The Burning Plain

Venice is dying, one media report screams. And adds sarcastically that the city certainly is, as it slowly sinks into the sea, its abusive tourists contributing in no small measure to the ruin of a place whose magnificence once inspired the Bard to pen one of his most endearing plays. Shakespeare's merchants and its wily Jewish moneylenders may have long gone, but their place has been taken over by another kind of tribe, men who sell dreams packed in celluloid that pop out of cans.

It is not the city that the report was talking about. It was the Festival, now into its 75th year though unrolling its 65th edition with 10 episodes not held at all. There is this buzz about Festival Director Marco Mueller's gamble in focusing on lesser known moviemakers not quite succeeding the way he had imagined it would. The Festival has never had the kind of attraction that Cannes, for instance, enjoyed in the industry. The obvious reason was the absence of a market in Venice.

The crowds this year on the Adriatic island of Lido, off mainland Venice, appear thinner. Also, a number of sales agents, public relations companies and even journalists have stayed away. Instead, I am told they are all set to fly to Toronto, whose Festival begins on September 4. The U.K.-based DDA and Hong Kong's sales outfit, Fortissimo Films, are two examples of the absentees. And hello, where are the guys from Fox, Miramax, Disney and Paramount?

But, yes, the Venice lineup looks pretty okay with Abbas Kiarostami ("Shirin"), Takeshi Kitano (they call him God in Japan, and his "Achilles and the Tortoise" is in Competition) and Pupi Avati ("Il Papa di Giovanna"). Yet, they are not termed great, as great — an impression that Hollywoodans probably spread. For these men, nothing short of a Brad Pitt or a George Clooney or a Charlize Theron would do with their suave good looks and oozing charming. Mr Kiarostami or Kitano-san would not get anything beyond two or three stars. And, well, you should have seen the lensmen go berserk at the press meet which Theron and some others of Guillermo Arriaga's "The Burning Plane" attended. The photographers' screams — urging the lady to give each one of them her best pose — could be heard down the road and across the beach!

Another reason why some companies have not landed in Venice could be the zero British presence at the Festival. Interestingly, Toronto has a whole bunch of British films. But most likely, it is a reaction to last year Venice's unbeatable lineup of "Lust Caution," "The Assassination of Jesse James," "The Darjeeling Limited," "Michael Clayton" and "In the Valley of Elah," among many others. This year, it may not be as exciting. But you never know.

A journalist friend of mine says that she may not be able to return to Venice if she does not get enough copy to justify the high cost involved in the trip. Venice, old-timers rue, has got frighteningly expensive.