Ann Hui is one of the foremost auteurs in Hong Kong cinema, the filmmaker behind some of the territory’s most thoughtful and touching productions about immigrants and social outcasts. But over the years she has also directed more commercial films, including “Love in a Fallen City”, produced by major studio Shaw Brothers. The film stands out in her filmography as more commercial and traditional than her usual fare, but it also paves the way for some of her later masterpieces.
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The story centers on Bai Liu-Su (Cora Miao), a divorcée living in Shanghai in the early 1940s and having to face the pressure of her declining aristocratic family, who shame and despise her for her failed marriage. Encountering the charming and womanizing businessman Fan Liu-Yan (the irresistible Chow Yun Fat), she follows him to Hong Kong to escape her spiteful siblings.
Follow our Ann Hui Project by clicking on the image below
The story centers on Bai Liu-Su (Cora Miao), a divorcée living in Shanghai in the early 1940s and having to face the pressure of her declining aristocratic family, who shame and despise her for her failed marriage. Encountering the charming and womanizing businessman Fan Liu-Yan (the irresistible Chow Yun Fat), she follows him to Hong Kong to escape her spiteful siblings.
- 9/2/2024
- by Mehdi Achouche
- AsianMoviePulse
A China-Hong Kong production, “Eighteen Springs” signaled the second time Ann Hui would direct a novel by Eileen Chang, following “Love in a Fallen City” and tailing “Love after Love”. The movie won a number of awards, mostly in festivals from the wider Chinese world and mostly for Anita Mui‘s performance.
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The story begins during the 30s, when Manzhen works as a clerical assistant in a factory in Shanghai. Her elder sister, Manlu, works as a nightclub hostess, and is essentially the one providing for the whole family. Manzhen meets two former classmates in the factory, Shuhui and Shijun, and the three become friends. Soon, however, she falls in love with the latter, who is actually the son of a rich merchant from Nanjing, and has decided to leave his family, unwilling to take over the business. As the romance blooms gradually,...
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The story begins during the 30s, when Manzhen works as a clerical assistant in a factory in Shanghai. Her elder sister, Manlu, works as a nightclub hostess, and is essentially the one providing for the whole family. Manzhen meets two former classmates in the factory, Shuhui and Shijun, and the three become friends. Soon, however, she falls in love with the latter, who is actually the son of a rich merchant from Nanjing, and has decided to leave his family, unwilling to take over the business. As the romance blooms gradually,...
- 8/27/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Ann Hui’s eclectic films are united by a consideration of the relationship between public and private worlds, of how the weight of history can be brought to bear on even the most intimate personal developments. The director’s beautiful 2002 drama July Rhapsody, now receiving its first stateside theatrical run courtesy of Cheng Cheng Films, both follows this thread and pulls it in a uniquely tender and thoughtful direction. Unlike much of her previous work, the histories excavated by the film are strictly personal, but they contribute to a far more wide-ranging treatise on the resonance of artistic expression across time and generations.
Another thread through Hui’s work is its kinship with Chinese literature, from the filmmaker’s three adaptations of Eileen Chang novels to last year’s Elegies, a documentary on Hong Kong poetry. That affinity is deeply felt in July Rhapsody, which follows a meek, middle-aged Chinese...
Another thread through Hui’s work is its kinship with Chinese literature, from the filmmaker’s three adaptations of Eileen Chang novels to last year’s Elegies, a documentary on Hong Kong poetry. That affinity is deeply felt in July Rhapsody, which follows a meek, middle-aged Chinese...
- 7/14/2024
- by Brad Hanford
- Slant Magazine
After such works as “A City of Sadness” Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien, member of the Taiwanese New Wave, was looking for new topics, also outside his home country. Eventually he stumbled upon a novel by Han Ziyun, translated into Mandarin by Eileen Chang, about the Shanghai flower houses, their relevance to urban life in the early 1900s and before, as well as their hierarchy. The work inspired “Flowers of Shanghai”, in they eyes of many cinephiles and critics his most artful feature, which was nominated for Best Film at Cannes Film Festival in 1998 and won the award for best Art Direction and the Jury Award at Golden Horse Film Festival.
Flowers of Shanghai is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema The Spark is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place during the 1880s, and covers many characters and their encounters in...
Flowers of Shanghai is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema The Spark is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place during the 1880s, and covers many characters and their encounters in...
- 2/9/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Marking the third time Ann Hui adapts a novel by Eileen Chang (after “Love in a Fallen City” and “Eighteen Springs”), “Love After Love” is based on the short story “Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier”, a work that the director herself admitted was quite hard to bring to the big screen, particularly due to its dialogue-heavy nature. Nevertheless, Hui managed to gather an all-star team, including actors like Ma Sichun, Eddie Peng and Feye Yu, Dp Christopher Doyle and Ryuichi Sakamoto who handled the score. Let us see how the movie fares however.
