Naturally, real-life couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem were immediately quizzed on how much their marriage spilled into Florian Zeller s Venice competition feature, Bunker, at the movie's press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Ahead of the movie's red carpet premiere, Zeller, Bardem and Cruz were joined by co-stars Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger on the Lido to promote the film, following a renowned architect (Bardem) offered the chance to secretly design a survival bunker for a billionaire who is convinced that the end of the world is near. As he lets himself be seduced by this morally ambiguous project, his wife (Cruz) begins to question their marriage.


Questions around isolation, human connection and morality drive Bunker, as does an authentic wife-and-husband performance from the Spanish A-listers. Zeller said he coaxed the pair on board the project because he  adores  them, but also because he needed that legitimacy.  I think they are among the greatest actors working today, and so obviously it was an honor for me to work with them,  he continued.  But I have to say that from the very beginning, I was also interested into in having them together on screen, because I thought it would be a unique way to capture something special as a real couple - to give layers to all the scenes of this film, to blur the line, of course, between reality and fiction, but to try to approach something that I'm interested in, which is the burning authenticity of the truth. 

He added:  T

#hollywoodreporter  #podcastdailynews