Following last year’s hybrid edition, Sgiff returned fully to the cinemas this year, hosting 77 onsite screenings.
Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road was named best film at the 30th Silver Screen Awards in Singapore, while Ps Vinothraj took best director for Pebbles and Tolepbergen Baissakalov received the best performance award for Fire. The Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) announced the winners on Facebook on Sunday (December 5).
The jury - Peggy Chiao, Angeli Bayani, Kim Young-woo and Chalida Uabumrungjit - said the Iranian film “masterfully weaves raw poetic imagination with humour, melancholy and humanism”, and lauded Indian director Vinothraj for...
Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road was named best film at the 30th Silver Screen Awards in Singapore, while Ps Vinothraj took best director for Pebbles and Tolepbergen Baissakalov received the best performance award for Fire. The Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) announced the winners on Facebook on Sunday (December 5).
The jury - Peggy Chiao, Angeli Bayani, Kim Young-woo and Chalida Uabumrungjit - said the Iranian film “masterfully weaves raw poetic imagination with humour, melancholy and humanism”, and lauded Indian director Vinothraj for...
- 12/6/2021
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Yeo Siew Hua is a director and writer from Singapore who won the 71st Locarno Festival’s Golden Leopard prize for his film ‘A Land Imagined’ (2018). His debut feature, the experimental ‘In The House of Straw’ (2009), was lauded by critics as a significant film of the Singapore New Wave. Yeo is a member of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) Academy and a founding member of the 13 Little Pictures film collective in Singapore.
Luna Kwok (Guo Yue) is a Chinese actress best known for her outstanding performance in the independent arthouse film, ‘Kaili Blues’ (2015), which bagged multiple awards at international film festivals, like the 68th Locarno Festival, 52nd Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival, and Nantes Three Continents Film Festival in 2015. Since then, she has starred in a number of films, including ‘From Where We’ve Fallen’ (2017), which competed in the 65th San Sebastian International Film Festival 2017.In 2018, she won...
Luna Kwok (Guo Yue) is a Chinese actress best known for her outstanding performance in the independent arthouse film, ‘Kaili Blues’ (2015), which bagged multiple awards at international film festivals, like the 68th Locarno Festival, 52nd Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival, and Nantes Three Continents Film Festival in 2015. Since then, she has starred in a number of films, including ‘From Where We’ve Fallen’ (2017), which competed in the 65th San Sebastian International Film Festival 2017.In 2018, she won...
- 3/4/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The Beijing Film Market (Bfm) announced deals totalling $1.7bn (RMB10.5bn) for 32 projects at the close of the three-day event (April 17-19), including $615m (RMB3.8bn) for film production.
Bfm organisers said the figures also included $550m (RMB3.4bn) for construction of cinemas and production bases, and $372m (Rmb 2.3bn) for ‘film foundation projects’.
Held for the first time at the circular China Millennium Monument, the market attracted 724 companies and organisations from 24 countries, including 248 exhibitors, around half of which came from outside China.
The bulk of the exhibitors were companies from the locations and technology sectors and included French VFX company Buf, Ile de France Film Commission, Chinese VFX house Phenom Films, Korean Film Council, Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures and Media Asia and a large delegation from Taiwan.
The event also featured a projects market, including pitching sessions with judges and trainers such as Hong Kong filmmaker Teddy Chen, Irresistible Films’ Ivy Ho...
Bfm organisers said the figures also included $550m (RMB3.4bn) for construction of cinemas and production bases, and $372m (Rmb 2.3bn) for ‘film foundation projects’.
Held for the first time at the circular China Millennium Monument, the market attracted 724 companies and organisations from 24 countries, including 248 exhibitors, around half of which came from outside China.
The bulk of the exhibitors were companies from the locations and technology sectors and included French VFX company Buf, Ile de France Film Commission, Chinese VFX house Phenom Films, Korean Film Council, Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures and Media Asia and a large delegation from Taiwan.
The event also featured a projects market, including pitching sessions with judges and trainers such as Hong Kong filmmaker Teddy Chen, Irresistible Films’ Ivy Ho...
- 4/21/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
The Beijing Film Market (Bfm) announced deals totalling $1.7bn (RMB10.5bn) for 32 projects at the close of the three-day event (April 17-19), including $615m (RMB3.8bn) for film production.
Bfm organisers said the figures also included $550m (RMB3.4bn) for construction of cinemas and production bases, and $372m (Rmb 2.3bn) for ‘film foundation projects’.
Held for the first time at the circular China Millennium Monument, the market attracted 724 companies and organisations from 24 countries, including 248 exhibitors, around half of which came from outside China.
The bulk of the exhibitors were companies from the locations and technology sectors and included French VFX company Buf, Ile de France Film Commission, Chinese VFX house Phenom Films, Korean Film Council, Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures and Media Asia and a large delegation from Taiwan.
The event also featured a projects market, including pitching sessions with judges and trainers such as Hong Kong filmmaker Teddy Chen, Irresistible Films’ Ivy Ho...
Bfm organisers said the figures also included $550m (RMB3.4bn) for construction of cinemas and production bases, and $372m (Rmb 2.3bn) for ‘film foundation projects’.
Held for the first time at the circular China Millennium Monument, the market attracted 724 companies and organisations from 24 countries, including 248 exhibitors, around half of which came from outside China.
