Lust, Caution – The Romance of Astrea and Celadon – I'm Not There – The Secret of the Grain – In the City of Sylvia – Redacted – Sukiyaki Western Django

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Jurors: Zhang Yimou (president), Catherine Breillat, Jane Campion, Emanuele Crialese, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Ferzan Ozpetek, Paul Verhoeven
 

 
Golden Lion:Lust, Caution, Taiwan/USA, dir. Ang Lee
Special Jury Prize (tie):I'm Not There, USA, dir. Todd Haynes
The Secret of the Grain, France/Algeria, dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
Best Director:Redacted, USA, dir. Brian De Palma
Best Actress:I'm Not There, Cate Blanchett
Best Actor:The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Brad Pitt
Marcello Mastroianni Award:The Secret of the Grain, Hafsia Herzi
Best Screenplay:It's a Free World..., Paul Laverty
Technical Contribution:Lust, Caution, Rodrigo Prieto (cinematography)
FIPRESCI Prize:The Secret of the Grain, Algeria/France, dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
SIGNIS Award:In the Valley of Elah, USA, dir. Paul Haggis
Venice Horizons Award:Autumn Ball, Estonia, dir. Veiko Õunpuu
Future Film Festival Digital Award:Redacted, USA, dir. Brian De Palma


Competition Films I Have Seen:
Ranked in order of preference
 
My Golden Lion:
I'm Not There (USA, dir. Todd Haynes) - Even without kaleidoscopic style, so bounteous in characters, idioms, questions, ideas, it would feel like many movies in one

Lust, Caution (Taiwan/USA, dir. Ang Lee) - Takes Clayton structure and Atonement beauty to whole new level; Tang Wei a brilliant find; Lee finally gets his hands dirty!

Michael Clayton (USA, dir. Tony Gilroy) - Ties itself in a needless, loopy knot, but a great character study of corporate self-loathing; looks sensational; Tilda is genius (full review)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (USA/Australia, dir. Andrew Dominik) - Will never improve on friend's friend ("The weather is overacting!"), but some aspects and sideline perfs attain majestic texture

Redacted (USA, dir. Brian De Palma) - I disliked myself the next day for feeling prone to show-offy concepts and strident acting, but the fever pitch did get to me

12 (Russia, dir. Nikita Mikhalkov) - Mikhalkov's maximal urges sometimes weigh this down, but its ethical sense is much more complex than that of immortal source text (capsule review)

Atonement (UK, dir. Joe Wright) - Composer, designers, actors, and D.P. pull a few luscious tricks out of what increasingly reveals itself as designer-knockoff bag

In the City of Sylvia (Spain, dir. José Luis Guerín) - A rather smug flaunting of jewel-shaped construction and heightened sound design; polished, but less seductive than it means to be (full review)

In the Valley of Elah (USA, dir. Paul Haggis) - Jones excels, but the movie's credible soul-sickness loses a battle against formula; the investigation plot simply never flies

Nightwatching (UK/The Netherlands, dir. Peter Greenaway) - Warm marriage portrait at center. Gusts of humor and verve, but defiantly distant, stolid camera refrigerates them.

The Darjeeling Limited (USA, dir. Wes Anderson) - Yes, train is marvy, but instead of stepping outside his own belly-button, Anderson immaturely hauls an entire country into it (full review)

Sleuth (UK, dir. Kenneth Branagh) - Sleekness clicks at times but usually seems tacky and overconfident; three huge egos on full display in a story that never worked



Sidebar Films I Have Seen:
Ranked in order of preference
 
A Girl Cut in Two (France, dir. Claude Chabrol) - Vague, stale drama with none of Chabrol's usual tension or precision. Bizarre tone. Magimel embarrasses himself.



Competition Films I'm Curious to See:
Ranked in order of interest; more on this year's lineup here (opens in a new window)
 
The Secret of the Grain, France/Algeria, dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
Sukiyaki Western Django, Japan, dir. Takashi Miike
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon, France, dir. Eric Rohmer
Le Chaos, Egypt, dir. Youssef Chahine
The Sun Also Rises, China, dir. Jiang Wen
Help Me, Eros, Taiwan, Lee Kang-sheng



Sidebar Films I'm Curious to See:
Listed alphabetically
 
The Beloved, France, dir. Arnaud Desplechin
Beyond the Years, South Korea, dir. Im Kwon-taek
Cassandra's Dream, UK, dir. Woody Allen
Christopher Columbus: The Enigma, Portugal, dir. Manoel de Oliveira
Death in the Land of Encantos, Philippines, dir. Lav Diaz
Disengagement, Israel, dir. Amos Gitai
Far North, UK, dir. Asif Kapadia
The Girl by the Lake, Italy, dir. Andrea Molaioli
Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains, USA, dir. Jonathan Demme
[Rec], Spain, dirs. Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró
Sad Vacation, Japan, dir. Shinji Aoyama
The Speed of Life, USA, dir. Ed Radtke
Useless, China, dir. Jia Zhangke


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