5 Venice Film Fest Hits

As the Venice Film Festival approaches (August 29th through September 8th), there will be lots of hot films and hot stars to watch out for. We’ve already looked at some of the entries to the festival, but let’s take a look back at our favorite winners from years past. All are provocative, all are female driven stories, and all are streaming this month.

Belle du Jour (1967)

The simple and very retro description of director Luis Bunuel‘s biggest hit is this: “A frigid, young housewife decides to spend her weekday afternoons as a prostitute.” But of course, Belle du Jour is much more than that. Catherine Deneuve stars as a sexually frustrated bride who fantasizes about being raped, spanked and humiliated by her husband. Eventually those kinky dreams become reality and we watch as Séverine becomes a “woman of the night” (belle du nuit in French and a play on the title of the film), fulfilling her sexualized afternoon delights. But are they real or just her very sexy imagination?
Belle du Jour is available on Amazon Prime Video.

The Magdalene Sisters (2002)

Ireland has been behind the times in terms of its treatment of women and the poor for centuries. Heavily Catholic, it’s punishment of young girls who came from poor families, or who had committed a petty crime, or, got pregnant out of wedlock, was horrifying. 10,000 “fallen women” were sent away between 1922 and 1996 to do slave labor in Catholic-run workhouses called the Magdalene Laundries. These sweatshops were run by cruel, unforgiving nuns who were hellbent of making the girls suffer for their “sins.” The Magdalene Sisters is set in one of those workhouses and the results are a brutal, heartbreaking tale of three girls trying to endure the unthinkable. There are no big name actors in this film, but you’ll recognize the will to survive on the faces of these young unknowns.
The Magdalene Sisters is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Lust, Caution (2007)

Chinese actor Tony Leung has appeared in three Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winning films, A City of Sadness (1989), Cyclo (1995) and 2007’s Lust, Caution directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain). Here the handsome actor plays a politician working for the Japanese during WWII, who comes under the sensual spell of a beautiful drama student posing as his ally. Of course sex happens and lines blur. Will she help with his assassination or help him escape?
Lust, Caution is available on

Vera Drake (2004)

Director Mike Leigh must love women, since most of his films are about them and their struggles. Vera Drake stars the versatile actor Imelda Staunton (Maleficent) as selfless Vera, the hard-working matriarch of a large family who lovingly cares for mother, friends and neighbors in need. But Vera has a secret: she helps poor girls induce miscarriages of their unwanted pregnancies. The film is a slice of real life in 1950s England, when performing abortions was a serious crime. When Vera’s caught, her world falls apart. Not for the faint of heart.
Vera Drake is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Atlantic City

Susan Sarandon is at her sexiest in this fantastic tale about redemption and reinvention. As the old, crumbling buildings along the boardwalk of Atlantic City are being torn down to make way for Trump’s hotels, we meet Sally, a young oyster shucker who dreams of one day being a croupier in Monte Carlo. She lives across the courtyard from Lou, played by iconic actor Burt Lancaster, a washed up money runner who enjoys clandestinely watching her undress each night. He’s also a wealthy widow’s (Kate Reid) kept man, but with a few tricks still up his sleeve. As the three get caught up in a mob cocaine deal gone wrong, they discover exactly what they’re made of. Director Louise Malle‘s movie is a bit of time capsule as well, with the rare chance to see what the seedy town of Atlantic City used to look like before the fancy hotels were built.
Atlantic City is available on Amazon Prime Video.