The bulk of the exhibitors were companies from the locations and technology sectors and included French VFX company Buf, Ile de France Film Commission, Chinese VFX house Phenom Films, Korean Film Council, Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures and Media Asia and a large delegation from Taiwan.
The event also featured a projects market, including pitching sessions with judges and trainers such as Hong Kong filmmaker Teddy Chen, Irresistible Films’ Ivy Ho...
- 4/21/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Organizers of this year’s Beijing International Film Festival have lined up a range of top industry figures for the Chinese capital's top cinema event, including Paramount Pictures COO Frederick Huntsberry, Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron and Frozen producer Peter Del Vecho. Other attendees taking part in panel discussions at the fest, which runs from April 16-23, include Motion Picture Association of America president Christopher Dodd, directors Oliver Stone and Timur Bekmambetov and British producer Peter Ziering. French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, Taiwanese film scholar Peggy Chiao, Chinese director Xue Xiaolu and “two other guests of great influence” are yet to
read more...
read more...
- 3/27/2014
- by Clifford Coonan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
DVD Playhouse—November 2010
By Allen Gardner
Paths Of Glory (Criterion) Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 antiwar classic put him on the map as a major filmmaker. Kirk Douglas stars in a true story about a French officer in Ww I who locks horns with the military’s top brass after his men are court-martialed for failing to carry out an obvious suicide mission. A perfect film, across the board, with fine support from George Macready as one of the most despicable martinet’s ever captured on film, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou, all oily charm as a conniving General. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins; Excerpt from 1966 audio interview with Kubrick; 1979 interview with Douglas; New interviews with Jan Harlan, Christiane Kubrick, and producer James B. Harris; French television documentary on real-life case which inspired the film; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
Winter’S Bone (Lionsgate) After her deadbeat father disappears,...
By Allen Gardner
Paths Of Glory (Criterion) Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 antiwar classic put him on the map as a major filmmaker. Kirk Douglas stars in a true story about a French officer in Ww I who locks horns with the military’s top brass after his men are court-martialed for failing to carry out an obvious suicide mission. A perfect film, across the board, with fine support from George Macready as one of the most despicable martinet’s ever captured on film, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou, all oily charm as a conniving General. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins; Excerpt from 1966 audio interview with Kubrick; 1979 interview with Douglas; New interviews with Jan Harlan, Christiane Kubrick, and producer James B. Harris; French television documentary on real-life case which inspired the film; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
Winter’S Bone (Lionsgate) After her deadbeat father disappears,...
- 11/6/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Chicago – If one looks at the spine of a Criterion Collection release, he will see a number that indicates the order in which films have been inducted into the most important DVD/Blu-ray series in history. With over 500 films in the collection (this week’s “Paths of Glory” is #538), one might wonder where it all began. “Grand Illusion,” which Criterion no longer has rights to, is #1 but their second inductee has recently been transferred to Blu-ray and the two-disc release for “Seven Samurai” is a beauty.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
One of several films by Akira Kurosawa than can accurately be called “incredibly influential,” “Seven Samurai” inspired not just other films directly but is one of those movies that’s often cited by modern filmmakers as why they became involved in the movie industry in the first place. “Seven Samurai” is mesmerizing, a film that transports the viewer through Kurosawa’s amazing storytelling ability.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
One of several films by Akira Kurosawa than can accurately be called “incredibly influential,” “Seven Samurai” inspired not just other films directly but is one of those movies that’s often cited by modern filmmakers as why they became involved in the movie industry in the first place. “Seven Samurai” is mesmerizing, a film that transports the viewer through Kurosawa’s amazing storytelling ability.
- 10/28/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Predators
Extras include:
Commentary by producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród AntalMotion ComicsMoments of ExtractionCrucifiedEvolution of the Species: Predators RebornThe ChosenFox Movie Channel presents Making a SceneDeleted and Extended ScenesTheatrical Trailer
Apocalypse Now (Full Disclosure Edition) Blu-ray
Extras include:
Apocalypse Now - original 1979 CutApocalypse Now ReduxCommentary for both versions"A Conversation with Martin Sheen" interview by Francis Ford Coppola"An Interview with John Milius" interview by Francis Ford CoppolaComplete Francis Ford Coppola interview with Roger Ebert at the 2001 Cannes Film FestivalMonkey Sampan "lost scene"Additional Scenes"Destruction of the Kurtz Compound" end credits with audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola"The Hollow Men," video of Marlon Brando reading T.S. Eliot's poemThe Birth of 5.1 SoundGhost Helicopter Flyover sound effects demonstrationA Million Feet of Film: The Editing of Apocalypse NowThe Music of Apocalypse NowHeard Any Good Movies Lately? The Sound Design of Apocalypse NowThe Final MixApocalypse Then and NowThe Color Palette...
Extras include:
Commentary by producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród AntalMotion ComicsMoments of ExtractionCrucifiedEvolution of the Species: Predators RebornThe ChosenFox Movie Channel presents Making a SceneDeleted and Extended ScenesTheatrical Trailer
Apocalypse Now (Full Disclosure Edition) Blu-ray
Extras include:
Apocalypse Now - original 1979 CutApocalypse Now ReduxCommentary for both versions"A Conversation with Martin Sheen" interview by Francis Ford Coppola"An Interview with John Milius" interview by Francis Ford CoppolaComplete Francis Ford Coppola interview with Roger Ebert at the 2001 Cannes Film FestivalMonkey Sampan "lost scene"Additional Scenes"Destruction of the Kurtz Compound" end credits with audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola"The Hollow Men," video of Marlon Brando reading T.S. Eliot's poemThe Birth of 5.1 SoundGhost Helicopter Flyover sound effects demonstrationA Million Feet of Film: The Editing of Apocalypse NowThe Music of Apocalypse NowHeard Any Good Movies Lately? The Sound Design of Apocalypse NowThe Final MixApocalypse Then and NowThe Color Palette...