“Love After Love” is screening at Asian Pop-up Cinema
Weilong is a young woman from Shanghai, who has come to Hong Kong to finish her education away from her strict father. Facing intense financial issues, however, she ends up at the gates of Madame Liang’s mansion, her father’s sister who was excommunicated from the family...
“Love After Love” is screening at Asian Pop-up Cinema
Weilong is a young woman from Shanghai, who has come to Hong Kong to finish her education away from her strict father. Facing intense financial issues, however, she ends up at the gates of Madame Liang’s mansion, her father’s sister who was excommunicated from the family...
- 4/2/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
After a film career spanning more than three decades, production-costume-art designer Tim Yip has achieved plenty, including winning an Oscar and a BAFTA award. But he is only now launching his most uncompromising production, which he calls a “living film project,” and which he hopes will challenge the tradition of cinema.
“I want to make a film that is infinitely long,” Yip told Variety. “I also want to explore my potential and other possibilities. I can keep working on even bigger projects, but they may not be as satisfying as work on this project… which is just me and my camera.”
The result is an ongoing art film project titled “Love Infinity,” a hybrid of fiction and documentary through which Yip re-thinks the format of filmmaking, while investigating the cultural scenes beyond his native Hong Kong.
Produced by art patron and photographer Maryam Eisler, and Mei-Hui Liu, a designer and curator,...
“I want to make a film that is infinitely long,” Yip told Variety. “I also want to explore my potential and other possibilities. I can keep working on even bigger projects, but they may not be as satisfying as work on this project… which is just me and my camera.”
The result is an ongoing art film project titled “Love Infinity,” a hybrid of fiction and documentary through which Yip re-thinks the format of filmmaking, while investigating the cultural scenes beyond his native Hong Kong.
Produced by art patron and photographer Maryam Eisler, and Mei-Hui Liu, a designer and curator,...
- 3/16/2022
- by Vivienne Chow
- Variety Film + TV
Marking the third time Ann Hui adapts a novel by Eileen Chang (after “Love in a Fallen City” and “Eighteen Springs”), “Love After Love” is based on the short story “Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier”, a work that the director herself admitted was quite hard to bring to the big screen, particularly due to its dialogue-heavy nature. Nevertheless, Hui managed to gather an all-star team, including actors like Ma Sichun, Eddie Peng and Feye Yu, Dp Christopher Doyle and Ryuichi Sakamoto who handled the score. Let us see how the movie fares however.
“Love after Love” is available from Fortissimo Films
Weilong is a young woman from Shanghai, who has come to Hong Kong to finish her education away from her strict father. Facing intense financial issues, however, she ends up at the gates of Madame Liang’s mansion, her father’s sister who was excommunicated from the family when...
“Love after Love” is available from Fortissimo Films
Weilong is a young woman from Shanghai, who has come to Hong Kong to finish her education away from her strict father. Facing intense financial issues, however, she ends up at the gates of Madame Liang’s mansion, her father’s sister who was excommunicated from the family when...
- 12/7/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Unfortunately for “No Time to Die’s” China debut, government authorities have decided that it’s currently no time for citizens to risk dying of Covid-19 at the movies and are taking extra precautions to suspend cinema operations across the country this weekend as new outbreaks occur.
Hollywood is catching a tough break in China this month. After weeks of an unofficial blackout period on foreign imports due to the patriotic National Day holiday, there are finally two major Western blockbusters in theaters in the world’s largest film market: “No Time to Die” and “Dune,” the first and third place finishers this week, respectively.
Nevertheless, their performance has been unimpressive, slammed in part by new Covid-19 outbreaks across the country that have left more than 1,400 cinemas in 14 provinces ordered shut. Closures even reached Beijing on Saturday, when certain districts called for temporary shutdowns. Together, the theaters represent over 13% of the national box office.
Hollywood is catching a tough break in China this month. After weeks of an unofficial blackout period on foreign imports due to the patriotic National Day holiday, there are finally two major Western blockbusters in theaters in the world’s largest film market: “No Time to Die” and “Dune,” the first and third place finishers this week, respectively.
Nevertheless, their performance has been unimpressive, slammed in part by new Covid-19 outbreaks across the country that have left more than 1,400 cinemas in 14 provinces ordered shut. Closures even reached Beijing on Saturday, when certain districts called for temporary shutdowns. Together, the theaters represent over 13% of the national box office.
- 10/31/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
“Dune” didn’t quite manage to spice up its China open after a middling $6 million first day in the country on Friday. The film grossed just $21.6 million in its debut three-day weekend, according to studio estimates.
The result is more or less in the ballpark of its $41 million weekend tally in North America, where it released day-and-date simultaneously on HBO Max. It is nevertheless a disappointing one considering the enormity of the world’s largest film market, which has delivered much more spectacular openings in recent weeks.
