Best Chinese-Language Films of the 2000s: Poll results

In the Mood for Love by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai topped the results of an international poll of the best Chinese-language films of the past decade, conducted by dGenerate Films. The poll included ballots from forty-seven filmmakers, critics, programmers and scholars from around the world. A total of 152 Chinese-language films were cited.

In the Mood for Love outpaced a field dominated by mainland Chinese titles, led by Wang Bing’s seven-hour documentary West of the Tracks and Jia Zhangke’s historical epic Platform. The two mainland titles are both independent productions made outside the official Chinese state system and have never officially screened in China. Yi Yi, by the late Taiwanese master Edward Yang finished fourth.

The top four titles were each mentioned in at least half of the forty-six ballots submitted by participants. Rounding out the top ten were Jia Zhangke’s Still Life at #5, Jiang Wen’s Devils on the Doorstep at #6, Liu Jiayin’s Oxhide, Lou Ye’s Summer Palace, and Jia Zhangke’s The World tied at #7, and Li Yang’s Blind Shaft and Ang Lee’s transnational blockbuster Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon tied at #9.

Jia Zhangke dominated among directors with seven films mentioned in the poll, three of which finished in the top ten. His films received nearly twice as many mentions as those of the second most-mentioned director, Wong Kar-wai. Works by Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang and Chinese director Lou Ye (who is officially banned from making films in China) also featured prominently in the results.

The results suggest a changing of the guard among mainland Chinese filmmakers over the past decade. The highest placing title by a Fifth Generation director was Zhang Yimou’s Hero at #22. The eight mainland productions placing in the top eleven are from Sixth Generation directors such as Jia Zhangke or Lou Ye, or the post-Generational wave of digital filmmakers such as Wang Bing and Liu Jiayin. And yet, among these mainland films, only The World was approved by the state censors and released theatrically in mainland China.

Three of the top four films – In the Mood for Love, Yi Yi and Platform – have also placed prominently in polls conducted for all cinema of the past decade. The three films placed in the top ten of the Best of Decade Critics’ Poll run by IndieWire and in the top 11 of the poll run by Film Comment. But aside from Jia Zhangke’s films, the remaining titles on the list have fared poorly in these polls (West of the Tracks, #2 in this poll, places at #49 in IndieWire and #85 in Film Comment).

Oxhide, distributed non-theatrically in the U.S. by dGenerate Films, is the top ranking title by a female director. In addition to Oxhide, nine other dGenerate Films titles received mentions in the poll: Before the Flood (Li Yifan and Yan Yu); Betelnut (dir. Yang Heng); Crime and Punishment (Zhao Liang); Ghost Town (Zhao Dayong); Little Moth (Peng Tao); The Other Half (Ying Liang); Taking Father Home (Ying Liang); Timber Gang aka Last Lumberjacks (Yu Guangyi) and Using (Zhou Hao).

The full list of films, as well as top-ranking Chinese-language directors, can be found after the break. A full list of ballots from all participants will be posted tomorrow.

1. In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai (28 mentions)
2. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, Wang Bing (25)
3. Platform, Jia Zhangke (24)
4. Yi Yi, Edward Yang(23)
5. Still Life, Jia Zhangke (18)
6. Devils on the Doorstep, Jiang Wen (12)
7. Oxhide, Liu Jiayin (11)
(tie) Summer Palace, Lou Ye (11)
(tie) The World, Jia Zhangke (11)
10. Blind Shaft, Li Yang (10)
(tie) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee (10)

Top Directors (based on mentions of their films among all top ten ballots):
1. Jia Zhangke (63 mentions)
2. Wong Kar Wai (34)
3. Tsai Ming-liang (28)
4. Wang Bing (26)
5. Lou Ye (25)
6. Edward Yang (23)
7. Ang Lee (17)
8. Liu Jiayin (15)
9. Hou Hsiao-hsien (14)
10 Jiang Wen (13)

The rest of the results from the poll of Chinese-language films:

