Venice Film Festival, the couples who have stolen our hearts in the lagoon
The famous couples of the Venice Film Festival
Trips not only by gondola on the canals of the Serenissima. For the Venice International Film Festivalwhich this year celebrates its 79th edition from August 31 to September 10, even the most reserved celebrities put aside their privacy to savor the Dolce Vita of a historic and timeless red carpet. The Lido framed the glamor of Hollywood Olympus even before the overseas gods dictated the rules of the seventh art. From Sophia Loren to Anna Magnani, from Gina Lollobrigida to Silvana Mangano, the tricolor divas have been dictating trends and fashions for years because their talent knows no bounds.
A journey that begins on taxi boats
The very fact that to reach the exhibition you have to leave the ground and take a journey out to sea is in itself a journey, not only metaphorical, like the one that the stories have been doing since the time of the Lumiere brothers. The real first step at the Lido takes place on the lances, the luxury taxi boats that rock the stars before the longed-for red carpet under the austere gaze of the golden lions. The entire path gives them a foretaste of an unparalleled event, which even the royals could not resist. Here, then, that many couples have consecrated their love here, sealing it with romance and courage.
From vintage shots to the surprises of new loves
Even the royals were captivated by the refined atmosphere, starting with Edward VIII Windsor who in 1956 brought his scandalous American wife to the Lido Wallis Simpsonwhich cost him the throne to earn him love. All the Hollywood allure shone instead with Elizabeth Taylor when she was at the height of love with Richard Burton, in 1967. And what about Brigitte Bardot? The shots with the new love, the French guitarist Sacha Distel, went around the world. Then there are those who, like Jane Fonda, experienced all the phases of the exhibition. Very young, with her long braids in the wind, she posed for photographers with her first husband Roger Vadim in 1967 with all the freshness of her beginnings. But the moment she really won everyone’s hearts was in 2017, during the awards ceremony of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement alongside his longtime friend Robert Redford. An icon of timeless beauty and creativity, the divine has passed hand in hand with another Hollywood legend. And the world stopped and watched. Unforgettable Amal Clooney when she first accompanied George on the catwalk, wrapped in a lavender dress with impeccable husband elegance that only confirms her unrivaled taste of her. And so we have arrived at today. How to forget the second chance of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez who enchanted the red carpet in 2021 of the Show as sweethearts? In full honeymoon phase, even though they actually got married only months later, they really made the audience dream by showing that sometimes the magic of Hollywood comes true and continues after the set. Another Oscar couple knows it well, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, who returns again this year with a long list of projects to reach.
Memorable kisses …
The hottest parenthesis of the past edition, however, must be attributed to a couple in a broad sense: Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac have been best friends since their academy days. Without their respective partners, they put on a show on the red carpet, in every sense of the word. He kissed the inside of her arm in one of the most sensual moves ever seen on the Lido. It was impossible to do better, even though so many overseas movie stars have tried. Included Matt Damon, Affleck’s best friend since elementary school, at the festival with his wife Luciana Barroso: no scandal for them, they have been married for 17 years and prefer the low profile couple style.
… And moments of nostalgia
And then the nostalgia moment clicks, leafing through the scrapbook of an exhibition that – from Tom Cruise to Nicole Kidman in 1999 – reminds everyone how young we were, beautiful and full of hope. Some fairy tales, however, are not intended for a happy ending. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Joshua Jackson and Diana Kruger and even two kids like Lily-Rose Depp and Timothy Chalamet know this well. Her father’s photos, the legendary Johnny, with his ex-wife Amber Heard between caresses, hugs and hot kisses on the red carpet today they have a bitter aftertaste, for how the legal battle between the two ended the relationship. But whatever happens, those shots at the exhibition remain crystallized in the collective imagination.
On the subject of tricolor
Not only international megastars, however: the exhibition reserved us love and a lot of sentiment also for our “tricolor” celebs. Our thoughts immediately go to the Ferragnez of the last edition. And this year? We expect a red carpet of hearts for example from godmother Rocio Morales Munos with partner Raoul Bova. We will see