As a dense, cerebral sci-fi epic, however, “Dune” is a hard sell for viewers in China’s lower-tier cities, who have recently proven their spending power by coming out in droves for National Day propaganda movies earlier this month.
The film is currently projected to earn just $35.2 million in China according to estimates from the Maoyan database, which would mean it has already...
The result is more or less in the ballpark of its $41 million weekend tally in North America, where it released day-and-date simultaneously on HBO Max. It is nevertheless a disappointing one considering the enormity of the world’s largest film market, which has delivered much more spectacular openings in recent weeks.
As a dense, cerebral sci-fi epic, however, “Dune” is a hard sell for viewers in China’s lower-tier cities, who have recently proven their spending power by coming out in droves for National Day propaganda movies earlier this month.
The film is currently projected to earn just $35.2 million in China according to estimates from the Maoyan database, which would mean it has already...
- 10/24/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Gordon Lam and Ann Hui, recipients of Variety honors at the New York Asian Film Festival, could scarcely be more different. Actor-turned producer Lam, who is receiving Variety Star Asia Award is ebullient and busy. Hui, for all her renown in Asia and Europe as a top director, is quiet and unassuming. She will be presented with the Variety Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award.
What they have in common is a lengthy career that has taken them from the bottom of the Hong Kong entertainment industry to the upper echelons. Both have achieved reputations that have been earned by endless hard work, which has served their carefully honed talent.
Born in Manchuria of Japanese and Chinese parents, Hui was convent school-educated in Hong Kong and studied film in London, where she brushed up against industry icon King Hu.
Returning to Hong Kong in 1976, Hui was thrown in at the deep end,...
What they have in common is a lengthy career that has taken them from the bottom of the Hong Kong entertainment industry to the upper echelons. Both have achieved reputations that have been earned by endless hard work, which has served their carefully honed talent.
Born in Manchuria of Japanese and Chinese parents, Hui was convent school-educated in Hong Kong and studied film in London, where she brushed up against industry icon King Hu.
Returning to Hong Kong in 1976, Hui was thrown in at the deep end,...
- 8/6/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
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“The Weapon Of Sex”
By Raymond Benson
The great Taiwanese director Ang Lee has worked in Asia and in Hollywood, delivering an impressive array of motion pictures that have won awards, made money, and wowed audiences. A handful of his titles that includes Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and Life of Pi (2012) place him on a top tier of filmmakers working today. He’s also won two Oscars for Best Director for the latter two titles.
Lee’s 2007 feature that came after the success of Brokeback Mountain was Lust, Caution, a Hong Kong/American co-production that won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, made some waves in Asia and other markets internationally, but was, sadly, little seen in the West. That said, Focus Features, which distributed the picture, has said that Lust, Caution...
“The Weapon Of Sex”
By Raymond Benson
The great Taiwanese director Ang Lee has worked in Asia and in Hollywood, delivering an impressive array of motion pictures that have won awards, made money, and wowed audiences. A handful of his titles that includes Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and Life of Pi (2012) place him on a top tier of filmmakers working today. He’s also won two Oscars for Best Director for the latter two titles.
Lee’s 2007 feature that came after the success of Brokeback Mountain was Lust, Caution, a Hong Kong/American co-production that won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, made some waves in Asia and other markets internationally, but was, sadly, little seen in the West. That said, Focus Features, which distributed the picture, has said that Lust, Caution...
- 2/16/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Mubi's series Ann Hui: Women Make the World is showing November 29 - December 31, 2020 in the United States.Ann Hui’s fascination with the late Eileen Chang is a story spanning four decades. Books by the revered Chinese writer had already served as inspiration for Hui’s 1984 Love in a Fallen City and her 1997 Eighteen Springs. In Love After Love, she summons Chang’s novella, “Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier”, to concoct a visually stunning, sprawling love story set in 1940s Hong Kong. At its center is Weilong (Ma Sichun), a Shanghainese student who’s left her family in hopes of continuing her education in Hong Kong. But money’s running out: as we first meet her, Weilong is tiptoeing inside the palatial villa owned by her estranged aunt Madame Liang (Faye Yu) to ask for help. Excommunicated from the family after she refused an arranged marriage, Madame Liang has...
- 12/2/2020
- MUBI
Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, one of Venice’s two Career Golden Lion recipients this year alongside Tilda Swinton, brings prewar Hong Kong to exquisite if restrained life in her latest historical drama, Love After Love (Di Yu Lu Xiang). This is the veteran Hong Kong New Wave filmmaker’s third adaptation of a work by Chinese-born writer Eileen Chang, whose writings were also the basis for Hui’s Love In a Fallen City from 1984 and 1997’s Eighteen Springs, as well as another film from the Biennale’s storied history: Ang Lee’s Golden Lion winner Lust, Caution. Besides Hui at the helm, the involvement of star ...
