The attention grabbing film on day number three was "Children of Men", a British pic directed by Mexican helmer Alfonso Cuarón and starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. The film, projected in the special side-bar, ZABALTEGI- PERLAS or "Pearls of the Open Zone", is set in the not too distant future, one generation from now, and presents the possibility that humanity could die out if the last pregnant woman on Earth does not give birth. In the film all females in the world (all ...

With a couple of hours still left to go until the official kick-off of this "Mother of all Film Festivals" activity is feverish along the short stretch of the Lido known as Viale Marconi, the actual location of this oldest of all world film festivals --Now that was rather a mouthful, calling for a bit of elucidation. The first Venice film festival took place way back in 1932 when the Fascist government under Benito Mussolini, taking a page from Lenin, realized that film was a powerful propaganda...

With the festival entering its twilight phase there is no apparent letup in surprises and flashy new films. Three big ones yesterday were Kenneth Branagh's eagerly anticipated world premiere of a new screen version of Mozart's "Magic Flute", Manoel Oliveira's homage to Bunuel's "Belle de Jour", and another bravura turn by Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada". La Streep, (a magnificent 57), the last big star of the week to hit town, held forth in a most interesting press conference in which s...