2025 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The 2025 Venice International Film Festival will be held from August 27th to September 6th at the Venice Lido in Italy. For its eighty-second year, "La grazia (The Grace)", from the acclaimed Italian filmmaker, Paolo Sorrentino, has been selected to open the fest. Little has been revealed about this drama making it's world premiere but Toni Servillo, who starred in the director's Oscar-winning film, "The Great Beauty", appears in what has been described as the final days of a fictional Italian presidency.

The American filmmaker, Alexander Payne will be this year's Jury President to select the prize winners in the Main Competition with French filmmaker, Stéphane Brizé; Italian filmmaker, Maura Delpero; Romanian filmmaker, Cristian Mungiu; Iranian filmmaker, Mohammad Rasoulof; Brazilian actress, Fernanda Torres and Chinese actress, Zhao Tao filling out the rest of the jury.

Some of the films selected for the main competition includes the latest works by an impressive collection of international filmmakers: Yorgos Lanthimos ("Bugonia"), Jim Jarmusch ("Father Mother Sister Brother"), Guillermo del Toro ("Frankenstein"), Kathryn Bigelow ("A House of Dynamite"), Noah Baumbach ("Jay Kelly"), Park Chan-wook ("No Other Choice"), Benny Safdie ("The Smashing Machine"), Ildikó Enyedi ("Silent Friend"), François Ozon ("L'Étranger (The Stranger)") and Olivier Assayas ("The Wizard of the Kremlin").













The Closing Night film will be "Chien 51 (Dog 51)" by French director, Cédric Jimenez. This sci-fi thriller set in a future society where their leader is assassinated with a top agent (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and a jaded cop (Gilles Lellouche) are forced to work together to solve the murder.

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement will be given this year to the provocative German filmmaker, Werner Herzog and legendary American actress, Kim Novak. Herzog's new documentary, "Ghost Elephants", which follows a mysterious herd of ghost elephants in the jungles of Angola, will make its premiere out of competition. And The Glory to the Filmmaker, an award dedicated to personalities who have made a significant contribution to contemporary cinema, will be given to American painter and filmmaker, Julian Schnabel with his latest film, "In the Hand of Dante" (starring Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler) screening at Venice out of competition.

DOUBLE LOVER (L’AMANT DOUBLE) (2018)

Written & Directed by François Ozon



Where & When:  Laemmle Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena. CA. February 20, 2018  1:30 PM



Since 1988, France's François Ozon has had a long history of creating films with intricate stories that upend convention with a nervy wit and, more often than not, erotically-charged situations. His last feature, "Frantz", a beautifully rendered black & white, World War I set mystery, was an unexpected change of pace for the film maker with it's surprising tasteful restraint and unhurried pace. But with "Double Lover (L'amant Double)", Ozon appears like he was ready to get down and dirty again. This carnal thriller is reminiscent of his early days with work that featured controversial subject-matter and wildly provocative imagery. And while there is a higher level of precision and style, the film offers a kinky love story that delivers plenty of steamy atmosphere yet very little real heat.

Marine Vacth (a model who first worked with Ozon on his 2013 feature, "Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie)") plays a young woman named Chloé who has been suffering from abdominal pain for a long period of time. After seeing a gynecologist, it's determined that it may be psychological. Chloé is referred to a therapist, Paul Mayer (Jérémie Renier, another actor who has appeared previously in the director's films including "Potiche" from 2010) and their sessions lead to her finding relief from her physical pain by exposing her emotional distress. And while hardly a professional or ethical move, Paul confesses he has fallen in love with her and she admits that she's become smitten with him. They soon move in together and fall comfortably in to domestic bliss.

The relationship takes a sharp turn when Chloé sees Paul on the street with another woman when he said he was going to work. She confronts him later but he claims it wasn't him and she's mistaken. Unwilling to accept this answer, Chloé decides to investigate and returns to the location. She discovers a man named Louis Delord who looks exactly like Paul and is also a psychoanalyst. But this man's behavior is antagonistic and a bit sadistic which she finds repulsive yet also draws her closer to him. As she further investigates Paul's mysterious past and the connection between these two men, Chloé begins to slowly unravel, questioning what is real and what is just her imagination.

What began as a story of a fragile young woman who finds intimacy and trust from a devoted lover turns in to a twisted nightmare of lust and deception through the mirror image of the same man. Ozon knows how to keep the tension on high throughout "Double Lover", leaving us off-balanced, confused and aroused as Chloé. Delighted to push the boundaries of taste and sexuality, the director doesn't fail to do that here. That includes a close-up of an open vulva artfully dissolving in to an eye and a rough encounter with a strap-on dildo. Although Ozon has crafted a titillating drama enhanced by the exquisite camera work by Manuel Dacosse, some of the narrative can feel strained while the conclusion is slightly unclear which isn't the most effective way to wrap up a mystery.

