I 10 film più attesi del Festival di Venezia 2023

The strike of the members of SAG-AFTRA - the U.S. union of film and television actors and radio artists - which has been shaking the precarious balance of Hollywood since July 13, seems to have also affected Venice. In fact, the names of the stars who will attend the Film Festival this year are still uncertain, with actors who will forgo the red carpet in protest and directors who will join in solidarity. Even the opening title has been postponed: it will no longer be Luca Guadagnino's film Challengers with Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist, making its debut on the opening night, but Comandante by Italian director Edoardo De Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino. As we prepare for a truly exceptional edition with Caterina Murino, the Sardinian actress known for her role as the new Bond Girl alongside Daniel Craig, as the godmother, here are the 10 films that, unexpected events and missing guests aside, we can't wait to see in the evocative capital of the Serenissima.

The Killer by David Fincher

David Fincher returns to portray violence with the story of a lone hitman, played by Michael Fassbender, who becomes involved in a feud between Cuba, Venezuela, and the United States. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton and Charles Parnell. Everything suggests a success comparable to the director's great classics like Seven or Fight Club. Fincher himself has described it as: «A brutal, elegant, and bloody noir that follows a professional assassin in a world that has lost its moral compass. The example of a single man, armed to the teeth and slowly descending into madness». Are we facing a new generational cult?

The Palace by Roman Polanski

Polanski enlivens Venice again with a noir comedy at the dawn of the Millennium Bug set in a sumptuous Swiss castle. The Palace Hotel is bustling with excitement for the New Year's Eve party of 2000, and the staff, led by Oliver Masucci, is preparing to welcome a horde of spoiled and decadent rich people, including the iconic Mickey Rourke. An unrepeatable event has brought them all together, the New Year's Eve party of 2000, but, although everything is carefully planned, the absurdity and degradation that will engulf the party and its participants are completely unpredictable.

Dogman by Luc Besson

«The real world has only rejected me, I have adapted» says Douglas, played by Caleb Landry Jones, who has always been an outcast, a victim of his stepfather's violence. His only friends are loyal dogs with whom he will take revenge for the wrongs he suffered as a child. Is the director of Leon: The Professional ready to give us a new cult movie?

Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos

The alienating atmospheres of The Lobster and the Victorian allure of The Favourite merge in the new film by the Greek director, based on Alasdair Gray's novel of the same name from 1992. It is the story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman who is brought back to life by the scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), from whom she decides to escape with lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), becoming an icon of female emancipation in a surreal steampunk universe.

Priscilla by Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola's new film produced by A24, a highly anticipated biopic about Priscilla Presley which explores our unstoppable fascination with Hollywood in the 1960s, is landing in Venice. A new eclectic female character for Coppola, who, after tackling the biography of Marie Antoinette, faces the ups and downs of Priscilla by retracing the memoir Elvis and Me, written by the former spouse of the musical legend together with Sandra Harmon. An intense, at times morbid, love story, played by Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi.

Coup de Chance by Woody Allen

With Coup de Chance, Woody Allen's films reach fifty. The trailer, as well as the font used for the captions, suggests a contemporary and French remake of Annie Hall as it highly resembles the one from the 1977 film. Two old friends, played by Niels Schneider and Lou de Laâge, find themselves in a tumultuous romantic relationship that leads to murder and infidelity.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Wes Anderson

After Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson once again draws inspiration from Roald Dahl with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the highly anticipated short film out of competition, defined by the festival director Alberto Barbera as «a little masterpiece of just under 40 minutes." The cast involves, as usual, big names: Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade, and the film, produced by Netflix, tells the story of a man who, through magic, learns to influence the world around him.

Aggro Dr1ft by Harmony Korine

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— La Biennale di Venezia (@la_Biennale) July 25, 2023

After the rumors of a few days ago, the news is official about Harmony Korine's new film starring Travis Scott. Aggro Dr1ft, the film directed by the American director, will debut at the next Venice International Film Festival in the Out of Competition category. In the cast, in addition to the rapper, is also the Spanish actor Jordi Molla in what has been described as a feature film "shot entirely in infrared."

Ferrari by Michael Mann

The film directed by Michael Mann is set in the summer of 1957 and tells the story of former driver Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) after bankruptcy caused the collapse of the company he founded with his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz) just ten years earlier. In a period of deep crisis, Ferrari decides to risk everything in a car race that will go down in history as the Mille Miglia.

Maestro by Bradley Cooper

After the success of A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper returns to directing with Maestro, the Netflix biopic about the legendary American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, played by Cooper, and his love story with his wife Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan. The producers are stellar: in addition to Cooper himself, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Joker director Todd Phillips are also involved.