Venice Film Festival Raises Curtain on the Return of Beetlejuice

“Never say his name three times…” The 81st Venice Film Festival, where the cream of Hollywood is expected until September 7, opens Wednesday evening with the return of Michael Keaton as the grimacing Beetlejuice.

A year after a lackluster edition, shunned by the major American studios due to the strike in Hollywood, the oldest film festival in the world seems ready to renew its reputation as the launching pad for the Oscars.

Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and even the young Jenna Ortega will parade on the famous red carpet of the Lido facing the Adriatic, where Lady Gaga will also shine, starring in the new “Joker”. “It’s perhaps been more than twenty years since there were so many stars present!” assured the director of the Mostra, Alberto Barbera, to AFP.

The festival hits hard from the opening night with the out-of-competition presentation of Tim Burton’s latest opus, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (released September 11 in France).

Lady Gaga expected

Thirty-six years after the first cathartic comedy about death and ghosts that became a cult classic, the director resurrects the title role, that of a crazy exorcist stuck in the afterlife, which he once again entrusts to his 72-year-old sidekick Michael Keaton.

Also returning are Winona Ryder as Lydia, the grown-up teenager who communicates with the dead, and Catherine O’Hara as her mother. They are joined by Willem Dafoe, Tim Burton’s girlfriend Monica Bellucci and Jenna Ortega, star of the Netflix series “Wednesday.”

The most anticipated star will undoubtedly be Lady Gaga: the one who caused a sensation at the opening of the Paris Olympics in July by singing on the banks of the Seine is making a spectacular return to the red carpet with “Joker: Folie à deux”.

Dark and provocative, subverting the codes of the superhero film, the first part, “Joker”, centered on the origins of Batman’s best enemy, won the Golden Lion in 2019 and then earned Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for best actor. For this sequel, still directed by Todd Phillips, the actor made up as a clown is joined by the singer, who broke through on the big screen in Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born”.

Angelina Jolie Returns

The festival will also be marked by the return of Angelina Jolie, who plays the role of Maria Callas during the last days of her life in Paris, in “Maria” by Pablo Larraín.

The film is one of 21 in the running for the Golden Lion, directed by seven female and 17 male directors. The jury chaired by French actress Isabelle Huppert will decide on September 7 on the successor to “Poor Creatures,” by Yórgos Lánthimos and starring Emma Stone, last year’s winner.

Among the contenders is Pedro Almodóvar, who is making his big American leap: he filmed “The Room Next Door” in New York, with Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore and John Turturro.

Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas will offer an erotic thriller at the Lido, while Jude Law is headlining a film that delves into the white supremacist circles of the 1980s. Daniel Craig turns the page on James Bond with Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” (“Call me by your name”).

Three French films are competing, including “Their Children After Them”, adapted from the novel by Nicolas Mathieu, winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2018, and the new love story by Emmanuel Mouret.

The Mostra is also lending its red carpet to George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The sixty-something duo is getting back together for an action comedy, “Wolfs,” by Jon Watts. Produced by Apple TV+, it was due to be released in France in September but will ultimately be put online directly. The film is being presented out of competition, like that of Claude Lelouch (“Finalement”), guest of honor at Venice, who will unveil his… 51st feature film.

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