August 4th, 2007 by admin
A new page, Movies in Festivals, is created to update the movies currently being shown in the festivals around the world. The Recent Movies page now will update movies on general release. Please write to info@dianying.com if you have additional information.
August 2nd, 2007 by admin
Arthur Dong’s Hollywood Chinese documents the involvement of Chinese actors, directors, and technical personnel in American cinema, from silent era to recent success like Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. It was premiered at this year’s Asian American Film Festival. It has also been selected by Toronto Film Festival (6-15 September 2007).
The official website at DeepFocus Production has some fascinating photos and posters.
July 2nd, 2007 by Lu Pin
The news that director Edward Yang died last week is a shock to me. He seems so young and has so much to offer.
I can’t declare myself a devoted fan of him. I have only watched one of his movies in cinema, Mahjong (1996). I watched his The Terrorizer (1986) on tape. His most famous work is, of course, A Brigher Summer Day (1991). However it seems very difficult to find this film, which I have only watched some scenes on video. I’m still waiting for the day that I can watch this film on big screen, where it deserves to be seen.
Edward Yang’s career path is legend to film buffs. He started to be interested in film making when he was studying computer science. The legend says he was so intrigued to Fellini’s 8 1/2 that he watched it four times trying to understanding it. The breakthourgh came when he and three other budding young Taiwanese directors directed In Our Time (1982). He is true auteur, choosing his project s carefully. In his 18 years career of a director, he has only made 7 and 1/4 movies - The 1/4 was In Our Time (1982). His last film, A One and a Two (2000), won him Best Director at Cannes. And some will say, he reached the pinnacle of his career with this film.
Edward Yang (right) is one of talented young Taiwainese directors in the 80’s.
June 24th, 2007 by admin
Two of Johnnie To’s films, Exiled (2006) and PTU (2003), are both in the theatrical release in the UK. Exiled (2006) has received wider release, while PTU (2003)’s release is very limited.
The reviews in British newspapers about Exiled (2006) is generally good. The Telegraph thinks it’s “a much better showcase for his (Johnnie To’s) talents than the overrated Election”. The Guardian praises it as “a sharp, shrewd thriller with a bracing touch of political stire”. However Independent on Sunday says it’s “just a pretext for some iconic compositions of men posing with guns and cigars.”
Meanwhile, BBC Radio Five Live’s film critic Mark Kermode said in the film review programme that PTU (2003) is his Film of the Week.
The DVDs of both films should be available in the UK soon.
June 14th, 2007 by admin
盛夏光年 (2006)
Leste Chen . Taiwan 2006. 1h35m. 35mm. Mandarin with English subtitles. 15.
Cast: Bryant Chang, Chang Hsiao-chuan, Kate Yeung
4:30
Royston Tan. Singapore 2005. 1h33m. 35mm. Korean, English and Mandarin with English subtitles. 18
Cast: Kim Young-jun, Yuan Xiao Li
Red Doors
Georgia Lee. USA 2005. 1h32m. 35mm. 15
Cast: Tzi Ma, Jacqueline Kim, Elaine Kao, Freda Foh Shen.
March 10th, 2007 by Lu Pin
I want to praise Edinburgh’s Cinema China 07’s organisers to choose Centre Stage (a.k.a. The Actress) as the opening film. Not only this gives them a good reason to invite Maggie Cheung, of whom I am a fan, to come to the festival, but also this is a fitting opening for a festival that celebrates a century of Chinese cinema.
I first watched this film more than ten years ago in Hong Kong. At that time I was already interested in the history of Chinese cinema and had begin working on my project Chinese Movie Database. The impact of this film on me, looking back now, was that it made me realise that the early (1930s) Chinese films could be attractive and sexy. The beautiful and enigmatic Ruan Lingyu became this focal point of my interest in early Chinese cinema. This film tells the history of the Shanghai era of silent cinema through Ruan Lingyu, with great passion. I guess there must have been some influence from Peggy Chiao, the film producer and critics from Taiwan, who provided the concept of this film. We saw the director and actresses interview the characters they played, and be interviewed. Scenes of the lost films were re-constructed. And when Zhang Damin visited Ruan Lingyu’s new home unexpectedly, I could almost see a glimpse of The Goddess.
