Venice Film Festival takes a walk on the dark side of life
Necrophilia, family violence and child prostitution are themes of films
A modern Greek tragedy of incest, prostitution and violence continued the theme of sexual and moral perversion which has emerged at this year's Venice Film Festival.
The audience flinched on Sunday during Miss Violence as traditional family relationships were shown to be hideously corrupted after one of the children commits suicide on her 11th birthday.
Films about necrophilia, child prostitution and domestic violence are among 20 new works vying for the coveted Golden Lion award at the 70th annual festival on the leafy Venice Lido.
"We decided not to deal with the economic crisis but rather to confront the crisis of values," the director of Miss Violence Alexandros Avranas said after the screening.
Festival director Antonio Barbera said the films in competition, which will be judged by a panel headed by veteran film maker Bernardo Bertolucci, shows a dark and violent reality.
Themis Panou, who plays the tyrannical father in Miss Violence, said he had to draw on Greek tragedy to help him play a character who was unlike anyone he had ever known.
"I think many men thought of sleeping with their mothers. Oedipus is not a chance event, and this is how I built my character," Panou said.