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Venice Film Festival · 2017

Venice Film Festival 2017

Official Competition

Programme

21 films · 12 reviews

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Ammore E Malavita

Naples-set crime musical.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2017; Director: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti; Writer: Michelangelo La Neve, Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti; Stars: Claudia Gerini, Carlo Buccirosso, Serena Rossi, Giampaolo Morelli, Luciana De Falco, Mario Rivelli, Raiz, Rosalia Porcaro, Antonino Iuorio, Giovanni Napolitano, Pino Mauro, Antonio Fiorillo, Antonio Buonomo, Graziella Marina, Franco Ricciardi)

Angels Wear White (Jia Nuan Hua)

In a small seaside town, two schoolgirls are assaulted by a middle-aged man in a motel. Mia, a teenager who was working on reception that night, is the only witness. For fear of losing her job, she says nothing. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Wen, one of the victims, finds that her troubles have only just begun. Trapped in a world that offers them no safety, Mia and Wen will have to find their own way out.

(Country: China; Year: 2017; Director: Vivian Qu; Writer: Vivian Qu; Stars: Le Geng, Ke Shi, Yuexin Wang, Weiwei Liu, Zhou Meijun, Qi Wen, Mengnan Li, Jing Peng)

Bad Match

Review preview for Bad Match

As the tension between them escalates, it becomes apparent that somebody has seriously overstepped the mark, and that an initially awkward situation is headed for tragedy.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A playboy's life spirals out of control after he meets a woman through internet dating.

(Country: Singapore, US; Year: 2017; Director: David Chirchirillo; Writer: David Chirchirillo; Stars: Lili Simmons, Noureen DeWulf, Trent Haaga)

Full review

Custody (Jusqu'à la garde)

Review preview for Custody

Though a short film, even one of half-an-hour as Legrand’s was, can be carried almost solely on this sort of tension, a feature needs something more.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A couple embark on a bitter custody battle for their son.

(Year: 2017; Director: Xavier Legrand; Writer: Xavier Legrand; Stars: Léa Drucker, Denis Ménochet, Thomas Gioria, Mathilde Auneveux, Mathieu Saikaly, Florence Janas, Saadia Bentaïeb, Coralie Russier, Sophie Pincemaille, Emilie Incerti-Formentini, Jérome Care-Aulanier, Jenny Bellay, Martine Vandeville, Jean-Marie Winling, Martine Schambacher)

Full review See: Interview with Xavier Legrand about Custody (Jusqu’à La Garde)

Downsizing

Review preview for Downsizing

Alexander Payne's latest, unclassifiable film gallivants with us through a number of different worlds that all seem familiar, yet perplexing.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
Satire about a man who starts to think he would have a better life if only he could shrink himself.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Alexander Payne; Writer: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor; Stars: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig, Udo Kier, Rolf Lassgård, Ingjerd Egeberg, Soren Pilmark Jason Sudeikis, Neil Patrick Harris, Niecy Nash, Joaquim de Almeida, Maribeth Monroe, Margo Martindale)

Full review See: Venice 2017: Downsizing, Suburbicon and The Shape Of Water

Ex Libris: New York Public Library

Documentary about the library.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Frederick Wiseman)

First Reformed

Review preview for First Reformed

First Reformed ends up being a satisfying meditative echo rather than a simple replay of Schrader greats.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
Thriller centring on an ex-military chaplain who has lost his son and a member of his church who is grieving for her husband.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Paul Schrader; Writer: Paul Schrader; Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Ethan Hawke, Michael Gaston, Cedric the Entertainer, Philip Ettinger, Victoria Hill, Mahaleia Gray, Elanna White, Bill Hoag, Frank Rodriguez, Joseph Anthony Jerez, Michael Metta, Jake Alden-Falconer, Satchel Eden Bell, Delano Montgomery)

Full review

Foxtrot

Review preview for Foxtrot

Samuel Maoz steps into the rhythm of the foxtrot to give structure to the three separate chapters of his intense, reverberating film.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A family's world is rocked when they are told about the death of their son.

(Country: Israel, France, Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Samuel Maoz; Writer: Samuel Maoz; Stars: Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonatan Shiray, Karin Ugowski, Yehuda Almagor, Shira Haas, Dekel Adin, Shaul Amir, Gefen Barkai)

Full review See: Samuel Maoz in conversation on numbers, colours, coincidence, chaos, and Foxtrot , Samuel Maoz and Lior Ashkenazi in conversation on Foxtrot , Lior Ashkenazi in conversation on Foxtrot feature

Hannah

A woman suffers an identity crisis.

(Country: Italy, France, Belgium; Year: 2017; Director: Andrea Pallaoro; Writer: Andrea Pallaoro, Orlando Tirado; Stars: Charlotte Rampling, André Wilms, Jean-Michel Balthazar, Luca Avallone)

Human Flow

Review preview for Human Flow

Breathtaking and heartbreaking

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
An exploration into the global refugee crisis.

