https://www.scmp.com/rss/510780/feed Reporting on the most famous and fashionable, and the films, at the annual Venice Film Festival en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 73rd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. In the golden age of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing was a star so bright that he rewrote the rules of conservative Asian society. Affectionately nicknamed Gor Gor – Cantonese for “older brother” – the Cantopop legend’s talent spanned disciplines and extended far beyond the city’s borders. Even now, decades after his death in 2003, fans from around the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 23:15:13 +0000 Salomé Grouard Salomé Grouard When filmmaker Elizabeth Lo is asked which questions she wishes she got more often, she laughs before answering. “I wish people asked more about my other projects, especially Stray,” she tells me, sipping a coffee in Hong Kong, hours before flying back to Los Angeles for a final round of awards season events. Point taken. The acclaimed documentary director doesn’t want to be defined solely by her latest work, Mistress Dispeller, which follows a Chinese couple through a turbulent time in their... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3345504/elizabeth-lo-her-oscar-shortlisted-film-about-chinas-mistress-dispellers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3345504/elizabeth-lo-her-oscar-shortlisted-film-about-chinas-mistress-dispellers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Joshua Hendren Joshua Hendren At this year’s Venice Film Festival, Dwayne Johnson revealed a new red carpet look, trading his usual muscle-hugging tailoring for something more refined. For the premiere of The Smashing Machine, the Rock’s newest biographical sports drama film based on the life and career of mixed martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr, the 53-year-old stepped out in a custom Prada suit – his first from the brand – cut in cool grey with a double-breasted jacket and softly draped trousers over a taupe shirt.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/trends/article/3336064/why-men-large-muscular-builds-should-go-relaxed-cut-suit-dwayne-johnson-and-jason-momoa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/trends/article/3336064/why-men-large-muscular-builds-should-go-relaxed-cut-suit-dwayne-johnson-and-jason-momoa?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 22:00:11 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram Park Chan-wook, the celebrated South Korean auteur behind such esteemed works as Oldboy and The Handmaiden, is not a filmmaker one typically associates with comedy. It came as a surprise, then, even to his lead actor, Lee Byung-hun, when the script for his latest film, No Other Choice, turned out to be funny. “There were so many comical elements to it, so I was a little bit puzzled,” Lee admits at a recent interview with the Post. “The very first question I asked Director Park was, ‘Did I read... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3328905/no-other-choice-why-korean-auteur-park-chan-wook-reunited-lee-byung-hun-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3328905/no-other-choice-why-korean-auteur-park-chan-wook-reunited-lee-byung-hun-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 11:15:08 +0000 Alice Li Alice Li https://www.scmp.com/article/3325940/xin-zhilei-wins-best-actress-venice-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/3325940/xin-zhilei-wins-best-actress-venice-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000 Alice Yan Alice Yan China’s Xin Zhilei, the winner of the best actress award at the recent Venice Film Festival, has come a long way from her humble beginnings as a restaurant waitress. Since Xin won the prestigious prize on September 6, her life story has trended on mainland social media, with internet users celebrating her hard work and grit through the years. Xin, 39, was born in Heigang, an underdeveloped city in northeastern Heilongjiang province, both her parents were manual workers. She has a younger brother... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3325005/xin-zhilei-venice-film-festival-best-actress-poverty-discovery-donnie-yen-team?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3325005/xin-zhilei-venice-film-festival-best-actress-poverty-discovery-donnie-yen-team?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:00:14 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram “I feel lucky,” Shu Qi says. It is a modest claim from an internationally renowned film star having a remarkable career moment. When she sits down with the Post for this interview, the Taiwanese actress turned filmmaker is at the Venice Film Festival with the sensitively hewn drama Girl, her directorial debut that has just played in competition. It comes hot off the back of a starring role in Chinese auteur Bi Gan’s experimental three-hour sci-fi epic Resurrection, which won the Special Jury... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324858/how-shu-qi-drew-her-painful-childhood-girl-her-directorial-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324858/how-shu-qi-drew-her-painful-childhood-girl-her-directorial-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 23:15:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram One of the biggest surprises of the 82nd Venice Film Festival was saved until the very end, when Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother took the Golden Lion for best film. Starring Adam Driver, Tom Waits and Cate Blanchett, this slight, minimalist triptych study of familial relations recalled last year’s winner, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, in the sense that a director who has never won a major festival top prize finally did so with a relatively middling film. The film was... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324742/venice-2025-10-festivals-best-films-smashing-machine-no-other-choice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324742/venice-2025-10-festivals-best-films-smashing-machine-no-other-choice?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 20:15:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram When Xin Zhilei stood up to accept her best actress award at this year’s Venice Film Festival, winning for Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises on Us All, she was in a daze. “I feel like I am dreaming,” she said. The first Chinese actress to win the prestigious prize since Deanie Ip Tak-han took it for Ann Hui On-wah’s A Simple Life in 2011, and only the third ever to do so – the other being Gong Li for 1992’s The Story of Qiu Ju – it marks a significant step in an already notable career. Two days... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324689/how-chinese-star-xin-zhilei-best-actress-winner-venice-film-festival-rose-top?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324689/how-chinese-star-xin-zhilei-best-actress-winner-venice-film-festival-rose-top?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 04:02:42 +0000 Alice Li Alice Li China’s Xin Zhilei has won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, becoming the first Chinese woman to receive the honour in 14 years. The 39-year-old brought the Golden Lion trophy home on Saturday for her role in The Sun Rises on Us All, directed by Cai Shangjun. The film sees Xin play the harassed owner of a fashion retail business who is trying to reconcile with her former lover, who served time in prison for a crime she had committed. “I feel like I am dreaming,” Xin said in her... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3324656/chinas-xin-zhilei-creates-history-best-actress-award-venice-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3324656/chinas-xin-zhilei-creates-history-best-actress-award-venice-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Sep 2025 10:08:53 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A gentle study of dysfunctional families by veteran American director Jim Jarmusch clinched the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, while a harrowing docudrama about the Gaza war took second. Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, drew mostly positive reviews for its humorous portrayal of awkwardness and guilt. The Broken Flowers director, who wrote the script for three family get-togethers in upstate New York, Dublin and Paris,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324625/us-indie-film-beats-out-gaza-war-docudrama-venice-top-prize?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324625/us-indie-film-beats-out-gaza-war-docudrama-venice-top-prize?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 21:30:23 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3/5 stars Silent Friend, the latest film from Hungarian auteur Ildiko Enyedi, marks the first role in a European production for Tony Leung Chiu-wai. The internationally renowned Hong Kong star of In the Mood for Love and Lust, Caution has, surprisingly, never ventured into the European film industry until now. While he finds a gentle work here that feels entirely suited to his tranquil demeanour, Enyedi’s film probably sets another precedent for the veteran actor: he is also sharing billing with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324182/venice-2025-silent-friend-movie-review-tony-leung-chiu-wai-stars-botanical-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324182/venice-2025-silent-friend-movie-review-tony-leung-chiu-wai-stars-botanical-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 19:05:07 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3.5/5 stars “The past always catches up with us.” So we are told in The Sun Rises on Us All, Chinese filmmaker Cai Shangjun’s sombre competition entry at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Despite its optimistic-sounding title, this is a film in which sacrifice and guilt weigh heavily on its characters. Meiyun (Xin Zhilei) is a harassed owner of a fashion retail business; the only time she ever smiles is when she does her livestream, presenting brightly coloured clothes to her captive female... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324454/venice-2025-sun-rises-us-all-movie-review-cai-shangjun-returns-sombre-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324454/venice-2025-sun-rises-us-all-movie-review-cai-shangjun-returns-sombre-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 16:05:07 +0000 Gloria Tso Gloria Tso As the Venice Film Festival draws to a close, we look back on some of the most stunning sartorial moments on this year’s red carpet. From Cate Blanchett taking flight in a feathery Maison Margiela couture look, to Kaia Gerber hard launching her new relationship wearing Givenchy, there was no shortage of viral high fashion stories on social media to dissect and discuss. Here are eight stand-out looks from the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Amanda Seyfried in Prada Amanda Seyfried’s voluminous Prada... