The lineup has been finalised for the Venice Classics section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia, which presents the world premiere screenings of 18 film restorations of masterpieces completed over the past year from film libraries, cultural institutions, and productions around the world.
Festival’s Artistic Director Alberto Barbera declared: “Year after year, the lineup of Venice Classics seeks to pursue even greater openness, celebrating on the one hand the great masterpieces and indisputable masters in the history of cinema, and striving on the other to discover – or rediscover – films and filmmakers who have been ungenerously relegated to the shadows.
The aim is to recapture part of the richness of great cinema, without neglecting attention to its genres, as testified for example by the four Italian films in our selection: starting with a cornerstone of Neorealism such as “Roma ore 11” (Rome 11:00) by Giuseppe De Santis, long since vindicated after being initially underestimated, to a rediscovered gem of Italian genre cinema such as “Lo spettro” (The Ghost) made by Riccardo Freda under the pseudonym of Robert Hampton, and passing through the two different but equally compelling interpretations of Italian-style comedy: “Il magnifico cornuto” (The Magnificent Cuckold) by Antonio Pietrangeli, starring a magnificent Ugo Tognazzi, and “Ti ho sposato per allegria” (I Married You for Fun), the film directed by Luciano Salce who adapted the eponymous novel by Natalia Ginzburg for the screen with Monica Vitti in the lead role. During the restoration process, Cinecittà successfully reintegrated two sequences that had been cut by the censors and were previously thought to be lost.
The same variety of genres and tones may be found in the films from the United States: the quintessential American film genre, the western, is represented by one of its most successful expressions, “3:10 to Yuma” by Delmer Daves, as well as its most unusual and musical rendition directed and orchestrated by Hugo Fregonese in “The Mark of the Renegade.” Jerry Lewis’ comic genius explodes irresistibly in one of his lesser-known but funniest films, “The Delicate Delinquent.” Finally, the film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, “House of Strangers,” a deserving long-overdue re-evaluation, features a remarkable Edward G. Robinson in the role of an Italian-American banker.
“Lolita,” a US and British co-production and one of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpieces, was adapted by the brilliant filmmaker from Vladimir Nabokov’s scandalous novel, with the leading roles entrusted to James Mason and Sue Lyon.
European cinema is equally well represented by Manoel de Oliveira’s first film, “Aniki-Bóbó,” and Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Przypadek” (Blind Chance), which heralded his famous Decalogue. The young Pedro Almodóvar comes back to Venice with the cheeky “Matador,” while the European contingent closes with the return of Marcel Carné’s masterpiece “Le Quai des brumes” (Port of Shadows) starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan, a prize-winner at the 1938 Venice Film Festival.
Shifting our gaze to the East, we meet “Bashú, gharibeh kouchak” (Bashu, the Little Stranger), the film directed in 1989 by Bahram Beyzai, which is one of the most beloved Iranian films by viewers in his home country, traveling eastward into India with “Do Bigha Zamin” (Two Acres of Land) by Bimal Roy, one of the masterpieces of 1950s Indian cinema, with its distinctive Neorealist inspiration.
Finally, the Far East: from Japan come “Kagi” (Odd Obsession) by Kon Ichikawa, a dark and morbid film adapted from Jun’ichirō Tanizaki,’s “The Key,” which some years later inspired Tinto Brass for his eponymous film, and the sumptuous “Kwaidan” by Masaki Kobayashi, which we will see in the uncut version which has never been released before. And lastly, the most recent film in our selection, the extraordinary “Vive l’amour” by the undisputed master filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, which returns to Venice after winning the Golden Lion in 1994.
Director Tommaso Santambrogio (“Taxibol,” “Oceans are the Real Continents”) will chair the Jury of Film Students, which, for the twelfth year – will award the Venice Classics prizes for the respective competitions for Best Restored Film and for the Best Documentary About Cinema. The jury will be chaired by 24 students, each recommended by professors of film studies from various Italian universities, including DAMS and Ca’ Foscari University in Venice.
Venice Classics is the section that, since 2012, has presented at the Venice Film Festival a selection of the best restorations of film classics. Curated by Alberto Barbera with the collaboration of Federico Gironi, Venice Classics also presents a selection of documentaries about cinema or its practitioners.
LINEUP
MATADOR
by PEDRO ALMODÓVAR (Spain, 1986, 102′, Colour)
restored by: Video Mercury Films
BASHÚ, GHARIBEH KOUCHAK (BASHU, THE LITTLE STRANGER)
by BAHRAM BEYZAI (Iran, 1986, 120′, Colour)
restored by: Roashana Studios with the support of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (KANOON) – presented by mk2 Films
LE QUAI DES BRUMES (PORT OF SHADOWS)
by MARCEL CARNÉ (France, 1938, 92′, B/W)
restored by: Studiocanal and la Cinémathèque française with the support of the Centre national du Cinéma et de l’image animée and CHANEL
3:10 TO YUMA
by DELMER DAVES (USA, 1957, 92′, B/W)
restored by: Sony Pictures Entertainment
ANIKI-BÓBÓ
by MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA (Portugal, 1942, 72′, B/W)
restored by: Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema
ROMA ORE 11 (ROME 11:00)
by GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS (Italy, 1952, 105′, B/W)
restored by: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Cineteca Nazionale
LO SPETTRO (THE GHOST)
by RICCARDO FREDA (Italy, 1963, 95′, Colour)
restored by: Severin Films
MARK OF THE RENEGADE
by HUGO FREGONESE (USA, 1951, 81′, Colour)
restored by: Universal Pictures
KAGI (ODD OBSESSION)
by KON ICHIKAWA (Japan, 1959, 107′, Colour)
restored by: Kadokawa Corporation
PRZYPADEK (BLIND CHANCE)
by KRZYSZTOF KIEŚLOWSKI (Poland, 1981, 123’, Colour)
restored by: DI Factory
KAIDAN (KWAIDAN)
by MASAKI KOBAYASHI (Japan, 1965, 183′, Colour)
restored by: Toho
LOLITA
by STANLEY KUBRICK (USA, 1962, 153′, B/N)
restored by: The Criterion Collection, Warner Bros.
HOUSE OF STRANGERS
by JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ (USA, 1949, 101’, B/W)
restored by: Walt Disney Studios, The Film Foundation
THE DELICATE DELINQUENT
by DON MCGUIRE (USA, 1957, 101′, B/W)
restored by: Paramount
IL MAGNIFICO CORNUTO (THE MAGNIFICENT CUCKOLD)
by ANTONIO PIETRANGELI (Italy, France, 1964, 124′, B/W)
restored by: Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Compass Film
DO BIGHA ZAMIN (TWO ACRES OF LAND)
by BIMAL ROY (India, 1953, 120′, B/W)
restored by: Film Heritage Foundation – India, The Criterion Collection
TI HO SPOSATO PER ALLEGRIA (I MARRIED YOU FOR FUN)
by LUCIANO SALCE (Italy, 1967, 102′, Colour)
restored by: Cinecittà S.p.A.
AIQING WANSUI (VIVE L’AMOUR)
by TSAI MING-LIANG (Taipei, 1994, 119′, Colour)
restored by: Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute
Completing the Venice Classics section will be a selection of documentaries about cinema and its practitioners, with a lineup to be announced at the press conference on July 22nd.
The 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival will run from August 27th to September 6th, with Cody Dericks and Josh Parham attending in person.
Are you excited for the 2025 Venice Film Festival? Which of these restored classics will you be seeing in-person? Please let us know in the comments section below or on our X account.
