George Lanthimos, with his work, Poor Things, is the first Greek director to win the Venice Biennale Film Festival. He had already received other awards from the Festival, as had the director, a symbol of Greek cinema, Thodoros Angelopoulos. Not, however, the top prize, in Galinotati. According to commentators, this is a “universal” award, given with the consent of the entire jury.

“A work with fantastic and terrifying beings, but also with a great weight on the path of emancipation of a woman, two centuries ago“, writes the newspaper La Repubblica. Bella Baxter (played by the beautiful Emma Stone whom Lanthimos had already directed in The Favored One) is a girl who is brought back to life thanks to an unorthodox scientist, played by Willem Dafoe. He creates a noble Frankenstein, with a young girl’s body and way of thinking of a girl, who in his journey around the world will discover freedom,” adds the Rome newspaper.

“Based on true cinematic values”

Italian commentators recall that the star of Poor Thing, Emma Stone, in 2017 was awarded, in Venice, for the best female performance in the project La La Land, before winning the Oscar. Something that creates optimism for the next award ceremony from the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts. As the newspaper Corriere della Sera underlines, “it is one of the few times that the forecasts of the stay have been confirmed at the Venice award ceremony”. Which shows that “the jury was guided by real, cinematic values, and not social media platitudes.”

“The unruly Greek, who turns fifty in two weeks, won. Definitely, a nice way to celebrate,” adds Corriere. Everyone reminds, finally, that the play that won the Golden Lion was presented in Venice only by Giorgos Lanthimos, because all its actors decided to take part in the strike of American performers and screenwriters.