The Venice Film Festival awarded top honors to Ang Lee, Brad Pitt, and more as festivities came to a close Saturday.
Ang Lee’s Chinese language thriller Lust, Caution came to the still-ongoing Toronto International Film Festival dogged by minor backlash from Venice critics, yet nabbed the top Golden Lion prize at that festival’s close. The win is Lee’s second in three years, having won in 2005 for Brokeback Mountain (Chinese entry Still Life won last year).
In similar fashion, other high profile wins this year premiered at Venice before being shown in Toronto. Brad Pitt, in Toronto with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, nabbed the Best Actor award in Venice for his portrayal of the tormented titular outlaw. Cate Blanchett took Best Actress honors for her role in the Bob Dylan-inspired The I’m Not There, which will screen for critics at TIFF on Tuesday.
TIFF attendees will also get the chance to watch Brian DePalma’s The Redacted, about American troops and Iraqi locals who clash over a horrible crime. The film earned Venice’s second-highest award, the Silver Lion.
Click here for the full list of winners.
