During the opening ceremony of the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival, held on September 2nd, Hollywood actor George Clooney received the prestigious Career Golden Lion. He was honoured by fellow actress and friend Laura Dern in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema, who recalled him as an icon and a great artist, playfully echoing his status as a sex symbol, having twice been voted the sexiest man alive.
45 years of career summed up on screen, with clips from his films playing, crowning him as one of the great actors of his generation. Dern celebrated his humanity in service of others, as already seen in Good Night and Good Luck, the film about Edward R. Murrow and the fight against McCarthyism presented in Venice in 2005.
Regarding his political and social commitment, on stage Clooney criticised the authoritarian methods of power, which exploit and bend public opinion to silence the most irreverent media voices — journalists, musicians, and artists. In this context, Clooney defined the Trump administration as “kakistocratic” — the government of the worst — highlighting the incompetence and inability of those leading the United States of America.
Revealing his discontent with the aggressive and belligerent ways of the White House administration, he also showed a sense of optimism for the 2028 elections, hoping for a return to normality.
Photo Credits: Colleen Sturtevant on Wikimedia Commons
