‘Joker’ Wins Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival, Roman Polanski Takes Runner-Up Prize

Todd Phillips’ dark supervillain origin story “Joker” has come up trumps at the Venice Film Festival, taking the Golden Lion from a jury headed by Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel.It’s a rarity for a major Hollywood studio production to take the top prize at Venice, and unprecedented for a superhero-adjacent property to take any such honor, but the Warner Bros. title established itself early on as the festival’s lightning rod: a film that sparked headlines and critical discussion to the very end of the festival, as many other competing titles came and went without a ripple.

Variety chief critic Owen Gleiberman was among its many champions, acclaiming it as “a neo-‘Taxi Driver’ knockout: the rare comic-book movie that expresses what’s happening in the real world.” Other critics voiced reservations about the extremity of the film’s onscreen violence, and what they perceived as sympathetic centralization of a toxic male protagonist; we can expect the back-and-forth to continue when the film goes into general release on Oct. 4.

Whether the film achieves critical consensus or not, the top prize in Venice validates the artistic legitimacy of an unusual commercial-prestige crossover item,and will significantly bolster “Joker’s” awards-season strategy. Phillips’ film, with its dynamic star turn by Joaquin Phoenix, will be looking to emulate the last two Golden Lion winners — Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” — which were both nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, with the former winning and the latter widely perceived as a close runner-up.

Full list of winners below.

Golden Lion: “Joker,” Todd Phillips

Grand Jury Prize: “An Officer and a Spy,” Roman Polanski

Silver Lion for Best Director: Roy Andersson, “About Endlessness”

Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Ariane Ascaride, “Gloria Mundi”

Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Luca Marinelli, “Martin Eden”

Best Screenplay: “No. 7 Cherry Lane,” Yonfan

Special Jury Prize: “The Mafia Is No Longer What It Used to Be,” Franco Maresco

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Young Actor: Toby Wallace, “Babyteeth”

HORIZONS COMPETITION (ORIZZONTI)

Best Film:  “Atlantis,” Valentyn Vasyanovych

Best Director: Théo Court, “White on White”

Special Jury Prize: “Verdict,” Raymund Ribas Gutierrez

Best Actress: Marta Nieto, “Madre”

Best Actor: Sami Bouajila, “A Son”

Best Screenplay: “Back Home,” Jessica Palud, Philippe Lioret and Diastème

Best Short Film: “Darling,” Saim Sadiq

LION OF THE FUTURE

Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Feature: “You Will Die at Twenty,” Amjad Abu Alala

VENICE CLASSICS

Best Restored Film: “Ecstasy,” Gustav Machatý

Best Documentary on Cinema: “Babenco – Alguém Tem Que Ouvir O Coração E Dizer: Parou,” Bárbara Paz

VIRTUAL REALITY COMPETITION

Best Virtual Reality: Céline Tricart, “The Key”

Best Virtual Reality Experience: “A Linha,” Ricardo Laganaro

Best Virtual Reality Story: “Daughters of Chibok,” Joel Kachi Benson

By GUY LODGE

Source:Variety