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3324455/8-stand-out-looks-venice-film-festival-red-carpet-kaia-gerber-givenchy-amanda-seyfried-prada?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3324455/8-stand-out-looks-venice-film-festival-red-carpet-kaia-gerber-givenchy-amanda-seyfried-prada?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 07:32:33 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3/5 stars To be(head) or not to be(head)… that is the question in Scarlet, Mamoru Hosoda’s Hamlet-inspired anime. Playing out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival, this is a curious, gender-flipped tale of vengeance and forgiveness, one that asks us to give peace a chance. The story largely takes place in an “Otherworld”, a purgatory of sorts where the past and future are interwoven and Eternity is just a staircase away. It is here where we find the flame-haired Scarlet (voiced by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324414/venice-2025-scarlet-movie-review-mamoru-hosodas-hamlet-inspired-anime-curiosity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324414/venice-2025-scarlet-movie-review-mamoru-hosodas-hamlet-inspired-anime-curiosity?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 02:32:18 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3/5 stars A coming-of-age tale set in 1988 Taiwan, Girl marks the feature debut of Shu Qi, the acclaimed Taiwanese actress and model. This year has already been a celebratory one for her following an appearance in Bi Gan’s Resurrection, which won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Now she is presenting Girl in competition at the Venice Film Festival, a film that bears the influence of her working relationship with Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien following the three films they made together. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324126/venice-2025-girl-movie-review-shu-qi-makes-promising-directing-debut-family-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3324126/venice-2025-girl-movie-review-shu-qi-makes-promising-directing-debut-family-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 14:20:09 +0000 Cherry Liu,Gloria Tso Cherry Liu,Gloria Tso As the summer season draws to a close, all eyes have shifted to the Venice Film Festival – where cinematic artistry meets impeccable style. Now celebrating its 82nd edition at the iconic Lido di Venezia, the world’s oldest and one of the most prestigious film festivals continues to set the stage not only for groundbreaking films but for unforgettable fashion moments. While women captivate in bespoke gowns, the men have redefined red carpet elegance, trading casual summer wear for impeccably... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3324276/male-actors-who-stunned-venice-film-festival-dior-celine-and-bottega-veneta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3324276/male-actors-who-stunned-venice-film-festival-dior-celine-and-bottega-veneta?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 04:49:19 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3/5 stars With its portrait of modern-day corporate culture in Thailand, Human Resource will strike a chord with anyone familiar with the soul-sapping world of white-collar work. The film, which is playing in the Orizzonti strand at this year’s Venice Film Festival, is written and directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Happy Old Year), who crafts a work deeply connected to the economic, political and social strife that is increasingly part of today’s society. Nawapol sets up a world where the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3323984/venice-2025-human-resource-movie-review-bleak-view-corporate-culture-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3323984/venice-2025-human-resource-movie-review-bleak-view-corporate-culture-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Sep 2025 15:05:07 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Even with the film and streaming industries in an upheaval, and too few new titles finding their under-marketed way to theatres this year, the movie summer of 2025 stayed alive. Job one: done. Autumn comes next, and this lovely season has a way of raising our quality expectations. We have the usual quotient of critical successes coming soon, having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. More of these prestige titles will follow suit after first-look appearances at the Venice, Telluride... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3323867/10-films-watch-fall-anemone-nuremberg-and-springsteen-biopic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3323867/10-films-watch-fall-anemone-nuremberg-and-springsteen-biopic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 02:00:08 +0000 Hyewon Lee,Gloria Tso Hyewon Lee,Gloria Tso At the end of summer every year, the spotlight shifts from celebrities’ resortwear and golden-hour dresses to designer gowns and full glam at the Venice Film Festival. The world’s longest-running film festival doesn’t stop at celebrating the most anticipated films of the year. It’s also a stage for high fashion, where celebrities make bold sartorial statements and deliver style moments as memorable as the films themselves. Here are 13 of the hottest looks from stars who stole the show in Venice... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3323891/13-looks-turned-heads-during-venice-film-festival-emma-stone-shailene-woodley?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3323891/13-looks-turned-heads-during-venice-film-festival-emma-stone-shailene-woodley?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Sep 2025 07:50:26 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3.5/5 stars Not since the US version of the sitcom The Office, with its mock-doc focus on the fictional company Dunder Mifflin, has there been such a high-profile worshipping of the art of manufacturing paper. Maybe Korean director Park Chan-wook has been bingeing on episodes, though that show never got as dark as this pleasing adaptation of Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel The Ax. A black comedy set in the world of (un)employment, No Other Choice starts as family man Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) is let... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3323852/venice-2025-no-other-choice-movie-review-park-chan-wook-takes-corporate-culture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3323852/venice-2025-no-other-choice-movie-review-park-chan-wook-takes-corporate-culture?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Sep 2025 02:50:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse British actor Jude Law on Sunday said he became an “obsessive” watcher of Vladimir Putin as he prepared for his role as the Russian leader in his new film The Wizard of the Kremlin which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Law, 52, bears an uncanny resemblance to Putin, aping his scowl and distinctive walking style in the film by French director Olivier Assayas, which charts the rise of the former intelligence officer. “There’s a lot of footage one could watch and, personally, when I start... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3323841/jude-law-became-obsessive-putin-watcher-role-russian-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3323841/jude-law-became-obsessive-putin-watcher-role-russian-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Aug 2025 21:07:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thousands of people protested on Saturday against Israel’s siege of Gaza on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival, seeking to move the spotlight from movie drama to real-world trauma. Organised by left-wing political groups in northeast Italy, the demonstration began in the early evening a few kilometres from the festival where top Hollywood talent from George Clooney and Julia Roberts to Emma Stone have walked the red carpet in recent days. The protesters, whose numbers Agence France-Presse... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3323787/thousands-protest-against-israeli-siege-gaza-near-venice-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3323787/thousands-protest-against-israeli-siege-gaza-near-venice-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Aug 2025 19:13:34 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 4.5/5 stars “In seeking life, I created death.” So says Oscar Isaac’s unhinged Victor Frankenstein in Guillermo del Toro’s magnificently crafted take on Mary Shelley’s 1818 Gothic masterpiece. This “modern Prometheus” tale, to borrow from Shelley’s subtitle, has been told many times on film, with varied results. But unquestionably, Del Toro’s version is the most beautiful, perhaps the most definitive. Premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival, Frankenstein begins near the end, as... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3323576/venice-2025-frankenstein-movie-review-guillermo-del-toros-definitive-monster-tale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3323576/venice-2025-frankenstein-movie-review-guillermo-del-toros-definitive-monster-tale?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Aug 2025 16:50:07 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 2.5/5 stars “It happened at Yale.” So reads the caption in Luca Guadagnino’s slickly packaged, often exasperating After the Hunt, the tale of a philosophy professor caught in the crossfire of a sexual assault case. Julia Roberts is Alma Imhoff, first seen hosting a drinks party alongside her husband Fredrik (Michael Stuhlbarg), with PhD student Maggie (The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri) in attendance. When Maggie leaves, she does so with the flirtatious professor Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield). But later... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3323604/venice-2025-after-hunt-movie-review-julia-roberts-luca-guadagninos-muddled-tale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3323604/venice-2025-after-hunt-movie-review-julia-roberts-luca-guadagninos-muddled-tale?