Brendan Fraser's teary ovation, critics pan Olivia Wilde's latest project. Here's what's happening at Venice Film Festival 2022
Brendan Fraser (left) received a standing ovation for his role in The Whale. (Reuters: Yara Nardi)
The 79th Venice Film Festival kicked off last week with the revered event premiering some of the most highly anticipated films of 2022.
Here's what's happened so far.
Viva La Brenaissance!
Brendan Fraser's Hollywood renaissance is in full swing at the 2022 Venice Film Festival with the release of his new film The Whale.
Fraser enjoyed a 6-minute standing ovation at the premiere of the Darren Aronofsky-directed drama.
Video from the premiere showed a teary-eyed Fraser attempting to leave the stage before being pulled back for more accolades.
Based on a Samuel Hunter play of the same name, The Whale follows the life of a 270-kilogram man as he attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Fraser wore elaborate prosthetics to embody the main character of Charlie.
Buzz is already being generated that Fraser and his co-star Sadie Sink could score Oscar nominations for their performances.
Brendan Fraser with director Darren Aronofsky in Venice. (Reuters: Yara Nardi)
Harry Styles dominated Don't Worry Darling's press conference
Olivia Wilde's second directorial effort Don't Worry Darling has been plagued with scandal during the long lead-up to its Venice premiere.
Starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, the film has been overshadowed by rumours about Wilde and Styles after the director split from her husband, Jason Sudeikis.
At the start of the week, Pugh revealed that she would not be able to make it to the film's Venice press conference due to shooting conflicts.
Chief film critic for The Times Kevin Maher complained of Styles dominating the conference and the MC banning reporters from asking questions regarding Pugh's absence.
Pugh was, however, able to fly into the festival just in time to walk the red carpet.
Early reviews of Don't Worry Darling have been mediocre, with the film sitting at 39 per cent approval on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The cast of Don't Worry Darling, including Chris Pine and Gemma Chan pose on the red carpet with director Olivia Wilde (centre). (Reuters: Guglielmo Mangiapane)
Timothée Chalamet shocks with back and bones
To no-one's surprise, Timothée Chalamet made his first impact on the Venice Film Festival red carpet, sporting a completely backless Haider Ackermann halter top.
Timothée Chalamet showed "bones and all" in the plunging Haider Ackermann piece. (Reuters: Yara Nardi)
His second impact was in the theatre for the premiere of his new film Bones and All, where he received a 9-minute standing ovation.
Pegged as a "cannibal love story", Bones and All follows two enamoured young people (Chalamet and co-star Taylor Russell) as they travel across the US eating people.
Bones and All co-stars Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. (Reuters: Guglielmo Mangiapane)
The film marks the first time Chalamet and director Luca Guadagnino have worked together since 2017's Call Me By Your Name, which co-starred Armie Hammer.
Hammer faded from public life in 2021 after several women accused the actor of abusive behaviour, which he has denied.
Emanuele Crialese shares film and personal story
Award-winning Italian director Emanuele Crialese revealed that he had been assigned female at birth as he presented his highly autobiographical movie L'immensità, starring Penélope Cruz.
Director Emanuele Crialese said L'immensità was inspired by his "own story". (AP: Vianney Le Caer)
L'immensità focuses on an Italian family growing up in 1970s Rome, where the eldest daughter identifies as a boy, throwing fuel onto already tense relations between her mother, played by Cruz, and her abusive, unfaithful father.
"It is inspired by my childhood and my own story," said Crialese, whose last film, Terraferma, won the Special Jury Price at Venice in 2011.
"I was born biologically a woman, but that does not mean that I don't have in me a huge part [that is a] female character. That is probably the best part of me," he said, speaking publicly for the first time about his transition.
"At a certain point, I had to make a choice … of whether to live or to die. You don't choose to make that sort of journey. You are born that way," he added.
The 2022 Venice Film Festival will continue until Saturday, September 10.
ABC/Reuters