At the recently announced lineup of films in competition for the prestigious Golden Lion at the 65th Venice Film Festival which will take place from August 27th to September 6th, Japanese films are the most represented among all the Asian movies competing this year. Three Japanese movies have made it into the list of 21 films including two of the most anticipated animated features: Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea and Ghost In The Shell director Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers. The other Japanese movie in competition is award-winning director Takeshi Kitano's Achilles and the Tortoise. Ponyo debuted in Japan recently and has already topped the box-office records there. The Sky Crawlers will debut in Japan on August 2.
Unlike the previous years' La Biennale di Venezia, where Chinese language movies (including Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies) were quite well represented and a force to be reckoned with(3 films in 2006 including Golden Lion winner Still Life and 4 films in 2007 including winner Lust, Caution), this year, only one Chinese language movie made it to the list, Hong Kong director Yu Lik Wai's Plastic City, a Chinese/Brazil/Hong Kong/Japanese co-production about a group of Asian immigrant gangsters in Brazil. Plastic City stars über-cool Japanese star Joe Odagiri and well-known Hong Kong character actor Anthony Wong.
The trailer for Ponyo can be found here and the trailer for Achilles and the Tortoise can be found at this site. And here is the trailer for The Sky Crawlers that I found on YouTube:
Good luck to all the films competing in this year's Venice Film Festival :-)
Source: http://international-animated-films.suite101.com/article.cfm/ponyo_on_a_cliff_tops_japans_box_office, http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8674, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/31/content_8870603.htm
Tags: Venice Film Festival, Japanese movies, La Biennale di Venezia, Ponyo On The Cliff, The Sky Crawlers, Takeshi Kitano, Achilles And The Tortoise, Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Oshii, Anime, animation, Yu Lik Wai, Plastic City, Joe Odagiri, Anthony Wong, ponyo, Asian Films, Film Festival
Japanese Films Rule The Asian Movie Roost At Venice Film Fest
12 Nominations For Lust, Caution At The 2007 Golden Horse Awards
To me, Lust, Caution is the must watch Chinese movie of 2007. The extensive media coverage and the lively debates generated by the movie have been unprecedented, no Chinese film has generated this kind of buzz in a long long time, Lust, Caution is truly the Chinese-language movie event of the year. And I think the Golden Horse Awards panel thinks so too as the film has been nominated for a whopping 12 awards at this year's Golden Horse Awards to be held on December 8th in Taiwan including the major awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Actor (Tony Leung) and Best Actress (Tang Wei). Me thinks Lust, Caution is going to take more than a few of these golden horsies home this year ;-)
Besides Lust, Caution (色，戒), other nominees for Best Picture are:
- What On Earth Have I Done Wrong (情非得已之生存之道) first feature film by Taiwanese director Doze Niu who also directed the Wu Bai and Barbie Hsu idol drama Say Yes Enterprise
- Getting Home (落叶归根) a black comedy by Chinese Sixth Generation director Zhang Yang and starring Best Actor nominee Zhao Ben Shan and Hu Jun
- The Home Song Stories (意) an Australian/Singaporean bilingual movie (in English & Chinese) by Tony Ayres and starring Best Actress nominee Joan Chen and Singapore based actor Qi Yu Wu.
And the other Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress nominees are:
Best Director: Yau Nai Hoi (Eye In The Sky), Li Yang (Blind Mountain)
Best Actor: Gurmit Singh (Just Follow Law), Zhao Ben Shan (Getting Home), Aaron Kwok (The Detective)
Best Actress: Joan Chen (The Home Song Stories), Li Bing Bing (The Knot).
A full list of the nominees can be found on the official Golden Horse Awards site:
http://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/gh_main/gh/gh-e-5.aspx.