- 10/19/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
Here we are again: another mid-month Criterion Collection new release announcement, with some incredible titles to talk about. Many of today’s announced titles have been teased at in one way or another, over the past few months.
First up we are finally going to see Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Criterion Collection #2, Seven Samurai finally making its high definition debut in the states. This release was something that Criterion mentioned back in December, as the Ak 100: 25 Films of Akira Kurosawa was released, and the Yojimbo / Sanjuro films were about to be announced on Blu-ray. In the post, Jonathan Turell mentioned that they wanted to have Seven Samurai ready on Blu-ray for Kurosawa’s birth month as well, but that it wouldn’t be ready until later in the year. The Seven Samurai Blu-ray was also teased at earlier this year when Amazon suddenly added a pre-order page for it,...
First up we are finally going to see Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Criterion Collection #2, Seven Samurai finally making its high definition debut in the states. This release was something that Criterion mentioned back in December, as the Ak 100: 25 Films of Akira Kurosawa was released, and the Yojimbo / Sanjuro films were about to be announced on Blu-ray. In the post, Jonathan Turell mentioned that they wanted to have Seven Samurai ready on Blu-ray for Kurosawa’s birth month as well, but that it wouldn’t be ready until later in the year. The Seven Samurai Blu-ray was also teased at earlier this year when Amazon suddenly added a pre-order page for it,...
- 7/15/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
The 'Imaging Asia' Festival organized by Netpac – Cii will be held in New Delhi from 18 - 22 August 2010. Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (Netpac) India and Confederation of Indian Industry (Cii) are organizing this five-day International Conference and a series of cinema-related events in New Delhi to broaden the scope and vision of Asian Cinema.
Symposia, screenings, workshops, cultural events will mark this event during which 30 films will be screened across multiple venues in Delhi. With a Girl of Black Soil directed by Jeon Soo-ii, Korea (90 mins.) will open the festival.
50 plus film personalities from Asian countries will attend the festival. Among them will be luminaries like Charles Musser, head of the film department at Yale University; Michel Reilhac head of Arte Cinema, France; distinguished film makers like Xie Fei from China, Nick Deocampo from Manila, Jocelyn Saab from Lebanon, Garin Nugroho from Indonesia; festival directors, film producers, scholars like Jeannette Paulson Hereniko,...
Symposia, screenings, workshops, cultural events will mark this event during which 30 films will be screened across multiple venues in Delhi. With a Girl of Black Soil directed by Jeon Soo-ii, Korea (90 mins.) will open the festival.
50 plus film personalities from Asian countries will attend the festival. Among them will be luminaries like Charles Musser, head of the film department at Yale University; Michel Reilhac head of Arte Cinema, France; distinguished film makers like Xie Fei from China, Nick Deocampo from Manila, Jocelyn Saab from Lebanon, Garin Nugroho from Indonesia; festival directors, film producers, scholars like Jeannette Paulson Hereniko,...
- 5/31/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Given the current world financial crisis and banking dilemmas, the release of “Empire of Silver” certainly comes at an opportune time, charting as it does the rise of the Shanxi merchants towards the end of the Qing Dynasty of China, whose wealth and influence all over the world saw them being referred to as the ‘Wall Street of China’. The film was a prestige production, being based upon the historical novel “The Silver Valley” by Shanxi merchant descendent Cheng Yi, and boasting a Us$10 million investment by top Taiwanese tycoon Gou Tai Ming. It was helmed by regular theatre director Christina Yao, produced by noted critic Peggy Chiao, and perhaps more importantly features a truly impressive cast, with the award winning Aaron Kwok in the lead, supported by the likes of Mainland veteran actor Zhang Tielin (from the popular television series “Princess Returning Pearl”), up and coming actress Hao Lei...
- 12/6/2009
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
- ‘Second Wave’ Hong Kong filmmaker Clara Law (Floating Life) is finally returning to the director’s chair after a four year sabbatical with her first Chinese film since 1994’s King of Western Chu (her last film before bolting to Australia prior to Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997). Like a Dream, which Law announced at the Shanghai Film Festival, is a romancer that spans the cities of Shanghai, Taipei, and New York. She told Variety ‘The idea for the film sprang from a conversation I had with a friend who remarked how much Shanghai resembles New York these days.’ The film stars Hk mega-idol Daniel Wu (The Banquet) as a native Chinese-American who gets wrapped up in a bit of international romantic intrigue. Bubbly Quan Yuan (For the Children) plays Wu’s love interest. Law’s films often examine the themes of migration and cultural identity so the
- 6/18/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan, might turn out to be a chip off the old block. In The Drummer, he doesn't try to imitate his father's martial arts moves but demonstrates plenty of movie star charisma in his own right.
It's fitting that the film is in part a story about a rebellious young man trying to carve out his own identity in the shadow of an overbearing father. This Sundance premiere, competing in the world cinema dramatic section, might not have the art film cachet of other movies in the category, but it's a most entertaining ride with audience appeal well beyond the festival circuit.
