The runtimes for most of the titles screening at the 82nd Venice Film Festival are starting to pop up. I’ll continue to edit this page as they come along.
It was already mentioned that Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hands of Dante” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” are the lengthiest features at around 2h30 min each. Unless you count Russian master Aleksandr Sokourov’s “Director’s Diary,” an experimental hybrid narrative that clocks in at a whopping 5 hours.
Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” looks set to continue his streak of lengthy features. With a runtime of 140 minutes, it marks yet another ambitious outing from the Korean filmmaker. For context, Park’s last two films have followed a similar pattern. “Decision to Leave” ran 138 minutes, while “The Handmaiden” clocked in at 145 minutes, and 168 in its extended director’s cut.
On the shorter end, if you want to call it that, new films from Yorgos Lanthimos, Kathryn Bigelow, and Jim Jarmusch are expected to come in just under the 120-minute mark, and are, technically speaking, some of the breezier titles screening in competition this year.
Earlier in the week, during the selection announcement, Venice boss Alberto Barbera complained about the lack of discipline modern-day filmmakers have had when it comes to runtimes; Barbera noted that films between 2h15m and 2h30m are becoming the “new international standard,” creating major scheduling headaches for programmers.
He wasn’t kidding. Although no competition film hits the 3-hour mark this year, many of the titles feel dense. Of the 21 films selected to compete for the Golden Lion, only three are under 110 minutes. The result is a lineup of films that will demand much patience from its audience.
“In the Hands of Dante” 2h30
“Frankenstein” 2h29
“Silent Friend” 2h25
“No Other Choice” 2h20
“After the Hunt” 2h19
“Jay Kelly” 2h12
“Orphan” 2h12
“La Grazia” 2h11
“The Testament of Ann Lee” 2h10
“The Smashing Machine” 2h03
“The Wizard of Kremlin” 2h
“The Stranger” 2h
“Nuestra Tierra” 2h
“Bugonia” 1h57
“A House of Dynamite” 1h52
“Father Mother Sister Brother” 1h50
“Dead Man’s Wire” 1h45
Firing back at critics is nothing new, but calling an entire profession “failed artists” who belong "in the bin" is hilarious, and wildly unhinged.