Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie Shine on Day Two at Venice – Highlights

Each day during the 2024 Venice Film Festival, this article will be updated with reviews of daily screenings, activities, and the buzz surrounding the event.

The experience of attending the 2024 Venice Film Festival has been uniquely stressful. Many big premieres aren’t listed for press and industry passholders, causing a good amount of time being spent trying to secure tickets for screenings. For instance, getting into the public screening of Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” was quite the ordeal.

Another bit of panic was experienced trying to get into the opening ceremony and the “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” premiere. Last-minute press and industry screening tickets were booked just in case, leading to the somewhat unique distinction of seeing the same Venice premiere twice in one day for two days in a row. It’s not exactly the experience one would expect of their first time at La Biennale, yet not the worst either.

A notable aspect of this festival is having Cate Blanchett around for two days of press and premieres, tied to her starring role in the TV series “Disclaimer.” At a press conference for the Apple TV+ series, Blanchett discussed private conversations vs. public shaming and humorously dismissed a question about her premiere outfit with, “I’m going naked.” Both responses aptly tied into her character’s struggles in the Alfonso Cuarón-helmed limited series.

Other significant premieres at Venice included Errol Morris’ latest documentary, “Separated,” focusing on the Trump Administration’s border policy that split families. Though it lacks a distributor, it builds on a built-in audience thanks to its adaptation from a book by NBCNews’s Jacob Soboroff.

South American filmmaking also had its moment, spotlighted by “Kill the Jockey” from Argentinean director Luis Ortega and “Apocalypse in the Tropics” from Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa. The documentary “Riefenstahl” and the film “September 5,” starring Peter Sarsgaard, offered fresh perspectives on controversial Olympics broadcasts, timely with the recent Paris games.

The most talked-about event was the promotion of the Maria Callas biopic “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie, which Netflix acquired for U.S. distribution. At the press conference for the film, Jolie deftly avoided discussing her ongoing divorce from Brad Pitt but acknowledged its influence on her portrayal of Callas.

The world premiere of “Maria” saw attendees waiting eagerly in the lobby, virtually turning it into a sweat lodge to catch a glimpse of Jolie. The initial audience response was hard to gauge, with some humorous diva moments met with silence. However, the applause began once the title card appeared on screen, continuing even after the credits rolled, prompting Larraín to guide his cast and crew out of the theater despite the house lights being turned on to end the event.

The overwhelming positive feedback brings an emotional response from Jolie and her team, suggesting that the reaction from the Venice crowd could be a precursor to how broader audiences will receive “Maria.”

Source: IndieWire