February 26th, 2007 by Lu Pin
I’m very proud of the fact that I had watched Fei Mu’s 1948 masterpiece Spring in a Small Town (小城之春) in cinema. I can’t help keeping telling my friends at every opportunity that how I watched it with excitement, how I love this film and how I fell for the leading actress instantly. My friends probably have been tired of my bragging, half of them having no faintest idea what I talked about.
I watched Spring in a Small Town Hong Kong, during a retrospective of Fei Mu’s work held in Hong Kong Arts Centre in mid-90s. That was a rare event, because this movie disappeared from the public sight after initial release in Shanghai and was only re-discovered in 80’s, which makes it extremely difficult to locate a copy. The copy I watched was in excellent condition though. After the screening,
I approached Fei Ming Yi, the master’s daughter and one of the organisers of the retrospective, asking her where she got the copy. She said she borrowed it from Beijing Film Archive and, certainly used her influence to get the deal, had to ‘garantee the return on my life’. Afterwards, I always take it as a badget of honour as being in that cosy small theatre that evening.
There have since been VCDs and DVDs of the movie available. But nothing compares with impact of watching the film on big screen. This film is made for cinema, although it tells a story only involves five characters in a small town.
It has now been regarded as one of the best Chinese films ever made, an excellent and innovative fusion of Chinese literal and opera tradition and western cinema language.
So you can imagine my surprise and delight to see Spring in a Small Town features in the programmes of Chinese Cinema 07 organisied by Edinburgh Unversity and Filmhouse cinema. Claimed to be ‘UK’s the biggest ever festival of Chinese film’, it will show about 30 Chinese films from 1940’s to the latest - a preview of Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower, not mention the presence of Maggie Cheung. For those 1940’s films though, such as Ruan Lingyu’s Goddess (with a specially-commissioned musical accompaniment conducted by my friend Kimho Ip), Crows and Sparrows, and Spring in a Small Town, this is indeed a chance not to miss. So cancel your another engagement, travel by air, land and sea, and come to Edinburgh in the spring.
The article first appears on WaterInk
February 18th, 2007 by Lu Pin
17 Febuary 2007. Chinese film, Tuya’s Marriage, directed by Wang Quan’an, won the Best Film Golden Bear Award, the top award, at 57th Berlin Film Festival, on the Chinese New Year’s Eve. The Golden Bear is awarded to the producer Le Wang.
Tuya’s Marriage tells a story about a woman’s attempt to find a new husband who must also take care of her current disabled husband, starring Yu Nan.
January 30th, 2007 by Lu Pin
Ghosts (2006)
Director: Nick Broomfield
Cast: Ai Qin Lin, Zhan Yu, Wei Zhe
I saw the poster of Nick Broomfield’s Ghosts in Edinburgh’s Filmhouse cinema some time ago. There have been more press coverage when it released recently, but I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to watch this film. In the evening of 5th Febuary 2004, I was travelling on a train from Manchester to Edinburgh along the west coast line. As in early Febuary, it was dark outside. When I arrived home I heard the news about the missing Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay. The next day it was clear 23 Chinese illegal immigrants were found dead or missing there. Looking at the map, I suddenly realised that on that cold Febuary night, when my train was travelling in Lancashire countryside, I was not too far away from my fellow country men and women who were about to be swallowed by the rising tide.
January 26th, 2007 by Lu Pin
Two Chinese films have entered official competition of 57th Berlin Film Festival which will be held the second week of Febuary 2007.
Tuya’s Marriage (图雅的婚事 tu2 ya3 de hun1 shi4), directed by Wang Quanan (王全安), is about a woman named Tuya in the northern rural China tries to find a new husband who can allow her to continue to support her current, disabled husband.
While Lost in Beijing (苹果 ping2 guo3), directed by Li Yu (李玉), tells the story of several characters in this huge metropolis, starring Tony Leung Ka Fai (梁家辉) and Fang Bingbing (范冰冰). The director said she has to hurry up the post-production in order to show it at Berlinale.
Another Chinese director, Zhang Lü (张律) directs a South Korean-France co-production Hyazgar (Desert Dream). His previous work, Grain in Ear (芒种), is international acclaimed.