Sid (Chan) is the hedonistic playboy son of Kwan (veteran actor Tony Leung Ka Fai), a Hong Kong crime boss. With cheeky insolence, Sid seduces the mistress of his father's gangland rival, Stephen Ma (Kenneth Tsang). Stephen is furious and demands that the boy be punished. To get him out of harm's way, Kwan ships Sid to a remote mountainous region of Taiwan. There, Sid encounters a group of Zen drummers and decides to join their troupe. He undergoes a spiritual and romantic awakening (courtesy of a fellow drummer, played by the fetching Lee Sinje), though of course he eventually will have to return to Hong Kong and settle scores with the criminals.
The film is an odd hybrid of violent action picture and earnest spiritual odyssey, but somehow it all works. This is partly because of the skill of writer-director Kenneth Bi, who brings ferocious energy to the action scenes and sensitivity to the interactions of the drummers, played by U Theatre, a well-known group of Taiwan artists. Scenes in which the Zen masters discipline the headstrong Sid have considerable charm. The script has enough twists and turns to keep us engaged, and the casting is superb.
It's hard to imagine the film without Chan in the lead. A bundle of energy and youthful impudence, he has a face that the camera loves, and he manages to be equally convincing in his gangster and tranquil Zen modes. Leung brings the right sense of danger to his role, and there are strong supporting turns by Sinje, Josie Ho as Sid's feisty sister and Roy Cheung as a solicitous bodyguard who is not quite what he appears to be.
Besides the great cast, the film boasts first-rate technical credits. Sam Koa's photography of the Taiwanese countryside is spectacular, and the urban scenes are sharply edited by Bi and Isabel Meier. The musical interludes also register effectively. You don't have to take the movie's spiritual message seriously to enjoy Drummer. This is a true guilty pleasure that will tickle audiences all over the world.
THE DRUMMER
Emperor Motion Pictures (Hong Kong)
Kenbiroli Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Kenneth Bi
Producers: Rosa Li, Peggy Chiao, Thanassis Karathanos
Executive producers: Albert Yeung, William Fu
Director of photography: Sam Koa
Production designer: Alex Mok Siu Chung
Music: Andre Matthias
Co-producer: Albert Lee
Costume designer: Cindy Cheung
Editors: Isabel Meier, Kenneth Bi
Cast:
Sid: Jaycee Chan
Kwan: Tony Leung Ka Fai
Hong Dou: Lee Sinje
Ah Chiu: Roy Cheung
Sina: Josie Ho
Stephen Ma: Kenneth Tsang
Lan Jie: Liu Ruo-Yu
Running time -- 116 minutes
No MPAA rating...
PARK CITY -- Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan, might turn out to be a chip off the old block. In The Drummer, he doesn't try to imitate his father's martial arts moves but demonstrates plenty of movie star charisma in his own right.
It's fitting that the film is in part a story about a rebellious young man trying to carve out his own identity in the shadow of an overbearing father. This Sundance premiere, competing in the world cinema dramatic section, might not have the art film cachet of other movies in the category, but it's a most entertaining ride with audience appeal well beyond the festival circuit.
Sid (Chan) is the hedonistic playboy son of Kwan (veteran actor Tony Leung Ka Fai), a Hong Kong crime boss. With cheeky insolence, Sid seduces the mistress of his father's gangland rival, Stephen Ma (Kenneth Tsang). Stephen is furious and demands that the boy be punished. To get him out of harm's way, Kwan ships Sid to a remote mountainous region of Taiwan. There, Sid encounters a group of Zen drummers and decides to join their troupe. He undergoes a spiritual and romantic awakening (courtesy of a fellow drummer, played by the fetching Lee Sinje), though of course he eventually will have to return to Hong Kong and settle scores with the criminals.
The film is an odd hybrid of violent action picture and earnest spiritual odyssey, but somehow it all works. This is partly because of the skill of writer-director Kenneth Bi, who brings ferocious energy to the action scenes and sensitivity to the interactions of the drummers, played by U Theatre, a well-known group of Taiwan artists. Scenes in which the Zen masters discipline the headstrong Sid have considerable charm. The script has enough twists and turns to keep us engaged, and the casting is superb.
It's hard to imagine the film without Chan in the lead. A bundle of energy and youthful impudence, he has a face that the camera loves, and he manages to be equally convincing in his gangster and tranquil Zen modes. Leung brings the right sense of danger to his role, and there are strong supporting turns by Sinje, Josie Ho as Sid's feisty sister and Roy Cheung as a solicitous bodyguard who is not quite what he appears to be.
Besides the great cast, the film boasts first-rate technical credits. Sam Koa's photography of the Taiwanese countryside is spectacular, and the urban scenes are sharply edited by Bi and Isabel Meier. The musical interludes also register effectively. You don't have to take the movie's spiritual message seriously to enjoy Drummer. This is a true guilty pleasure that will tickle audiences all over the world.