12. Goodbye Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang (9)

13. Three Times, Hou Hsiao-hsien (8)
(tie) Suzhou River, Lou Ye (8)
(tie) What Time Is It There? Tsai Ming-liang (8)

16. Infernal Affairs, Andrew Lau & Alan Mak (7)
(tie) Lust, Caution Ang Lee (7)
(tie) Petition, Zhao Liang (7)
(tie) Unknown Pleasures Jia Zhangke (7)

20. Millennium Mambo, Hou Hsiao-hsien (6)
(tie) Spring Fever, Lou Ye (6)

22. Bing Ai, Feng Yan (5)
Hero, Zhang Yimou (5)
(tie) Wayward Cloud, The Tsai Ming-liang (5)

25. Nine films tied with four mentions:

Kung Fu Hustle, Steven Chow
Peacock, Gu Changwei
Oxhide 2, Liu Jiayin
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, Lu Chuan
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone, Tsai Ming-liang
Orphan of Anyang, The Wang Chao
2046, Wong Kar-wai
Other Half, The, Ying Liang
Survival Song, Yu Guangyi

34. Nine films tied with three mentions:

Along the Railway, Du Haibin
Crime and Punishment, Zhao Liang
Dr. Ma’s Country Clinic, Cong Feng
Though I Am Gone, Hu Jie
Delamu, Tian Zhuangzhuang
Looking for Lin Zhao’s Soul, Hu Jie
My Life as McDull, Toe Yuen
Beijing Bicycle, Wang Xiaoshuai
Timber Gang aka Last Lumberjacks, Yu Guangyi

43. 26 films tied with two mentions:

1428,Du Haibin
Before the Flood, Li Yifan and Yan Yu
Blind Mountain, Li Yang
Blue Gate Crossing, Yee Chin-yen
Buried, Wang Libo
Chinese Villagers’ Documentary Project, Wu Wenguang
Classmates, Lin Xin
Durian, Durian, Fruit Chan
Face, Tsai Ming-liang
Fuck Cinema, Wu Wenguang
Ghost Town, Zhao Dayong
Good Cats, Ying Liang
Grain in Ear, Zhang Lu
Jalainur, Zhao Ye
Little Moth, Peng Tao
Night Train, Diao Yi’nan
Outside, Wang Wo
PTU, Johnnie To
Quitting, Zhang Yang
Search, The,Wanma Caidan
Seafood, Zhu Wen
Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest, Yang Fudong
Springtime in a Small Town, Tian Zhuangzhuang
Taking Father Home, Ying Liang
Uniform, Diao Yinan
Wheat Harvest, Xu Tong

69. 84 films tied with 1 mention:

