News Archives

September 2001

BOOK SWORD LOVE HATE Delayed ? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 26, 2001

According to an anonymous source, some crewmembers were sent back home after two weeks without doing anything. There are rumors about delaying or even cancellation of the project. However, my speculation is that the project is definitely delayed and cancellation is not very likely.

 

JAN DARA - A Controversial Erotic Film (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 25, 2001

JAN DARA (misspelled as HANDARA in yesterday's report), has finally greenlighted by Thai authority after being submitted for the third time. Directed my Thailand's most favorite director Nonzee Nimibutr, it tells a story of a young man seeking revenge against his father for his traumatized childhood. Starring Christy Chung from Hong Kong, the film is filled with erotic scenes.

Trailer (RealPlayer) - Warning: scenes of nudity and sexuality!
Stills
Official site
MovieSeer.com's JAN DARA page

 

BOOK SWORD LOVE HATE - Some Fragile News (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 25, 2001

Fan Bingbing

Yesterday, Tsui Hark's BOOK SWORD LOVE HATE had its first news conference. However, the only thing I can get is a brief interview of the female lead Fan Bingbing. Fan will play Yu Ru Yi, a high class prostitute and was well educated, who had very interesting relationship with Emperor Qian Long and his brother Chen Jia Luo. Tsui Hark, nicknamed The Eccentric, has designed a very strange hairstyle for her, a big knot on top. Also, Fan's eyebrows have to be shaved of her eyebrows and replaced by a pair of drawn, long and crescent.

Photo courtesy: People's Daily

Fate of JAN DARA In Thailand Uncertain (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 25, 2001

Shot in Thailand and helmed by a Thai director, the film tells a story of a forbidden love between a young housewife and her stepson. Starring Christy Chung from Hong Kong, it has been shown at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Many parents in Thailand have been complaining about some sex scenes. It has been rejected twice by the Thai censorship authority. Producer Gordon Chan has refused to cut those scenes and the film might be banned in Thailand.

Photo courtesy: People's Daily

Backlash Of The Terrorist Attacks - BURNING OF THE YUAN MING YUAN Is On Halt (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 21, 2001

Ruin of Yuanyingguan (back) and Dashuifa (front)

Same scene rebuilt at New Yuanming Garden Scene Park

According to Li Li, producer of the film, someone from the Ministry of Radio Film and TV has "advised" Chinese filmmakers to avoid disaster related subject, in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Many studios have walked away from such kind of projects. Production of the film will be delayed definitely.

Yuan Ming Yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness) is a huge imperial summer palace outside of Beijing City. Spanned a 350 hectare area, it took six emperors one and a half centuries to build. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the magnificent garden was looted and burned down by the Anglo-Franco joint force.
A small number of buildings were reconstructed in New Yuanming Garden, a scene park in the southern city Zhuhai. Much of the film will be shot here.

Li Li wants to cast gymnast Liu Xuan, China's Olympic gold medalist for balance beam category in Sydney. Liu, however, is not moved.

 

Bird view of Yuanming Garden

Photo courtesy: Yuanmingyuan Ruin Park, New Yuanming Garden Scene Park and University of British Columbia.

 

THE TOUCH Starts (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 21, 2001

Traditional open shooting ceremony: praying for good fortune (from left to right) Director Peter Pau, producer Jung Joi-si, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin)

Shooting of THE TOUCH has officially started several days ago in Lhasa, capital of Tibet. However high altitude of the location has knocked down many crew members. The shooting is halted for three days. According to producer Jung Joi-si boyfriend of Michelle Yoeh, shooting locations will include Botal Palace, the former residence of Dalai Lama and Himalayas Mountains, some place is as high as 7,000 meters (about 23,000 feet) above the sea level. Shooting in Potala Palace will start in October 14, if everything goes as planned.

Michelle Yoeh and her "little brother" Brandon Cheung

Shooting in an unidentified Buddhist Monastery

Ben Chaplin

Photo courtesy: sina.com and Oriental Daily

HERO News 08 - Some Correction (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 21, 2001

One producer has spoke to the media to clarify some inaccurate report. He said the number of characters will not be just seven. Shooting of big scenes in Dunghuang, including battle scenes, has not completed. And before they can move to Hengdian Studio, they will make some shots in China's Inner Mongolia.

