Seven hours and fifteen minutes. That is the running time listed by the Venice Biennale for Joie de vivre, Luca Guadagnino's documentary dedicated to Bernardo Bertolucci. The film, announced on 23 July in the programme of the 83rd Festival, will be presented at the Lido in the Open – Out of Competition section during the festival, scheduled from 2 to 12 September 2026.
Even before the screening, it is those 435 minutes that make the title stand out from the lineup. That figure is official; reading the running time as an out-of-scale cinephile gesture remains an editorial interpretation.
For a sense of proportion, the comparison with Novecento suffices: Bertolucci's official website lists the film's running time as 317 minutes. Joie de vivre runs 118 minutes longer — one hour and 58 minutes more.
The Biennale's programme sheet describes the documentary as a «love letter» to Bertolucci and presents it as an investigation into his cinema, his art and his life. It also announces contributions from figures in the film world and interviews with directors influenced by his work, without naming any of them.
An initial assessment comes from the Festival's artistic director. According to ANSA, Alberto Barbera, who watched the film together with the selectors, called it «absolutely gripping» and explained that the journey through Bertolucci's work also becomes a way of interrogating modern cinema and the role of criticism. That is the judgement of the person who selected the documentary — not yet a public critical response.
As of 24 July the film had not been screened at the Festival. The sources consulted have not yet confirmed the day, venue or format of the session: it is therefore not possible to establish whether the 435 minutes will be shown in a single sitting, split into parts or accompanied by intervals.
For now that is precisely the point: in the Venice lineup, Guadagnino is proposing to devote more than seven hours of cinema to Bertolucci. How that will be organised and received can only be said after the screening.
Sources actually used: La Biennale di Venezia, Joie de vivre programme sheet and online presentation of the lineup; ANSA, statements by Alberto Barbera; Bernardo Bertolucci's official website, running time of Novecento.
