Brad Pitt arrives in Venice ahead of Festival!

The Venice Film Festival will begin in a matter of hours. As we discussed already (although no one read that post!!), Venice is going to be a garbage dump of toxic masculinity, with Roman Polanski and Nate Parker screening their new movies there, plus the festival is barely doing anything for female filmmakers or female-driven movies. So… it feels right that Brad Pitt would be one of the first stars to arrive in Venice. He touched down several hours ago and he was being escorted through the canals on a boat named Confusion. Sometimes, things are perfect. (And no, that’s not Jennifer Aniston beside him in the boat. I think that’s his producing partner Dede Gardner.)

Brad is in Venice to promote and premiere Ad Astra, the bizarre-looking space drama where he plays an astronaut and there’s, like, a galactic plot involving his long-lost father, played by Tommy Lee Jones. And Liv Tyler is Brad’s wife. Something like that. I still don’t know if this is supposed to be a “space thriller” or some kind of contemplative meditation on space and time and father-son drama. Cat’s in the cradle and your dad is ruining the solar system.

Director James Grey was asked about casting Brad in the lead role, and this is what he said:

“I thought about a very retro, almost 1960s idea of the all-American astronaut. The idea was to break down the myth of what it means to be traditionally masculine, macho. And the only way you can really break down the myth is to start with the myth. There’s this whole mythology that comes along with [Pitt], and that’s what you can play with.

[From THR]

I understand that and everything but… how many films are about “breaking down the myth of the traditionally masculine”? And why are those films still being made?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Brad Pitt arrives in Venice ahead of Festival!
Brad Pitt arrives in Venice ahead of Festival!
Brad Pitt arrives in Venice for the 76th Venice Film Festival