THE DRUMMER
Emperor Motion Pictures (Hong Kong)
Kenbiroli Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Kenneth Bi
Producers: Rosa Li, Peggy Chiao, Thanassis Karathanos
Executive producers: Albert Yeung, William Fu
Director of photography: Sam Koa
Production designer: Alex Mok Siu Chung
Music: Andre Matthias
Co-producer: Albert Lee
Costume designer: Cindy Cheung
Editors: Isabel Meier, Kenneth Bi
Cast:
Sid: Jaycee Chan
Kwan: Tony Leung Ka Fai
Hong Dou: Lee Sinje
Ah Chiu: Roy Cheung
Sina: Josie Ho
Stephen Ma: Kenneth Tsang
Lan Jie: Liu Ruo-Yu
Running time -- 116 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/22/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Taiwanese producer Peggy Chiao is working on a cycle of six features she calls "Tales of Three Cities", in which directors will tell stories set in Taipei, Beijing and Hong Kong. The first two installments, "Betelnut Beauty" and "Beijing Bicycle", are debuting in competition at this year's Berlinale.
The first to screen, Lin Cheng-sheng's "Betelnut Beauty", concerns two young lovers in Taipei, a city in search of itself with the coming of democracy and new temptations. As a portrait of a city and its impatient youths determined to create a future different from their parents' lives, the movie is a satisfactory slice of life. Unfortunately, Lin chooses to drag the plot into criminal melodrama. This provides him with a shock-value ending, but it feels false to this particular story and these particular protagonists.
Commercial prospects look decent in Asia, where it has two marketing hooks: The film marks the feature debut of Sinje, a talented and popular Malaysian-born pop singer, and co-star Chang Chen is coming off his eye-catching performance as the bandit lover in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Outside Asian markets, the movie's prospects dim considerably.
The early sections expertly set up the characters and establish the ways and rhythms of Taipei. Newly discharged from the army, Feng (Chang) returns to his favorite city. A country boy who previously worked in Taipei as a baker, he can't wait to embrace his new life. The only jobs initially open to him are in bakeries. He opts instead for a terrace apartment and searches for a different line of work.
His apartment is across from Betelnut Beauty Street, where pretty young girls in skimpy costumes hawk betelnuts, a habit-forming nut chewed mostly by working-class males but gaining in popularity throughout Taiwan. Because of the connection between that commodity and the alluring girls who sell it, the betelnut business has attracted gangsters, who either control the trade or demand protection money.
Feng meets Fei-fei (Sinje), an adorable though headstrong girl. The two swiftly fall in love, as Feng comforts her in her distress over an estrangement from the father she idolizes.
One thing complicates their life together: Fei-fei's girlfriend Yili (Kelly Kuo) wants to leave her boyfriend Tiger (Leon Dai), a gangland soldier. He continues to harass her, so she seeks protection from Guang (Kao Ming-chun), another gangster, her ex-lover and brother-in-law to Tiger's mafia boss.
Guang is mellower than Tiger, but he's got a dumb streak. When he suggests he and Feng rob an ATM, the attempt is more comical than criminal.
Feng reluctantly returns to the bakery to earn money so Fei-fei will no longer be exploited by the betelnut subculture. Meanwhile, a film company discovers his girlfriend and gives Fei-fei a role in a movie. Soon she is under consideration for a music video.
Mood, environment and characters all mesh well here. But the superimposition of strategic elements -- Fei-fei's "discovery" so Sinje can sing and Feng's motiveless fall into crime so the movie can traffic in guns and violence -- strains the story's fabric. The final reels shift into unconvincing actions that compromise the integrity of Lin's characters.
His actors nearly save him, though. Sinje has star quality and could develop nicely as an actress if she so chooses. Chang has a natural openness as an actor that allows you to read his character's mind. He is sensitive to his character's hopes and fears, but he never overplays a scene or comes down too hard on any one emotion. There is balance in everything he does. He even makes Feng's turn to crime at least plausible.
Han Yun-chung's cinematography gives the tragic tale a touch of romanticism, as he lovingly locates it amid the neon glamour and bustling st reets of Taipei. The city thus becomes a definite character in the story, imposing its restlessness on the other characters and flaunting its dangers in a most seductive manner.
BETELNUT BEAUTY
Arc Light Films, co-produced by
Pyramide Production in assoc iation
with Public Television Service Foundation,
Eastern Television, Asiatic Films
Producers: Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-ming
Screenwriter-director: Lin Cheng-sheng
Director of photography: Han Yun-chung
Production designer: Hsia Shao-Yu
Music: A-Chi and the Chairman
Costume designer: Wang Yi-Shi
Editor: Liao Ching-song
Color/stereo
Cast:
Feng: Chang Chen
Fei-fei: Sinje
Ming: Tsai Chen-nan
Guang: Kao Ming-chun
Yili: Kelly Kuo
Tiger: Leon Dai
Running time -- 106 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The first to screen, Lin Cheng-sheng's "Betelnut Beauty", concerns two young lovers in Taipei, a city in search of itself with the coming of democracy and new temptations. As a portrait of a city and its impatient youths determined to create a future different from their parents' lives, the movie is a satisfactory slice of life. Unfortunately, Lin chooses to drag the plot into criminal melodrama. This provides him with a shock-value ending, but it feels false to this particular story and these particular protagonists.
Commercial prospects look decent in Asia, where it has two marketing hooks: The film marks the feature debut of Sinje, a talented and popular Malaysian-born pop singer, and co-star Chang Chen is coming off his eye-catching performance as the bandit lover in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Outside Asian markets, the movie's prospects dim considerably.
The early sections expertly set up the characters and establish the ways and rhythms of Taipei. Newly discharged from the army, Feng (Chang) returns to his favorite city. A country boy who previously worked in Taipei as a baker, he can't wait to embrace his new life. The only jobs initially open to him are in bakeries. He opts instead for a terrace apartment and searches for a different line of work.