INITIAL D and UNICORN HUNT (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 21, 2001

Hong Kong's Media Asia Group has brought the film right of INITIAL D, a popular Japanese Comics. Chan Gun-hei will play the male lead Takumi. Two female leads will be from Japan and Korea. Car will be shot in Singapore and Malaysia next year according to the shooting plan. Toyota will remake three AE-86 specifically for the film. Many other legendary sports car will also show up.

Another Media Asia's big production for next year is action movie UNICORM HUNT, directed by Lei Ii-yi and starring Leslie Cheung, Ng Yin-jou and Lin Hsi-lei.

GIFTS OF THE EMPEROR, A Comfort Women Story (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 21, 2001

The film will tell a story of three young girls from China, Korea and Japan, being forced to provide sex services to the Japanese army during the Second World War. The three girls will be played by Christy Chung, Lee Chin-Yu and Kinshinin. Produced by Korean studio Chon Su Im and will more than 4 billion Korean Wons ($3 million US), the film will shot primary in China's Changchun Studio. The director wil be Rim Son.

 

HERO News 07 - Some Inside Story (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 19, 2001

China's Daily New, under the banner of Tianjin Daily, has just published an article by Shi Yu. Here are some of the highlights:

Nine Digit Production with Only Seven Characters
Budget for the film is clearly breaking the record in China. Some says it is more than 100 million Yuan and others say it is more than 200 million Yuan (1 Yuan is approximately $0.12 US). Surprisingly there are only seven characters, a typical number for a Zhang Yimou's film. They are Silencer (Jet Li), the Three Giang-hu Heros, Broken Sword (Leung Chiu-wai), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) and Six Finger Iron Hand (Bai Shiqian), The First Emperor (Chen Daoming), maid of Broken Sword (Zhang Ziyi), and butler of Flying Snow (Zheng Tianyong).

Who Is the Hero?
Apparent everyone is a hero but no one can be sure is the hero. The First Emperor is a hero, he is fighting for unification of the nation; the three assassins are heroes, they sacrificed themselves to let Silencer getting the First Emperor's trust; and Silencer is a hero as well, he has a mission to end the First Emperor's life.

How the Story Is Going to Be Told?
The structure of the story and way to tell it are very unique and the script is not even written in the normal way. Broken Sword and Flying Snow are former lovers who come together for the mission of assassinating the First Emperor. In the end when all three assassins are killed by Silencer and finally the he has reached the moment he has been waiting for, he decides not to kill the First Emperor. Death of Silencer will be shown in a very vague way. Even the script is very vague - it is being changed continuously.

A Martial Art Movie or A Drama?
Although the film has been labeled as a martial art film and got so many martial art actors in like Jet Li, fighting scenes are only used as the backdrop and much of the film will be very quiet.

How Is the Production Going?
The first unit is for dramatic scenes and the second unit is for fighting scenes. Shooting of large war scenes have completed and the entire production will move to Hengdian Studio by the end of November.

Related article: Rising to Life - Treasure of Ancient China, National Geographic, October 2001

 

Believe It Or Not: Jackie Chan's Near Miss With The Death (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 18, 2001

According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily, Jackie Chan once planed to shoot the first scene of NOSEBLEED at the World Trade Center at 7:00 am on September 11, 2001, the day of the terrorist attacks. In the scene, Jackie Chan will play a window cleaner hanging outside of the one of the WTC's tower. For some reason, the finalizing the script has been delayed and the script of a new project TUXEDO, was finished. For not wasting time, Jackie Chan decided to shoot TUXEDO in Toronto first and missed his appointment with the death.

