The 83rd Venice Film Festival wrapped up on Saturday, September 12, with May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown taking the Golden Lion for best film. Its star, Mathilde Arcel, won best actress, while John Malkovich picked up best actor for Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine. A jury led by Maggie Gyllenhaal handed out the prizes. Euronews and the Associated Press both covered the ceremony.
A Double Win For Woman Unknown
Woman Unknown is set in Denmark just after the Second World War. Arcel plays Marie, a nanny and housemaid who is about to marry her wealthy employer. Her hopes are threatened by a secret from her past: an intimate relationship with a German soldier that could ruin her reputation, according to Euronews.
El-Toukhy was the only woman to direct a main-competition film on her own this year, Euronews reports. The AP adds that she is the eighth woman to win the Golden Lion. In her speech, she said the film is about the female body as a battleground.
Arcel’s win came with a first-time story of its own. Variety reports that this was her first lead role and her first time at a film festival. Euronews says she was visibly emotional on stage and found the trophy so heavy that she set it on the floor while she spoke.
Malkovich Wins Best Actor From Montreal
Malkovich was honored for Wild Horse Nine, a dark comedy about two CIA agents who travel to Easter Island shortly before Chile’s 1973 military coup. Sam Rockwell also stars. According to Euronews, the film got a standing ovation that lasted well past ten minutes at its premiere. McDonagh knows the festival well, since Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin both premiered at Venice.
Malkovich couldn’t attend the ceremony. Euronews says he sent a video message explaining that he was shooting in Montreal, and he told the audience he felt humbled by the award.
Venice is often watched for early awards-season signals. The AP notes that the festival has launched best-actor campaigns for Brendan Fraser and Adrien Brody in recent years. Still, a festival prize guarantees nothing, and any talk about Malkovich and the Oscars is speculation for now.
The Other Competition Winners
Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. It’s his first film in eight years, following Burning in 2018.
The Silver Lion for best director went to Ilya Khrzhanovsky for DAU, a project about the Soviet physicists who built the atomic bomb that took more than 20 years to make, according to the AP. Euronews reports that Khrzhanovsky, who renounced his Russian citizenship to protest the war in Ukraine, dedicated the prize to Ukrainians.
The Special Jury Prize went to NAZA, a documentary by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Per Euronews, it features testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders about the war in Gaza. The film joined the lineup late and drew a record-breaking standing ovation of about 25 minutes after its premiere.
Stéphane Brizé’s A Good Little Soldier took the screenplay prize. Malou Khebizi won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for emerging actor for Cédric Kahn’s 15/18 (A Place to Heal), a film set in an adolescent psychiatric ward. Screen Daily also lists House of the Wind as the winner of the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a debut film.
Honorary Golden Lions For Clooney And Burstyn
Separate from the competition, George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn each received a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Last year’s top prize went to Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, Screen Daily notes.
The Big Picture
This year’s major prizes went to a wide mix of filmmakers: Danish, South Korean, Russian, Israeli and French. Woman Unknown came out as the clear favorite, with the Golden Lion and best actress, while Malkovich’s win puts Wild Horse Nine on people’s radar. Whether any of these films stay in the conversation through awards season is something we’ll only know in the months ahead.
Sources
- Euronews — Woman Unknown wins Golden Lion at the 83rd Venice Film Festival
- Associated Press (syndicated) — Woman Unknown wins Golden Lion, Malkovich “humbled”
- Variety — Venice Film Festival Winners
- Screen Daily — Woman Unknown wins Golden Lion
Sujal Singh is the Founder and Editor of CineMazze. He covers film news and updates, including casting, production and release announcements, and manages the website. Follow him on Instagram: @itssujalsingh.
