Venice: 'From Afar' winning Golden Lion is a welcome surprise
Last edited Sat Sep 12, 2015, 10:26 PM - Edit history (1)
Venice: 'From Afar' winning Golden Lion is a welcome surprise
The Venezuelan gay drama has beaten films from Charlie Kaufman and Tom Hooper to take top prize at Venice. And deservedly so
Lorenzo Vigas's film From Afar
Robbie Collin 12 September 2015 • 8:33pm
he Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion might be the single most unpredictable award on the world cinema circuit – so the massed "huh?" that went up when it was announced that this year’s winner was From Afar, a debut feature from a largely unknown Venezuelan filmmaker about a forbidden gay love affair in Caracas is certainly in keeping with the Lido vibe.
- video trailer -
From Afar is a more demanding watch than either of those films – its central romance, between a relatively well-off middle-aged man (Alfredo Castro) and a troubled teenage criminal (Luis Silva), runs hot and cold, and its jolting, but well-wrangled, final scene forces you to puzzle over the ultimate motives of both of its not-obviously-likeable leads.
The film was co-written by Guillermo Arriaga, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and former regular collaborator of Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu, and it was co-produced by various Central and South American luminaries, including Arriaga, the Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez, and the Mexican director Michel Franco. If their teaming-up represents a serious vote of confidence in Vigas, the Venice jury just echoed it.
And for a third, From Afar is also pretty damn good. I had issues with its pacing, but its central relationship is balefully fascinating, particularly because each character’s need for the other alters over time. Its portrayal of Caracas as a tangle of river-like roads and the people lining them as a kind of human flotsam has a thundering, you-are-there vigour.
It wouldn’t be Venice without a confounding awards ceremony, but while 2015’s Golden Lion-winner was predicted by no-one, it’s far from unwelcome.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/movie-news/venice-2015-from-afar-golden-lion-winner/
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‘From Afar’ By Venezuelan First-Time Director Lorenzo Vigas Scoops Venice Golden Lion
September 12, 2015 | 11:14AM PT
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent
VENICE – Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas’s striking first feature “From Afar,” about a middle-aged gay man who cruises the streets of Caracas searching for young companions, won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion.
“I want to dedicate this prize to my amazing country, Venezuela. We’ve been having some problems, but we’re very positive. We’re an amazing nation and we’re going to start talking to each other more,” said the beaming debuting director.
The jury was presided by Alfonso Cuaron. This edition of the fest was marked by plenty of prizes going to Latin American cinema and also to debut directors. Cuaron said it’s the first time a Latin American film wins the Golden Lion.
Variety critic Guy Lodge called “From Afar” a “smart, unsensationalized examination of the slow-blossoming relationship between a middle-aged loner and a young street tough.”
Chilean veteran Alfred Castro (“No,” “The Club”) and newcomer Luis Silva both put in potent performances.
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/venice-film-festival-winners-announced-1201591867/