Jamaica
Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 419 Location: Lexington, KY United States
|
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:40 am Post subject: More on Grandmasters from Twitch Film |
|
|
http://twitchfilm.com/news/2012/04/asian-cinema---a-view-from-down-under.php
FILM NEWS
ASIAN CINEMA - A VIEW FROM DOWN UNDER
by Hugo Ozman, April 6, 2012 11:00 AM
News
Wong Kar Wai's THE GRANDMASTERS will not be going to this year's Cannes, Venice or Toronto Film Festivals, according to Vincent Maraval from Wild Bunch, the company that is handling the film's international distribution. Maraval also commented that Wong will still be filming during the Cannes Film Festival.
According to Hong Kong newspaper Oriental Daily, the response from the spokesperson at Wong's Jet Tone Films was that "Wild Bunch is only responsible for distribution and is not the owner of the film, and so Maraval's comments do not mean much". The spokesperson went on to say that the release date for THE GRANDMASTERS will be announced within 10 days after Easter.
Personally, I find it rather strange to hear that Wong's new film won't be screened at any of the biggest film festivals during the rest of the year, considering the fact that he is such a film festival regular. Cannes, in particular, is where he has had most success, with the last 4 of his feature films (HAPPY TOGETHER, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, 2046 and MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS) all being nominated for the Palme d'Or, and he won best director for HAPPY TOGETHER in 1997.
Could this be a sign that the production is in trouble? I think not, because Wong has a history of really taking his time and meticulously creating and often re-creating the scenes in his films. Just for example, it was rumored that Tony Leung Chiu Wai had to play that famous last scene in DAYS OF BEING WILD so many times (before Wong accepted it as a good take) that Leung almost broke down in tears. Of course, this director-actor collaboration went on to become a particularly successful one, with 4 of Tony Leung's record 5 Best Actor Awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards being won with a WKW film.
Is it going to be a good film? Who knows?! I guess we'll just have to wait and find out. Being a fan of Wong's work (though admittedly I much prefer his earlier films, with my 3 favorite WKW films being his first 3 films - in order of preference: DAYS OF BEING WILD, AS TEARS GO BY, CHUNGKING EXPRESS), I will be both excited and relieved when the film finally hits cinemas. _________________ "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx |
|