Gus Van Sant’s thriller/dark comedy Dead Man’s Wire had its world premiere out of competition Tuesday evening at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a 13 1/2-minute ovation that included chants of “Gus, Gus, Gus” at the Sala Grande.
Ahead of the screening, the Good Will Hunting, Elephant and Milk filmmaker received the Campari Passion for Film Award, which was created “to honor the talent, dedication and bold artistic vision of those who transform passion into a driving creative force.”
After the lights went up on the pic, the film’s co-star Colman Domingo says “That’s for you Gus” and held up his director’s hand in a winner’s pose.
Starring Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Myha’la, Al Pacino, Cary Elwes and Domingo, Dead Man’s Wire is based on a true story and follows a former real estate developer who takes the mortgage banker who did him wrong hostage, demanding $5 million and a personal apology. The screenplay is by Austin Kolodney.
In his review, Deadline’s Pete Hammond wrote that for Van Sant, “this is a solid return to features after a few critical misses and a successful turn directing several episodes of the acclaimed limited series, Capote Vs The Swans. If it isn’t on the level of some of the great director’s top tier films… it is pretty impressive on an indie scale and low budget… This is a worthy film and is looking for distribution.”
Of the players, Hammond commented that Skarsgård “delivers a completely convincing and dedicated performance… Montgomery is also excellent as his victim, a man trying to survive a horrendous situation, and also dealing with a father (Pacino) who isn’t going to help… Also impressive as always is Domingo who is in for a few scenes, and Myha’La who makes the most of her role as a reporter who sees this as her ticket to bigger things.”
At a press conference earlier today, Van Sant was queried about the sense of powerlessness and frustration among many people today and the film’s relevance despite its period setting. He said, “The kinds of Luigi Mangione moments in our history happened right after we started. So, like halfway through prep, we realized, ‘Oh, there’s things happening,’ and the election happened as well. ‘Things are kind of dovetailing into our own project.’”
He added that the events did not affect the script or tone but said: “We just kept going, telling our story. It probably affected us as we made it, but we didn’t change anything.”
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