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 16:50:08 +0000 Mădălina Ghenea, the Romanian model turned House of Gucci actress, is working hard to capture audiences’ attention beyond what’s written about her in the tabloids. From model to actress The 37-year-old actress began her career at 15, modelling across Europe. Throughout her modelling career she appeared in campaigns for brands including Peroni beer and for the long-standing German mail-order catalogue Quelle. Despite finding success as a model in Europe, Japan and South Africa, Ghenea had... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3302700/meet-madalina-ghenea-romanian-model-and-actress-rise-after-bit-parts-house-gucci-lady-gaga-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3302700/meet-madalina-ghenea-romanian-model-and-actress-rise-after-bit-parts-house-gucci-lady-gaga-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Mar 2025 20:00:10 +0000 When speaking of rising new actors in the film and TV industry, few are as babygirl-coded as, well, Babygirl star Harris Dickinson. Helmed by Bodies Bodies Bodies director Halina Reijn, the recently released erotic thriller stars the fresh-faced 28-year-old as an intern who engages in a steamy affair with his much older and more powerful CEO, played by Nicole Kidman. The film, which also stars Hollywood heavyweights Antonio Banderas and Jean Reno, made its world premiere at the Venice Film... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3291708/meet-harris-dickinson-who-stars-babygirl-nicole-kidman-and-antonio-banderas-and-steve-mcqueens-blitz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3291708/meet-harris-dickinson-who-stars-babygirl-nicole-kidman-and-antonio-banderas-and-steve-mcqueens-blitz?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Dec 2024 20:00:11 +0000 Douglas Parkes Douglas Parkes If China’s rise is one of the biggest economic feats of the past half-century, Jia Zhangke is likely its most important chronicler. The Chinese filmmaker, now 54, has spent his career documenting the economic lift-off of his homeland, and the social changes that have taken place as a consequence. This approach has earned Jia numerous awards, most notably the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion in 2006 for Still Life. Despite such acclaim, however, in 2008, New York Times film critic Manohla... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3290315/how-director-jia-zhangke-captures-chinas-economic-rise-his-gritty-films?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3290315/how-director-jia-zhangke-captures-chinas-economic-rise-his-gritty-films?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2024 10:15:09 +0000 It is 40 years since 1984, the year in which George Orwell’s prophetic dystopian book was set, but the world the British writer predicted, where privacy had all but evaporated and Big Brother was watching, seems ever closer. At the recent Venice International Film Festival, Asian filmmakers tackled the subject of surveillance with intriguing results. “I mean, we’re living in a moment now … I think a lot of films need to deal with this reality, right?” suggested Yeo Siew Hua, the Singaporean... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3278833/surveillance-singapore-japan-and-trump-led-us-tackled-films-venice-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3278833/surveillance-singapore-japan-and-trump-led-us-tackled-films-venice-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Sep 2024 08:15:09 +0000 Antonio Banderas and his much younger girlfriend Nicole Kimpel looked chic as ever when they attended the Venice Amfar Gala together on September 1. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nicole Banderas (@nickykim2807) The 64-year-old Spanish actor went for a dapper suit, while his 43-year-old partner stunned in a floor-length nude-coloured dress and gold sandals, as seen in photos from the event. The duo have been dating for 10 years, and often turn... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3277968/who-antonio-banderas-german-former-banker-girlfriend-nicole-kimpel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3277968/who-antonio-banderas-german-former-banker-girlfriend-nicole-kimpel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:00:22 +0000 Amid the quaint strains of swing music, the camera follows William Lee (played by Daniel Craig) into a bar, capturing a close shot of him downing a shot before shifting focus to Eugene Allerton (played by Drew Starkey), where their eyes meet. This moment marks the beginning of their interaction in Queer – and it won’t be their last. Set in 1940s Mexico City, the film adaptation of the 1985 novel follows their evolving relationship and features intimate scenes between the outcast American expat... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3277805/meet-drew-starkey-rising-star-sharing-intimate-scenes-daniel-craig-queer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3277805/meet-drew-starkey-rising-star-sharing-intimate-scenes-daniel-craig-queer?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Sep 2024 22:00:14 +0000 With the 81st Venice Film Festival parading Hollywood’s finest – including Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt and George Clooney – it felt like a return to normality after 2023’s SAG-AFTRA strike, which meant the stars were largely absent from the red carpet that year. This year, however, journalists were up in arms over the decision of many studios to not hold press junkets for movies both in and out of competition, a worrying development for many freelancers. The heat that caused felt apt... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277792/venice-2024-10-festivals-best-films-room-next-door-brutalist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277792/venice-2024-10-festivals-best-films-room-next-door-brutalist?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Sep 2024 20:15:08 +0000 Hollywood star Nicole Kidman is mourning the loss of her mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, who died at the age of 84 on Saturday. Fans received the unfortunate news soon after the Australian actress did, as she had to leave the Venice Film Festival before she was able to accept her best actress award for her role in thriller Babygirl. Halina Reijn, the film’s director, conveyed Kidman’s message to fans as she accepted the award on her behalf. “Today, I arrived in Venice to find out shortly after,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3277790/who-nicole-kidmans-sister-antonia-who-switched-careers-her-40s-and-has-6-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3277790/who-nicole-kidmans-sister-antonia-who-switched-careers-her-40s-and-has-6-children?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Sep 2024 20:00:10 +0000 3/5 stars It feels like a long time since “Beat Takeshi” Kitano won Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Hana-bi back in 1997. Since that high point, his career has wildly undulated, hitting a self-referential low point with his ultra violent Outrage trilogy, made between 2010 and 2017. Now aged 77 and working with streamer Amazon for the first time, he delivers the short and sweet Broken Rage, a 62-minute doodle that returns Kitano to his more comic roots. Playing out of completion at the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277463/venice-2024-broken-rage-movie-review-takeshi-kitanos-deliciously-meta-yakuza-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277463/venice-2024-broken-rage-movie-review-takeshi-kitanos-deliciously-meta-yakuza-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2024 15:30:08 +0000 4.5/5 stars A young man wheels his brightly coloured SpongeBob suitcase along the grey corridors of an imposing concrete block. A toddler stands wailing in a courtyard. A machinist, cigarette hanging from his mouth, rips through dozens of garments in minutes. Lads lark around letting off firecrackers in a field. These are just some of the images captured in Wang Bing’s latest illuminating documentary Youth (Homecoming). Shot between 2014 and 2019, this serves as a follow-up to his extraordinary... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277465/venice-2024-youth-homecoming-movie-review-riveting-look-chinas-migrant-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277465/venice-2024-youth-homecoming-movie-review-riveting-look-chinas-migrant-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2024 12:30:15 +0000 3.5/5 stars Voyeurism and surveillance take centre stage in Singapore director Yeo Siew Hua’s slow-burning film. Unveiled in the competition strand of this year’s Venice International Film Festival, Stranger Eyes can sit comfortably alongside such classic voyeuristic thrillers as Rear Window, Blow Up and The Conversation, even if it never quite touches any of those masterpieces. A film that unfolds gradually, you would be hard-pressed to call it a thriller; an anti-thriller might be more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277206/venice-2024-stranger-eyes-movie-review-unsettling-singaporean-drama-about-surveillance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277206/venice-2024-stranger-eyes-movie-review-unsettling-singaporean-drama-about-surveillance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Sep 2024 20:30:07 +0000 4/5 stars Joaquin Phoenix returns to the role that won him an Oscar and gave him the biggest hit of his career in Joker: Folie à Deux. Playing in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where 2019’s Joker won the prestigious Golden Lion, this sequel upends the comic-book movie even more than its predecessor. Director Todd Phillips takes the brave decision to turn this into a Hollywood musical. Yes, you read that right: Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck sings old standards, the clown turning crooner. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277320/venice-2024-movie-review-joker-folie-deux-puts-joaquin-phoenix-lady-gaga-musical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277320/venice-2024-movie-review-joker-folie-deux-puts-joaquin-phoenix-lady-gaga-musical?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Sep 2024 08:15:27 +0000 3/5 stars American author William Burroughs’ lurid, experimental novels are notoriously difficult to adapt and not exactly conducive to great cinema. David Cronenberg managed it with 1991’s Naked Lunch. Now, Luca Guadagnino takes on Queer, which was written in the early 1950s but was not published until 1985. Premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival, Queer is a faithful, authentic dive into Burroughs’ universe, albeit one that struggles to maintain interest over a protracted... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277104/venice-2024-queer-movie-review-daniel-craig-shines-luca-guadagninos-steamy-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3277104/venice-2024-queer-movie-review-daniel-craig-shines-luca-guadagninos-steamy-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2024 02:23:19 +0000 Actress Sigourney Weaver turned heads as she arrived at the Venice International Film Festival hand in hand with her lookalike child, Shar Simpson. Weaver wore a shimmering sequinned black top and velvet skirt to the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premiere at the film festival last week. She was also awarded the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the event. Shar, 34, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, coordinated with their mother in a flattering black dress. Weaver may have won... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3276959/who-shar-actress-sigourney-weavers-non-binary-kid-alien-stars-only-child-jim-simpson-author-adjunct?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3276959/who-shar-actress-sigourney-weavers-non-binary-kid-alien-stars-only-child-jim-simpson-author-adjunct?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2024 22:00:11 +0000 4/5 stars After a career stretching back 50 years, Pedro Almodóvar finally makes his feature debut in English with The Room Next Door. Spain’s premier director has clearly been building up to this feat; last year, he delivered his second short film in English, the gay-themed Western Strange Way of Life. This take on Sigrid Nunez’s book What Are You Going Through, premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival, goes a step further. Almodóvar devotees can rest assured that his unique... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276934/venice-2024-room-next-door-movie-review-pedro-almodovars-english-feature-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276934/venice-2024-room-next-door-movie-review-pedro-almodovars-english-feature-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2024 02:34:52 +0000 4/5 stars At the beginning of Elizabeth Lo’s absorbing and often painful-to-watch documentary, a caption informs us that in China, professionals can be hired to intervene in the midst of marital discord and break up an ongoing affair. All those featured in Mistress Dispeller, which premiered today in the Orrizonti section at the Venice Film Festival, agreed to be filmed, which feels a little strange given the covert nature of the operation here. You are left wondering what was said to them. Mrs... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276887/venice-2024-mistress-dispeller-movie-review-documentarys-unique-look-love-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276887/venice-2024-mistress-dispeller-movie-review-documentarys-unique-look-love-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Sep 2024 12:15:08 +0000 2.5/5 stars Premiering in a midnight slot out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, this latest film from Japanese cult director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Wife of a Spy) is a thriller for the eBay generation. Cloud centres on Yoshii (Masaki Suda), a young man working in a dry-cleaning plant with get-rich-quick dreams. His plan of action? Buy goods at knock-down prices and sell them online. He begins by purchasing 30 “electrical therapy machines” from a desperate vendor and watches these medical... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276713/venice-2024-cloud-movie-review-kiyoshi-kurosawa-thriller-takes-aim-online-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276713/venice-2024-cloud-movie-review-kiyoshi-kurosawa-thriller-takes-aim-online-business?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2024 14:37:54 +0000 4/5 stars Just as he did for his earlier biopics Jackie and Spencer, Pablo Larraín picks a moment in time to focus on the legendary opera singer Maria Callas. In this case, it is the week leading up to September 16th, 1977, when she died of a heart attack aged 53. Her voice long since in decline, Callas (Angelina Jolie) lives alone in Paris, in her luxury flat, with just her dogs and her housemaid, Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher), and her butler Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino), for company. Maria,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276489/venice-2024-maria-movie-review-angelina-jolie-shines-delicate-opera-singer-biopic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276489/venice-2024-maria-movie-review-angelina-jolie-shines-delicate-opera-singer-biopic?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Aug 2024 01:46:37 +0000 3/5 stars “Death is hard,” Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) complains in Tim Burton’s long-time-coming sequel to his 1988 fantasy-comedy Beetlejuice. Certainly there’s plenty of it in this light-to-the-touch tale, starting with the funeral of Lydia’s father, Charles, who has died in a bizarre plane crash/shark attack. Lydia, a psychic mediator with her own ghost-hunting TV show, must return to Winter River to bury him. The quaint town where she grew up, it’s also the place where she encountered... