Cate (not Keira) is crowned queen of VeniceBy Terri Judd,
The IndependentPublished: 10 September 2007
Finally an actress managed to drag attention away from Keira Knightley at the Venice Film Festival. And she did so without even turning up.
Such was the acting skill of Cate Blanchett in taking on the role of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes's film I'm Not There that she stole the show on the final day of Venice, taking the best actress award and ensuring that she is everyone's hot tip to repeat the trick at next year's Oscars.
It was just the latest chapter in an astonishing career that has seen the 38-year-old Australian hailed as one of the finest actresses on earth and even landed her a place in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People.
That she wasn't there to collect the award did not matter. On a night when some other decisions, notably the awarding of the blue riband Golden Lion to Ang Lee's Se, jie (Lust, Caution), raised eyebrows and even attracted boos, Blanchett's triumph was met with near universal approval.
She won the prize for her extraordinary performance as one of six actors – including Richard Gere and Christian Bale – playing the legendary singer.
Blanchett is no stranger to difficult roles but the character of "Jude", a representation of Dylan in the mid-Sixties when he was becoming an international star, presented its own challenges.
Haynes, who was determined the character should be played by a woman to represent Dylan's Sixties look, said the star had been scared by the challenge but he eventually convinced her to "give it a shot".
Cynics may have doubted that she could pull off the role but unanimously glowing reviews of her sensitive portrayal vindicated the casting decision.
Blanchett was unable to attend the ceremony at Venice's Palazzo del Cinema on Saturday night but sent a note of thanks. After winning the award, the actress said: "I'm sorry I can't stand here throwing my arms around Todd, weeping just like a woman."
The acclaim can only seal her reputation as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Among Hollywood's most elegant stars, she has already won plaudits for her ability to carry off the regal gravitas ofElizabeth I, the ethereal quality of J R R Tolkien's Elf Queen, Galadriel, and the vivacious charms of the late, great Katharine Hepburn – a role for which she won an Academy Award for best supporting actress.
And so the festival, which has seen 22-year-old Knightley feted as the screen siren of the day for her part in Atonement, is over. In the end, there were no awards for the adaptation of Ian McEwan's wartime novel which stars Knightley as an upper class beauty whose fledgling love affair with the housekeeper's son, played by James McAvoy, is destroyed by a tragic misunderstanding.
It was a disappointing night for the British contingent, with Sleuth, starring Sir Michael Caine and Jude Law, also missing out. The only British win was best script for Paul Laverty, the screenwriter on Ken Loach's immigrant worker drama It's A Free World.
Brad Pitt was named best actor for his starring role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, in which he plays the 19th-century outlaw.
The surprise winner of the award for best director was Brian De Palma for Redacted, a searing documentary-style film about American troops who embark on a rape and murder spree in Iraq.
It was I'm Not There, though, and more specifically its leading lady who wasn't there, that dominated discussion as the critics, stars, directors and fans shuffled out of Venice.