Photo courtesy: Oriental Daily

 

VIRTUAL TWILIGHT (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 17, 2001

(from left to right) Zhao Wei, Karen Mok and Hsu Chi

VIRTUAL TWILIGHT (previous known as Angle of Dusk), just had its first news conference on Friday. Columbia financed the film as part of its campaign of Asian expansion. Produced by Jet Li and directed by Corey Yuen, it tells a story of two sisters trying to knock down an IT tycoon. Hsu Chi and Zhao Wei (Vicki) play the two sisters and Karen Mok plays a police officer who tries to hunt them down. The male lead is Korean star Song Ching-Sin.

Hsu Chi

Zhao Wei

Karen Mok

 

Song Ching-Sin

 

 

 

Still 1: Hsu Chi

Still 2: Hsu Chi and Karen Mok

 

Photo courtesy: Ming Pao and sina.com

Thanks to Miss2curiosity@???.com for a correction on Zhao Wei's English name.

 

Chow Yun-fat's BULLET PROOF MONK Will Relocated to Toronto (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 17, 2001

Production of Chow Yun-fat's BULLET PROOF MONK, once planned to be shot in Brooklyn, will be moved to Toronto, due to the tragic event. Contradicting with previous report, the shooting will not start until January. The MGM production is produced by John Woo and will be directed by Paul Hunt. The executive producer Terence Chang said, Paul Hunt just sign on to helm the film and they are still looking for the female lead. Because of changing location, they have to alter the script.

Script Of Jackie Chan's NOSEBLEED Will Be Altered After The Terrorist Attacks (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 14, 2001

In the original script, Jackie Chan will play a window cleaner for the World Trade Center and stopped a group of terrorists' attempt of demolish the Statue of Liberty. After Tuesday event, Jackie Chan's character will work for another skyscraper in Manhattan. Jackie Chan is currently in Toronto to prepare for THE TUXEDO, a Dream Works production.

 

FISH AND ELEPHANT, The Only Film Sorpresa of The Venice Film Festival (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 14, 2001

Chinese film FISH AND ELEPHANT has become the only Film Sorpresa (Surprise Film) of The Venice Film Festival. Directed by 27 year old Li Yu, it tells a story of Xia Qun, an elephant handler of a zoo, and his lesbian partner Xiao Ling, worked in a clothing store. After the intervention of Xiao Qun's mother and a young girl, their relationship has somehow become complicated. FISH AND ELEPHANT has won Elvira Notari 15a Edizione of this year's Venice International Film Festival.

 

10 MINUTES, AGING, A Film (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 14, 2001

A British studio called 10 Minutes, Aging Ltd. (translation) has invited 15 directors around the globe to make a 150 minute film containing 15 short films. Chinese director Chen Kaige and Wong Kar-wai are among them.
Special Report - Reactions To The Terrorist Attacks

John Woo - America Will Stand Up From The Tragedy And Will Be More United
John Woo is currently working on the final cut of WINDTALKERS. Yesterday when many businesses were closed, he still went to the studio. While hearing fighter planes flying through the sky, he asked everyone to go home immediately. He said, he did not know how big the impact on Hollywood was going to be, but judging from the high level security and low public morale, he was expecting a short-term recession of entertainment, including movie theaters. He believe America will stand up from the tragedy and will be more united.

Ang Lee - Shocked And Worried About His Family In New York
Ang Lee flied to Los Angeles for the preproduction of HULK, just days before the attacks. His office is only four blocks away from where the World Trade Center used to be. He knew the attacks while searching for locations in a small town outside Los Angeles. He called his family in New York city immediately to make sure they are safe. Then he phoned his parents in Taiwan to tell them his was safe. Hsu Li-kong, one of the producers of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, spent a whole night to try to get contact with Ang Lee and finally succeeded.

Jackie Chan - Only Birthday Wish Is World Peace.
After attending the Montreal International Film Festival, Jackie Chan has flied to Toronto to prepare for his next film TUXEDO, a Dream Works production. After the attacks, he called his wife and children to inform them his was safe. He said, since this year his only birthday wish is "world peace", but just could not understand why it had not been achieved. He was always against violence and war. He did not understand why there was such enormous amount of hate and why committing mass murder in such large scale. He knew he could not change the world by himself. Right now he could only continue to make movies and hoped the tragedies could go away sooner.

