By Crispian Balmer
VENICE -U.S. indie director Jim Jarmusch gained the coveted Golden Lion on the Venice Movie Competition on Saturday with “Father Mom Sister Brother”, a three-part meditation on households, ageing and the uneasy ties between dad and mom and their grownup youngsters.
Divided into chapters set in New Jersey, Dublin and Paris, the movie options an ensemble forged together with Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat.
Every instalment drifts gently by way of home encounters the place nothing a lot occurs, however small gestures and silences sketch out the generational awkwardness that may beset households.
Jarmusch, 72, is a mainstay of American impartial cinema, making his title within the Nineteen Eighties with offbeat, low-budget works corresponding to “Stranger Than Paradise” and “Down by Legislation”.
His newest movie drew primarily optimistic evaluations, however was not a favorite for the highest prize, with many critics as a substitute tipping “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, a harrowing true-life account of the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian woman throughout the Gaza battle.
Ultimately, the movie directed by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania took the runner-up Silver Lion.
Italy’s Toni Servillo was named greatest actor for his wry portrayal of a weary president nearing the top of his mandate in “La Grazia”, directed by his long-time collaborator Paolo Sorrentino,
China’s Xin Zhilei gained greatest actress for her position in “The Solar Rises On Us All”, a drama directed by Cai Shangjun that delves into questions of sacrifice, guilt and unresolved emotions between estranged lovers who share a darkish secret.
The Venice pageant marks the beginning of the awards season and commonly throws up massive favourites for the Oscars, with movies premiering right here over the previous 4 years gathering greater than 90 Oscar nominations and profitable virtually 20.
GAZA TO THE FORE
Venice has typically been seen as essentially the most glamorous and least political of the key movie festivals, however in 2025 the films that made the strongest impression targeted on present occasions, with the continued Israeli invasion of Gaza casting a protracted shadow.
As he unveiled his personal image final weekend, Jarmusch acknowledged that he was involved that one in every of his fundamental distributors had taken cash from an organization with ties to the Israeli navy.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab”, which makes use of the true audio of a younger woman’s determined pleas for assist as her automotive comes below Israeli gunfire, was the fan favorite profitable a file 24-minute standing ovation at its premiere.
One of the best director nod went to Benny Safdie for “The Smashing Machine”, which starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson within the position of the real-life, combined martial arts pioneer Mark Kerr.
The particular jury award went to Italy’s Gianfranco Rosi for his black-and-white documentary “Under the Clouds”, about life within the chaotic southern metropolis of Naples, marked by repeated earthquakes and the specter of volcanic eruptions.
Among the many films that left Venice empty-handed had been a trio of Netflix photos, Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear thriller “A Home of Dynamite”, Guillermo del Toro’s re-telling of “Frankenstein” and Noah Baumbach’s comedy-drama “Jay Kelly”.
“No Different Selection” by South Korea’s Park Chan-wook additionally did not safe an award, regardless of sturdy evaluations, likewise “Bugonia” by Yorgos Lanthimos, which starred Emma Stone.
The primary jury was chaired by U.S. director Alexander Payne, joined by fellow filmmakers Stéphane Brizé, Maura Delpero, Cristian Mungiu and Mohammad Rasoulof, alongside actresses Fernanda Torres and Zhao Tao.
This text was generated from an automatic information company feed with out modifications to textual content.