George Clooney criticised authoritarianism and “people who peddle in fear” at the opening of Venice film festival, on the day when he expressed doubts about Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“The merger is a complicated thing because I don’t know how it works out,” said Clooney at a press conference ahead of accepting his Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. “There are so many issues involved. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it’s going to be very tricky to do.
“I always worry whenever big companies are consolidating because it usually means a lot of people lose their jobs. But we’ll see. I don’t see how it financially ends up making sense for the people who are trying to do it.”
The actor also defended Mark Ruffalo, who criticised the merger and was subsequently accused by Paramount of “antisemitic tropes”.
“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely,” said Clooney. “It’s ridiculous. We’re not going to ban speech. I like him. He’s a good man.”
Clooney connected the merger to an ongoing technological “revolution in our industry.”
“AI is going to be a very big part of this industry; it’s going to hurt us in a lot of ways,” said the actor. “If you’re a visual effects supervisor, you’re going to have trouble coming up because a big number of jobs are going to be taken away, and we’re on the back foot about it.”
Pressed on whether he was scared about AI, he quipped, “I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I’m dead.”
“Deepfakes are a problem,” continued Clooney. “I’ve seen videos of me that are not me; but I’m not talking about movies. I’m talking about news stories – things I didn’t say and do. Then you start looking at: what happens when a government that you’re not completely sure is altogether bright, sees a video of Putin saying “I’ve launched the first nuclear strike?”
Clooney said he met with a leader in the AI sector a couple of days ago, who said the ability to discern truth is becoming harder. “Because you poison the well of saying “maybe this is true, maybe this isn’t”, then when you see real things that are really true, people are able to say, “well, that’s fake.”
Authoritarians
That evening Clooney accepted his Golden Lion from Jay Kelly co-star Laura Dern, and used his speech to call out authoritarianism, and call for unity across differences.
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“For 90 years, people have come here [to Venice film festival] from countries that don’t agree on politics, on religion, on language, yet here we all are, in this cathedral that I have had some of my most incredible moments in,” said Clooney.
“Nobody laughs in a different language. Nobody cries in a different language. Parents worry the same. Kids dream the same. Love looks remarkably similar.”
“We’re living through a moment in time where people in charge, the people with the most money, are telling us to fear one another. But we know better than that. The first people that authoritarians try to shut down are not politicians. They’re journalists who ask questions. They’re the artists who refuse simple answers. They’re the filmmakers, writers, actively enriching. Stories are always dangerous to people who peddle in fear. The people who are afraid of books, music, and stories are never the heroes in history.
Clooney acknowledged that “movies don’t stop wars, lower inflation” or “fix elections” but instead “remind us that a stranger is never a stranger, and he might just be the hero in somebody else’s story. And if we can sit together in the dark, and care about people we have never met, I think we’ll be OK.”
Decency
Earlier at the press conference, the actor had criticised US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth for a social media post mocking women in the Canadian cadets for their physiques. “The idea that being cruel and unkind is part of the fun of all of this… what’s wrong with you? Where’s the sense of decency in all of this? I’m ashamed of that. But we will get through it, and come out better on the other side.”
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Clooney has a long history with Venice, including showing Jay Kelly and Wolfs at the previous two editions. He said he “hadn’t noticed” that some major studios have avoided film festivals in the past 18 months, but said “studios doing films that less and less need the launchpad of a film festival” can be traced back to Jaws and the advent of the modern blockbuster in the 1970s.
The opening ceremony featured a performance from Italian singer Tutti Fenomeni, and clip reels for both Clooney and Competition jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal.
“When I go to the movies, I’m not interested in perfection, seductive as it may be,” said Gyllenhaal in her speech. “I’m interested in having an interaction with something human, even if that human has a very different experience or point of view than I do.”
Gyllenhaal then officially opened the festival in unison with the evening’s hosts, actors Greta Scarano and Nicolas Maupas. The event began with the world premiere of Danny Boyle’s Ink, about Rupert Murdoch relaunching UK tabloid newspaper The Sun with editor Larry Lamb and bringing in a new age of journalism.
Venice film festival runs until Saturday, September 12.
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