A Year in Venice

Author(s): Gabby
Location: NY

"A Year in Venice"

Written and Directed by M. Night Shymalan
Original Music by James Newton Howard

Principal Cast:

Nicolas Cage as John Baxter
Calista Flockhart as Elizabeth Baxter
Sophia Loren as Lourdes

Tagline: "Death destroys a man; the idea of Death saves him"
November 21st 2007

Synopsis: John and Elizabeth Baxter have recently lost their daughter. Their grief threatens to destroy their marriage. Seeking a change of scenery and an opportunity to work through their sense of loss, they take a working vacation to Venice, Italy, where John has been contracted to restore a nineteenth century church. While John attends to this project, Elizabeth is befriended by a mysterious elderly woman named Lourdes, who claims to be a psychic in contact with the Baxters' deceased daughter. Elizabeth is drawn to this woman, but John finds her influence unsettling and suspects her of deceit. The ensuing drama is set against a subplot involving a serial killer who has eluded the Italian police. While in Venice, John catches glimpses of a childlike figure in red raingear who resembles his deceased daughter; although the figure vanishes whenever he pursues it. John begins to question his own sanity and that of his wife, as Elizabeth appears to be completely under the command of Lourdes, who in turn suggests that John shares her gift of communication with the dead. John's fears and Elizabeth's apparent obsession with the psychic has led them into a spiraling vortex of coincidences, recurring themes which reaches a dramatic conclusion in the church that John is restoring. In the shocking ending, John confronts the childlike figure in the red raingear, who turns out, not to be a child, but an incredibly disfigured dwarf woman. The dwarf, is the serial killer from the subplot, and stabs John in the neck. In his last moments of life John realizes the visions he had were of his own death.

What the press would say:

A Year in Venice reaches the emotional impact of Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People”, without being overly sentimental and the psychological terror of “The Sixth Sense”. A Year in Venice was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. What he has done with this film is truly remarkable. It is rife with such genuine humanity ranging from the sweetness of love to the dark depths of vengeance. Shyamalan has adapted the classic short story, Don’t Look Now by Daphne du Maurier and molded it into a stunning film. Shyamalan will be too hard to ignore come nominations.

The two best lead performances of the year belong to Nicolas Cage and Calista Flockhart. Nicolas Cage gives the strongest performance of his career as John Baxter, an architect who’s been hired to restore a nineteenth century church in Venice. He makes John's stilted missteps at each and every turn so human, so real, you empathize with the pain he's feeling while you cringe at his every unsuitable action. An Academy nomination for Cage seems more than merited. Calista Flockhart is the best she's ever been in the role of Elizabeth Baxter, a ballet instructor, who is grieving the loss of her daughter, and trying to hold her marriage together. The emotional tug-of-war in her relationship with John is clear on her face, and the distress of coming to terms with her child’s death is deafening. Sophia Loren makes her return to film in this psychological thriller. There is already tremendous buzz building for her. She plays the mysterious psychic Lourdes, who claims to have visions of the Baxter’s deceased daughter. Loren is compelling and gives the performance of her career. She holds the audiences heart in her hands and will keep you guessing throughout the movie; is she really having psychic visions or is she manipulating a vulnerable woman?

Nominations:

Best Picture
Best Director – M. Night Shyamalan
Best Actor – Nicolas Cage
Best Actress – Calista Flockhart
Best Supporting Actress – Sophia Loren
Best Adapted Screenplay – M. Night Shyamalan