(Country: Iraq, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, Jordan, US; Year: 2017; Director: Ai Weiwei; Writer: Tim Finch, Chin-Chin Yap, Boris Cheshirkov; Stars: Boris Cheshirkov, Princess Dana Firas of Jordan, Marin Din Kajdomcaj, Ahmad Shuja, Marisa P. Elham and Family, Peter Bouckaert, Asmaa Al-Bahiyya, Filippo Grandi, Wella Kouyou, Israa Abboud, Muna Khalid Karraz, Muhammed Hassan, Hind Nahid, Samah Nabeel, Amir Khalil)

Full review

The House By The Sea (La Villa)

When three adult children of a dying man gather at his villa, they are forced to reflect on who they are.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Robert Guédiguian; Writer: Robert Guédiguian, Serge Valletti; Stars: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan, Jacques Boudet, Anaïs Demoustier, Robinson Stévenin, Yann Trégouët, Geneviève Mnich, Fred Ulysse, Diouc Koma, Haylana Bechir, Ayoub Oaued, Giani Roux, Esther Seignon)

The Insult (L'insulte)

Review preview for The Insult

Ziad Doueiri's latest film shows how the embers of history can stay warm for a long time, easily flaring up under the right circumstances - even those that seem innocuous.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A spat between Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee leads to division between their two communities.

(Country: US, France, Belgium, Lebanon, Cyprus; Year: 2017; Director: Ziad Doueiri; Writer: Ziad Doueiri, Joelle Touma; Stars: Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Camille Salameh, Diamand Bou Abboud, Rita Hayek, Talal Jurdi, Christine Choueiri, Julia Kassar, Rifaat Torbey, Carlos Chahine)

Full review

Lean On Pete

A homeless teenager, whose only friend is a failing racehorse, sets out on a trek to find his only known relative.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Andrew Haigh; Writer: Andrew Haigh, Willy Vlautin; Stars: Travis Fimmel, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Steve Zahn, Thomas Mann, Amy Seimetz, Charlie Plummer, Rachael Perrell Fosket, Justin Rain, Ayanna Berkshire, Lewis Pullman, Dana Millican, Curtis McGann, Frank Gallegos, Craig Kennedy)

See: Venice 2017: Three Billboards, Victoria And Abdul, Lean On Pete and The Third Murder

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno

A young screenwriter faces choices when he returns to his home town for a summer holiday.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Abdellatif Kechiche; Writer: François Bégaudeau)

Mother!

Review preview for Mother!

In the realm of the insane reason has no place. Anything is possible. Even the impossible

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Uninvited guests threaten a couple's relationship.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Darren Aronofsky; Writer: Darren Aronofsky; Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Brian Gleeson, Stephen McHattie, Kristen Wiig, Stefan Simchowitz, Jovan Adepo, Robert Higden, Amanda Warren, Eric Davis, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Mizinga Mwinga)

Full review

The Shape Of Water (La forma del agua)

Review preview for The Shape Of Water

Hawkins has waited decades for a role like this, in which she can fully exercise her talents.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A woman who works in a secret government lab discovers a classified experiment.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Guillermo del Toro; Writer: Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor; Stars: Doug Jones, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Lauren Lee Smith, Richard Jenkins, David Hewlett, John Kapelos, Nick Searcy, Morgan Kelly, Cyndy Day, Dru Viergever, Madison Ferguson, Amanda Smith)

Full review See: Venice 2017: Downsizing, Suburbicon and The Shape Of Water

Sweet Country

Review preview for Sweet Country

There is artistry here and an absence of cliche.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Australian frontier drama, told from an Aboriginal perspective.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2017; Director: Warwick Thornton; Writer: Steven McGregor, David Tranter; Stars: Hamilton Morris, Bryan Brown, San Neill, Matt Day, Ewen Leslie, Tremayne Doolan, Trevon Doolan, Natassia Gorey Furber, Anni Finsterer, Thomas M Wright)

Full review

Suburbicon

A home invasion rattles a quiet family town.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: George Clooney; Writer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, George Clooney, Grant Heslov; Stars: Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac, Julianne Moore, Glenn Fleshler, Noah Jupe, Megan Ferguson, Jack Conley, Marah Fairclough, Michael D. Cohen, Tim Neff, Inbal Amirav, Steve Monroe, Tim Hooper, Ellen Crawford, Emily Goss)

See: Venice 2017: Downsizing, Suburbicon and The Shape Of Water

The Third Murder (Sando-me no satsujin)

Review preview for The Third Murder

The lightness of touch so evident in his family films is no less deft here, as he woos us with the promise of cast iron fact.... only to spend the rest of the film oiling the ground beneath our beliefs until they can't stop sliding this way and that

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Leading attorney Shigemori takes on the defence of murder-robbery suspect Misumi - a crime he admits - but as he digs into the case, he begins to wonder if his client is guilty after all.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2017; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Masaharu Fukuyama, Kôji Yakusho, Suzu Hirose, Mikako Ichikawa, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Yuki Saitô, Isao Hashizume, Kôtarô Yoshida, Izumi Matsuoka)

Full review See: Venice 2017: Three Billboards, Victoria And Abdul, Lean On Pete and The Third Murder

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Review preview for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Fortunately, McDormand never lets Mildred's hold on us slip, balancing the conundrum of a woman who is simultaneously a mum, who likes a beer and a game of pool, and a Rambo-style avenging angel.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A grieving mother takes on a town's police chief after the murder of her daughter goes unsolved.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2017; Director: Martin McDonagh; Writer: Martin McDonagh; Stars: Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Kerry Condon, Kathryn Newton, Zeljko Ivanek, John Hawkes, Lucas Hedges, Clarke Peters, Samara Weaving, Nick Searcy, Sandy Martin)

Full review See: Venice 2017: Three Billboards, Victoria And Abdul, Lean On Pete and The Third Murder

Una Famiglia

A couple find their relationship threatened by the woman's desire for a child.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2017; Director: Sebastiano Riso; Writer: Andrea Cedrola, Stefano Grasso, Sebastiano Riso; Stars: Marco Leonardi, Patrick Bruel, Micaela Ramazzotti, Fortunato Cerlino, Matilda De Angelis, Ennio Fantastichini)