At 92, the unforgettable star of “Vertigo” reappears six decades later at the Venice Film Festival to receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, reclaiming her legacy, her rebellious spirit, and her authenticity.
By Jorge Alonso Curiel
HoyLunes – It has been the great surprise, the major news of this 82nd Edition of the Venice International Film Festival, held in the city of canals since last Wednesday, August 27, and scheduled to end next Saturday, September 6, when the awards will be announced.
The legendary actress Kim Novak (Chicago, 1933), one of the last living stars of classic Hollywood and an icon of the 1950s and 60s, appeared on Monday, September 1, to receive, from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, a well-deserved Golden Lion that honors the career and personality of one of the most seductive actresses, a woman with extraordinary magnetism, mystery, and individuality in the history of cinema. Hollywood never recognized her with an Oscar, despite her starring roles in landmark films such as “Vertigo” by Alfred Hitchcock and “Picnic” by Joshua Logan. Her reappearance also coincides with the premiere of the documentary about her life, “Kim Novak’s Vertigo”, by Alexandre O. Philippe, screened at the festival that same Monday, and with the upcoming release of the feature film “Scandalous!”, directed by Colman Domingo, which narrates her romance with Sammy Davis Jr., with Sydney Sweeney portraying the diva and David Jonsson the unforgettable singer and actor.
A model before becoming an actress, Novak was hired by Columbia at just 21, and very soon—without formal training in acting—she began working in major productions with some of the most important directors. But her career in the mecca of cinema lasted only twelve years: in 1966, in an act of independence and integrity, she decided to leave it all behind, first retiring to a Pacific island and later to a ranch in Oregon, where she has lived ever since, dedicating herself to painting, writing poetry, and caring for horses and rescued animals. “Suddenly, I was free to express everything on the canvas and not have to be the canvas,” she stated in one of the phone interviews she gave in recent years.
Turned into a true erotic myth, brimming with class and elegance, she was directed by filmmakers such as Otto Preminger (The Man with the Golden Arm), Billy Wilder (Kiss Me, Stupid), Richard Quine (Strangers When We Meet), George Sidney (Pal Joey), and Delbert Mann, among others; and she shared the screen with actors such as James Stewart, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Jack Lemmon, and Fred MacMurray. After her retirement, she occasionally returned in minor films in the 1970s and 80s, and even appeared in the internationally successful TV series “Falcon Crest”.
“I want to thank the gods up above”, said the actress as she received the Golden Lion, “all of them, who gave me the gift of doing something with my life”, not forgetting afterward to thank her parents for the crucial role they played in her journey.
She also took the opportunity to comment on current issues, stressing the good fortune of living in freedom and the need to “save the democracies” of this world.
Guillermo del Toro emphasized her power to imbue characters with as much warmth as mystery, as much fragility as pain. Meanwhile, the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival clarified that this award not only recognizes her work, “but also her rebellious nature” in fleeing the studio system of classic Hollywood that turned actresses into “mere objects of seduction.”
Without a doubt, one of the great cinematic news stories of the year is the reappearance—six decades later—of this fundamental actress in the history of film.
An actress and a woman as authentic as she is unforgettable.
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