- 9/15/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, one of Venice’s two Career Golden Lion recipients this year alongside Tilda Swinton, brings prewar Hong Kong to exquisite if restrained life in her latest historical drama, Love After Love (Di Yu Lu Xiang). This is the veteran Hong Kong New Wave filmmaker’s third adaptation of a work by Chinese-born writer Eileen Chang, whose writings were also the basis for Hui’s Love In a Fallen City from 1984 and 1997’s Eighteen Springs, as well as another film from the Biennale’s storied history: Ang Lee’s Golden Lion winner Lust, Caution. Besides Hui at the helm, the involvement of star ...
- 9/15/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
“Young filmmakers do not need the old actively helping them,” said Ann Hui during her masterclass at the Venice Film Festival, raising some eyebrows. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipient went on to explain: “[That’s because young filmmakers’] rules, environment, experiences are completely different. By actively advising, we can hinder more than help. Unless the director is also a very good teacher. But being a great teacher is more difficult than being a great filmmaker.”
Hui, one of Asia’s most prolific and versatile directors, has some insight on this because she was a teacher of film herself. “I was very serious about homework and stuff. I don’t think my students liked that,” she joked, adding: “I feel sometimes students are too serious about an intended subject. Sheer joy of making films can take you a long way.”
The director is taking part in the festival not only as an award recipient...
Hui, one of Asia’s most prolific and versatile directors, has some insight on this because she was a teacher of film herself. “I was very serious about homework and stuff. I don’t think my students liked that,” she joked, adding: “I feel sometimes students are too serious about an intended subject. Sheer joy of making films can take you a long way.”
The director is taking part in the festival not only as an award recipient...
- 9/10/2020
- by Anna Tatarska
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Al Pacino and Francis Ford Coppola on the set of The Godfather: Part III.A new edit and restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part III will have a limited theatrical release in December. The film, entitled Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, includes a "a new beginning and ending."New inclusion requirements for the Oscars will take full effect in 2024, requiring films to meet standards for on-screen representation (in cast or theme) and creative leadership in order to be eligible for Best Picture. This year's lineup for the London Film Festival includes Ben Sharrock's Limbo (which will be distributed in the U.K. and Ireland by Mubi!). The Fondation Cartier will be presenting the world premiere of Artavazd Peleshian's first film in 27 years, La nature.
- 9/9/2020
- MUBI
Once more with rather less feeling: after “Love in a Fallen City” and “Eighteen Springs,” acclaimed Hong Kong director Ann Hui returns to the work of celebrated 20th century author Eileen Chang with “Love After Love,” a not-at-all-short adaptation of a Chang short story laboring under the English title “Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier.” Hui has assembled something of an all-star lineup, with the young leads played by rising actors Sandra Ma and Eddie Peng, the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto on scoring duties and Dp Christopher Doyle returning to the scene, if not quite the time period, of his greatest Wong Kar-wai collaboration, “In the Mood For Love.” Despite all this promise,
Tracking the very gentle wising-up of a naive, wide-eyed ingenue over the course of a few eventful pre-war years, the film begins as Weilong (Ma), a Shanghainese student come to Hong Kong to finish her education away from her stifling father’s influence,...
Tracking the very gentle wising-up of a naive, wide-eyed ingenue over the course of a few eventful pre-war years, the film begins as Weilong (Ma), a Shanghainese student come to Hong Kong to finish her education away from her stifling father’s influence,...
- 9/9/2020
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
"A pleasure in never feeling pleased." A festival promo trailer has debuted for the Hong Kong romantic drama Love After Love, which is screening out of competition at this year's Venice Film Festival. The latest film from Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, this looks sultry and sumptuous. It is an adaptation of an Eileen Chang short story, set in Hong Kong shortly before the start of World War II. Sandra Ma stars as a young girl who falls into her aunt's game of luring rich men. But then surprise, she finds herself genuinely attracted to playboy George Qiao, whose aim is to marry a wealthy girl to maintain his own high-end class lifestyle. Co-starring Eddie Peng as George, along with Faye Yu, Ning Chang, Wei Fan, and Isabella Leong. Featuring some gorgeous cinematography by Dp Christopher Doyle. At first glance, this has the feeling of Wong Kar Wai's beloved In the Mood for Love.
- 9/7/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
An adaptation of an Eileen Chang short story, Love After Love will play out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Ann Hui’s new film Love After Love, which will play out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
It is an adaptation of an Eileen Chang short story, set in Hong Kong shortly before the Second World War. Sandra Ma (Soulmate) plays a young girl who falls into her aunt’s game of luring rich men, with Eddie Peng (Our Time Will Come) co-starring.
Hui last...
Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Ann Hui’s new film Love After Love, which will play out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
It is an adaptation of an Eileen Chang short story, set in Hong Kong shortly before the Second World War. Sandra Ma (Soulmate) plays a young girl who falls into her aunt’s game of luring rich men, with Eddie Peng (Our Time Will Come) co-starring.
Hui last...
- 9/6/2020
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Scheduled for this year’s Cannes Film Festival was a 20th-anniversary screening of Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love. Along with awards for actor Tony Leung Chui-wai and editor, costume designer, and production designer William Chang Suk-ping, the film received the Grand Prize of the Superior Technical Commission for directors of photography Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bing. Doyle had hoped to present his latest films, including Love After Love, at the festival before it was postponed on April 14. Directed by Ann Hui, Love After Love is a period romance adapted from a work by writer Eileen Chang. […]...
- 4/29/2020
- by Daniel Eagan
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Scheduled for this year’s Cannes Film Festival was a 20th-anniversary screening of Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love. Along with awards for actor Tony Leung Chui-wai and editor, costume designer, and production designer William Chang Suk-ping, the film received the Grand Prize of the Superior Technical Commission for directors of photography Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bing. Doyle had hoped to present his latest films, including Love After Love, at the festival before it was postponed on April 14. Directed by Ann Hui, Love After Love is a period romance adapted from a work by writer Eileen Chang. […]...
- 4/29/2020
- by Daniel Eagan
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Includes new films from Ann Hui, Mohamed Diab and Kaouther Ben Hania.Asia
Love After Love (China)
Dir. Ann Hui
Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui revisits the work of Eileen Chang with this adaptation of 1943 novella Aloeswood Incense about a young woman from Shanghai who heads to Hong Kong to continue her studies, but ends up working for her aunt, seducing rich and powerful men. The cast features Eddie Peng, Ma Sichun and Faye Yu. Hui is regularly feted on the Asian festival circuit but has not been selected for an A-list European event since 2011 when A Simple Life played in competition in Venice.
Love After Love (China)
Dir. Ann Hui
Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui revisits the work of Eileen Chang with this adaptation of 1943 novella Aloeswood Incense about a young woman from Shanghai who heads to Hong Kong to continue her studies, but ends up working for her aunt, seducing rich and powerful men. The cast features Eddie Peng, Ma Sichun and Faye Yu. Hui is regularly feted on the Asian festival circuit but has not been selected for an A-list European event since 2011 when A Simple Life played in competition in Venice.
- 1/14/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦¬134¦Jean Noh¦516¦
- ScreenDaily
Environmental crime drama had its world premiere at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival.
Fortissimo Films has picked up international rights to Argentinian environmental thriller Furtive, following its world premiere at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival.
Directed by Francisco D’Eufemia, the film follows a forest ranger on the trail of a group of poachers in a national park, whose motives soon become open to question.
D’Eufemia previously worked on documentaries and co-directed narrative feature Escape From Patagonia with Javier Zevallos in 2016. Furtive, his first feature as a solo director, also played at this year’s Tallin Black Nights Film Festival,...
Fortissimo Films has picked up international rights to Argentinian environmental thriller Furtive, following its world premiere at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival.
Directed by Francisco D’Eufemia, the film follows a forest ranger on the trail of a group of poachers in a national park, whose motives soon become open to question.
D’Eufemia previously worked on documentaries and co-directed narrative feature Escape From Patagonia with Javier Zevallos in 2016. Furtive, his first feature as a solo director, also played at this year’s Tallin Black Nights Film Festival,...
- 12/10/2019
- by 89¦Liz Shackleton¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Love in a Fallen City. Photo courtesy of Celestial Pictures.Almost as long as there’s been a Chinese cinema, there have been Shaw Brothers. The three oldest brothers, Runje, Runde, and Runme, founded the Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai in 1925. Shortly thereafter, Runme and the youngest brother, Run Run, opened a branch of the company in Singapore, eventually expanding to Hong Kong. The Shaw empire crashed with the Japanese invasions, first in Shanghai in 1937 and then Singapore and Hong Kong in 1941. But after the war, thanks to the “more than $4 million in gold, jewelry and currency (they buried) in their backyard”1 they were able to re-open, first in Singapore and then, in the late 1950s, in Hong Kong. Shaw Brothers, with its massive Movietown production lot, became the dominant movie production house in the colony, vanquishing its rival MP & GI (later named Cathay) by the end of the 60s.
- 8/22/2019
- MUBI
Sales company Fortissimo Films has picked up international rights to three of the movies that will unspool in competition over the next ten days at the Shanghai International Film Festival. All are world premieres.
Top feature director Zhang Yang makes an appearance with “The Sound of Dali,” a documentary that examines the natural beauty surrounding Dali in Yunnan Province.
