Venice opens with Clooney, Pitt in comedy

Brad Pitt and George Clooney star in a madcap comedy by the Coen brothers in which two Washington gym employees get caught up in the cloak-and-dagger world of international espionage, with results both daft and deadly.

Burn After Reading, a spy movie meets slapstick farce, ensures an upbeat opening to this year's Venice film festival where the picture has its red carpet premiere yesterday.

It brings A-list star power and crowds of screaming fans to the 11-day event in the canal city, where Asian and European art house cinema is up against Hollywood heavyweights in the race for prizes at the closing ceremony on Sept 6.