Middling Venice Film Festival poised to pick its best

Venice - Tension is building on the Lido waterfront as the seven-member jury of the 65th International Venice Film Festival prepares to announce its verdicts. Which film will walk off with the coveted Golden Lion? Which actor and which actress will take the top prize? While the 21 films in competition have spanned a broad spectrum of themes, many are merely mediocre in quality. On the eve of Saturday's awards ceremony, the field of competitors remained rather tightly packed. The festival's final film, The Wrestler by New York-based director Darren Aronofsky, screened on Friday and has a good chance to win. In this melodrama, actor Mickey Rourke masterfully slips into the magnificent role of Randy Robinson, a wrestling star past his prime. The German entry in the competition, Jerichow by Christian Petzold, as well as Nuit de Chien, a civil war drama directed by Germany's Werner Schroeter that is a French-German-Portuguese co-production, have only an outside chance of being tapped by the jury, led by German filmmaker Wim Wenders. To be counted among the frontrunners are Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea by revered Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki; the dark Ethiopian film Teza by Haile Gerima; and Jonathan Demme's American family drama Rachel Getting Married, which gets an outstanding performance by Anne Hathaway. Miyazaki has won over viewers on the Lido with his touching animated film, so maybe he can convince the jury too. At any rate, his new work is completely different from the other entries, as it melds the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Little Mermaid with modern Japanese daily life. A possible disadvantage for Miyazaki, however, is that he received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2005. Considered a top favourite is US director Kathryn Bigelow's harrowing The Hurt Locker. With utter intensity and her typical dynamism, Bigelow portrays the life-threatening work of an elite US bomb disposal team in war-torn Iraq. The film, which runs for more than two hours, definitely has a chance to win. The same goes for BirdWatchers, a powerfully accusatory work by Italian-Chilean director Marco Bechis. His story: the bleak fate of Brazilian Indians who toil slave-like for large landowners before rising up and occupying the land that once belonged to them. Prizeworthy films with rough edges include the somewhat too sprawling family drama The Burning Plain. Excellently cast with Kim Basinger and Cherlize Theron, it is the directorial debut by acclaimed Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. A further candidate is the bizarre Italian story Il papa di Giovanna by Pupi Avati, which deals with a girl who kills her best friend out of jealousy. And both bizarre and masterly is Achilles and the Tortoise by Japan's Takeshi Kitano, a tale about a painter who lives only for his art. Vegas: Based on a True Story may have a chance for the Golden Lion as well. Directed by Iranian-American Amir Naderi, it depicts gambling addict Eddie Parker and his wife, Tracy, who dig up their garden near the amusement mecca Las Vegas in search of a million dollars they believe is buried there. In the end, not only their garden is a shambles. Though Hollywood was scarcely present at this year's competition on the Lido, none of the five American films has been a dud. That cannot be said of the Italian and French entries. Finally, young Russian director Aleksei German Jr made a splash with a powerful story, memorable images, fresh faces, and a pleasingly large dollop of humour. His film Paper Soldier, about preparations for the first manned space flight, is another potential winner.