Hero of Venice ... Mickey Freaking Rourke

PopEater / Wire Services
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VENICE (Sept. 8) - Mickey Rourke's spent his career being punched in the face and being beaten down by scandal and critics. With 'The Wrestler,' the weathered actor is getting the last laugh, taking home the prized Golden Lion award for best movie at the Venice Film Festival, earning rave reviews all the way.
The festival, which unofficially kick-starts the awards season leading to the Oscars, will be remembered chiefly for Rourke's performance in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," which the actor and critics agree is his best yet.
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Venice Film Festival

    Did Natalie Portman take her style cue from Lord of the Rings' disheveled director Peter Jackson? The usually coiffed screen sweetheart, attended the Venice photo call for Eve, a short film that marks the actresses directorial debut, in ragged jeans and a tee. Maybe she's hoping the look will win her at least one of Peter's three Oscars.
    Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images

    Anne Hathaway breaks away from girl-next-door and fairytale roles in Rachel Getting Married, a dark family drama which critics are calling Anne's ticket to the Oscars. In the film, which premiered in Venice, Anne plays Kym, a wise cracking drug addict who checks out of rehab to attend her sister's wedding.
    Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images

    Brad Pittand George Clooney took a break from their European summer vacations for a boys' only trip to Venice. A screening of their new movie, "Burn After Reading" kicked off the 65th annual film festival in the Italian city.

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    With Pitt's significant other, Angelina Jolie, back in France with the couple's newborn twins, the long-time buddies cut a stylish swath around town, arriving via speedboat for a photo call.

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    The friends' wardrobes were consistently coordinated, wearing sleek black suits for a dinner raising money for Not On Our Watch, a charity created by the "Ocean's Eleven" (and "Twelve" and "Thirteen") crew to call attention to the crisis in Darfur.

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    Pitt's Italian interlude wasn't all about the bromance: The father of six brought along his two older boys, Pax and Maddox.

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    Brad and George weren't the only stars in attendance. Charlize Theron made quite an impression as well: a reporter told the Oscar winner he wanted to marry her. Theron, who is there for the premiere of "The Burning Plain," informed the journalist that she is already taken.

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    The festival's most stylish event was the premiere of "Valentino: The Last Emperor", a documentary about the recently retired designer, who walked the red carpet with former Wonderbra model Eva Herzigova.

    Elizabeth Hurley was on hand to celebrate with Valentino. Like many stars, Hurley often wears his gowns for red carpet appearances. The designer admitted his favorite fashion moment was when Julia Roberts won her Oscar in his dress.

    Diane Kruger wore Valentino (natch) to the screening (and afterparty) of the fashionable flick.

"The roar of Rourke" read the headline in the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday.
The movie about an ageing wrestler who despairs as his body gives up on him and friends and family turn their backs, won the coveted Golden Lion award for best movie on Saturday.
The award seals his comeback from the Hollywood wilderness, and comments that Rourke is ready to ditch his bad-boy image and cooperate with directors suggest there is more to come.
"A guy like me changes hard, I didn't want to change, but I had to change," the star of 1980s hits "9-1/2 Weeks" and "Angel Heart" told Reuters in an interview in Venice.
"It's OK for me now at this point in my life to play ball, to be a team player," added the 51-year-old, his face marked by surgery for various boxing injuries.
Rourke's triumph, and unanimous praise for Aronofsky's low-budget picture, means the festival ended on a high.
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'Wrestler' Clip and Interview
But critics were underwhelmed by many of the films in the main competition, and debated whether the Hollywood writers' strike, selection mistakes or plain bad luck were to blame.
WIN MAY LURE HOLLYWOOD
Italian newspapers said the choice of "The Wrestler" for Golden Lion may help Venice lure U.S. movies, and with them top stars, to the Lido waterfront in the future as it strives to compete with rival festivals like Toronto.
"A verdict that rewards Hollywood, albeit in its independent incarnation, could be very useful ... in attracting other films of this genre to the Lido," wrote veteran film writer Paolo Mereghetti in Corriere della Sera.
There was controversy at Saturday's closing ceremony when jury president Wim Wenders criticized rules which prevent the Golden Lion winner also picking up best acting prizes -- suggesting Rourke should have won that too.
Italian newspapers said the comments detracted from the best actor award to home grown Silvio Orlando for his acclaimed portrayal of an overprotective father in "Il Papa di Giovanna" (Giovanna's Father).
The Silver Lion for best director was won by Russia's Alexei German Jr. for "Paper Soldier," set on the windswept steppes of Kazakhstan and centring on the 1960s Soviet space program.
The best actress prize went to France's Dominique Blanc in "L'Autre" (The Other One), a haunting tale of a woman who becomes dangerously obsessed with a young ex-boyfriend.
"Teza," by Ethiopian director Haile Gerima, picked up two prizes -- the special jury award and best screenplay.
The story chronicles the life of an Ethiopian intellectual who flees his country during the Marxist "red terror" in the 1980s, only to be attacked in Germany by racist youths.
Jennifer Lawrence of the United States was named best emerging actress for her role in "The Burning Plain," in which she appeared alongside Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron.
As well as "The Wrestler," "The Hurt Locker" by U.S. director Kathryn Bigelow impressed critics with its portrayal of the perils faced by a bomb disposal unit in Iraq, while actress Anne Hathaway generated awards buzz in "Rachel Getting Married."
2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved. // Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. // Copyright 2008, Reuters
2008-09-08 10:29:10
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