The 2010 Venice film festival nears its end lacking the buzz which a standout movie provides and the A-list star power on which such events thrive. The 24-strong competition line-up, featuring the youngest group of directors in memory, has been seen by critics as solid and varied, providing everything from French comedy to Polish existential minimalism to effects-heavy Chinese costume drama.
But unlike 2009, when the harrowing war movie "Lebanon" was a popular winner, and 2008, when "The Wrestler" launched the surprise comeback of Hollywood outsider Mickey Rourke, this year has lacked a defining moment that unites audiences. With no clear frontrunner now all of the movies have been screened, jury president Quentin Tarantino has the tough task of deciding who wins the coveted Golden Lion award for best picture at the closing ceremony on Saturday.
"The film average is very good, but there's been nothing to fall in love with," Il Foglio said in a recent editorial, although the Italian daily did later identify "Venus Noire" as a worthy contender for awards. Add to that a cinema complex resembling a building site, wet weather, the closure of the historic Hotel Des Bains and strong competition from the Toronto film festival which overlaps with Venice, and 2010 may not linger long in the memory.
Among the favourites are Chinese entry "The Ditch", about the plight of political prisoners deported to labour camps in 1950s China, and Russian film "Silent Souls", a contemplative look at a fading minority culture and obsessive love. "It is quietly eloquent on both counts, showing how the cinema can sometimes achieve a kind of poetry as well as prose," British film critic Derek Malcolm wrote in a four-star review of Silent Souls.
Venus Noire, the true story of a woman brought from South Africa to Europe in 1810 and turned into a freak show, could touch a chord given director Abdellatif Kechiche's argument that its themes of intolerance and racism are still relevant today. "Post Mortem" looks at Chile's military coup of 1973 through the eyes of a man working in a morgue, and "Meek's Cut-off" is a retelling of the Hollywood western through the eyes of a group of women stranded in the American desert.
French comedy "Potiche", starring French veterans Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, was popular, while Spain's "Balada Triste de Trompeta", about a love triangle set in a circus, divided audiences but had some fervent admirers. Bearing in mind Tarantino's debt to Asian cinema and the martial arts genre in particular, Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins" is regarded as an outsider, as is "Black Swan", a psychological thriller in which Natalie Portman shines as a disturbed dancer.
Portman is a strong contender for best actress, as is Venus Noire star Yahima Torres with her big screen debut. Among leading actors, Vincent Gallo as a suspected Taliban fighter on the run in "Essential Killing" and Paul Giamatti in book adaptation "Barney's Version" are in the running for a prize.
Outside the main competition, Joaquin Phoenix documentary "I'm Still Here" provided the main talking point, with viewers unsure whether the disturbing and unflattering portrait of an artist in crisis was genuine or an elaborate hoax. Director Casey Affleck, Phoenix's brother-in-law, insisted there was no hoax, but nagging doubts remain. Robert Rodriguez's "Machete", about an ageing former Mexican cop out for revenge against the killers of his family, had audiences laughing out loud, while "The Town", directed by and starring Ben Affleck, won mixed reviews.