News Links - 9/5/06

[dleedlee]

Lou Ye Banned

Venice Critics Want A More Chinese "Banquet"
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 134927.htm

Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke's "Sanxia Haoren" (Still Life) added to Venice line-up
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 36/1/.html

Zhang Ziyi confirms role in Mulan film
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... ec=apworld

"Tokyo Trial" Receives Warm Welcome in Shanghai
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 134989.htm

Japanese 'A Long Walk' the talk at Montreal fest
http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/ne ... treal_fest
http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entne ... 87600.html

Chinese Director Lou Ye Severely Punished for Evading Censorship Rules - Summer Palace
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 134934.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5313008.stm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060904/film_nm/china_dc_2

Gong Li: The Accomplished Actress
http://e.sinchew-i.com/content.phtml?se ... 0609050003

Review: Chinese "Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles" a heartwarming tale
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060905/rev ... miles_dc_1

Jay Chou's New Album Released Tuesday
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 135123.htm

Photos: Lin Chiling Promotes Brand Shampoo in Beijing
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 135121.htm

Photos: Zhang Ziyi in Elle China: "Life is a Banquet"
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 135013.htm

Four Filipino dancers of HK Disney sacked for sexual antics in dressing room
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/09/04/ ... 73513.html

[Brian Thibodeau]

Chinese Director Lou Ye Severely Punished for Evading Censorship Rules - Summer Palace
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 134934.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5313008.stm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060904/film_nm/china_dc_2

There's one quote from director Lu Chuan in that China Broadcast article that really bugs me

"I feel sorry for him. He should have abided by the rules. I think the final aim of any Chinese film director is to shoot films for Chinese audience rather than certain film festivals," Lu Chuan, a Chinese director acclaimed for "Kekexili Mountain Patrol," said in an earlier interview.

Talk about performing a reacharound (if you'll pardon the term) on the Chinese government against a fellow artist. I doubt anyone outside of mindless rule-followers would really think Lou Ye made SUMMER PALACE strictly for the film festival circuit, an audience that, while no doubt appreciative of the merits of his film, are in no way the intended audience. While I can't speak for those merits, as I've yet to see the film (but hope to at the Toronto fest), I strongly suspect it won't speak to it's intended audience for another generation or more, at least not until the country proves itself an true innovator, across any number of disciplines and industries, instead of an emulator wielding tight leashes.

Lu Chuan's KEKEXILI, while blessed with it's own merits, is exactly the kind of movie that should've taken more risks than it did, but clearly chose the safe middle of the road.

A five year ban? If I had the money (and I suppose if I was Chinese), I'd pay someone like Lou Ye to make as many movies as he wanted about other Chinese issues OUTSIDE of China for the next five years. Bring him to Taiwan. Put him in Canada, Europe, the U.S. and let him speak his mind, for better or for worse. Were I a wealthy man, I'd do that for just about any filmmaker from any country who has faced "punishment" for not toeing the party line of an outdated and dying-far-too-slowly-while-cherrypicking-certain-compatible-western-ideologies system of government.

Hope the bureaucrats enjoy the income they're apparently going to confiscate from a movie that they won't allow to be shown. Except by bootleggers (and in cases like this, thank God for them). I wonder if the Chinese government will have representatives standing in the box-offices taking their cut for the upcoming screening at the Toronto Film Festival? Perhaps they can use the proceeds to hire better writers for pathetic government lies like "the print was of poor quality."

Five years. Un. Real.

[dleedlee]

The paragraphy you quoted jumped out to me too. Ironically, the banning will probably draw more attention to the film. Had it been left alone, it would likely have withered like most 'art house' films these days.

The banning doesn't stop him from making films in China, I don't think. He just won't get state approved sanctioning. And if he continues with making them as a co-production, I imagine he can still get overseas distribution...but probably not reap any local financial benefits(?). Hey, maybe it's just a shrewd business move.

[MrBooth]

exactly the kind of movie that should've taken more risks than it did, but clearly chose the safe middle of the road.

It did? Please elaborate

[Brian Thibodeau]

There's a scene in that movie where the main character, who's basically a government mouthpiece, and some others capture a group of the antelope hunters, and one of them (the hunters) tells them how tough times more of less forced him to go after the animals. Not much else is said about this, and there's only the slightest of implications of a possible cause (hint) behind the crummy existence afforded many such people in real life. I know the film inherently shows what its like for a great portion of rural folk who've yet to take part (and may never) in China's glorious new economy, and for that is is an eye-opener, but I personally felt like there was an opportunity there for Lu Chuan to make a stronger, more critical social commentary (and NOT just because I felt that he could ) ...but then I remembered where it was made! I felt myself searching for motivations that the director deliberately distanced himself from, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view. And mine's somewhat cynical, which makes it a bad thing for me...

Nonetheless, I actually like the film, believe it or not!