“I don’t want to miss this”: Hollywood glitz returns to Venice Film Festival | Venice Film Festival 2024

It’s hard to think of the Venice Film Festival without conjuring up glamorous images of stars in haute couture outfits walking the red carpet or lounging in the sun.

From Jean Cocteau enjoying an aperitif in an idyllic waterfront palace, to Paul Newman catching a water taxi and Elizabeth Taylor walking barefoot on the beach, the world’s oldest film festival has long been associated with fame and decadence.

So when the Sag-Aftra strikes took place, Venice was one of the biggest victims.

The stars are finally back and they’re clearly thirsty for the dolce vita. Hollywood’s biggest names including George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga are all set to hit the Lido next week.

“I think this year we will have the longest list of talents walking the red carpet,” said festival director Alberto Barbera. “We have recovered from last year’s strikes. All the actors from all the films will be at the festival and walking the red carpet.”

“Everyone was really excited not to miss it. I heard that even some actors who weren’t invited by the production companies decided to come on their own – they bought a ticket and rented a room so they could promote their films. It’s incredible.”

The presence of such celebrities in Venice is integral to the foundations of the festival, according to Fiona Handyside, associate professor of film studies at the University of Exeter.

According to Handyside, when it was founded in 1932, Venice “was billed as a glamorous, international event attended by an elite audience of film professionals and the beau monde.” Its formula of movies, celebrities and the beach inspired later festivals such as Cannes and helped establish many of the norms of celebrity culture that still resonate today.

“The idea of ​​allowing the public to see celebrities on the red carpet and outside of their working hours was at the heart of the festival’s unique offering,” she said. “Brigitte Bardot frolicking in the waves is as important in the history of film festivals as the French New Wave.”

Ben Dalton, a senior journalist at film trade publication Screen International, said household names were “essential for a festival the size of Venice” and recalled how strange the place was last year.

“The absence of Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and many others, as well as the withdrawal of the original opening film, Challengers, starring Zendaya, meant that the individual films and the festival itself did not receive the usual public support.”

This, he added, is in stark contrast to 2022, when the presence of Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles sent fans wild in Venice, as well as online.

In fact, Styles and his castmates’ press conference for Don’t Worry Darling will live long in Dalton’s memory. “Already the most talked-about title of the festival, director Olivia Wilde’s response to my question about the absence of her leading lady, Florence Pugh, made headlines around the world,” he said. “Those reactions were amplified by a social media storm known as ‘spitgate’ surrounding that night’s premiere.”

The challenge is to keep the attention on the films while attracting more revenue to help put on a large-scale event. But Barbera said everyone, including the studios, the audience and the festival, could “benefit from having this talent.”

Another festival director, Allison Gardner of the Glasgow Film Festival, explained the difference that having a star at an event like hers could make.

“The crucial element is the film they are supporting and the value they add to the audience experience,” she said.

“This year, Viggo Mortensen was there and the audience loved his passion and commitment to the film he directed and starred in. His presence, along with Alan Rickman, Richard Gere and Lynne Ramsay, to name a few in previous editions, shines a light on the entire programme and helps raise the profile of the festival.”

The Venice Film Festival opens Wednesday with the premiere of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe and Monica Bellucci. The film is screening out of competition, alongside Jon Watts’ drama Wolfs, starring Pitt and Clooney.

Films competing for the prestigious Golden Lion, the festival’s highest honor, include Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Phoenix and Gaga; Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, starring Craig and Lesley Manville; Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Joe Alwyn; and Justin Kurzel’s The Order, starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult.

Other films in competition include Pablo Larraín’s Maria, starring Angelina Jolie; Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore; and Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, starring Kidman and Antonio Banderas. TV series making their world premieres include Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer, starring Blanchett.

Bafta fellow and marketing consultant Julian Henry said the strong line-up represented a “deeper push” from the studios this year.

“With moviegoing still down from pre-pandemic levels, the film industry needs to remind audiences of the glamour and spectacle of a movie outing, and Venice is the perfect venue,” he said. “It brings European glamour to American audiences.”

Stars are hired by contract to do some of the public relations for major films, Henry added. “That’s often easier to do in the comfort of a suite in one of Italy’s finest hotels, knowing that a few Hollywood friends are nearby for dinner later.”

But Dina Iordanova, a professor at the University of St Andrews and a specialist in world cinema, believes that the presence of celebrities is becoming less important.

““In general, even the big festivals don’t get as much media coverage as they used to,” she said. “Hollywood stars? Who cares about them anymore?”

“I’m sure there are those who would like things to stay the same, but the reality is that Hollywood doesn’t have much influence anymore. The country is a shadow of its former self, despite its attempts to magnify the mediocre films it produces.”