WireImage.com: The 64th Venice International Film Festival

The 64th Venice International Film Festival

August 28 - September 8, 2007

Venice, Italy

The curtain has closed on the 64th Venice International Film Festival, and this year A-listers walked away with the top awards. Brad Pitt, typically a stranger to major awards despite the respect he commands in the industry, is getting his due this year with heaps of praise for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," for which he won Venice's Best Actor prize. "I'm Not There" star Cate Blanchett picked up the Best Actress prize for her portrayal of a young Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes's quirky biopic, while "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" helmer Ang Lee won the Best Director award for "Lust, Caution," his Chinese-language espionage thriller starring Tony Leung, Joan Chen, and cinema newcomers Tang Wei and Lee-Hom Wang. This marks the second time in three years Lee has won the award - he accepted it in 2005 for the Oscar-winning "Brokeback."

All in all it was another terrific year for one of cinema's most glamorous weeks, for celeb-watchers and cinephiles alike. Highlights included a luscious Keira Knightley at the premiere of "Atonement" (which was called an instant classic), Jude Law and Michael Caine looking dapper at the "Sleuth" premiere, George Clooney hamming it up as usual and looking delicious next to Tilda Swinton, and our sheer delight at seeing Charlize Theron in action with a hot new film and the daring fashions we've come to expect from the Oscar-winning beauty.