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Moore’s ‘Capitalism: a Love Story’ to Debut in Venice

By Flavia Krause-Jackson

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Moore’s latest documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” will be among the films competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Festival this year as the worst recession since World War II overshadows the usual glitz of Hollywood stars walking down the Red Carpet.

The award-winning filmmaker of “Bowling for Columbine,” which won Best Documentary at the 2003 Oscars, and “Fahrenheit 9/11,” winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2004, turns his critical eye at the global financial crisis. He already tackled the U.S. health system with “Sicko” (2007).

Big names such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt, who have attended frequently in the past, are not expected this year. Todd Solondz, a U.S. independent director, will be in the running for the top award with “Life During Wartime,” featuring Charlotte Rampling.

“We wanted to reflect the current climate,” Marco Muller, the festival’s director, said at a news conference in Rome.

French filmmakers will also vie for the Golden Lion: Patrice Chereau’s “Persecution,” French new wave veteran Jacques Rivette’s “36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup” and Claire Denis’s “White Material,” starring festival favorite Isabelle Huppert.

German director Werner Herzog, best-known for “Fitzcarraldo” (1982) and his combative friendship with actor Klaus Kinski, will also be competing with “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” which stars Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.

The festival, which runs from Sept. 2 through Sept. 12 on Venice’s Lido island, opens with the world premiere of Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baaria.” It is the first time in two decades that an Italian filmmaker headlines at Venice, the world’s oldest film festival and along with Cannes and Berlin the most prestigious in Europe.

Tornatore, who won an Oscar in 1990 for “Cinema Paradiso,” will show his “most personal film,” which takes place in his hometown of Bagheria, or Baaria in Sicilian dialect. The cast includes Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who already starred in the director’s “Malena” (2000).