His apartment is across from Betelnut Beauty Street, where pretty young girls in skimpy costumes hawk betelnuts, a habit-forming nut chewed mostly by working-class males but gaining in popularity throughout Taiwan. Because of the connection between that commodity and the alluring girls who sell it, the betelnut business has attracted gangsters, who either control the trade or demand protection money.
Feng meets Fei-fei (Sinje), an adorable though headstrong girl. The two swiftly fall in love, as Feng comforts her in her distress over an estrangement from the father she idolizes.
One thing complicates their life together: Fei-fei's girlfriend Yili (Kelly Kuo) wants to leave her boyfriend Tiger (Leon Dai), a gangland soldier. He continues to harass her, so she seeks protection from Guang (Kao Ming-chun), another gangster, her ex-lover and brother-in-law to Tiger's mafia boss.
Guang is mellower than Tiger, but he's got a dumb streak. When he suggests he and Feng rob an ATM, the attempt is more comical than criminal.
Feng reluctantly returns to the bakery to earn money so Fei-fei will no longer be exploited by the betelnut subculture. Meanwhile, a film company discovers his girlfriend and gives Fei-fei a role in a movie. Soon she is under consideration for a music video.
Mood, environment and characters all mesh well here. But the superimposition of strategic elements -- Fei-fei's "discovery" so Sinje can sing and Feng's motiveless fall into crime so the movie can traffic in guns and violence -- strains the story's fabric. The final reels shift into unconvincing actions that compromise the integrity of Lin's characters.
His actors nearly save him, though. Sinje has star quality and could develop nicely as an actress if she so chooses. Chang has a natural openness as an actor that allows you to read his character's mind. He is sensitive to his character's hopes and fears, but he never overplays a scene or comes down too hard on any one emotion. There is balance in everything he does. He even makes Feng's turn to crime at least plausible.
Han Yun-chung's cinematography gives the tragic tale a touch of romanticism, as he lovingly locates it amid the neon glamour and bustling st reets of Taipei. The city thus becomes a definite character in the story, imposing its restlessness on the other characters and flaunting its dangers in a most seductive manner.
BETELNUT BEAUTY
Arc Light Films, co-produced by
Pyramide Production in assoc iation
with Public Television Service Foundation,
Eastern Television, Asiatic Films
Producers: Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-ming
Screenwriter-director: Lin Cheng-sheng
Director of photography: Han Yun-chung
Production designer: Hsia Shao-Yu
Music: A-Chi and the Chairman
Costume designer: Wang Yi-Shi
Editor: Liao Ching-song
Color/stereo
Cast:
Feng: Chang Chen
Fei-fei: Sinje
Ming: Tsai Chen-nan
Guang: Kao Ming-chun
Yili: Kelly Kuo
Tiger: Leon Dai
Running time -- 106 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The bicycle, long a Chinese cultural icon, plays a starring role in filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai's "Beijing Bicycle".
A double award winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, the contemporary film boasts some terrific young performances and is certainly more lyrical than the director's grittier previous work, but the intertwining storytelling never fully clicks into gear.
Art house business for this Sony Pictures Classics release (in Mandarin with English subtitles) is likely to be an uphill challenge.
It's of interest to note that before China's open-door era, a family's level of success was measured by acquisition of the so-called "Big Four", namely a watch, a sewing machine, a radio and a bicycle.
Of course, times have changed, and the two-wheeler has lost a good portion of its former status, but in a city in transition, it still serves as a curious link between the past, present and future.
That's certainly the case for 17-year-old Guei (Cui Lin), who has arrived in Beijing from the country and gets a job as a delivery boy. His immediate goal is to earn the 600 yuan necessary to purchase the sleek silver mountain bike that the company provides for each of its employees so that he can start making some real money.
He's well on his way, despite encountering a few bumps in those big-city roads, when his bicycle is stolen. Rendered practically catatonic by the trauma, Guei subsequently becomes obsessed with finding it, determined to scour every square inch of Beijing if necessary.
Miraculously, he tracks it down, albeit in the possession of Jian (Li Bin), a schoolboy from a financially struggling family who has found that the bike (which he later claims to have purchased in a flea market) has immensely improved his social life.
Guei gets it back, but not without a fight. Subsequently, Jian's friends beat up Guei and reclaim the bike.
Several power struggles later, the two finally agree on a compromise, but not until a great deal of bruising and bloodletting has transpired.
Obviously, director and co-writer Wang gets considerable symbolic mileage out of this material possession and its capacity for socioeconomic advancement at any cost, but the story line ultimately goes around in tiresome circles.
His youthful cast, meanwhile, delivers the committed goods. In addition to convincing work from Cui and Li, Zhou Xun impresses as Jian's potential new girlfriend, while Li Shuang, a former champion cyclist, plays the coolest guy in the 'hood like a Beijing James Dean.
On the technical end, cinematographer Liu Jie, a regular Wang collaborator, makes an effective visual case for a city in the midst of significant, irreversible change.
BEIJING BICYCLE
Sony Pictures Classics
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Screenwriters: Wang Xiaoshuai, Tang Danian, Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-Ming
Producers: Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-Ming, Han Sangping
Director of photography: Liu Jie
Art directors: Tsai Chao-Yi, Cao Anjun
Editor: Liao Ching-Song
Costume designer: Pang Yan
Music supervisor: Wang Feng
Color/stereo
Cast:
Guei: Cui Lin
Jian: Li Bin
Qin: Zhou Xun
Xiao: Gao Yuanyuan
Da Huan: Li Shuang
Running time -- 113 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
A double award winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, the contemporary film boasts some terrific young performances and is certainly more lyrical than the director's grittier previous work, but the intertwining storytelling never fully clicks into gear.
