Guillermo del Toro’s critically adored romantic fantasy takes the top prize from a jury headed by Annette Bening.
VENICE, Italy — “The Shape of Water,” Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s lavish romantic fantasy about the uncanny attraction between a mute Baltimore cleaner and a mysterious aquatic creature, has taken the Golden Lion for best film in Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The Fox Searchlight release prevailed in a diverse international field of 21 features, winning over a jury headed by American actress Annette Bening.
The world’s oldest film festival has crowned some contentious and controversial winners over the years, but this time, the press and the jury are in agreement: “The Shape of Water” was rapturously acclaimed by critics when it unspooled on the festival’s second day, and has been has been firmly installed as a Golden Lion frontrunner ever since. Reviewing the film for Variety, this writer was among the admirers, declaring it “a ravishing, eccentric auteur’s imagining, spilling artistry, empathy and sensuality from every open pore.”
“I believe in life, I believe in love and I believe in cinema,” declared a visibly moved del Toro as he accepted his award to a thundering standing ovation — his first festival honor since “Pan’s Labyrinth” took the 2006 Cannes jury prize. He arrives back on the Lido fresh from the film’s equally warmly received premieres in Telluride and Toronto, which further stoked Academy Awards buzz for his singular passion project. Fox Searchlight will open the film Stateside on Dec. 8, in the thick of awards season.
The festival’s second most prestigious honor, the Grand Jury Prize, went to Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz for “Foxtrot” — his first feature since scooping the Golden Lion for 2009’s autobiographical war drama “Lebanon.” This more expansive work, a tripartite reflection on grief and military culture, was praised by Variety critic Jay Weissberg as “award-winning filmmaking on a fearless level.” It is presently one of five films shortlisted to be Israel’s official Academy Awards submission.
Best Director honors went to Frenchman Xavier Legrand for his first feature “Custody,” a tough-minded examination of a couple’s divorce and its effect on their children, as custody negotiations turn acrimonious. An expansion of sorts on his Oscar-nominated 2013 short film “Just Before Losing Everything,” the film made Legrand the night’s one double winner: From a separate jury, he also nabbed the Lion of the…
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