Venice Film Festival 2023, report cards for the stars

We feared a Venice Film Festival no international stars due to the Hollywood actors’ strike, little glamor and more Italy. It was so, in part. But in the Lagoon there was no shortage of names of weight, such as George Clooney as Amal’s husband and Adam Driver as a barricade. Here are the celebrity report cards.

George Clooney

Oh my George! The biggest star seen in Venice is not at the Festival, but at the Diane von Furstenberg Awards, accompanying his wife Amal, who receives an award. In order not to overshadow her, he only takes pictures with her, he doesn’t grant interviews, he stays in the audience all evening to applaud her. She gives us just a little curtain with Emma Thompson, with him complaining about getting old and she comforting him. But his star quality is intact: the atmosphere of the room changes as soon as he enters.

Rating: stellar

Adam Driver

In this Festival short of international stars, bring a bit of Hollywood flavor to Venice. But also a bit of a mess. First, at the press conference, he takes it out on Amazon and Netflix, guilty of not reaching an agreement with actors and screenwriters on strike. Then he ends up in the viewfinder, his Enzo Ferrari of him in the film Ferrari by Michael Mann did not go down well with Pierfrancesco Favino, who triggered the first controversy of the Festival: why does a foreign actor play an Italian?

Verdict: barricadero

Patrick Dempsey

Here pilot in the disputed Ferrari by Michael Mann, but let’s face it, forever Dr. Strangelove of our hearts, unforgotten, attracts fans and photographers as if five hundred seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.

Verdict: timeless

Carla Brown

Quelqu’un m’a dit… that Carla Bruni brought her typical humorous-chic touch to the red carpet. The curtain of her trying to chase away a fly together with the journalist Mattia Carzaniga who interviews her on Rai is one of the scenes we will remember with more joy.

Verdict: fun

Pierfrancesco Favino

Our great star, Italian glory, opens the Festival in the role of a fascist commander who saves enemy shipwrecks (Commander by Edoardo De Angelis). Magnet of attention, he gives us a new accent that fits perfectly (Veneto: how many are missing at this point? Maybe the Marche region) and also triggers the controversy against American actors who play foreign characters.

Verdict: catalyst

Peter Castellitto

Bring a surprising film to Venice, Aeneas, and turn the press conference into a show. He shoots jokes about Adam Driver (always him) and his family, he says he didn’t want to work with his father but then he couldn’t escape, the actors quote his sentences on the set. Finally we laugh a little in the press room: thank you.

Judgement: star performer

Priscilla Presley

He is not at the press conference panel of Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s film about her life, but decides to answer the questions anyway. He is moved, cries, struggles to speak as he remembers the “greatest love” of her life: Elvis. A little bit of truth that comes from showbusiness, her applause is all for her.

Verdict: authentic

Jacob Elordi

The beauty of the red carpet who knows he is the beauty of the red carpet and enjoys himself. He takes pictures with everyone, signs autographs, poses silly. Its Elvis in the movie Priscilla he’s a toxic man, he’s a star.

Verdict: nice