Noted actress, Qin Hailu makes her directorial debut with “The Return.” The film is a drama about an old soldier living in Taiwan who would like to return to mainland China. But doing so would mean leaving behind his companion from the Red Envelope Club singers. The film stars Chang Feng, Ge Lei, and Lei Kesheng. It is set for a theatrical release in China through distribution Companies Hehe Pictures, White Horse Film, and Pie Film Distribution on Sept. 12, 2019.
“Vortex” is a Chinese crime action film produced by Cao Baoping (director...
Top feature director Zhang Yang makes an appearance with “The Sound of Dali,” a documentary that examines the natural beauty surrounding Dali in Yunnan Province.
Noted actress, Qin Hailu makes her directorial debut with “The Return.” The film is a drama about an old soldier living in Taiwan who would like to return to mainland China. But doing so would mean leaving behind his companion from the Red Envelope Club singers. The film stars Chang Feng, Ge Lei, and Lei Kesheng. It is set for a theatrical release in China through distribution Companies Hehe Pictures, White Horse Film, and Pie Film Distribution on Sept. 12, 2019.
“Vortex” is a Chinese crime action film produced by Cao Baoping (director...
- 6/13/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Crew includes DoP Christopher Doyle, costume designer Emi Wada and art director Zhao Hai.
Ann Hui’s Love After Love (working title) has started shooting in China with Eddie Peng, Ma Sichun and Faye Yu heading the cast.
The crew includes cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In The Mood For Love), costume designer Emi Wada (Hero), art director Zhao Hai (The Golden Era), sound designer Tu Duu Chih (In The Mood For Love) and editor Eric Kwong Chi-Leung (Battle Of Wits).
Peng starred in Hui’s 2017 drama Our Time Will Come and action hit Operation Mekong, while Ma’s credits include Lou Ye’s The Shadow Play,...
Ann Hui’s Love After Love (working title) has started shooting in China with Eddie Peng, Ma Sichun and Faye Yu heading the cast.
The crew includes cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In The Mood For Love), costume designer Emi Wada (Hero), art director Zhao Hai (The Golden Era), sound designer Tu Duu Chih (In The Mood For Love) and editor Eric Kwong Chi-Leung (Battle Of Wits).
Peng starred in Hui’s 2017 drama Our Time Will Come and action hit Operation Mekong, while Ma’s credits include Lou Ye’s The Shadow Play,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Eddie Peng (“Operation Mekong” “The Hidden Man”) will head the cast of “Love After Love” the new film by Hong Kong’s Ann Hui. He plays opposite Ma Sichun.
The picture, which started shooting on Wednesday in China, is the story of a young woman from Shanghai who travels to Hong Kong, borrows money, and falls in with a rich crowd whose luxury lifestyle is beyond her means. The story is a reworking of an Eileen Chang short story “Aloeswood Incense” and is Hui’s third Chang adaptation after “Love in a Fallen City” and “Eighteen Springs.”
The film is backed by Alibaba Pictures, Hehe Pictures, Qingniao Pictures, Maxtime Culture, Black Ant Film and Dongtai Each Media. Fortissimo Films, which itself is backed by He He, handles international sales. The project was introduced to international distributors this week on the margins of the Cannes Film Festival.
A multi-award-winning crew included director of photography Christopher Doyle,...
The picture, which started shooting on Wednesday in China, is the story of a young woman from Shanghai who travels to Hong Kong, borrows money, and falls in with a rich crowd whose luxury lifestyle is beyond her means. The story is a reworking of an Eileen Chang short story “Aloeswood Incense” and is Hui’s third Chang adaptation after “Love in a Fallen City” and “Eighteen Springs.”
The film is backed by Alibaba Pictures, Hehe Pictures, Qingniao Pictures, Maxtime Culture, Black Ant Film and Dongtai Each Media. Fortissimo Films, which itself is backed by He He, handles international sales. The project was introduced to international distributors this week on the margins of the Cannes Film Festival.
A multi-award-winning crew included director of photography Christopher Doyle,...
- 5/22/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Beijing and Amsterdam-based sales agent also adds Super Me, exec produced by the Russo Brothers, to its Cannes slate.
Fortissimo Films is launching sales in Cannes on Ann Hui’s latest drama, Love After Love, an adaptation of a short story by Eileen Chang.
Based on the story Aloeswood Incense, published in Chang’s Love In A Fallen City collection, the film follows a young woman who moves from Shanghai to Hong Kong in search of an education. However, she ends up working for her aunt by luring rich and powerful men and is forced into a loveless marriage with a playboy.
Fortissimo Films is launching sales in Cannes on Ann Hui’s latest drama, Love After Love, an adaptation of a short story by Eileen Chang.
