Johnnie To's Mad Detective has been announced as the Surprise Film of the Venice Film Festival. The entry was revealed about two weeks ago and confirmed by the production company. However the director Johnnie To ducked the question by the media in last few days when promoting his new project Ghost Lantern (鬼吹灯), a horror film based on a popular internet novel.
The film is also in competition, along with other three Chinese language films, for the Golden Lion Award. The title role, a detective who can see into other people's inner personality, is played by Sean Lau Ching-Wan, a versatile veteran actor who just won both Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Actor awards for My Name is Fame (2006).
Venice Film Festival website
