The 59th annual Venice Film Festival opened Thursday night with a surprise guest: Gwyneth Paltrow, who doesn't have a movie being shown there, reports PEOPLE reporter Liz Corcoran, who called in Friday morning from Italy.

But Paltrow, 29, did have a Valentino -- two of them, in fact. One was the long, black, sparkly gown she wore on her back, and the other was the designer himself.

Salma Hayek, 33, who starred in the fest's kick-off film, "Frida," the life story of Mexican artist and revolutionary Frida Kahlo, arrived in a short, black, lacy Yves Saint Laurent number.

Her costar in the movie, Ed Norton, who plays art benefactor Nelson Rockefeller, was not in Venice, owing to his commitment to star in a soon-to-open revival of the Lanford Wilson play "Burn This!" off Broadway in New York.

Unlike Cannes, there is no long red carpet up a grand stairway in Venice. Rather, there is a short, red ramp.

Still, that was enough of a glamorous backdrop for the real star of the evening: Sophia Loren, 67, who wore a shocking pink Armani gown as she accompanied son Eduardo Ponti, 29, and blew kisses to the crowd. (Loren stars in her son's first directorial effort, also her 100th film, "Between Strangers," which is being shown at the festival.)

The crowd responded to La Loren by shouting "bellissima" at her.

As for her ageless beauty, the veteran star told reporters at a press conference in Venice on Friday, "It's in the DNA -- if you saw my mother, it's something that runs in the family."