Based on the story Aloeswood Incense, published in Chang’s Love In A Fallen City collection, the film follows a young woman who moves from Shanghai to Hong Kong in search of an education. However, she ends up working for her aunt by luring rich and powerful men and is forced into a loveless marriage with a playboy.
- 5/7/2019
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Slate includes new titles from Jiang Wen, Zhang Yang, Wang Xiaoshuai and Hong Kong’s Ann Hui.
China’s Hehe Pictures has unveiled a production slate of 14 films for 2018, including new projects from leading arthouse filmmakers such as Zhang Yang, Wang Xiaoshuai and Hong Kong’s Ann Hui.
Hehe also announced its involvement in Jiang Wen’s Hidden Man, which will receive a Gala screening at Toronto International Film Festival, as one of the investors along with Gravity Pictures, Flagship Entertainment and Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures. Currently on release in China, the film has grossed $86m (RMB564m) in 13 days.
China’s Hehe Pictures has unveiled a production slate of 14 films for 2018, including new projects from leading arthouse filmmakers such as Zhang Yang, Wang Xiaoshuai and Hong Kong’s Ann Hui.
Hehe also announced its involvement in Jiang Wen’s Hidden Man, which will receive a Gala screening at Toronto International Film Festival, as one of the investors along with Gravity Pictures, Flagship Entertainment and Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures. Currently on release in China, the film has grossed $86m (RMB564m) in 13 days.
- 7/28/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Kurt Walker in the background of Hit 2 Pass / Gina Telaroli making her way to the foreground in Here's to the Future!As has been previously reported, Here's to the Future! and Hit 2 Pass, new feature films from Notebook contributors Gina Telaroli and Kurt Walker, is starting its roll out this month. Following an open call for screenings the films will be playing at New York's Spectacle Theater (starting this Thursday November 5th), Toronto's Mdff (November 4th), Philadelphia's public access channel (starting November 13th), and more. The open call for screenings is in conjunction with an online release being done independently by the filmmakers themselves on their own website starting November 9th: http://h2phttf.tumblr.com The release, online and in real life, is a follow-up to Telaroli's grassroots release of her 2011 feature film Traveling Light (done in conjunction with the Spanish film journal Lumière). The following is...
- 11/7/2015
- by gina telaroli
- MUBI
The new Brooklyn Rail features articles on Terence Davies and Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Also in today's roundup of news and views: Mark Schilling on 25 years of Japanese cinema; surveys of the careers of James Woods, Rian Johnson and Eileen Chang; and Joan Crawford in the silent era. Plus Fipresci's choice for best film of the year is Richard Linklater's Boyhood. Kenneth Lonergan and Matt Damon have teamed up again. And remembering Donatas Banionis, star of Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris. » - David Hudson...
- 9/8/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new Brooklyn Rail features articles on Terence Davies and Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Also in today's roundup of news and views: Mark Schilling on 25 years of Japanese cinema; surveys of the careers of James Woods, Rian Johnson and Eileen Chang; and Joan Crawford in the silent era. Plus Fipresci's choice for best film of the year is Richard Linklater's Boyhood. Kenneth Lonergan and Matt Damon have teamed up again. And remembering Donatas Banionis, star of Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris. » - David Hudson...
- 9/8/2014
- Keyframe
(Cert 18)
The title gets it the wrong way around. What we have here is first a lot of caution, then an explosion of lust. Ang Lee has followed his magnificent version of E Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain with another love story - more explicit in many ways, though more complex and oblique - and it's a movie that showcases Lee's flair for period detail and genre stylisation.
For his sheer muscular verve and ambition, Lee deserves a standing ovation. Orson Welles was described once as picking up a play with the confidence of a marksman picking up a rifle, and that is exactly how I felt Lee handles this source material: a short story by Eileen Chang. He has given Tony Leung a chance to shine with one of the most charismatic and memorable performances of his career, and in the twentysomething newcomer Tang Wei, he has made a tremendous discovery.
The title gets it the wrong way around. What we have here is first a lot of caution, then an explosion of lust. Ang Lee has followed his magnificent version of E Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain with another love story - more explicit in many ways, though more complex and oblique - and it's a movie that showcases Lee's flair for period detail and genre stylisation.
For his sheer muscular verve and ambition, Lee deserves a standing ovation. Orson Welles was described once as picking up a play with the confidence of a marksman picking up a rifle, and that is exactly how I felt Lee handles this source material: a short story by Eileen Chang. He has given Tony Leung a chance to shine with one of the most charismatic and memorable performances of his career, and in the twentysomething newcomer Tang Wei, he has made a tremendous discovery.
