The Errant Æsthete

It may possibly be the international event of the season, complete with George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson and Brad Pitt — and that’s just for starters — amidst a backdrop of Gondoliers, paparazzi, the Piazza San Marco and the legendary Grand Canal.

You’ve still got time and we hear tickets are still available at Alitalia, KLM, and other major airlines flying into Marco Polo Airport (airport code: VCE), which has a brand-new passenger terminal just north of the city on the Venetian lagoon.

If you haven’t guessed by now, dear aesthete, on what you might be missing, you’re hopelessly cavorting with the wrong crowd.

The Venice Film Festival kicks off Wednesday amid high expectations for a standout edition, both in terms of hot world preems and high-wattage stars expected on its striking new catwalk, dominated by a giant demolition ball intended as a renewal symbol.

The big sphere, made to look like it’s smashing the facade of the Fascist-era Palazzo del Cinema right behind the red carpet is a set piece by Oscar-winning production designer Dante Ferretti, devised with fest artistic director Marco Mueller to celebrate Venice’s 75th anniversary, just as construction on new futuristic digs at the Lido are finally said to be about to start.

“It’s definitely a sign that there is bound to be a new phase, because, with all this history, if we don’t keep moving, then Venice will just keep repeating itself and fade,” a relaxed Mueller told Daily Variety Tuesday as he sipped Chinese tea in his office.

For Mueller’s fourth time at the helm, possibly his swan song, the Lido lord has assembled a rich mix of name directors and potential discoveries with a decidedly English-language bent — Yank and Brit pics make up half the competish.

One effect of Mueller’s Anglo accent is the paparazzi are going to be molto busy with Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Michael Caine, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson and Brad Pitt among stars said to be trekking to the Lido, just through the weekend.

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