Venice premiere of In the Hand of Dante amid casting controversy

Julian Schnabel’s long-gestating crime thriller In the Hand of Dante premiered Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival, bringing a starry cast, a notable acting turn by Martin Scorsese and an onstage defense of casting choices after activists urged the festival to disinvite two of the film’s performers. The director emphasized he selected actors for their merits and said he did not believe artists should be boycotted, while the festival confirmed no disinvitations had been issued even as neither of the targeted stars attended.

The film, adapted and directed by Schnabel from Nick Tosches’s novel, interweaves two timelines. In the contemporary thread a weary scholar is drawn into New York’s criminal underworld when a handwritten manuscript purporting to be Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy resurfaces and must be authenticated. Overwhelmed by temptation, the scholar steals the manuscript and embarks on a violent, obsessive path that mirrors the medieval tale of Dante himself, who in the 14th century crafts his epic while seeking guidance from a sage named Isaiah.

The Venice premiere offered the first extended public look at Scorsese in a small but pivotal role as Isaiah, appearing only...