The incendiary connection between our two very attractive leads is thrilling to behold. As we watch her character's grip on reality loosen and her erotic fantasies become more vivid, Ms Vacth's performance is riveting. Mr Renier, in dual roles, is equally adept in playing the sensitive lover as he is in displaying the darker side of the other. And the wonderful Jacqueline Bisset makes a welcome appearance with a brief yet effective cameo as a mysterious woman who may have the answer to the mystery surrounding the two therapists. Much like he did for Charlotte Rampling when he placed her with lead roles in his features, "Under The Sand" and "Swimming Pool" that helped revitalize her career, Mr. Ozon should provide that same opportunity for the undervalued Ms Bisset.

While the Time's Up movement has rolled up to the European shores, they have expressed a different opinion on what is considered sexual harassment and harmless flirting. Some of the aggressive acts of seduction between Chloé and the bad twin could be dismissed as decidedly "French". Still, others may view these scenes as disturbing and off-putting but that only adds to the unsettling mood the director has created.

With “Double Lover”, Mr. Ozon was aiming for the sophistication and intrigue of a Hitchcock thriller. And there are moments that are dazzlingly sleek and seductive yet the film tends to share more in common with an overheated homage by DePalma.

HIDEAWAY (LE REFUGE) (2010)

Written by Francois Ozon & Mathieu Hippeau



Directed by Francois Ozon



Where & When: Laemmle's Sunset 5, West Hollywood, CA. September 18, 2010  7:45 PM



Francois Ozon, the French writer/director, is absolutely one of my all-time favorite filmmakers. He is responsible for such noteworthy films as "Criminal Lovers" (1999), "Under The Sand" (2000), "8 Femmes" (2002) and one of his biggest hits here in the U.S., "Swimming Pool" (2003). Like his Spanish counterpart, Almodovar, he is a gay artist who is well known for his sharp wit, macabre sense of humor and sexually-charged movies. His latest is, "Hideaway" which like his last few films, (also like Almodovar) continues to be more mature, subdued and reflective than we are used to seeing in his earlier work.

Mousse (Isabelle Carre) and Louis (Melvil Poupaud) are two young lovers who are also heroin addicts. After their dealer drops off the drugs, the couple shoots up and everything appears to fine. The next day, Louis's mother (Claire Vernet) enters the loft, unaware that the couple have been staying there, to show to a potential renter. She discovers her son, slumped over on the floor from a drug overdose. Later, Mousse awakens in the hospital, strapped to the bed. The doctor tells her that she is lucky to be alive since they were given a bad dose of the heroin but Louis did not survive. He also informs her that she is pregnant.

After Louis's funeral, his mother makes it clear that she does not want Mousse to keep this baby. At first, Mousse agrees with her but later she decides to get on methadone and have the child. She goes off to an acquaintance's deserted country home to have the baby in peace.

Months later, Louis' younger brother, Paul (Louis-Ronan Choisy) pays Mousse a visit at the house. He is stopping on his way to a trip to Spain and wants to get to know her better. Since Louis was estranged from his family, she doesn't know any thing about them except that they are wealthy so she allows Paul to stay a few days. Since Paul is gay, she doesn't feel threatened by allowing a virtual stranger to stay at the house but she is also curious to find out more about him.

At first, Mousse is suspicious of Paul and his true motivation for this visit but soon she warms up to him. Since they both had Louis in common, through each other they discover things about him that they never knew. Mousse and Paul share meals together, hang out at the beach and Paul even takes her to a gay bar. They grow close and soon their friendship develops into something much deeper and intimate.

And that is pretty much the story and if it doesn't sound like much--well, it isn't. Although "Hideaway" is tastefully made and has nice performances from attractive actors, it never rises above a fairly routine drama. The dialogue is spare but unremarkable and it's not clear in what is trying to be said with this story. I know that as filmmakers get older, the need to be shocking and provocative tends to be curbed somewhat but this is one film that would have benefited greatly by Mr. Ozon going much darker and shoving some kinky sexuality in the faces of the audience. The only surprise twist in the film is an implausible action that occurs between two characters that almost completely ruined the film for me but I'll let it slide. I was looking forward to seeing "Hideaway" because I am such an admirer of  Mr. Ozon's work and although this film is a big disappointment to me, I am still very much a fan.