Venice Rule Strips The Master Of Golden Lion, Top Honor Goes To Kim Ki-Duk's Pieta (Full Winners List)
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master was set to receive the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter's inside source, until a decision to allow only two major awards per film forced jury members to re-assign the top honor to another contender. When the awards were doled out earlier today by Venice jury president Michael Mann, the best picture prize went to Kim Ki-Duk's ultraviolent mother-son flick Pieta while Best Director went to Anderson. (Full list of winners follows.)
Per THR: "Apparently during the jury's first deliberations, members decided to give The Master — a drama loosely based on the origins of Scientology — the top prize, as well as the Silver Lion directing award to Anderson and the acting award jointly to co-stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman."
UPDATED: Asked to redeliberate, the jury instead gave the Golden Lion to Pieta, leaving The Master with a joint Best Actor prize shared by stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, along with the Silver Lion (Best Director) for Anderson. The Master had been hotly tipped for The Golden Lion, backed by a groundswell of critical praise ahead of its September 21 theatrical release.
Full list of Venice Film Festival winners announced today, via Indiewire/Venice Film Festival:
Golden Lion (Best Picture)
Pieta, Kim-Ki Duk
Silver Lion (Best Director)
Paul Thomas Anderson - "The Master"
Volpi Cup - Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix & Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Master"
Volpi Cup - Best Actress
Hadas Yaron - "Fill The Void"
Special Jury Award
Ulrich Seidl - Paradise: Faith
Mastroianni Award - Best Young Actor
Fabrizio Falcone - "Dormant Beauty," "It Was The Son"
Best Screenplay
Olivier Assayas - "Something In The Air"
Technical Achievement
Daniele Cipri - "Il Stato E Figlio,"
Luigi De Laurentiis Award (Best First Feature)
"Kuf: Mold," Ali Aydin
Orrizonti: Best Feature
"Three Sisters," Wang Bing
Orrizonti: Jury Prize
"Tango Libre," Frederic Fonteyne
FIPRESCI Award (Competition)
"The Master," Paul Thomas Anderson
FIPRESCI Award (Orizzonti/Critics' Week)
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Constanzo
SIGNIS Award
"To the Wonder," Terrence Malick
SIGNIS Award (Special Mention)
"Fill the Void," Rama Burshtein
Audience Award (Critics' Week)
"Eat Sleep Die," Gabriela Pilcher
Label Europa Cinemas Award
"Crawl," Herve Lasgouttes
Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk
Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award (Cinema for UNICEF mention)
"It Was the Son," Daniele Cipri
Pasinetti Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Constanzo
Pasinetti Award (Documentary)
"The Human Cargo," Daniele Vicari
Pasinetti Award (Best Actor)
Valerio Mastandrea, "Gli Equilibristi"
Pasinetti Award (Special)
"Clarisse," Liliana Cavani
Brian Award
"Dormant Beauty," Marco Bellocchio
Queer Lion Award
"The Weight," Jeon Kyu-Hwan
Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Film of Venezia 69)
"The Fifth Season," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth
Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Italian Film)
"The Ideal City," Luigi Lo Casco
Biografilm Lancia Award
"The Human Cargo," Daniele Vicari; "Bad 25," Spike Lee
CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo
CICAE Award
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour
CinemaAvvenire Award (Best Film of Venezia 69)
"Paradise: Faith," Ulrich Seidl
CinemAvvenire Award (Diversity)
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour
FEDIC Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo
FEDIC Award (Special Mention)
"Bellas Mariposas," Salvatore Mereu
Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award
"Something in the Air," Olivier Assayas
Future Film Festival Digital Award
"Bad 25," Spike Lee
Future Film Festival Digital Award (Special Mention)
"Spring Breakers," Harmony Korine
P. Nazareno Taddei Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk
P. Nazareno Taddei Award (Special Mention)
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza
Magic Lantern Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo
Open Award
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford
La Navicella-Venezia Cinema Award
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza
Lina Mangiacapre Award
"Queen of Montreuil," Solveig Anspach
AIF-FORFILMFEST Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo
Mouse d'Oro Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk
Mouse d'Argento Award
"Anton's Right Here," Lyubov Arkus
UK-Italy Creative Industries Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo
Gillo Pontecorvo-Arcobaleno Latino Award
Laura Delli Colli
Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Award
"Low Tide," Roberto Minervini
Interfilm Award
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour
Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford
Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award (Special Mention)
Toni Servillo
Primio Cinematografico Award
"Terramatta," Costanza Quatriglio
Green Drop Award
"The Fifth Season," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth
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Comments
How does this rule help anyone? If the judges thought the rightful movie should get the Golden Lion then why shouldn't it? And sure, a top prize like that will help Pieta, but with this kind of press won't everyone involved feel like they just won on a technicality?
While its good to see PTA, Phoenix, and Hoffman get their due, the film itself losing on a technicality is pretty unfortunate. At least we all know which film was truly the best at the festival, thanks to the news of this sudden change getting out. My huge anticipation for The Master has only grown.
Don't buy it. Not for a second. The whole thing is puppy-poop.
If Mann et al really wanted to give the Golden Lion to The Master, they would have and they would have complimented Kim-Ki Duk with Best Director instead. But you know what? They didn't. So they didn't. I've been on festival juries before and while nowhere near the scale of Venice, there is always, always, always someone on hand to explain the rules of the festival.
As Chair, Mann would have known his responsibilities and if this is really a cock up, it only shows Mann in a bad light.