The Favourite and Sorry Angel
Asako I & II
(Country: Japan; Year: 2018; Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi; Writer: Tomoka Shibasaki; Stars: Masahiro Higashide, Erika Karata, Kôji Seto)
Asako is a 21-year-old woman, living in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku who has a free spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and she meets Ryohei. He looks just like her ex-boyfriend Baku, but he has a completely different personality.
Ash Is Purest White (Jiang Hu Er Nv)
(Country: China, France, Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Zhangke Jia; Writer: Zhangke Jia; Stars: Tao Zhao, Fan Liao, Xiaogang Feng)
A story of violent love within a time frame spanning from 2001 to 2017.
At Eternity's Gate
(Country: UK, France, US; Year: 2018; Director: Julian Schnabel; Writer: Jean-Claude Carrière, Julian Schnabel; Stars: Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Niels Arestrup, Stella Schnabel, Patrick Chesnais, Victor Pontecorvo, Frank Molinaro, Alan Aubert, Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac)
The last days of Vincent van Gogh.
Closing night
The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs
(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen; Writer: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen; Stars: Bill Heck, Aesop Aquarian, Charles Ash, E.E. Bell, Katy Bodenhamer, Brian Brown, Richard Bucher, Jackamoe Buzzell, Tyne Daly, Tim DeZarn, Sam Dillon, Ethan Dubin, Stephen R. Estler, Bill Foster, James Franco)
An anthology of short films based on a fictional book of “western tales”.
Burning
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2018; Director: Lee Chang-dong; Writer: Lee Chang-dong, based on the short story by Haruki Murakami; Stars: Yoo Ah-in, Jeon Jong-seo, Steven Yeun)
Jong-soo, a part-time worker, bumps into Hae-mi while delivering, who used to live in the same neighborhood. Hae-mi asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Africa.
If Beale Street Could Talk and At Eternity's Gate
Cold War (Zimna Wojna)
(Country: Poland, France, United Kingdom; Year: 2018; Director: Pawel Pawlikowski; Writer: Janusz Glowacki, Pawel Pawlikowski; Stars: Joanna Kulig, Jeanne Balibar, Jacek Rozenek, Agata Kulesza, Cédric Kahn, Martin Budny, Borys Szyc, Tomasz Kot, Philip Lenkowsky, Adam Woronowicz, Adam Ferency, Adam Szyszkowski)
A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatally mismatched and yet fatefully condemned to each other.
A Faithful Man (L’Homme fidèle)
(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Louis Garrel; Writer: Jean-Claude Carrière, Louis Garrel; Stars: Lily-Rose Depp, Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta, Lily-Rose Depp, Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta)
Rom-com love triangle with added kid.
A Family Tour
(Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia; Year: 2018; Director: Liang Ying; Writer: Wai Chan, Liang Ying; Stars: Nai An, Zhe Gong, Pete Teo, Tham Xin Yue, Nai An, Zhe Gong, Pete Teo, Tham Xin Yue)
Story of an exiled filmmaker, who can only see her mother in Taiwan.
The Favourite
(Country: Ireland, United Kingdom, United States; Year: 2018; Director: Yorgos Lanthimos; Writer: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara; Stars: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Joe Alwyn, Mark Gatiss, Timothy Innes, John Locke, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Jenny Rainsford, James Smith, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte, Basil Eidenbenz, James Melville, Jack Veal)
Two of Queen Anne's acolytes jockey for position.
Full Review
See:
Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Joe Alwyn, and Tony McNamara in conversation on The Favourite
,
Venice 2018: First Man, Peterloo, The Favourite, Roma, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs and Suspiria
Opening night
The Flower (La Flor)
(Year: 2018; Director: Mariano Llinás)
Episodic drama telling six stories.
Shoplifters and A Faithful Man
Grass (Pullipdeul)
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2018; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Writer: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Kim Min-hee, Kee Joobong)
A woman people watches in a cafe.
Happy As Lazzaro (Lazzaro Felice)
(Country: Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Alice Rohrwacher; Writer: Alice Rohrwacher; Stars: Nicoletta Braschi, Sergi López, Alba Rohrwacher, Natalino Balasso, Tommaso Ragno, Adriano Tardiolo, Luca Chikovani, Leonardo Nigro, Agnese Graziani, Ettore Scarpa, Carlo Massimino, Gala Othero Winter, Nicoletta Braschi, Sergi López, Alba Rohrwacher)
A young nobleman asks a peasant to help fake his own kidnapping.
Her Smell
(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Alex Ross Perry; Writer: Alex Ross Perry; Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens, Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin, Ashley Benson, Dylan Gelula, Amber Heard, Eric Stoltz, Virginia Madsen, Eka Darville, Lindsay Burdge, Keith Poulson, Jeremy Sample, Alexis Krauss)
The leader of an alt-rock band struggles with her demons.
High Life
(Country: Germany, France, UK, Poland, Canada, US; Year: 2018; Director: Claire Denis; Writer: Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Geoff Cox, Nick Laird; Stars: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin, Mia Goth, Lars Eidinger, Agata Buzek, Claire Tran, Ewan Mitchell, Gloria Obianyo, Victor Banerjee, Jessie Ross, Juliette Picollot, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin)
Deep space drama.
Hotel By The River
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2018; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Writer: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Ki Joo-Bong Ki, Kim Min-hee, Kwon Hae-hyo, Song Seon-mi, Yoo Joon-Sang Yoo)
Two tales intersect at a riverside hotel.