Chow Yun-fat - Could Not Believe It Was Real
Chow Yun-fat has planned to go to New York in November to make an action movie for MGM. (produced by John Woo and directed by Paul Hunter). He has contacted his agent in New York to make sure he was safe. He said, "when (I) just saw the news on TV, (I) couldn't believe it was real. (I) thought it was (CG) footages. After knowing the tragedy (was real), I was deeply shocked." He was worrying about an outbreak of another world war and said everything depended on how the US was going to react. He would face the event in a normal matter and did not worry about his future in Hollywood. He was hoping the incident would not have any impact on Hong Kong entertainment industry. The plan of his trip to New York has not been affected.

Sammo Hung - Shocked By The Terrorist Attacks
Sammo Hung was in Shanghai when the attacks happened. He has contacted his wife in Florida to make sure she was safe. Sammo Hung has planned to go to American on September 16th.

Michelle Yeoh on THE TOUCH (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 12, 2001

Monday at the Hong Hong premiere of MOULIN ROUGE, Michelle Yeoh has briefly talked about THE TOUCH. She said, "I have prepared food for three weeks. Actually making a movie in Tibet, the most I fear of is high-altitude illness." "This time we will work in Tibet which is about 14,000 feet above the sea level. Please take care of yourself. If got any minor headache, speak out. Don't try to bear it by yourself. Open your window while sleeping. Oxygen tanks should be carried all the time, just in case." She is till in searching of a girl to play the teenage years of Michelle's character. Fortunately, shooting of her scenes will not start until January. Shooting in Tibet will last for about three weeks, mostly big scenes but not many actions except several horse scenes. One scene will have large number of extras, including thousands of lamas. Looks like not enough number of real lamas can be found, some of them are going to be "imposters".

Photo: Michelle Yoeh at the premiere (Hong Kong Daily News)

My Sympathies To The Victims of The Terrorist Attacks in New York and Washington DC

When I turned on TV to check the weather, the only thing I saw is one of the World Trade Center towers covered by flames, then crashing of the second jet plane, then The Pentagon, then the destruction of the twin towers … For the last six hours, I have been seen horrific pictures on TV, scenes you can only seen in movie theaters until now. I can only hope the survivors trapped under the rubbles being rescued sooner and returning to their love ones safely.

May the madness end and may the peace arrive.

September 11, 2001, a day we will never forget.

7:00, September 11, 2001

 

Gwok Fu Sing And Zhao Wei In KING OF SHOOTING KINGS (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 11, 2001

According to a performing school in Chengdu (located in the southwest China), shooting of the action movie KING OF SHOOTING KINGS (translation), a co-production of two Hong Kong studios, Mandarin Films and Dream Creation Production Ltd. (translation), will start in December in China. Gwok Fu Sing (Aaron) and Zhao Wei (Vicky) will the leading roles. Some students from the school will be cast for the movie.

 

SE JIE (SEDUCTION · COMMANDMENT) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 11, 2001

Ann Hu, who has produced and directed his first feature film SHADOW MAGIC two years ago, is planning to make a big screen adoption of Eileen Chang's SE JIE (SEDUCTION · COMMANDMENT) (translation).

SE JIE is a short novel and very unknown comparing to Eileen Chang's other works. Late 1930, in the Japanese occupied Chinese territory, a young girl was sent to seduce and assassinate a high ranking official of the puppet government. Many bed scenes will be involved, therefore Hsu Chi might be the best choice. However Zhang Ziyi may also have a chance due to her popularity. Jiang Wen may be up to the role of the official. Ira Deuchman, another producer of the film has managed to get some equipment and technical support from Kodak. Shooting may start as early as next March.

 

Ben Chaplin And Richard Roxburgh Ready For THE TOUCH (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 10, 2001

(From left to right) Ben Chaplin, Richard Roxburgh, Pro ducer Jung Joi-si, Michelle Yeoh's boy friend

Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh have arrived in Hong Kong today to prepare the shooting of Michelle Yeoh's THE TOUCH. Ben Chaplin will play Michelle's love interest and Richard Roxburgh will be the main villain. Tomorrow they will fly to Chengdu, a city in southwest China to shoot some action scenes. The rest of the movie will be shot in Tibet, Beijing, Qingdao (Tsing Tao), Dunhuang and Tianjin.

