"Sisters" Draws Venice Props, Anger

Mon., Sep. 9, 2002 11:25 AM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Per usual for the Venice Film Festival, this year's gathering along the Lido had its share of stars (Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek, et al.) to keep the paparazzi occupied.

But the 2002 edition of the world's oldest fest also had its share of controversy, winding up on the wrong side of the Pope and pals.

The 59th Venice Film Festival went out with a bang on Sunday, awarding its Golden Lion (aka best picture) to Scottish actor-director Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters, a story about mental cruelty and physical violence within Ireland's recently shuttered Catholic Magdalene convent schools. It earned praise from Italy's mainstream press and moviegoers following its screening at Venice last week.

But Sisters got a big-time thumbs down from members of the Catholic Church and the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which denounced the film for spreading anti-Catholic lies.

"I feel enormous bitterness?this doesn't do any credit to the Venice Festival," Cardinal Ersilio Tonini told reporters following the award ceremony. "This isn't a truthful portrayal of the Church, and its director has made libelous statements against Catholics."

Mullan, who was decked out in a blue kilt and traditional Scottish attire as he accepted the award from festival jury president Gong Li, defended his drama as a cautionary tale about religious intolerance.

"It's not just about the Catholic Church and how it oppressed young women in Ireland," Mullan said. "It's about all faiths, all fundamental faiths, who think they have the right to oppress young women. I really hope that young women will see this film and realize that the greatest prison of all is in their minds. If they can free themselves from that prison, then they can start to fight back."

Top honors also went to Far from Heaven by American indie auteur Todd Haynes. The film earned star Julianne Moore the Best Actress trophy for her role as a housewife encountering racial and sexual discrimination in 1950s middle-class America.

The film's cinematographer Edward Lachman, who accepted Moore's award on her behalf (she's at the Toronto Film Festival for the film's North American premiere), picked up the newly created Outstanding Individual Contribution Award for the film's visual style.

Also taking home two trophies was Oasis, Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong's heartwarming story of two disabled people in love. The film won a Special Director's Award, as well as the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best performance by a young actor/actress for its lead actress, Moon So-ri.

In all, more than 75 features and dozens of shorts screened at this year's fest, which also honored 85-year-old Italian director Dino Risi with a Golden Lion for career achievement including such classics as 1957's Poor but Beautiful and 1962's The Easy Life.

Here are the top winners at the 59th Venice Film Festival:

Golden Lion for Best Film: The Magdalene Sisters, directed by Peter Mullan, Britain Grand Jury Prize: House of Fools, directed by Andrej Konchalovsky, Russia/France Special Director's Award: Lee Chang-dong for Oasis, South Korea Coppa Volpi for Best Actress: Julianne Moore for Far from Heaven, United States Coppa Volpi for Best Actor: Stefano Accorsi for A Journey Called Love, Italy Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Moon So-ri for Oasis, South Korea Outstanding Individual Contribution: Cinematographer Edward Lachman for Far from Heaven, United States Silver Lion for Best Short Film: Clown, directed by Irina Efteeva, Russia UIP Award for Best European Short Film: Lover of Pirates, directed by Zsofia P?terffy, Hungary