Hong Kong director Peter Ho-sun Chan's offering, the first Chinese musical film in four decades, includes some of Asia's biggest names, from award-winning Jacky Cheung to House of Flying Daggers star Takeshi Kaneshiro.

As festival-goers prepare their evening glad rags, George Clooney is still the favourite to take the top Venice prize with Good Night, and Good Luck, a black-and-white tale of broadcasting courage in the McCarthy era.

But Clooney, hugely popular in Italy where he has a home, faces tough competition from movies including Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain and Park Chan-wook's visually stunning Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, the last film in the Korean director's revenge trilogy.

Abel Ferrara, whose film Mary met mixed reactions, could be another contender. One Italian daily reported on Saturday that he had been asked to return to Venice for the awards.

Venice came under fire last year after a blunder-prone competition that resulted in delays, middle-of-the-night red carpet arrivals and stars left without seats at their own premieres.

This year's slimmer line-up has helped keep the organisation on track, while Venice has not lost its variety.