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276399/venice-2024-beetlejuice-beetlejuice-movie-review-tim-burton-revisits-his-fantasy-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3276399/venice-2024-beetlejuice-beetlejuice-movie-review-tim-burton-revisits-his-fantasy-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2024 08:17:08 +0000 Over the past decade, China has seen the rise of a peculiar profession: the mistress dispeller. Hired by clients with unfaithful husbands or wives, a dispeller’s job is simple in theory but complicated in practice: to break up the cheating partner and their lover so that the marriage can stay intact without the presence of a third party. It is a phenomenon increasingly evident in Chinese cities, where the growth of the economy is seemingly mirrored in the increasing rates of infidelity. Yet,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3275182/mistress-dispeller-chinese-documentary-venice-2024-sheds-light-peculiar-profession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3275182/mistress-dispeller-chinese-documentary-venice-2024-sheds-light-peculiar-profession?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Aug 2024 01:45:09 +0000 When Malaysian filmmaker Chong Keat Aun was young, his grandmother would make sure that he came home on time at night by warning him of a mysterious “513”. “She’d say, ‘You better come home quickly. If you don’t come home and 513 happens again, you’ll lose your lives,’” Chong says. “As children, we only knew it as three numbers, so it was almost like this weird monster.” Years later, he would discover that 513 referred to the darkest day in Malaysia’s history: May 13, 1969. On that day,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3261692/why-film-malaysian-historys-darkest-day-snow-midsummer-about-deadly-1969-sectarian-riots-was-so-hard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3261692/why-film-malaysian-historys-darkest-day-snow-midsummer-about-deadly-1969-sectarian-riots-was-so-hard?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2024 10:15:14 +0000 Last week, news broke that celebrated Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien has been forced to retire from filmmaking because of his ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s disease. This means the director’s long-gestating project Shulan River, which looked set to reunite Hou with Shu Qi and Chang Chen, lead actors in several of his films, will no longer move forward. Born in Guangdong, southern China, in 1947, Hou emigrated to Taiwan with his family the following year. Widely regarded as the greatest... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3239791/ranked-10-best-films-taiwanese-director-hou-hsiao-hsien-who-retiring-because-alzheimers-millennium?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3239791/ranked-10-best-films-taiwanese-director-hou-hsiao-hsien-who-retiring-because-alzheimers-millennium?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Nov 2023 08:15:13 +0000 It is shaping up to be quite the year for Zhang Yimou, a leading light of China’s fifth generation of filmmakers. Zhang began 2023 with Full River Red, a historical murder mystery starring Jackson Yee and Shen Tang, set at the beginning of the Song dynasty (960-1279). Released during the Lunar New Year holiday, the film proved a box-office behemoth, raking in more than US$670 million to become the year’s biggest domestic hit to date. Just eight months later, Zhang, who turns 72 in November, has... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3238328/ranked-10-best-films-chinese-director-zhang-yimou-one-second-and-hero-raise-red-lantern-and-red?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3238328/ranked-10-best-films-chinese-director-zhang-yimou-one-second-and-hero-raise-red-lantern-and-red?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Oct 2023 03:15:13 +0000 Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who was recently accorded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival, is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and versatile actors to have emerged from Hong Kong cinema. Leung has come a long way from his humble beginnings playing extras on TVB dramas and hosting children’s programmes, to becoming one of the most recognisable Hong Kong faces globally. He has starred in everything from comedies and romances to art-house dramas and epic war films. Undeniably... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3235683/5-ways-tony-leung-got-character-thanks-his-costumes-hong-kong-legend-donned-slick-suits-wong-kar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3235683/5-ways-tony-leung-got-character-thanks-his-costumes-hong-kong-legend-donned-slick-suits-wong-kar?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Sep 2023 05:00:19 +0000 The 80th Venice Film Festival will always be remembered as the one where the red carpets were largely shorn of A-list actors, thanks to the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors’ Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. Unsurprisingly, it was the main topic of conversation, from jury president Damien Chazelle wearing a T-shirt in sympathy with the striking screenwriters at the opening press conference, to Peter Sarsgaard collecting his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3234151/venice-film-festival-2023-10-best-movies-golden-lion-winner-poor-things-starring-emma-stone-bradley?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3234151/venice-film-festival-2023-10-best-movies-golden-lion-winner-poor-things-starring-emma-stone-bradley?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:15:10 +0000