‘Pieta,’ ‘The Master’ Win Top Venice Prizes – Jury Shifts Votes

A South Korean film, “Pieta,” took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday while Paul Thomas Anderson took the Silver Lion for “The Master"

A South Korean film, “Pieta,” took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday while Paul Thomas Anderson took the Silver Lion for “The Master" as the awards got underway amid shifting jury votes.

An individual close to the awards told TheWrap that "The Master" had taken four awards in Venice, including Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, and that the jury decided not to give the Golden Lion to the Paul Thomas Anderson film so as not to disqualify it from the other awards.

The Golden Lion instead went to Korean director (pictured) Kim Ki-Duk's "Pieta."

Also read: Toronto Film Fest Day 2: Ben Affleck Flies Commercial, Paul Thomas Anderson Gets Creepy

The individual said the jury led by American director Michael Mann intended to award the Golden Lion to "The Master," but that would have disqualified the film from the other awards, which included a critics award and top acting prize to Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays the title role.

The much-anticipated movie about a charismatic, cult-like leader modelled after Scientology's L. Ron Hubbard debuted at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday night and screened again on Saturday to admiring comments but mixed reactions from indie film veterans.

Reviews have been mainly positive if tinged with circumspection for the much-respected Anderson.

The Guardian wrote: "It is a movie that may alienate and exasperate some, but its audacity, its formal daring and Joaquin Phoenix's performance, make it simply unmissable."

"'The Master' is undeniably impressive, and undeniably confounding," wrote TheWrap's Steve Pond, and as Time's Richard Corliss noted, "The problem with 'The Master' is that it doesn't extend or expand Anderson's artistic journey."

The Weinstein Company, which is releasing the film this fall, made a daring choice to unveil the film both at Venice and in Toronto.

Here is the full list of Venice winners:

Golden Lion (Best Picture)
"Pieta,"Kim-Ki Duk

Silver Lion (Best Director)
Ulrich Seidl – "Paradise: Faith"

Volpi Cup – Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix & Philip Seymour Hoffman – "The Master"

Volpi Cup – Best Actress
Hadas Yaron – "Fill The Void"

Special Jury Award
Paul Thomas Anderson – "The Master"

Mastroianni Award – Best Young Actor
Fabrizio Falcone – "Dormant Beauty," "It Was The Son"

Best Screenplay
Olivier Assayas – "Something In The Air"

Technical Achievement
Daniele Cipri – "Il Stato E Figlio,"

Luigi De Laurentiis Award (Best First Feature)
"Kuf: Mold," Ali Aydin

Orrizonti: Best Feature
"Three Sisters," Wang Bing

Orrizonti: Jury Prize
"Tango Libre," Frederic Fonteyne

FIPRESCI Award (Competition)
"The Master," Paul Thomas Anderson

FIPRESCI Award (Orizzonti/Critics' Week)
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Constanzo

SIGNIS Award
"To the Wonder," Terrence Malick

SIGNIS Award (Special Mention)
"Fill the Void," Rama Burshtein

Audience Award (Critics' Week)
"Eat Sleep Die," Gabriela Pilcher

Label Europa Cinemas Award
"Crawl," Herve Lasgouttes

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award (Cinema for UNICEF mention)
"It Was the Son," Daniele Cipri

Pasinetti Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Constanzo

Pasinetti Award (Documentary)
"The Human Cargo," Daniele Vicari

Pasinetti Award (Best Actor)
Valerio Mastandrea, "Gli Equilibristi"

Pasinetti Award (Special)
"Clarisse," Liliana Cavani

Brian Award
"Dormant Beauty," Marco Bellocchio

Queer Lion Award
"The Weight," Jeon Kyu-Hwan

Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Film of Venezia 69)
"The Fifth Season," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth

Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Italian Film)
"The Ideal City," Luigi Lo Casco

Biografilm Lancia Award
"The Human Cargo," Daniele Vicari; "Bad 25," Spike Lee

CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

CICAE Award
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour

CinemaAvvenire Award (Best Film of Venezia 69)
"Paradise: Faith," Ulrich Seidl

CinemAvvenire Award (Diversity)
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour

FEDIC Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

FEDIC Award (Special Mention)
"Bellas Mariposas," Salvatore Mereu

Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award
"Something in the Air," Olivier Assayas

Future Film Festival Digital Award
"Bad 25," Spike Lee

Future Film Festival Digital Award (Special Mention)
"Spring Breakers," Harmony Korine

P. Nazareno Taddei Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk

P. Nazareno Taddei Award (Special Mention)
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza

Magic Lantern Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

Open Award
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford

La Navicella-Venezia Cinema Award
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza

Lina Mangiacapre Award
"Queen of Montreuil," Solveig Anspach

AIF-FORFILMFEST Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

Mouse d'Oro Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk

Mouse d'Argento Award
"Anton's Right Here," Lyubov Arkus

UK-Italy Creative Industries Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

Gillo Pontecorvo-Arcobaleno Latino Award
Laura Delli Colli

Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Award
"Low Tide," Roberto Minervini

Interfilm Award
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour

Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford

Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award (Special Mention)
Toni Servillo

Primio Cinematografico Award
"Terramatta," Costanza Quatriglio

Green Drop Award
"The Fifth Season," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth

 

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