Round 2 of the fall festival season has begun, as the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday. And after a few disappointing years for the festival, in which it served mainly as a rehash of Cannes, Venice, and Telluride, it appears that TIFF has netted quite a few world premiere awards players this year. Aaron Sorkin's Molly's Game debuted to raves last night, with many noting that Jessica Chastain could be a major factor in the awards race. Craig Gillespie's I, Tonya also received spectacular reviews, and if the film gets picked up, many expect Margot Robbie and Allison Janney to be in contention. But before we fully kick TIFF into full gear, the Venice Film Festival has to dole out their final awards, second only to Cannes in terms of prestige and importance. Last year, Emma Stone won the Best Actress prize at Venice before taking the Oscar for her role in La La Land, so this stuff certainly has implications for the competition on the whole.
Watching as an outsider, it seemed to me that Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water was the biggest hit of Venice, even if the reception at Telluride was slightly more muted. So perhaps it's only fitting that the film took home the Golden Lion, beating out the highly acclaimed Foxtrot for Venice's greatest honor. Now, a bit of trivia worth mentioning- a Golden Lion winner has never won Best Picture at the Oscars. It just hasn't happened. The only Best Picture-winning film to take the biggest prize at Venice is 1948's Hamlet, and it wasn't even called the Golden Lion at that point. Films like Brokeback Mountain and The Wrestler ended up being in the conversation, but this isn't a major benchmark for success like some other pre-cursors. Nonetheless, this is a big win for Fox Searchlight, who plan on mounting a big campaign for this one. Reviews were almost universally stellar, and people love del Toro. It still doesn't feel like the kind of film that will win Best Picture, but we'll see how it plays at TIFF- if it takes home the People's Choice award, watch out.
The Shape of Water debuts at TIFF on Monday before hitting theaters on December 8.
Sources: Variety, Wikipedia
Images courtesy of Fox Searchlight
Watching as an outsider, it seemed to me that Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water was the biggest hit of Venice, even if the reception at Telluride was slightly more muted. So perhaps it's only fitting that the film took home the Golden Lion, beating out the highly acclaimed Foxtrot for Venice's greatest honor. Now, a bit of trivia worth mentioning- a Golden Lion winner has never won Best Picture at the Oscars. It just hasn't happened. The only Best Picture-winning film to take the biggest prize at Venice is 1948's Hamlet, and it wasn't even called the Golden Lion at that point. Films like Brokeback Mountain and The Wrestler ended up being in the conversation, but this isn't a major benchmark for success like some other pre-cursors. Nonetheless, this is a big win for Fox Searchlight, who plan on mounting a big campaign for this one. Reviews were almost universally stellar, and people love del Toro. It still doesn't feel like the kind of film that will win Best Picture, but we'll see how it plays at TIFF- if it takes home the People's Choice award, watch out.
The Shape of Water debuts at TIFF on Monday before hitting theaters on December 8.
Sources: Variety, Wikipedia
Images courtesy of Fox Searchlight
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