Venezia 76: The Painted Bird and The New Pope Compete for Golden Lion

The 76th Venice Film Festival recorded its highest attendance ever, with long queues at historic bars and crowded screenings. The festival's embrace of Hollywood blockbusters and stars has increased its glamour and mainstream appeal. However, the festival's commitment to auteur cinema is represented by Václav Marhoul's 'The Painted Bird', a 169-minute black-and-white film in Russian, German, and Interslavic, adapted from Jerzy Kosiński's novel. The film depicts a nameless Jewish boy's journey through Slavic countries during WWII, witnessing extreme violence and brutality. Marhoul describes tackling such themes as a life-or-death challenge for any artist. Meanwhile, Paolo Sorrentino presented episodes of 'The New Pope', starring John Malkovich as Pope John Paul III, inspired by John Henry Newman. The series, produced by Sky, Fremantle, and HBO, is described as a philosophical reflection on religion and life, with high visual and narrative quality. The festival juxtaposes the darkest human brutality with refined beauty, as seen in these two works.