Send in the crowns: in trumping Venice competition, Joker begins grand slam
Xan Brooks
The victory for Todd Phillips’s revisionist comic book blockbuster is a credit to a festival in touch with crazed politics, contemporary paranoia – and superb cinema
Venice film festival: shock and awe as Joker – and Roman Polanski – triumph
Comic book movie starring Joaquin Phoenix takes top award and An Officer and a Spy wins grand jury prize
Venice film festival 2019 roundup: shocks, horrors and dark jokers
Social media controversies may have overshadowed the actual buzz, but this year’s programme still held many surprises