By doudou6 
Vincent Lindon won the Best Actor award for his superb performance in “High Level,” presented by Zhang Ziyi, while Nicole Kidman took home the Best Actress award.
The Golden Lion for Best Film went to Pedro Almodóvar, a well-deserved honor. “The Next Room,” featuring actresses Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films of the year.
Here is the complete list of winners for the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024:
Competition
★ Golden Lion for Best Film: “The Room Next Door” by Pedro Almodóvar
★ Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: “Mountain Bride” by Maura Delpero
★ Silver Lion for Best Director: Brady Corbet for “The Wild Ones”
★ Best Actor: Vincent Lindon for “High Level”
★ Best Actress: Nicole Kidman for “Dear Heart”
★ Best Screenplay: Murilo Hauser & Heitor Lorega for “I Am Still Here”
★ Special Jury Prize: “April” by Dea Kulumbegashvili
★ New Talent Award (Marcello Mastroianni Award): Paul Kirschner for “Children After Them”
Other Awards:
★ Best Restored Film: “The Scrap Dealer” by Nanni Moretti
★ Best Documentary: “Saw” by Alexandre O. Philippe
★ Lion of the Future – Best Debut Feature: “Familiar Touch” by Sarah Friedland
Of all the competition films at the festival, this one was the most enjoyable to watch. Almodóvar’s visual aesthetics are truly commendable; his films’ art direction always offers a visually soothing experience. The script’s brilliance isn’t just in its multiple references to Joyce’s “The Dead” (with Moore’s final quote being the best due to its narrative shift), but also in Tilda Swinton’s “reappearance” as the daughter in the last ten minutes. By then, Moore has fully transformed his character functionally, capturing an emotional depth that goes beyond mere physicality and expression. The setup is so clever that it easily surpasses Swinton’s dual role as mother and daughter in another film, “The Eternal Daughter.” This deserves the Best Screenplay Award without question
It’s clear that the Venice Film Festival is looking for a local alternative to famous directors and their masterpieces. The wartime backdrop does not succeed in emphasizing deeper thematic substance. In terms of depicting family dynamics and orchestrating ensemble scenes, there has been no rival to Carla Simón in recent years.
Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist”
The craftsmanship of this film is impeccable, but overall, it seems more ambitious than capable. It doesn’t feel avant-garde or bold; instead, it appears too cautious, even a bit restrained, burdened by its own weight. With such a massive production scale, it’s crucial to clearly define which chapters of life should be fully developed and which key clues should be emphasized. What creates the protagonist’s loyal affection for architectural art? Engaging in what is currently the most luxurious endeavor feels like a gamble, but the result can only be described as a conventionally completed “epic” with inherent label attributes. By the final scene, it becomes clear that it also serves as excellent promotion for the Venice Architecture Biennale. Is Corbet trying to become the Cimino of our time? Unfortunately, there is only one Cimino in American film history.
Vincent Lindon’s “High Level”
The film relies too heavily on Lindon’s performance, but with him, there’s a guarantee of quality. He portrays a completely believable working-class single father, especially shining in the courtroom scene. After the eldest son gets into trouble, there’s an interesting audio-visual alignment when Lindon holds up a burning stick to inspect the railway during the night shift. A minor gripe is that the film frequently loses focus; many static shots fail to maintain focus, and in scenes with multiple people in the frame, it’s sometimes unclear where the focus should be, which is slightly frustrating.