A Hint of Hungary at the 81st Venice Film Festival
zita kisgergely
One of the world’s oldest film festivals, and one of the “Big Five” worldwide (the others being Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance), the 81st Venice Film Festival has come to a close. Some legendary names from the world of cinema found success at this year’s festival, while a couple of films in competition were notable for their Hungarian connection behind the scenes.
This year’s Golden Lion, the festival’s top prize, was awarded to one of our personal favourites, Pedro Almodóvar, for The Room Next Door, his first English-language film. Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, the film looks at the heavy themes of death, euthanasia and climate change. The win was a second welcome nod from the festival that awarded this great Spanish director a life-time achievement award back in 2019 for his decades-long contribution to European cinema.
Almodóvar at the Venice Film Festival via www.labiennale.org
The festival also saw other notable films taking home major awards. Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio, the Mountain Bride, a poignant narrative set in a village at the end of World War II, won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize. Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili picked up the Special Jury Prize for her deeply moving film April about an OB-GYN performing secret abortions for desperate women in remote Georgia. The Best Screenplay award went to Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega for I’m Still Here (directed by Walter Salles), a film based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's best-selling memoir in which his mother is forced into activism when his father is captured by a military regime in Brazil, 1964.
As for individual performances, Nicole Kidman took home the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her role in Babygirl, an erotic thriller written, directed and co-produced by Halina Reijn. The film explores power dynamics and sexuality within a professional setting as a female high-powered CEO (Kidman) has an affair with a significantly younger intern.
France’s Vincent Lindon won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor in The Quiet Son about a middle-aged man raising two sons on his own. Young actor Paul Kircher was honoured with the Marcello Mastroianni Award for his performance in And Their Children After Them about two teens having the summer of their lives.
Traces of Hungary were also present at the festival, with the country contributing both creatively and technically to some of the standout films. The Brutalist was not only a co-production involving Hungary, the US and the UK, but also filmed extensively in Hungary. The director, Brady Corbet, received the Silver Lion – Award for Best Director for the film that became one of the most talked-about at the festival. It elicited much admiration, hailed by some as the new “Godfather”, while others lamented its long run-time of almost three and a half hours.
The film follows the life of Hungarian architect László Tóth, who emigrated to the United States after surviving the Holocaust. The production showcased Hungary’s technical expertise, with the film stock processed at Budapest’s NFI Filmlab. The film was shot on 70mm format, a choice that reflects the lab’s capacity to handle complex, large-scale productions.
Another major contender at the festival with strong Hungarian ties was Pablo Larraín’s Maria, a biopic about the legendary opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie. Portions of the film were shot in Hungary, with Budapest doubling for Paris in several scenes.
Hungary has increasingly become a hub for both Hollywood and European productions. It’s become the second most popular filming destination in Europe after London, offering a 30% tax rebate, state-of-the-art facilities and a wealth of skilled professionals.
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