The seventh day of the Venice Film festival continued to show competition films.
The Israeli film "Ana Arabia" premiered at the fest to mixed reviews. The film, which was shot in one take, was admired by Boyd van Hoeji from the Hollywood Reporter. The critic wrote, "A single, 81-minute take that avoids having to cut between the Israeli and Arab sides." Meanwhile, Leslie Felperin from Variety was less complimentary: "Amos Gitai's meditative if somewhat contrived Jaffa-set drama is most notable for being constructed from a single Steadicam-shot take."
Scarlett Johansson's new movie "Under the Skin" also premiered at the festival. However, similar to its reception at the Telluride Film Festival, the movie did not live up to critical expectations. Audiences booed the film and some even walked out, according to the Hollywood Reporter. However, not everyone hated it. Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave the film five stars and wrote, "[this] astonishing film will leave you at once entranced and terrified." Ann Brooks of the Guardian was also among the admirers and wrote, "A sexy space alien hunts men in Scotland in this extraordinary malarial dream from Jonathan Glazer."
However, Kaleem Aftab of The Independent was not as thrilled. "Even Scarlett Johansson can't save Jonathan Glazer's laughably bad alien hitchhiker movie," wrote Aftab. While the film failed to impress overall, Johansson wowed critics on the red carpet. The starlet signed autograophs for fans, and posed for photographers. She was also accompanied by director Jonathon Glazer.
"Under the Skin" is still searching for a distributor and will most likely look for one in Toronto where the film is set to premiere.
The Venice Film Festival still has a few more days and no front runner for the Golden Lion has emerged yet. The festival runs through Sept. 7.
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