24 City, Jia Zhangke
And the Spring Comes, Gu Changwei
Aoluguya, Gu Tao
Ashes of Time Redux, Wong Kar-wai
Assembly, Feng Xiaogang
Bamboo Shoots, Jian Yi
Baober in Love, Li Shaohong
Betelnut, Yang Heng
Big Shot’s Funeral, Feng Xiaogang
Bimo Records, The, Yang Rui
Black and White Milk Cow, Yang Jin
Bodyguards and Assassins, Chen Desen
Breaking News, Johnnie To
Butterfly, Yan Yan Mak
Cape No. 7, Wei Desheng
Chicken Poets, Meng Jinghui
Chinese Odyssey 2002, Jeff Lau
Chongqing, Zhang Lu
City of Life and Death, Lu Chuan
Condolences, Ying Liang
Conjugation, Emily Tang
Cry Woman, Liu Bingjian
Dam Street, Li Yu
Destination Shanghai, Andrew Y-S Cheng
Disorder, Huang Weikai
Dong, Jia Zhangke
Dr. Zhang, Huang Ruxiang
Dumplings, Fruit Chan
DV China, Zheng Desheng
Everlasting Regret, Stanley Kwan
Exiled, Johnnie To
Extras, Zhu Chuanming
Fengming: A Chinese Memoir, Wang Bing
Floating Dust, Huang Wenhai
Fortune Teller, Xu Tong
Green Hat, Liu Fendou
History of Chemistry 2, Lu Chunsheng
How Are You, Gongliao, Cui Suxin
How Is Your Fish Today, Guo Xiaolu
I Love Beijing, Ning Ying
In Public, Jia Zhangke
Incense, Ning Hao
Infernal Affairs Trilogy, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak
Iri, Zhang Lu
Isabella, Pang Ho-Cheung
Juliet in Love, Wilson Yip
Karamay, Anonymous
KJ, Cheung King-wai
Lan Yu, Stanley Kwan
McDull, Prince de la Bun, Toe Yuen
Mid-Afternoon Barks, Zhang Yuedong
My Blueberry Nights, Wong Kar-Wai
Narrow Path, The, Cui Zi’en
Novel, Lu Le
Pangyau, Amir Muhammad
Perfect Life, Emily Tang
Perpetual Motion, Ning Ying
Pirated Copy, He Jianjun
Raised from Dust, Gan Xiao’er
Red Cliff, John Woo
Red Flag Files, The, Zhou Hongxiang
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, Zhang Yimou
River People, He Jianjun
Road, The, Zhang Jiarui
Rumination, Xu Ruotao
San Li Dong, Lin Xin
Shanghai Panic, Andrew Y.S. Cheng
Shaolin Soccer, Stephen Chow
Silent Holy Stones, Wanma Caidan
Sparrow, Johnnie To
Strange Heaven, Yang Fudong
Sun Also Rises, The, Jiang Wen
Sweet Food City, Gao Wendong
Tang Poetry, Zhang Lu
This Happy Life, Jiang Yue
Three Guns / A Simple Noodle Story, Zhang Yimou
To Live Is Better Than to Die, Chen Weijun
Trivial Matters, Peng Haoxiang
Triangle, Johnnie To, Tsui hark, Ringo Lam
Two Seasons, Zhou Xun
Us Two, Ma Liwen
Using, Zhou Hao
Warlords, The, Peter Chan
You Shoot, I Shoot, Pang Ho-cheung

Kitano plots gangster pic 'Outrage' (Variety)

TOKYO -- Secretive Japanese helmer Takeshi Kitano has finally unveiled details of his latest gangster pic -- his first in nine years.

“Outrage” depicts power struggles among Tokyo gangsters. Kitano not only helms and scripts, but also plays the lead -- a low-ranking gang boss charged with doing the dirty work of his superiors.

The cast also includes Tomokazu Miura, Kippei Shiina, Ryo Kase, Jun Kunimura, Tetta Sugimoto, Renji Ishibashi, Fumiyo Kohinata and Takashi Tsukamoto.

Shooting started in August, with Warner Japan and Office Kitano skedded to release next year.

Kitano made his international breakthrough in 1993 playing a gang boss in “Sonatine,” and became known for his extreme depictions of on-screen violence in such pics as “Boiling Point” (1990), “Hana-Bi” (1997) and “Brother” (2000), but has adopted a more peaceful on-screen persona in recent years.

No Puedo triumphs at Golden Horse Awards (Screen)

Taiwanese director Leon Dai’s No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti took four of the top prizes at the 46th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan (Nov 28), including best picture, best director, best original screenplay and Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year.

Earlier in the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, which accompanies the awards, the film was voted as the audience favourite. It had also scooped four prizes at the Taipei Film Festival in July this year, and took the grand prize at Japan’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival.
Held this year on the outskirts of Taipei in Taipei County, the Golden Horse Awards is generally seen as the most prestigious film honours in the Chinese-speaking world.

Despite the success of No Puedo, mainland Chinese films and co-productions took the largest number of awards – winning ten of the 20 award categories – reflecting the growing strength of the mainland film industry. For the first time, the three-hour show was broadcast on mainland China’s state-owned CCTV6 Movie Channel, reaching an estimated audience of 1.1 billion across China.

Cheung King-wai’s documentary KJ: Music And Life, about a Hong Kong music prodigy, stood out as the dark horse in the race, winning awards in its all three nominated categories: best documentary, best film editing and best sound effects.

Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu’s Cow, Chen Kaige’s Forever Enthralled and Tsai Ming-liang’s Face each won in two award categories.

For the first time in the history of Golden Horse awards, the best actor prize was split between two actors – Nick Cheung forHong Kong action thriller The Beast Stalker and Huang Bo for Cow.
Cheung’s portrayal of a ruthless killer has previously won him best actor from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards and the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.

In Cow, Huang Bo plays a strong-willed peasant during the second world war who develops a co-dependent relationship with a milk cow in order to survive.

The best actress title went to Li Bingbing for playing an elegant telegram decoder in suspense thriller The Message. The best supporting actress title went to Wai Ying-hung in Malaysia-Hong Kong-South Korea co-production At The End Of Daybreak, directed by Malaysia’ Ho Yuhang, while best supporting actor went to Wang Xueqi for Chen’s Forever Enthralled.

The Golden Horse Awards is part of the 2009 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, which ran November 5-26. This year the festival showcased 200 films with a record-breaking $463,965 (NT$15m) box office result, a 15% increase from the ticket sales in 2008.

The festival also presented to international awards: the FIPRESCI Award went to Taiwanese director Cheng Yu-chieh’s Yang Yang, while the NETPAC award went to Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly from Indonesian filmmaker Edwin.

Full list of Golden Horse 2009 award winners:

Best Feature Film: No Pudeo Vivir Sin Ti – Luminoso Film, Partyzoo Film

Best Director: Leon Dai – No Pudeo Vivir Sin Ti

Best Leading Actor: Nick Cheung – The Beast Stalker / Huang Bo – Cow

Best Leading Actress: Li Bingbing – The Message

Best Supporting Actor: Wang Xueqi – Forever Enthralled

Best Supporting Actress: Wai Ying Hung – At The End Of Daybreak

Best New Performer: Yu Shaoqun – Forever Enthralled

Best Original Screenplay: Leon Dai, Chen Wen-Pin – No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti

Best Screenplay Adaptation: Guan Hu – Cow

Best Cinematography: Cao Yu – City Of Life And Death

Best Visual Effects: Wang Jianxiong, Jimmy Chen, Li Liping – Crazy Racer

Best Art Direction: Lee Tian Jue, Patrick Dechesne, Alain-Pascal Housiaux – Face

Best Makeup & Costume Design: Christian Lacroix, Wang Chia Hui, Anne Dunsford – Face

Best Action Choreography: Sammo Hung, Leung Siu-hung – Ip Man

Best Film Editing: Cheung King Wai – KJ: Music And Life

Best Sound Effects: Cheung King Wai – KJ: Music And Life

Best Original Film Score: Dou Wei, Bi Xiao Di – The Equation Of Love and Death

Best Original Film Song: Death Dowry

Best Documentary: KJ: Music And Life – CNEX Foundation Limited

Best Short Film: Sleeping With Her – Chih Yi Wen

Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year: No Pudeo Vivir Sin Ti

Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year: Lee Lung-Yue

Japanese cinema triumphs at Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong (ScreenDaily)

Japanese cinema triumphed at the Asian Film Awards last night, with three Japanese dramas – Tokyo Sonata, Still Walking and Departures – clinching four of the top prizes.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata walked off with best film and best screenwriter; Hirokazu Kore-eda took the best director prize for Still Walking, and Motoki Masahiro scooped best actor for Oscar-winner Departures.

Best actress went to China’s Zhou Xun for Cao Baoping’s The Equation Of Love And Death, while best newcomer went to Chinese actor Yu Shaoqun who plays the young Mei Lanfang in Chen Kaige’s biopic Forever Enthralled.
Koran’s Jung Woo-sung picked up best suppporting actor for Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, The Bad, The Weird – which was the favourite going into the awards with eight nominations. Filipina actress Gina Pareno took best supporting actress for her role in Brillante Mendoza’s Service.

Best DoP went to Jola Dylewska for Tulpan; Hong Kong’s Daniel Lee took best production designer for Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon, and best editor went to Kim Sun-min for Korean thriller The Chaser. Craig Hayes took best visual effects for John Woo’s Red Cliff.

