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“Dogman” director Luc Besson may be a newcomer to Venice, but after his film’s warm reception on Thursday, he’s likely to return.
Although Besson’s Golden Lion contender polarized critics and Variety’s Jessica Kiang used few words to describe it as a “dull nonsense film,” audiences at the film’s gala premiere decided to spread their love at the world premiere and showered the film and the filmmakers with six minutes of sustained applause. That made up for the six-minute ovation the Venice audience gave Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” on the second night of the prestigious festival.
Although Besson didn’t offer any final thoughts, the director still seemed visibly moved, beaming in the spotlight and giving his actors big bear hugs. Besson had a particularly tender moment with star Caleb Landry Jones, with whom he spent an entire year developing and refining the central role before the cameras even rolled.
As Jones stood before the adoring crowd, his collar unbuttoned and curly strands of hair falling over his face, his “Dogman” director lovingly chided him, gently ruffling the actor’s hair and pulling it back to please the warm, eager crowd to be able to see.
After six minutes of cheering, the filmmakers quietly left the spotlight, leaving a still-lively crowd clapping in their place.
Besson attended the world premiere of “Dogman” alongside cast members including lead actor Caleb Landry Jones, who was able to attend the event after SAG-AFTRA allowed cast members a tentative agreement amid the ongoing strike. Adam Driver was also granted an exemption from attending the world premiere of “Ferrari” earlier this evening.
“Dogman” follows Douglas (Jones), a “scarred boy” who “finds redemption through dogs,” according to the film’s official synopsis. Besson wrote and directed the film, which also stars Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, Clemens Schick, Grace Palma, Marisa Berenson and John Charles Aguilar.
Besson, known for “Léon: The Professional” (1994), “The Fifth Element” (1997) and “Lucy” (2014), makes his debut in competition at the Venice Film Festival with “Dogman.” Jones, best known for “Get Out,” had a breakthrough performance at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival when he won best actor for his starring role in “Nitram.”
“Dogman” is Besson’s first film since 2019’s “Anna” and his first since he was officially acquitted of sexual assault allegations in France. In 2018, Besson was accused of rape by Sand Van Roy, who appeared in his 2017 film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. In February 2019, French prosecutors dropped the case against him due to a lack of evidence. After a second investigation, a judge dismissed the case in December 2021 and in June this year he was acquitted of all charges by the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court.
In an exclusive interview with Variety from Venice, Besson was asked if he fears actors won’t want to work with him because of the rape trial. He replied, “That’s not my problem. I’ve been trying to concentrate on my work for several years. I consider myself an artist and the most important thing for me is to write good scripts like Dogman. I want to write better and better stories because I only have a few more films to make – and in 20 years all I’ll have left are the films.”
The film is scheduled to be released in France on September 27th by Apollo Films and EuropaCorp.