Rosebud
09-13-2005, 01:06 PM
VENICE FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Ang Lee takes top prize at Venice
Ang Lee's gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain has won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The film is adapted from a story by E Annie Proulx and stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as cowboys whose secret love affair spans 20 years.
Lee beat off competition from 18 other films, including George Clooney's favoured Good Night, and Good Luck.
Lee, maker of Oscar nominee Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has won a global reputation as an eclectic film-maker.
The Taiwan-born director's other films include the comic book blockbuster The Hulk, released last year, and Sense and Sensibility, an adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel.
George Clooney's film Good Night, and Good Luck had been the hot favourite among film critics to take the Golden Lion on the last night of the annual 11-day festival.
The McCarthy-era film, directed by and featuring Clooney, won best screenplay for Clooney and co-writer Grant Heslov. Its star David Strathairn won the best actor prize for his portrayal of journalist Edward R Murrow.
The award for best actress went to Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno for her role in the movie La Bestia nel Cuore, a tale of adult siblings scarred by child abuse. She beat off competition from French star Isabelle Huppert in Gabrielle, and Gwyneth Paltrow, star of the film Proof. However, Huppert was awarded a special Lion for her outstanding contribution to cinema.
US director Abel Ferrara won the Jury Grand Prix for Mary, starring Juliette Binoche as an actress haunted by the figure of Mary Magdalene after having played her on screen.
France's Philippe Garrel won the Silver Lion prize for best director with his Les Amants Reguliers, a story of love in bohemian Paris after the May 1968 riots.
The film's photographer William Lubtchanski also took the trophy for outstanding technical contribution.
The Marcello Mastroianni award for the best young actor or actress went to Menothy Cesar for Heading South.
On Friday, Japan's Hayao Miyazaki was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the festival.
The festival finale was marked by a screening of Hong Kong director Peter Chan Ho-sun's Perhaps Love, a rare Chinese musical starring some of Asia's biggest names, including Jacky Cheung and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Photos from BBC.com:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788406_clooneygetty300.jpg
George Clooney, whose film Good Night, and Good Luck won two awards at the Venice Film Festival, proved a popular figure with the Italian crowds. Repaying the compliment he called Italy "the best country in the world".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788408_leeveniceap300.jpg
Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee received the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, from Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki, whose films include the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, received a lifetime achievement award at the festival.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788414_clooneyco300.jpg
"Without George and Grant, this film really could not have been made," said Good Night, and Good Luck star David Strathairn, who won best actor for his interpretation of US broadcaster Edward R Murrow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788426_huppertgetty300.jpg
"Venice brings me luck," said French actress Isabelle Huppert, who was awarded a special Lion for her role in Patrice Chereau's Gabrielle. "There is no great role without a great director, so from the bottom of my heart I thank Patrice."
Ang Lee takes top prize at Venice
Ang Lee's gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain has won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The film is adapted from a story by E Annie Proulx and stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as cowboys whose secret love affair spans 20 years.
Lee beat off competition from 18 other films, including George Clooney's favoured Good Night, and Good Luck.
Lee, maker of Oscar nominee Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has won a global reputation as an eclectic film-maker.
The Taiwan-born director's other films include the comic book blockbuster The Hulk, released last year, and Sense and Sensibility, an adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel.
George Clooney's film Good Night, and Good Luck had been the hot favourite among film critics to take the Golden Lion on the last night of the annual 11-day festival.
The McCarthy-era film, directed by and featuring Clooney, won best screenplay for Clooney and co-writer Grant Heslov. Its star David Strathairn won the best actor prize for his portrayal of journalist Edward R Murrow.
The award for best actress went to Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno for her role in the movie La Bestia nel Cuore, a tale of adult siblings scarred by child abuse. She beat off competition from French star Isabelle Huppert in Gabrielle, and Gwyneth Paltrow, star of the film Proof. However, Huppert was awarded a special Lion for her outstanding contribution to cinema.
US director Abel Ferrara won the Jury Grand Prix for Mary, starring Juliette Binoche as an actress haunted by the figure of Mary Magdalene after having played her on screen.
France's Philippe Garrel won the Silver Lion prize for best director with his Les Amants Reguliers, a story of love in bohemian Paris after the May 1968 riots.
The film's photographer William Lubtchanski also took the trophy for outstanding technical contribution.
The Marcello Mastroianni award for the best young actor or actress went to Menothy Cesar for Heading South.
On Friday, Japan's Hayao Miyazaki was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the festival.
The festival finale was marked by a screening of Hong Kong director Peter Chan Ho-sun's Perhaps Love, a rare Chinese musical starring some of Asia's biggest names, including Jacky Cheung and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Photos from BBC.com:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788406_clooneygetty300.jpg
George Clooney, whose film Good Night, and Good Luck won two awards at the Venice Film Festival, proved a popular figure with the Italian crowds. Repaying the compliment he called Italy "the best country in the world".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788408_leeveniceap300.jpg
Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee received the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, from Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki, whose films include the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, received a lifetime achievement award at the festival.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788414_clooneyco300.jpg
"Without George and Grant, this film really could not have been made," said Good Night, and Good Luck star David Strathairn, who won best actor for his interpretation of US broadcaster Edward R Murrow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40788000/jpg/_40788426_huppertgetty300.jpg
"Venice brings me luck," said French actress Isabelle Huppert, who was awarded a special Lion for her role in Patrice Chereau's Gabrielle. "There is no great role without a great director, so from the bottom of my heart I thank Patrice."