Japan also scored in the technical categories with Joe Hisaishi taking best composer for his work on Hiyao Miyazaki’s hit animation Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea.

All three of the other Japanese winners at the AFAs have already won a slew of prizes over the past year – Tokyo Sonata started its awards haul by winning the jury prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year; Still Walking has won awards at San Sebastian and Mar del Plata, while Departures was the surprise winner of best foreign-language film at the Academy Awards this year.

Hong Kong actress Michelle Yeoh headed the 13-person jury for this year’s AFAs, which also included festival programmers Noah Cowan (Toronto), Christian Jeune (Cannes), Christophe Terhechte (Berlin) and Jacob Wong (Hong Kong).

Asian Connection

Todos los lunes a las 22:00 por la pantalla de I.Sat, lo mejor de Oriente con Asian Connection...

Lunes 1 a las 22:00

Hana & Alice (Hana to Arise)

Hana y Alice están a punto de entrar a la secundaria y son inseparables. Hana se enamora de un chico al que ve todos los días en el tren y que parece ni notar su existencia. Con ayuda de Alice, Hana le hará creer que ella es su novia pero que él no la recuerda porque tiene amnesia por un golpe que se dio. La extraña historia es filmada con toda delicadeza por su director Shunji Iwai. La película sigue con gran virtuosismo este gran amor adolescente, que se muestra más en las imágenes que en las palabras y captura ese período en la vida que todos experimentaron alguna vez. Hana & Alice logra reflejar con gran detalle la intimidad y los deseos, frustraciones y miedos de tres adolescentes.

Director Shunji Iwai Elenco Anne Suzuki, Yû Aoi, Tomohiro Kakul Género Drama

Lunes 8 a las 22:00

Monday

Un oficinista normal se hunde cada vez más hondo en una red de hechos extraordinarios, empezando por un velatorio donde explota el cadáver. El protagonista atraviesa situaciones una más bizarra que la otra, con gran componente de violencia y una oscura ironía. La película muestra una creatividad desbocada entre gángsters que no reaccionan como se supone que deberían y oficinistas que parecen dispuestos a todo en un día en el que cualquier cosa puede pasar. Monday ganó los premios Don Quijote y Fipresci en el Festival de Berlín. Fue dirigida por Sabu (Hiroyuki Tanaka), que con esta y otras películas como Kôfuku no kane y Posutoman burusu se convirtió en uno de los talentos más reconocidos del cine japonés actual.

Director Sabu Elenco Anne Suzuki, Yû Aoi, Tomohiro Kakul Género Drama

Lunes 15 a las 22:00

Fulltime Killer

El hongkonés Tok (Andy Lau) es un extrovertido asesino a sueldo en ascenso que quiere convertirse en el número uno para que le paguen lo que considera justo. Para esto deberá enfrentarse al japonés O (Takashi Sorimachi), un mercenario desconfiado y de bajo perfil que es considerado el mejor en su tarea. Tok intentará llamar su atención obstruyendo los trabajos de O en enfrentamientos en los que mandará la destreza con las armas de fuego. Mientras tanto ambos escaparán del policía Lee (Simon Yan) que les sigue los pasos muy de cerca. Nada de acrobacias, ni patadas voladoras, en las películas de Johnny To las balas pican muy cerca y los enfrentamientos se resuelven con (muchos) tiros. En los últimos años, el cine de acción de Hong Kong tiene a To como uno de los máximos referentes. El director de maravillas gangsteriles como Breaking News, Exiled y Election II vuelve a convocar a su compatriota Andy Lau: el carismático actor ya había protagonizado a un ladrón al que le quedan catorce días de vida en Running Out of Time en 1999, y luego de Fulltime Killer se encargó de protagonizar a uno de los integrantes de la pareja de ladrones divorciada de Yesterday Once More.

Director Johnny To Elenco Andy Lau, Takashi Sorimachi, Simon Yam Género Acción