Hong Kong director Johnnie To's new film Mad Detective, starring Lau Ching-Wan and Kelly Lin Hsi-Lei is the last minute entry of Venice Film Festival. The Chinese language media report that the news has been confirmed by the director. Mad Detecive will compete with more than 20 films for the Golden Lion Award, which includes three Chinese language films, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, Jiang Wen's The Sun Rises Again, and Lee Kang Sheng's Help Me Eros.
Blood Brothers, a semi-remake of John Woo's Bullet in the Head (who also produced this new version), by new comer Alexi Tan, had been chosen as the closing film.
Chinese director Jia Zhangke, whose Still Life won last year's Golden Lion, will bring his documentary Useless to the Festival. The cinematographer-turned director Lu Yue's documentary-fiction hybride The Obscure will also be shown in the Orizzonti section.
Venice Film Festival website.
