Another Hollywood heavyweight elicited another warm welcome from festival-goers here and the weekend belonged to Al Pacino, pulling double-duty on the Lido with back-to-back showings, of The Humbling which we told you about yesterday, and David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn.
Green was here last year with the Southern Drama Joe whose protagonist (Nicolas Cage) was a misfit in search of redemption. In this film he continues his investigation of small lives in flux.
Pacino plays an aging locksmith facing spiritual and emotional crises. †his titular character, however, lacks even the residual glamour of the Simon Axler he plays for Levinson in Humbling. AJ Manglehorn eeks out a solitary existence between American Legion pancake breakfasts and neighborhoods buffets, nursing a gnawing anger that even a budding romance with a lonely heart bank teller (Holy Hunter) can’t seem to extinguish. Asked about the coinciding studies in depression the 74-year old actor quipped “Michael Corleone in the Godfather 2 likely also suffered from depression”.
In spite of the dark mood inside some screening rooms, the vibe was considerably lighter on the festival grounds and on the beaches of Lido basking in perfect sunny weather that’s been in short supply this summer. A good day for an annual tradition: the HFPA reception. Elisabeth Sereda was there and filed a report: HFPA Hosts Filmmakers at Venice Festival Reception
This year once again the HFPA hosted a cocktail reception on the terrace at the Excelsior Hotel on the Lido di Venezia. Overlooking the magnificent pool and the Adriatic sea, guests mingled and enjoyed Bellinis. Peter Bogdanovich, whose film She’s Funny That Way premiered the day before, talked about his long relationship with the festival, dating all the way back to the 60s.

The directors of Words With Gods, a film composed of nine segments on religion, laughed about the fact that none of them had seen the other eight segments before the world premiere just two hours before, across the street from the reception at the Palazzi del Cinema. Amos Gitai, whose short is a stunning one-shot with no cuts, showing a women’s choir and narration of the little known Book of Amos against a backdrop of Israeli and Palestinian fighters, stayed the longest. Aboriginal director Warwick Thornton was fighting his jetlag. And Alex de la Iglesia told us how his story on Catholicism, in which a contract killer gets mistaken for a priest, came about. The film’s producers Alex Garcia and Lucas Akoskin revealed their plan on two more film compositions: sex and drugs. The rock’n roll for their current film was provided by the great Peter Gabriel.

Festival director Alberto Barbera took time out from his busy schedule between two premieres with Al Pacino, The Humbling and Manglehorn and joked that – unfortunately – he has no relation to the wine of the same name.

And Ami Canaan Mann (director of Texas Killing Fields and daughter of Michael Mann) who has the drama Jackie & Ryan in competition added glamour as did CSI:Miami actress Eva LaRue. Like every year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is present in Venice, as in all major film festivals, with a large contingent to further its stated goal of fostering the cause of great world cinema.

Elisabeth Sereda
(photos: Armando Gallo/HFPA) [gallery:3411]