Between late August and early September the Venice Film Festival will screen 21 films all in competition for the festival’s grand prize, the Golden Lion. The festival is part of the Venice Bienalle and is the oldest film festival in the world. It might not have the same respect as Cannes, but it still has an incredible line up of the best cinema has to offer. Oh, and it also has the new film directed by Madonna! W.E is Madonna’s second feature as a director, with Filth and Wisdom being her debut film from 2008. But what’s it about?
W.E tells the story of the love affair between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII. It’s a story we all know, in fact its almost part of British folklore. Edward abdicates, leaving the British throne for an American woman, even more scandalously a divorcee.
In the light of phone hacking scandals and truly horrifying murder sprees, it doesn't sound like much of a story, but it was at the time. Plus what’s more romantic than sacrificing the throne for love? W.E shares Edward and Wallis's story through the eyes of an obsessive fan – a woman obsessed with the legend, who in her determination pieces together parts of their story that no one else knew about. Weaving these two stories together, Madonna has potentially created a fascinating story, of love, obsession and mystery.
W.E won’t be winning any prizes at Venice, because it is screening ‘outside of competition’. This is probably for the best, as this years line-up is truly stellar. First there’s a new version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy starring Gary Oldman and directed by Tomas Alfredson the man behind Let The Right One In. David Cronenberg will screen his new piece about the rivalry between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, entitled A Dangerous Method, starring Viggo Mortensen. There are also new films from the animators that created Persepolis, Todd Solondz’s new picture Dark Horse and the latest from both Steven Soderberg and Roman Polanski.
Celebrities turned directors don’t have the greatest track record with success but that’s not always down to artistic integrity or merit. It’s interesting to see that George Clooney and Al Pacino have both directed films that will also screen at Venice this year.
Say what you like about Madonna, but you cannot deny the woman’s ambition. Critics love to haul her over the coals when she tries to do anything outside of the world of music, unfairly so. Hopefully W.E will prove them wrong. Let’s not forget that Madonna has worked with some of the greatest directors and photographers of the past 25 years, everyone from Herb Ritts to Jean Baptiste Mondino, there’s also her ground breaking work with director David Fincher. Madonna knows what she’s doing, so let’s give her new film a chance.
Warren Beckett works full time as a powerful wizard, but moonlights as an onlinejournalist. He likes talking in the third person. For frequent updates on how his hair looks follow his Twitter @WarrenBeckett
Image via Wikimedia Commons