Review: Venice Film Festival Part 2

By Olivia Rogo

Ugly, yet beautiful. Disturbing, yet heart-wrenching. Václav Marhoul’s “The Painted Bird” prompted audience members at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival to walk out during the most horrific scenes in the film, yet received a five-star rating from The Guardian.

© Celluloid Dreams

Adapted from the 1965 novel by Jerzy Kosińki, the story shadows a stray Jewish boy through the pains of World War II, as he faces the most gruesome illustrations of human nature; witnessing rape, bestiality, murder, and mutilation. The nearly three-hour, black and white film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday and caused a craze of controversy and contention, as well as upset stomachs and fleeing from the theater, as reported by The Guardian’s Xan Brooks.

Director Václav Marhoul insists, however, that the reason the film is injected with such horror and darkness is because “only in darkness can we see light. Shining through all the horrors is hope and love.” Still, many were put-off by the film, running for the doors and stumbling over each other as they attempted to escape. Brooks jokes that perhaps the audience’s first viewing of “The Painted Bird” should be its own feature film one day.

And while “The Painted Bird” is being critiqued for its weighty narrative, Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” is receiving disappointing criticism due to its brevity and lightness. Starring Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, and Meryl Streep, “The Laundromat” is a non-fiction drama about the Panama Papers and the laundering of money by the financially elite.

Soderbergh’s sardonic and comical approach to the film seems to clash with the topic of the Panama Papers, or rather, some believe the marriage of the two just isn’t done well. Nicholas Barber from the BBC criticizes Soderbergh for merely grazing the surface of a topic that is laden with purpose and substantiality of the financial crisis in 2015.

© Venice Film Festival

Others stand by Soderbergh’s playful, lightheartedness with the film. Owen Gleiberman at Variety calls the dichotomy of topic and execution a “fluky contradiction that works.” The balance of larger-than-life characters, cohesive narrative, and informative lecture comes to a balance in the hands of Soderbergh.

And while the balance of lightness and weight seems to be a hit or miss at this year’s Venice Film Festival, there are still two more days left until the awarded films and Golden Lion are announced.