Korean film wins at Venice; Hoffman, Phoenix honoured

Korean film wins at Venice; Hoffman, Phoenix honoured

South Korean movie ‘Pieta’, an ultra-violent story of a loan shark confronted by a mysterious woman claiming to be his mother, scooped the Golden Lion award for best picture at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The other big winner on the night was Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘The Master’, loosely based on the early days of Scientology, which earned him a Silver Lion for Best Director and a joint Best Actor award for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix.

All three prizes will be popular on the Lido waterfront, where critics praised Pieta’s visceral portrayal of a twisted story of love and revenge, difficult at times to watch but also absorbing and moving in equal measure.

Director Kim Ki-duk sang a traditional Korean song “Arirang” as part of his acceptance speech, and later told reporters, “This is a song that we Koreans sing when we are sad, when we feel alone, when we feel desperate, but also when we’re happy.”

Asked how he felt about receiving the award, he picked up the Golden Lion and kissed it. Hoffman, playing a character based on Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard and Phoenix as his troubled, volatile protege, were clear front runners for the acting prize and both are expected to be in the frame when Oscar nominations are announced.

Hoffman rushed back to Italy to accept the awards on his own and his colleagues’ behalf. “I just got off a plane, like, five minutes ago, literally,” he told the red carpet awards ceremony.

“I still have crust in my eyes from the sleep on the plane. I put this suit on in a bathroom, so please don’t judge.” He went on to praise Phoenix, who was back to his best form in ‘The Master’ after several years in the acting wilderness.

“Joaquin Phoenix is a life force in this film and I kind of rode that life force and that was my performance. It was really riding his life force because it was something that was untameable and my job was to try to and it was almost impossible, which is kind of the movie.” reuters

Winners :

Following is a list of all the main prize winners decided by a jury led by US director Michael Mann.

BEST FILM GOLDEN LION

‘Pieta’ directed by Kim Ki-duk (South Korea)

BEST DIRECTOR SILVER LION

Paul Thomas Anderson for ‘The Master’ (United States)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

Ulrich Seidl for ‘Paradies: Glaube’ (Paradise: Faith) (Austria)

BEST FIRST FEATURE

‘Kuf’ (Mold) directed by Ali Aydin (Turkey)

BEST ACTRESS

Hadas Yaron for ‘Fill the Void’ (Israel)

BEST ACTOR

Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman for ‘The Master’ (United States)

BEST SCREENPLAY

‘Apres Mai’ directed, written by Olivier Assayas (France)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

‘E Stato Il Figlio’ directed by Daniele Cipri