Hollywood actress Charlize Theron arrives in Venice to present her latest
film 'The Burning Plain' which is in competition at the 65th edition of the
prestigious film festival.

VENICE LIDO, ITALY (AUGUST 29, 2008) REUTERS -
Hollywood actress Charlize Theron arrived in Venice on Friday
(August 29) to present her latest film 'The Burning Plain' which is in
competition at the 65th edition of the prestigious film festival.
     Oscar winners Theron and Kim Basinger play mother and daughter in
"The Burning Plain", an intense story of love and betrayal and the
directorial debut by acclaimed Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. 
    The film is the first of five U.S. entries to appear in the main
competition at the Venice film festival, and was warmly applauded by critics
and journalists on Friday at a press screening ahead of its red carpet world
premiere. 
    Arriaga is best known for his scripts that include well received dramas
"Amores perros", "21 Grams" and "Babel", for
which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
    Based on his description of his first outing behind the camera, it
would appear Arriaga will be directing again. 
    "I can tell you that directing was maybe the happiest moment of my
professional life. Just arriving to the set I had a smile, everyone here can
tell it, and it hasn't vanished until now," he told reporters, speaking
in English.
    Theron, who plays the emotionally-scarred Sylvia in "The Burning
Plain", was also a producer on the film as she was on "Monster"
for which she won a best actress Oscar. 
    Basinger, 54, was not at the press conference in Venice, but Theron
said her age brought a new dimension to her acting. 
      "There's something about Kim, there's a strength. Especially, I
think now in her age more than when she was working in her 30s, there's a
strength with this leftover vulnerability from her 20s that's just
unbelievably beautiful to watch," Theron said.
      One reporter asked Theron which side of the bed she prefered sleeping
after having asked her for her hand in marriage.
      Aside from time, the film explores the elements -- each storyline
represents either earth, air, fire or water, and the landscape jumps from arid
desert and brutal sunshine to swelling seas and rain-filled coastal skies.

     To the much anticipated return of Basinger to the screen, Arriaga also
highlighted the actress' fragility as one of her great strengths.
    "Because she's a magnificent actress and I think that she has a
fragility in her person that serves the character very much. And, of course,
I'm very proud to work with her, I think it was a pleasure and I think people
are gonna love her in this new kind of experience through the character,"
Arriaga told Reuters.    
        Other U.S. films in competition in Venice include "Rachel
Getting Married", directed by Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme and starring
Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger, and "The Wrestler" with Mickey
Rourke and directed by Darren Aronofsky. Kathryn Bigelow also presents Iraq
war drama "The Hurt Locker".