referred to the actors’ strike in America, thus showing his support.

Congratulations from the Hellenic Cinema Centre

The Center for Hellenic Films (EKK) warmly congratulates Giorgos Lanthimos, as well as longtime close collaborator of the editor, Giorgos Mavropsaridis, for awarding Bad Things the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice Film Festival. This important award honors Giorgos Lanthimos personally and, at the same time, testifies to the international impact of his work more generally.

YKK is particularly happy that Giorgos Lanthimos was one of the pioneers of the new generation of Greek and Greek filmmakers, who, with their talents and interests, the quality of their work and the simplicity of their work, proved in practice that Greek cinema and its creators could stand on an equal footing on the global map of the cinema and audiovisual industry.