Art house business for this Sony Pictures Classics release (in Mandarin with English subtitles) is likely to be an uphill challenge.
It's of interest to note that before China's open-door era, a family's level of success was measured by acquisition of the so-called "Big Four", namely a watch, a sewing machine, a radio and a bicycle.
Of course, times have changed, and the two-wheeler has lost a good portion of its former status, but in a city in transition, it still serves as a curious link between the past, present and future.
That's certainly the case for 17-year-old Guei (Cui Lin), who has arrived in Beijing from the country and gets a job as a delivery boy. His immediate goal is to earn the 600 yuan necessary to purchase the sleek silver mountain bike that the company provides for each of its employees so that he can start making some real money.
He's well on his way, despite encountering a few bumps in those big-city roads, when his bicycle is stolen. Rendered practically catatonic by the trauma, Guei subsequently becomes obsessed with finding it, determined to scour every square inch of Beijing if necessary.
Miraculously, he tracks it down, albeit in the possession of Jian (Li Bin), a schoolboy from a financially struggling family who has found that the bike (which he later claims to have purchased in a flea market) has immensely improved his social life.
Guei gets it back, but not without a fight. Subsequently, Jian's friends beat up Guei and reclaim the bike.
Several power struggles later, the two finally agree on a compromise, but not until a great deal of bruising and bloodletting has transpired.
Obviously, director and co-writer Wang gets considerable symbolic mileage out of this material possession and its capacity for socioeconomic advancement at any cost, but the story line ultimately goes around in tiresome circles.
His youthful cast, meanwhile, delivers the committed goods. In addition to convincing work from Cui and Li, Zhou Xun impresses as Jian's potential new girlfriend, while Li Shuang, a former champion cyclist, plays the coolest guy in the 'hood like a Beijing James Dean.
On the technical end, cinematographer Liu Jie, a regular Wang collaborator, makes an effective visual case for a city in the midst of significant, irreversible change.
BEIJING BICYCLE
Sony Pictures Classics
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Screenwriters: Wang Xiaoshuai, Tang Danian, Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-Ming
Producers: Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-Ming, Han Sangping
Director of photography: Liu Jie
Art directors: Tsai Chao-Yi, Cao Anjun
Editor: Liao Ching-Song
Costume designer: Pang Yan
Music supervisor: Wang Feng
Color/stereo
Cast:
Guei: Cui Lin
Jian: Li Bin
Qin: Zhou Xun
Xiao: Gao Yuanyuan
Da Huan: Li Shuang
Running time -- 113 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Taiwanese producer Peggy Chiao is working on a cycle of six features she calls "Tales of Three Cities", in which directors will tell stories set in Taipei, Beijing and Hong Kong. The first two installments, "Betelnut Beauty" and "Beijing Bicycle", are debuting in competition at this year's Berlinale.
The first to screen, Lin Cheng-sheng's "Betelnut Beauty", concerns two young lovers in Taipei, a city in search of itself with the coming of democracy and new temptations. As a portrait of a city and its impatient youths determined to create a future different from their parents' lives, the movie is a satisfactory slice of life. Unfortunately, Lin chooses to drag the plot into criminal melodrama. This provides him with a shock-value ending, but it feels false to this particular story and these particular protagonists.
Commercial prospects look decent in Asia, where it has two marketing hooks: The film marks the feature debut of Sinje, a talented and popular Malaysian-born pop singer, and co-star Chang Chen is coming off his eye-catching performance as the bandit lover in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Outside Asian markets, the movie's prospects dim considerably.
The early sections expertly set up the characters and establish the ways and rhythms of Taipei. Newly discharged from the army, Feng (Chang) returns to his favorite city. A country boy who previously worked in Taipei as a baker, he can't wait to embrace his new life. The only jobs initially open to him are in bakeries. He opts instead for a terrace apartment and searches for a different line of work.
His apartment is across from Betelnut Beauty Street, where pretty young girls in skimpy costumes hawk betelnuts, a habit-forming nut chewed mostly by working-class males but gaining in popularity throughout Taiwan. Because of the connection between that commodity and the alluring girls who sell it, the betelnut business has attracted gangsters, who either control the trade or demand protection money.
Feng meets Fei-fei (Sinje), an adorable though headstrong girl. The two swiftly fall in love, as Feng comforts her in her distress over an estrangement from the father she idolizes.
One thing complicates their life together: Fei-fei's girlfriend Yili (Kelly Kuo) wants to leave her boyfriend Tiger (Leon Dai), a gangland soldier. He continues to harass her, so she seeks protection from Guang (Kao Ming-chun), another gangster, her ex-lover and brother-in-law to Tiger's mafia boss.
Guang is mellower than Tiger, but he's got a dumb streak. When he suggests he and Feng rob an ATM, the attempt is more comical than criminal.
Feng reluctantly returns to the bakery to earn money so Fei-fei will no longer be exploited by the betelnut subculture. Meanwhile, a film company discovers his girlfriend and gives Fei-fei a role in a movie. Soon she is under consideration for a music video.
