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Ellen Burstyn wept as Kornél Mundruczó’s heartfelt drama “Place to Be” was embraced at Venice Film Festival with a six-minute standing ovation on Wednesday.
The 93-year-old acting icon wiped away her tears and hugged
her co-stars Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson and Murray Bartlett while the crowd cheered for her emotional performance as an elderly woman who goes on cross-country journey to return a lost pigeon to its owner. After the applause stopped, Burstyn shouted “thank you!” as she and Waititi, whose unlikely friendship anchors the road-trip adventure, blew kisses to the audience. Anderson and Bartlett play the children of Burstyn’s character in the movie, which premiered out-of-competition at Venice.
Before the afternoon premiere began, paparazzi could be heard screaming for Anderson — who wore a stunning orange dress with a dramatic train — from inside the Sala Giardino theater. Burstyn, meanwhile, did not stop for photographers and entered the venue using a walker after suffering a recent fall.
Burstyn is having a big moment at this year’s Venice as the Oscar-winning actor of “Exorcist” and “Requiem for a Dream” was honored with the festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. In addition to “Place to Be,” Burstyn also starred in director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Marilyn Monroe-inspire short film “Flesh Impact,” which premiere on the Lido earlier this week.
“Place to Be” marks Hungarian filmmaker Mundruczó’s second film of the year, after his Amy Adams-starrer “At the Sea,” which premiered at Berlin Film Festival in February. His English-language debut “Pieces of a Woman,” which earned its star Vanessa Kirby an Oscar nomination for best actress, bowed at Venice in 2020 and competed for the prestigious Golden Lion.
