Kathryn Bigelow‘s gripping political thriller “A House of Dynamite,” which stars Idris Elba as the President of the United States, triggered an 11-minute ovation at the Venice Film Festival, where it premiered in competition on Tuesday.
As the end credits rolled, Elba helped Bigelow to her feet as they politely applauded along with the audience. Meanwhile, his co-star Rebecca Ferguson was blowing kisses to those in the orchestra at the Sala Grande Theater.
As the ovation approached the 10 minute mark, the crowd started chanting “Bigelow! Bigelow!”
Bigelow was joined at the premiere by her star-studded cast, including Elba, Ferguson, Greta Lee, Anthony Ramos, Tracy Letts, Jared Harris and Gabriel Basso.
Venice has brought Bigelow some luck in the past. She was last on the Lido 17 years ago with her Iraq War drama “The Hurt Locker,” which was embraced with a 10-minute standing ovation and went on to win best picture at the Oscars. Bigelow also became the first woman to win the best directing Oscar.
“A House of Dynamite” stars Elba as the President of the United States, and Ferguson as a White House official scrambling to deal with an incoming missile attack on the U.S.
Earlier Tuesday, speaking at the production’s Venice press conference, Bigelow said she hopes “the film is an invitation to decide what to do about all these weapons.”
“My answer would be to initiate a reduction in the nuclear stockpile. How is annihilating the world a good defensive measure?” she said.
“A House of Dynamite” marks her comeback as a filmmaker since her 2017 film “Detroit,” which dramatized the Detroit riots of 1967 and sparked some backlash upon its release.
Bigelow also previously directed “Zero Dark Thirty,” a best picture-nominated film which starred Jessica Chastain and followed the relentless CIA search for Osama bin Laden.
“A House of Dynamite” is one of the three Netflix films competing at Venice alongside Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” with Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, and Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Laura Dern.
More to come…
variety.com
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