‘Oh shit’ were Jim Jarmusch's first words when he came on stage to receive the Golden Lion. There was a similar reaction from most of the critics, given the completely unexpected award for his film ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’, which was not one of the highlights of the competition. It consists of three parts, with changing casts, revolving around the theme of family. It is no comparison to Jarmusch's original episodic film ‘Night on Earth’ (1991). But that was a long time ago. His latest films have been less than convincing, such as the love story ‘Paterson’ (2016), designed to introduce viewers to the great American poet William Carlos Williams, or the zombie comedy ‘The Dead Don't Die’ (2019).
His new film, ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’, only ended up in Venice because Cannes wanted to show it in the ‘Cannes Premiere’ sidebar rather than in competition, prompting Jarmusch to withdraw it. This Golden Lion seemed more like a tribute to his life’s work, bestowed upon him by his American colleague and admirer, jury president Alexander Payne. Jarmusch is now 72 years old and has never won a major prize at any of the three major festivals in Cannes, Berlin or Venice.
Many agreed that the truly outstanding film of this 82nd Mostra was ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ about the murder of the Palestinian girl of the same name in February 2024 in Gaza City. The Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania has reconstructed her calls for help to the Red Crescent operations centre in Ramallah in a moving docu-fiction. Awarding the film only the Grand Jury Prize is anything but a courageous decision. Alexander Payne had already failed to make a convincing impression at the jury's opening press conference when he replied that he was ‘not prepared’ when asked about solidarity with Gaza.
Somewhat of a surprise, but not undeserved, the award for Best Director went to New Yorker Benny Safdie for his martial arts drama ‘The Smashing Machine’. Toni Servillo, who gives a convincing performance as an Italian president of integrity in Paolo Sorrentino's ‘La Grazia’, was rightly awarded the prize for best actor. The same applies to Chinese actress Xin Zhilei, who received the award for best actress for her magnificent performance in ‘The Sun Rises on All of Us’.
The 82nd Venice Film Festival was an exciting festival with many great films. More than in previous years, political issues took centre stage, especially the war of annihilation in Gaza, reflected in the outstanding competition entry ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’. In addition, there was a large solidarity demonstration for Palestine on the first weekend of the festival, as well as an open letter from Italian directors calling on the festival to take a clear stance. There were also stars galore, from George Clooney to Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett. The only drop of bitterness was the Golden Lion for Jim Jarmusch. A lifetime achievement award would have been more appropriate.