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<center><b><Font Color="#003399" Face=Garamond Size=+3>Golden Lion Winners: The Venice Film Festival</Font></b></center><hr>
<img src=goldenlion.jpg width=200 align=left hspace=10>I haven't followed the <a href="http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/index.html" target="_new">Venice Film Festival</a>
for as long as I have the <a href=cannes.html target="_top">Cannes</a> festival, nor with the same ardor, though as the years go by, I wonder why not. The fact that the
Lido seems less compulsively drawn to "star" auteurs is both a boon and a drawback. It's a little harder to project the "kind" of film that wins a Golden Lion than one might
say about the Palme d'or, which in itself is refreshing. On average, I probably wind up learning more new names from the roster of Venice contenders than from the familiar,
mostly welcome faces who appear year after year at Cannes. At the same time, this can make the Venice selections appear to be esoteric for their own sake, or at least harder
to catch up with, since U.S. niche distributors still seem more moved by the summery glamour of the Croisette than the autumnal burnish of the Lido. The prizes, which arrive
in a somewhat confusing raft (is the Silver Lion a "Best Director" prize or more of a runner-up to the top gong?), sometimes gravitate to promising but incomplete films, or
else, given the early-fall timing of the event, to Anglo-U.S. prestige projects that are anointed as barely-veiled assists to their incipient Oscar campaigns. In any event,
here is a rundown of the top dogs (or, I suppose, the top cats) from more than six decades of festivals, with more thorough yearly coverage
<a href=venice.html target="_top">linked</a> at the left-hand margin.</center><hr>
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<Font Color="#660066" Face=Garamond Size=+2>My Preferential Rankings of<br>
The Golden Lion Winners</Font><br><br>
<Font Color=Gray Face=Garamond Size=+2><b>Bellissimo!</b></Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>66</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=algeria.html>The Battle of Algiers</a></Font> dir. Gillo Pontecorvo</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>86</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">The Green Ray</Font> dir. Eric Rohmer</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>67</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Belle de jour</Font> dir. Luis Buñuel</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>61</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Last Year at Marienbad</Font> dir. Alain Resnais</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>00</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=circle.html>The Circle</a></Font> dir. Jafar Panahi</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>80</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=atlcity.html>Atlantic City</a></Font> dir. Louis Malle</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>08</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=wrestler.html>The Wrestler</a></Font> dir. Darren Aronofsky</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>04</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=veradrak.html>Vera Drake</a></Font> dir. Mike Leigh</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>87</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Au revoir, les enfants</Font> dir. Louis Malle</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>51</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Rashomon</Font> dir. Akira Kurosawa</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>06</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=stillife.html>Still Life</a></Font> dir. Jia Zhangke</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>03</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=threturn.html>The Return</a></Font> dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev</Font><br>
<br>
<Font Color=Gray Face=Garamond Size=+2><b>Bene!</b></Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>93</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Short Cuts</Font> dir. Robert Altman</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>07</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=lustcaut.html>Lust, Caution</a></Font> dir. Ang Lee</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>94</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=beftrain.html>Before the Rain</a></Font> dir. Milcho Manchevski</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>93</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Three Colors: Blue</Font> dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>05</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=brokback.html>Brokeback Mountain</a></Font> dir. Ang Lee</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>09</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=lebanon.html>Lebanon</a></Font> dir. Samuel Maoz</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>02</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=magdalen.html>The Magdalene Sisters</a></Font> dir. Peter Mullan</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>80</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=gloria.html>Gloria</a></Font> dir. John Cassavetes</Font><br>
<br>
<Font Color=Gray Face=Garamond Size=+2><b>Così-così</b></Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>48</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=hamlet48.html>Hamlet</a></Font> dir. Laurence Olivier*</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>07</Font> <Font Size=+1><a href=monswedd.html>Monsoon Wedding</a></Font> dir. Mira Nair</Font><br>
<br>
<Font Color=Gray Face=Garamond Size=+2><b>Si scherza!</b></Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>??</Font> <Font Size=+1 Color="#003399">Happily, none yet!</Font> Will that change?</Font><br>
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<Font Color="#660066" Face=Garamond Size=+2>Winners Left to See<br>
(In Chronological Order)</Font><br><br>
<Font Color=Gray Face=Garamond Size=+2>Some Huge Gaps Here!</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>47</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Siréna</Font> dir. Karel Stekly*</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>49</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Manon</Font> dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>50</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Justice Is Done</Font> dir. André Cayatte</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>52</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Forbidden Games</Font> dir. René Clément</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>54</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Romeo and Juliet</Font> dir. Renato Castellani</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>55</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Ordet</Font> dir. Carl-Theodor Dreyer</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>57</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Aparajito</Font> dir. Satyajit Ray</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>58</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Rickshaw Man</Font> dir. Hiroshi Inagaki</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>59</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Il General della Rovere</Font> dir. Roberto Rossellini</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>59</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The Great War</Font> dir. Mario Monicelli</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>60</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The Crossing of the Rhine</Font> dir. André Cayatte</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>62</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Family Diary</Font> dir. Valerio Zurlini</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>62</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Ivan's Childhood</Font> dir. Andrei Tarkovsky</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>63</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Hands over the City</Font> dir. Francesco Rosi</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>64</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Red Desert</Font> dir. Michelangelo Antonioni</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>65</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Sandra</Font> dir. Luchino Visconti</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>68</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Artists under the Big Top: Perplexed</Font><br>
          dir. Alexander Kluge</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>81</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Marianne & Juliane</Font> dir. Margaretha von Trotta</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>82</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The State of Things</Font> dir. Wim Wenders</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>83</Font> <Font Color="#003399">First Name: Carmen</Font> dir. Jean-Luc Godard</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>84</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The Year of the Quiet Sun</Font> dir. Krzysztof<br>
          Zanussi</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>85</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Vagabond</Font> dir. Agnès Varda</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>88</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The Legend of the Holy Drinker</Font><br>
          dir. Ermanno Olmi</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>89</Font> <Font Color="#003399">City of Sadness</Font> dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>90</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead</Font><br>
          dir. Tom Stoppard</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>91</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Close to Eden</Font> dir. Nikita Mikhalkov</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>92</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The Story of Qiu Ju</Font> dir. Zhang Yimou</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>94</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Vive l'amour</Font> dir. Tsai Ming-liang</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>95</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Cyclo</Font> dir. Tran Anh Hung</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>96</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Michael Collins</Font> dir. Neil Jordan</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>97</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Fireworks (Hana-bi)</Font> dir. Takeshi Kitano</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>98</Font> <Font Color="#003399">The Way We Laughed</Font> dir. Gianni Amelio</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>99</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Not One Less</Font> dir. Zhang Yimou</Font><br>
<Font Color=Red Face=Garamond>10</Font> <Font Color="#003399">Somewhere</Font> dir. Sofia Coppola</Font><br>
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* Note that the top prize in 1947 and 1948 was not yet called the "Golden Lion"<br>
** Prize-giving was abolished after the 1968 festival out of political principle. Lions for career achievement and other trophies
were slowly re-introduced during the 1970s, but no competition prizes were awarded until the 1980 festival.<br>
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