The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs and Roma
If Beale Street Could Talk
(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Barry Jenkins; Writer: Barry Jenkins, based on the novel by James Baldwin; Stars: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis, Ebony Obsidian, Dominique Thorne, Diego Luna, Finn Wittrock, Ed Skrein, Emily Rios, Pedro Pascal, Brian Tyree Henry)
A pregnant woman tries to prove her lover's innocence.
In My Room
(Country: Germany, Italy; Year: 2018; Director: Ulrich Köhler; Writer: Ulrich Köhler; Stars: Hans Löw, Elena Radonicich, Antonia Putiloff)
A bored man suddenly realises that everyone around him has disappeared and he isn't sure what happened.
Long Day's Journey Into Night
(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Bi Gan; Writer: Bi Gan; Stars: Sylvia Chang, Chen Yongzhong Chen, Jue Huang)
A man is haunted by regret as the past and present weave together.
Monrovia, Indiana
(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Frederick Wiseman)
Documentary look at the small town of the title.
Asako I & II and Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction (Doubles vies)
(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Olivier Assayas; Writer: Olivier Assayas; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Vincent Macaigne, Christa Théret, Nora Hamzawi, Pascal Greggory, Laurent Poitrenaux, Sigrid Bouaziz, Lionel Dray, Nicolas Bouchaud, Antoine Reinartz, Aurélia Petit, Thierry de Peretti, Violaine Gillibert, Jean-Luc Vincent)
A drama about the hopelessly intertwined world of publishing.
Private Life
(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Tamara Jenkins; Writer: Tamara Jenkins; Stars: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Emily Robinson, Molly Shannon, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Kayli Carter, Desmin Borges, Tracee Chimo, Mandela Bellamy, Francesca Root-Dodson, Lizzy DeClement, Amy Russ, Samantha Buck, Marmee Regine Cosico, Abigail Friend)
A New York couple desperate for a baby enlist the help of the husband's niece.
Ray & Liz (Ray And Liz)
(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Richard Billingham; Writer: Richard Billingham; Stars: Michelle Bonnard, Tony Way, Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Sam Gittins, James Eeles, Andrew Jefferson-Tierney, James Hinton, Michelle Bonnard, Tony Way, Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Sam Gittins, James Eeles, Andrew Jefferson-Tierney)
Drama about a dysfunctional family.
Roma
(Country: Mexico, United States; Year: 2018; Director: Alfonso Cuarón; Writer: Alfonso Cuarón; Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Nancy García García, Verónica García, Andy Cortés, Fernando Grediaga, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, José Manuel Guerrero Mendoza, Latin Lover, Zarela Lizbeth Chinolla Arellano, José Luis López Gómez)
Chronicle of a middle-class family in the 1970s.
Centrepiece gala
Shoplifters
(Country: Japan; Year: 2018; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Kirin Kiki, Lily Franky, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Mayu Matsuoka)
A family of small-time crooks take in a child they find on the street.
The Image Book and Ray & Liz
Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer Et Courir Vite)
(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Christophe Honore; Writer: Christophe Honore; Stars: Pierre Deladonchamps, Vincent Lacoste, Denis Podalydès)
Two gay men struggle with love in the shadow of mortality.
Three Faces
(Country: Iran; Year: 2018; Director: Jafar Panahi)
The interwoven stories of three Iranian actresses.
Too Late To Die Young
(Country: Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Qatar; Year: 2018; Director: Dominga Sotomayor Castillo; Writer: Dominga Sotomayor Castillo; Stars: Demian Hernández, Antar Machado, Magdalena Tótoro, Matías Oviedo, Andrés Aliaga, Antonia Zegers, Alejandro Goic, Eyal Meyer, Mercedes Mujica, Gabriel Cañas, Michael Silva, Demian Hernández, Antar Machado, Magdalena Tótoro, Matías Oviedo)
Drama about youngsters in an isolated community preparing for New Year, as Chile makes its transition to democracy.
Transit
(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2018; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Christian Petzold, baesd on the novel by Anna Seghers; Stars: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Maryam Zaree, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt, Sebastian Hülk, Emilie de Preissac, Antoine Oppenheim, Louison Tresallet, Justus von Dohnányi, Alex Brendemühl, Trystan Pütter, Ronald Kukulies)
Georg flees to Marseilles to escape the German army. Assuming a false identity, he tries to obtain passage on a ship bound for Mexico. But then he meets Marie and his plans change.
Full Review
See:
Franz Rogowski in conversation on controlling his breath, a space for the imagination, the images and colours in Transit, and his work at the Kammerspiele
,
Christian Petzold in conversation on Franz Rogowski, a memory, an identity and the language in Transit
,
Christian Petzold in conversation on Alex Brendemühl and George Romero in Transit, author Anna Seghers, Isabelle Huppert and Claude Chabrol
,
Franz Rogowski in conversation on Christian Petzold's Transit and The State We Are In
Wildlife
(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Paul Dano; Writer: Paul Dano, Richard Ford, Zoe Kazan; Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp, Lexi Anastasia, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Travis W Bruyer, Mollie Milligan, JR Hatchett, Darryl Cox, Kami King, Cate Jones, Blaine Maye, Laurie Cummings, John Walpole)
A portrait of a family in crisis.