Cannes Festival 2004

[skylee]

At last, Wong Kar-wai's "2046" will be completed and shown in this year's Cannes Festival. And Zhang Yimou's "Flying Daggers" (十面埋伏) will also be shown as an out-of-competition film.

Maggie Cheung (張曼玉) is featured in two of the films in competition - "2046" and the french film "Clean".

[Ian_Lee]

I seriously doubt if "2046" will be finished in time judged by Director Wong's past record.

[skylee]

A recent report on the popularity of Zhang Yimou's "Flying Daggers" (十面埋伏).

[Ian_Lee]

My prediction almost came true. Wong's 2046 was still under editing on the day that it was for premiere showing in Cannes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/21/movies/21CANN.html

[chengdude]

Download the press kit for Wong's 2046 (pdf file):

http://www.ocean-films.com/2046/presse.htm

Read a short dialogue with Wong:

http://tinyurl.com/2b42g

Scroll down to the 4th or 5th box for a RealPlayer clip from 2046:

http://tinyurl.com/2v6yr

[chengdude]

The Guardian's take on 2046:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2004/story/0,14498,1221756,00.html

From the Cannes website...video clips of 2046 and the press conference:

http://www.festival-cannes.org/video/index.php?langue=6002&jour=20&tv=

Scroll down just a bit for a photo of Maggie Cheung accepting her Best Actress Award for CLEAN, directed by her ex-husband Olivier Assayas:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/index.php?langue=6002

[39degN]

wong gar-wai lost this time after all, pity!

[Ian_Lee]

Will Maggie Cheung come back to China/HK for filming after getting Best Actress Awards in both Berlin and Cannes?

[skylee]

An article about "2046" on Time ->

In the Mood for Rapture

[chengdude]

One possible reason, however slight, that 2046 was passed over for the Palme D'Or, a reason that I heard third-hand, was that some expert filmgoers watching the official screening in Cannes felt that this time Wong, who is famous for obsessing over his films until the last moment, may have pushed the completion of 2046 a little too far...there were points in the film, according to these accounts, that the sound editing had been patched together, resulting in a few technical hiccups. Clearly not the perfection one would expect from WKW.

[skylee]

Trailer of 十面埋伏 (House of Flying Daggers, to be released in Japan as "Lovers") -> http://www.mov8.com/download/lovers.wmv

[39degN]

the trailer is not so attractive...

[Disenchant]

Does that Takeshi--whatshisface have a strong Taiwan (or maybe even Japanese) accent? That could potentially ruin the whole movie for me.

[Jack MacKelly]

A whole heap of Asian films took Cannes by Storm, Korean, Thai and Chinese films certainly left an impression

Hong Sangsoo's "Woman Is the Future of Man,"

"Passages" by the first-time Chinese director Yao Chang

a Korean War picture ("Sword in the Moon," in Un Certain Regard)

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, a Thai director, "Tropical Malady"

Park Chan-Wook's "Old Boy,"

Wong Kar-Wai's "2046"

House of Flying Daggers," directed by Zhang Yimou.

[skylee]

I saw "Old Boy" (原罪犯) last night at this film festival.

It is a superb movie. Excellent script, 1st class filming, exciting rhythm. Yes, exciting is the word to describe it. And energetic. And creative with such a plot (so well structured that it makes the story of "House of the Flying Daggers" seem so silly). No wonder Tarantino gave it the Grand Prix at Cannes.

But it is violent (which is probably why Tarantino liked it I guess) and the story is kind of sick. And during certain scenes, I couldn't help covering my eyes because they were so frightening (核突 in Cantonese), and yet still peeped through my fingers because I didn't want to miss anything (someone please explain this strange reaction ).

Highly highly recommended. Oh and here is a trailer.

Ah korean movies these days are so exciting. And I am going to see 5 more films of that festival.