Russian tragedy The Return wins Venice top prize

Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev (L), Russian actors Ivan Dobron-ravov (C), and Konstantin Lovronenko with the Golden Lion for best picture at the 60th Venice Film Festival on September 6.

'For a first-time director it's absolutely extraordinary,' said Screen International critic Lee Marshall before the award was announced. 'It's an incredibly strong story of a father-son conflict with elements of even Greek tragedy behind it.'

The movie was scarred by real-life tragedy a couple of months after shooting ended, when one of the young protagonists, 15-year old Vladimir Garin, drowned in the region where the film was set. Zvyagintsev told Italian daily Corriere della Sera he did not want to talk publicly about Garin's death unless the film won a prize.

The runner-up Jury Grand Prix was awarded to The Kite (Le Cerf-Volant), a film by Lebanese director Randa Chahal Sabbag about love and separation along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Cult Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano won a Silver Lion for his directing of Zatoichi about a blind samurai warrior who saves a village from sword-slinging gangsters.

Sean Penn won best actor for his role as a terminally ill university professor in 21 Grams about loss and redemption in America, and Katja Riemann won best actress for her performance in Rosenstrasse as the Aryan wife of a Jew in Nazi Germany.

Italian director Marco Bellocchio won the prize for 'outstanding individual contribution' for his script of Good Morning, Night (Buongiorno, Notte)--a much-touted film about the 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro. Besides, best young actor or actress award went to Najat Bessalem in Raja.

There was no clear winner just hours before the 60th annual festival's top prizes were due to be announced. But organizers said the jury was spoiled for choice this year by the number of high quality films on offer.

'The most important indicator of success has been that almost all the films shown have been sold out for distribution,' Franco Bernabe, the president of the Biennale Umbrella Group, which organizes the festival.

Twenty films competed for the Golden Lion award at the world's oldest film competition, while some 145 titles were shown. A dazzling array of film stars lured fans to Venice's Lido throughout the festivities, which were kicked off by Woody Allen's new comedy, Anything Else. Film legend Omar Sharif, screen heartthrob of Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, was honored with a Golden Lion lifetime achievement award.