Mood, environment and characters all mesh well here. But the superimposition of strategic elements -- Fei-fei's "discovery" so Sinje can sing and Feng's motiveless fall into crime so the movie can traffic in guns and violence -- strains the story's fabric. The final reels shift into unconvincing actions that compromise the integrity of Lin's characters.
His actors nearly save him, though. Sinje has star quality and could develop nicely as an actress if she so chooses. Chang has a natural openness as an actor that allows you to read his character's mind. He is sensitive to his character's hopes and fears, but he never overplays a scene or comes down too hard on any one emotion. There is balance in everything he does. He even makes Feng's turn to crime at least plausible.
Han Yun-chung's cinematography gives the tragic tale a touch of romanticism, as he lovingly locates it amid the neon glamour and bustling st reets of Taipei. The city thus becomes a definite character in the story, imposing its restlessness on the other characters and flaunting its dangers in a most seductive manner.
BETELNUT BEAUTY
Arc Light Films, co-produced by
Pyramide Production in assoc iation
with Public Television Service Foundation,
Eastern Television, Asiatic Films
Producers: Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-ming
Screenwriter-director: Lin Cheng-sheng
Director of photography: Han Yun-chung
Production designer: Hsia Shao-Yu
Music: A-Chi and the Chairman
Costume designer: Wang Yi-Shi
Editor: Liao Ching-song
Color/stereo
Cast:
Feng: Chang Chen
Fei-fei: Sinje
Ming: Tsai Chen-nan
Guang: Kao Ming-chun
Yili: Kelly Kuo
Tiger: Leon Dai
Running time -- 106 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The first to screen, Lin Cheng-sheng's "Betelnut Beauty", concerns two young lovers in Taipei, a city in search of itself with the coming of democracy and new temptations. As a portrait of a city and its impatient youths determined to create a future different from their parents' lives, the movie is a satisfactory slice of life. Unfortunately, Lin chooses to drag the plot into criminal melodrama. This provides him with a shock-value ending, but it feels false to this particular story and these particular protagonists.
Commercial prospects look decent in Asia, where it has two marketing hooks: The film marks the feature debut of Sinje, a talented and popular Malaysian-born pop singer, and co-star Chang Chen is coming off his eye-catching performance as the bandit lover in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Outside Asian markets, the movie's prospects dim considerably.
The early sections expertly set up the characters and establish the ways and rhythms of Taipei. Newly discharged from the army, Feng (Chang) returns to his favorite city. A country boy who previously worked in Taipei as a baker, he can't wait to embrace his new life. The only jobs initially open to him are in bakeries. He opts instead for a terrace apartment and searches for a different line of work.
His apartment is across from Betelnut Beauty Street, where pretty young girls in skimpy costumes hawk betelnuts, a habit-forming nut chewed mostly by working-class males but gaining in popularity throughout Taiwan. Because of the connection between that commodity and the alluring girls who sell it, the betelnut business has attracted gangsters, who either control the trade or demand protection money.
Feng meets Fei-fei (Sinje), an adorable though headstrong girl. The two swiftly fall in love, as Feng comforts her in her distress over an estrangement from the father she idolizes.
One thing complicates their life together: Fei-fei's girlfriend Yili (Kelly Kuo) wants to leave her boyfriend Tiger (Leon Dai), a gangland soldier. He continues to harass her, so she seeks protection from Guang (Kao Ming-chun), another gangster, her ex-lover and brother-in-law to Tiger's mafia boss.
Guang is mellower than Tiger, but he's got a dumb streak. When he suggests he and Feng rob an ATM, the attempt is more comical than criminal.
Feng reluctantly returns to the bakery to earn money so Fei-fei will no longer be exploited by the betelnut subculture. Meanwhile, a film company discovers his girlfriend and gives Fei-fei a role in a movie. Soon she is under consideration for a music video.
Mood, environment and characters all mesh well here. But the superimposition of strategic elements -- Fei-fei's "discovery" so Sinje can sing and Feng's motiveless fall into crime so the movie can traffic in guns and violence -- strains the story's fabric. The final reels shift into unconvincing actions that compromise the integrity of Lin's characters.
His actors nearly save him, though. Sinje has star quality and could develop nicely as an actress if she so chooses. Chang has a natural openness as an actor that allows you to read his character's mind. He is sensitive to his character's hopes and fears, but he never overplays a scene or comes down too hard on any one emotion. There is balance in everything he does. He even makes Feng's turn to crime at least plausible.
Han Yun-chung's cinematography gives the tragic tale a touch of romanticism, as he lovingly locates it amid the neon glamour and bustling st reets of Taipei. The city thus becomes a definite character in the story, imposing its restlessness on the other characters and flaunting its dangers in a most seductive manner.
BETELNUT BEAUTY
Arc Light Films, co-produced by
Pyramide Production in assoc iation
with Public Television Service Foundation,
Eastern Television, Asiatic Films
Producers: Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-ming
Screenwriter-director: Lin Cheng-sheng
Director of photography: Han Yun-chung
Production designer: Hsia Shao-Yu
Music: A-Chi and the Chairman
Costume designer: Wang Yi-Shi
Editor: Liao Ching-song
Color/stereo
Cast:
Feng: Chang Chen
Fei-fei: Sinje
Ming: Tsai Chen-nan
Guang: Kao Ming-chun
Yili: Kelly Kuo
Tiger: Leon Dai
Running time -- 106 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/14/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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