And here are some screen shots of the nominated Best Picture films below:
Video: goldenhorse nomination films
Latest News: According to this news report, one of the original nominees, Tuya's Marriage (图雅的婚事) - Golden Bear winner at the 57th Berlin Film Festival, has announced its withdrawal from the Golden Horse Awards yesterday. So as of today, we are left with four competing films for Best Picture, and three nominees each for the Best Director and Best Actress awards...
Tags: Golden Horse Awards, Lust, Caution, Tuya's Marriage, Getting Home, The Home Song Stories, Ang Lee, Chinese movies, Chinese films, Film awards.
Ang Lee's Lust, Caution Goes To The Venice Film Festival
Ang Lee's much anticipated spy thriller Lust, Caution will be competing for the prestigious Golden Lion award at the 64th Venice Film Festival opening next month. The film which stars Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Wang Leehom and Joan Chen is set in Shanghai in the 1930s/40s and is about a group of patriotic students' attempt to assassinate a high-ranking intelligence official in China's Japan-backed World War II-era government.
Other Asian films in competion include Jiang Wen's The Sun Also Rises, Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django and Lee Kang Sheng's Help Me Eros.
Good Luck to all the directors in competition! And especially to Ang Lee, hope he takes home the Golden Lion a second time after the fantastic Brokeback Mountain
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19980533/, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i515bf6e54d29305d039d877f1e13140f
Picture from: http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=16703
Tags: Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival, Lust Caution, Se Jie, Asian Films, Ang Lee, Lee Kang Sheng, Jiang Wen, Takashi Miike, The Sun Also Rises, Sukiyaki Western Django, Help Me Eros.
Golden Horse & Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards
Two major film award ceremonies for Asian films have just been held over the last 2 days in Taipei, Taiwan - The Golden Horse Awards and the Asia Pacific Film Festival Awards.
Hong Kong films again reigned at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards, which some regard as the Chinese language equivalent of the Oscars - After This Our Exile (父子) from Hong Kong took home the Best Picture award. The movie's lead actor, Aaron Kwok, won the Best Actor award the 2nd time in a row for his portrayal of an abusive single parent. Nine-year old Goum Ian Iskandar, who played Aaron's son in the film became the youngest winner of a Golden Horse Best Supporting Actor Award.
The hugely popular muscial Perhaps Love (also from Hong Kong) won 4 awards - Best Director (Peter Chan), Best Actress (Zhou Xun), Best Cinematography and Best Original Film Song.
The mainland Chinese film Crazy Stone (a personal favorite of mine) won the Best Original Screenplay award.
Check out the videos of the ceremony here (videos are in Mandarin):
Best Picture (presented by John Woo and Takeshi Kanshiro): http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/452795/853619
Best Actor (presented by Chang Chen [who was nominated for Best Actor but unfortunately the film he was nominated for The Go Master was withdrawn at the last minute] & Karen Mok): http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/452795/853611
Best Actress (presented by Aaron Kwok and Charlie Young): http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/452795/853607
Over at the 51st Asia-Pacific Film Festival, South Korean films reigned supreme, winning 6 awards in total. However, the Best Feature Film award went to Iranian film The Unwanted Woman, which also won the Best Director (Tahimeh Milani) and Best Screenplay awards.
15-year old South Korean actor Lee Jae-eung won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of a teenager's growing up pains in Bravo, My Life. Son Ye-jin took home the Best Actress award for her role in April Snow (which also starred South Korean mega hunk Bae Yong-jun). And South Korean box-office champ The Host clinched 3 awards as well for Best Supporting Actor (Byun Hee-bong), Best Sound Effects and Best Editing.
Congragulations to all the winners :-)
[Compiled from news articles: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/detail.asp?ID=96083&GRP=B, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/26/content_742945.htm, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/243523/1/.html]
Tags: Golden Horse Awards, Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Hong Kong Films, Chinese Films, Movie Awards, Asian Films, Aaron Kwok, Zhou Xun, Perhaps Love, After This Our Exile, The Host, April Snow, Son Ye-Jin, Bravo My Life, The Unwanted Woman, South Korean Movies.
