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Taking Venice

Play trailer 2:06 Poster for Taking Venice 2024 1h 38m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 15 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world's most influential art exhibition, becomes a proving ground in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry. Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embark on a daring plan to make Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. The artist is yet to be taken seriously with his combinations of junk off the street and images from pop culture, but he has the potential to dazzle. Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there.

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Taking Venice

Critics Reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Variety 05/31/2024
If you want to know how the definition of “scandal” has changed with the decades, you couldn’t do much better than to see Taking Venice, Amei Wallach’s highly enjoyable and revealing documentary about a legendary uproar in the art world. Go to Full Review Christopher Knight Los Angeles Times 05/20/2024
The account is well-told and worth knowing, even without conspiratorial murmurs. Go to Full Review Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com 05/17/2024
2.5/4
The movie skates over that irony instead of digging into it. Go to Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 07/05/2024
More conventionally crafted than the disruptive art it chronicles, Taking Venice nonetheless uses plentiful archival materials and latter-day interviews to tell a fascinating story. Go to Full Review Charles Solomon FilmWeek (LAist) 06/14/2024
It's frenetic without telling you anything really that fascinating. Go to Full Review Wade Major FilmWeek (LAist) 06/14/2024
A very competently-made doc about really pretentious subject matter... I found it somewhat uninvolving, but I was able to admire it from a distance. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Taking Venice

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Amei Wallach

Director

Luke Kirby

Alan Solomon

Andrea Miller

Producer

Tal Mandil

Producer

Vanessa Bergonzoli

Producer

Mead Hunt

Cinematographer

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Taking Venice

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Taking Venice

Taking Venice (2023) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world's most influential art exhibition, becomes a proving ground in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry. Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embark on a daring plan to make Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. The artist is yet to be taken seriously with his combinations of junk off the street and images from pop culture, but he has the potential to dazzle. Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there.
Director
Amei Wallach
Producer
Andrea Miller, Tal Mandil, Vanessa Bergonzoli
Distributor
Zeitgeist Films / Kino Lorber
Production Co
Display None Productions
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 17, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 16, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA)
$65.3K
Runtime
1h 38m
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