Timothee Chamalet’s Venice Premiere ‘Bones and All’ Gets 8-Minute Standing Ovation
Timothee Chalamet had Venice Fest seeing red, on screen and off, Friday night at the world premiere of Bones and All.
The film, which reunites Chalamet with his Call Me By Your Name Italian director Luca Guadagnino, lives up to its title with gory attacks and scenes that involve limb-chewing and eating. But despite the uncomfortable subject matter, the audience at the Venice premiere for the movie seem to embrace Bones and All.
Photo: Call Me By Your Name
The film received 8.5-minute standing ovation, the longest and most enthusiastic of the festival so far.
It beat the previous record holder “Tar,” a drama starring Cate Blanchett as a tortured composer, which had 6-minute ovation.
Chalamet plays Lee, a pale young man who embarks on a road trip with a woman he meets who shares an equally troubled past.
Their odyssey is marked with self-exploration and murder (with a tone that suggests what you’d get if Guadagnino had been tapped to direct one of the “Twilight” films). In one scene set at a carnival, Lee seduces a man, suggesting that he’s bisexual (or maybe pansexual), but he eventually falls in love with Maren.
Bones and All is based on the novel of the same name by Camille DeAngelis. Guadagnino’s Suspiria writer David Kajganich adapted the script. The supporting cast includes Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Jessica Harper, Chloë Sevigny, Francesca Scorsese and David Gordon Green.
Notably, “Bones and All” is Guadagnino’s first movie shot in the United States. It also marks a reunion between the director and Chalamet, who became one of the youngest best actor Oscar nominees in history thanks to his work on their first collaboration Call Me By Your Name.
Guadagnino has called Chalamet’s role in “Bones and All” a genuine heartbreaker.
“The second I read it, I said, only Timothee can play this role,” Guadagnino said in interview. “He’s fantastic, great performer and to see him soaring the way he is doing now, I feel proud of him. And this character is something very new for him, both endearing and heartbreaking.”
Guadagnino has had a rich history with Venice. His directorial debut “The Protagonists” debuted at the 1999 festival. His films “I Am Love,” “A Bigger Splash” and “Suspiria” also premiered at Venice.
MGM is releasing Bones and All in theaters in the U.S. on Thanksgiving weekend, November 23.