- 1/4/2008
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
- “But this one — it’s down in the cave, a scary place. It’s more like hell". This is how Ang Lee describes his upcoming release and Tiff/Venice premiere of Lust, Caution. You can read the rest of Lee's comments over at the New York Times - read article here. If you want to read a long synopsis read below or if you want to watch the trailer (you know the drill) click on the poster image. Written by Hui Ling Wang and James Schamus, this is based on the short story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang, and stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite screen newcomer Tang Wei. Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a café, places a call, and then sits and waits. She remembers…how her story began several years earlier,
- 8/29/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
- The midway point of our list presents established filmmakers changing up their "serves" sorta speak. Ang Lee goes subtitle country while Tony Kaye (American History X) delivers a documentary. We also have some legitimate shots at Oscar below - you decide which ones have the better chances.12. Lust, Caution Release date: September 28th Wide Release Screenwriters: Based on the story by Eileen Chang and written for the screen by Hui-Ling Wang & James Schamus. Director: Ang Lee Distributor: Focus Features Fests: Venice Film Festival Producers: William Kong (Curse of the Golden Flower) and Ang Lee Ioncinema Preview: View Here Movie Trailer: Click Here The Gist: Written by Hui Ling Wang and James Schamus, this is based on the short story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang, and stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite screen newcomer Tang Wei. Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force.
- 8/29/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
- In today’s 10 piece, we got a trio example of filmmakers who’ve waited a while before making their sophomore induction. There is also a healthy representation of big studio films – not necessarily a sign of the times but perhaps an example of better script/project development. 51*. The Devil and Daniel Webster - Alec Baldwin 50. The Meat Trade - Antonia Bird 49. Mister Lonely - Harmony Korine 48. La Vie en Rose - Olivier Dahan 47. Across the Universe - Julie Taymor 46. Youth Without Youth - Francis Ford Coppola 45. Margaret - Kenneth Lonergan 44. The Inner Life of Martin Frost - Paul Auster 43. Hallam Foe - David Mackenzie 42. Death at a Funeral - Frank Oz 41. An American Crime - Tommy O'Haver 40. Smiley Face - Gregg Araki 39. Spring Break in Bosnia - Richard Shepard 38. Stop-Loss - Kimberly Peirce 37. Jindabyne - Ray Lawrence 36. Black Snake Moan - Craig Brewer 35. Reservation Road - Terry George
- 1/3/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
For Lee, 'Caution' light is on
CANNES -- Oscar winner Ang Lee is reuniting with longtime collaborator James Schamus and Focus Features to direct his follow-up to Brokeback Mountain, the espionage thriller Lust, Caution. Set in World War II-era Shanghai, the Chinese-language film is expected to begin production in the fall. The film will be exec produced by Focus CEO Schamus. The screenplay will be adapted from Eileen Chang's short story by Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter Wang Hui-Ling. Bill Kong, who produced Crouching Tiger, is reteaming with Lee to produce, and Schamus will serve as exec producer.
- 5/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lee's future will include WWII 'Lust'
CANNES -- Oscar winner Ang Lee is reuniting with longtime collaborator James Schamus and Focus Features to direct his follow-up to Brokeback Mountain, the espionage thriller Lust, Caution. Set in World War II-era Shanghai, the Chinese-language film is expected to begin production in the fall. The film will be exec produced by Focus CEO Schamus. The screenplay will be adapted from Eileen Chang's short story by Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter Wang Hui-Ling. Bill Kong, who produced Crouching Tiger, is reteaming with Lee to produce, and Schamus will serve as exec producer.
- 5/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lee's future will include WWII 'Lust'
CANNES -- Oscar winner Ang Lee is reuniting with longtime collaborator James Schamus and Focus Features to direct his follow-up to Brokeback Mountain, the espionage thriller Lust, Caution. Set in World War II-era Shanghai, the Chinese-language film is expected to begin production in the fall. The film will be exec produced by Focus CEO Schamus. The screenplay will be adapted from Eileen Chang's short story by Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter Wang Hui-Ling. Bill Kong, who produced Crouching Tiger, is reteaming with Lee to produce, and Schamus will serve as exec producer.
- 5/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For Lee, espionage 'Caution' light on
CANNES -- Oscar winner Ang Lee is reuniting with longtime collaborator James Schamus and Focus Features to direct his follow-up to Brokeback Mountain, the espionage thriller Lust, Caution. Set in World War II-era Shanghai, the Chinese-language film is expected to begin production this fall. The film will be exec produced by Focus CEO Schamus. The screenplay will be adapted from Eileen Chang's short story by Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter Wang Hui-Ling. Bill Kong, who produced Crouching Tiger is reteaming with Lee to produce, and Schamus will serve as exec producer. "Ang is going to be making a very exciting film that's unlike anything he's done before," said Schamus, who's collaborated with Lee on nine features." `Lust, Caution' is a uniquely Asian story which, in Ang's hands, will surprise and attract audiences around the world." Focus has worldwide rights to the film, excluding Asia. Focus Features International is handling overseas sales and distribution.
- 5/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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