Roman Polanski’s black comedy “The Palace” was given a tepid three-minutes of applause when it world premiered in the Palazzo del Cinema’s Sala Grande on Saturday night.Producer Luca Barbareschi, French star Fanny Ardant and other key cast members including German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Portugal’s Joaquim de Almeida and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”) stood up and took a bow, but the audience’s response seemed to be more polite than exited, though there were occasional bursts of laughter during the screening.Before the film’s premiere “The Palace” set designer Tonino Zera received Venice’s Campari Passion for Film prize from artistic director Alberto Barbera.Polanski directed the black comedy from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska.
“The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve in 1999, when a dinner party at Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace hotel takes an unexpected turn.
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