Mel Gibson's WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge has received a staggering 10-minute standing ovation during its world premiere at the 73rd Venice Film Festival.
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The movie is based on the true story of US Army medic Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who saved the lives of 75 of his comrades while refusing to bear arms under seige at the Battle of Okinawa.
The American-Australian film was filmed mostly in Australia and stars Andrew Garfield and Vince Vaughn alongside homegrown talent Teresa Palmer, Sam Worthington, Ryan Corr, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and Richard Roxburgh.
According to Deadline, the film received a standing ovation – a rarity at Venice – that lasted roughly 10 minutes. Approximately six minutes into the applause, Gibson, Garfield, Palmer and the rest of the cast waded into the crowd to shake hands with the audience.
Gibson's comeback film is shaping up to be one of the favourites at the prestigious event. It is expected to be a serious contender at the Oscars later this year.
Trade magazine Variety called it "a brutally effective, bristlingly idiosyncratic combat saga". Hollywood Reporter praised Gibson as "a muscular storyteller who knows exactly how to raise a pulse, heighten emotion and build intensity to explosive peaks."
The last film Gibson directed was Apocalypto in 2006. What followed was a string of highly-publicised racist tirades and Gibson's fall from Hollywood grace. Hacksaw Ridge is being described as "clearly his chosen path to public redemption".
The 60-year-old American-Australian told Fairfax Media's Stephanie Bunbury that Doss's story made him look at his own values.
"We are a bunch of people full of flaws. So to try and overcome those negative things in ourselves, that are born in us – a good way to that is to choose love," Gibson said.
"And this is what impressed me about Desmond. Greater love hath no man than he give his life for another and this guy: that is what he was about.
"He was putting his life on the line, crawling into all kinds of horrible situations, for his brothers. For anybody. It didn't matter what they looked like or smelt like. That's a pretty high calling."
Hacksaw Ridge opens in Australian cinemas on November 3.