Photo courtesy: Ming Pao

 

Hsu Chi Will Lead Joan Chen's FUSANG (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

September 10, 2001

Hsu Chi has replaced Zhou Xiu to play the leading role in Joan Chen next film FUSANG. Based on the same name novel by Yan Geling (English Title: The Lost Daughter of Happiness), it tells the story of Fusang, a Chinese prostitute in the 19th century's San Francisco. In the film, Hsu Chi will play Fusang from a teenage girl to an eighty year old woman. Hong Kong star Leung Kar-fai has been selected to play gangster A Ding. Joan Chen is still looking for the right man for the role of Chris, a white boy who loved Fusang for four decades. Currently still working on the script with Yan Geling, Joan Chen is hoping the film can be a co-production between China and the US.

Photo courtesy: amazon.com

 

HAI XIAN (SEAFOOD) Has Won Premio Speciale della Giuria Cinema del Presente At The 58th International Venice Film Festival (La Biennale di Venezia)

September 10, 2001

HAI XIAN, a Chinese film about a story of a suicidal prostitute and a police officer who tried to save her, has won Premio Speciale della Giuria Cinema del Presente at the 58th International Venice Film Festival. CHE SISHISI (BUS 44), a 11 minute short film about a bus robbery, has received Special Mentions.

THE LEGEND OF ZU VCD - Order It Now (for all regions) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 7, 2001

Photo courtesy: SansaAsia.com

FENNI'S SMILE - A Love Story Beyond Cultures and Time (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 7, 2001

Nina Proll

Wang Zhiwen

Shooting of FENNI'S SMILE, a co-production China and Austria, has started on August 20. In 1931, Fenni Wagner, daughter of a Vienna Police Academy's teacher, fell in love with Ma Yunlong, one of the twelve Chinese policemen studying in the Academy. One year after Ma left, Fenni's received a letter from him, containing a ticket to China. She traveled half way around the world to join Ma and started her sixty-year life in China. Based on the true story, the film is initiated by former Mrs. Austrian ambassador to China. Fenni is played by Austrian actress Nina Proll and Chinese actor Wang Ziwen is playing her husband, Ma. Sophia Marceau was cast as the female lead before the role fell into Nina Proll under the pressure from the Austrian side. Shooting in China will mainly taking place in Hongcun Village of Anhui Province, the same location being used as Yu Hsu Lien's hometown in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAON. Shooting in Austria will start in early October and will last for about a month.

Produced by: Beijing Forbidden City & Trinity Pictures, SK Films and TV, Liaoning Jintong Industrial Group
Producer: Zhou Puxiong, Ji Futang,
Executive Producer: Wang Zhebin, Lin Zhaoliang, Joseph Kosia (?)
Director Hu Mei
Screenwriter: Wang Zhebin
Cinematographer: Lü Le
Art Director: Li Yaorao
Composer: Ye Xiaogang
Recorder: Zhang Wen

 

Photo courtesy: Beijing Youth Daily and Beijing Evening News

New Pix From Sammo Hung's FLYING DRAGON, LEAPING TIGER (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 7, 2001
Photo courtesy: People's Daily and Nanfang Daily

ANGEL OF DUSK With Korean Star (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 7, 2001
Korean newspaper Sports Korea has reported that Corey Yuen, long time working companion of Jet Li, has cast Korean star Song Ching-Sin as the male lead for his new movie ANGEL OF DUSK. Produced by Hong Kong's Mandarin Films and distributed by Columbia, the movie is about a story of an ordinary guy and a female professional killer, played by Hsu Chi.

WAITING Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 5, 2001

Ruddy Morgan Production is currently planning on WAITING, a co-production with China Film corp. and is budgeted at $50 million US. Based on Ha Jin's same name novel, it tells a story happened in the 50's and 60's China: Doctor Kong Lin, bounded by his unhappy marriage, was unable to join his true love nurse Manna for 18 years. Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li have reported been cast. An early report has support has suggested that Gong Li is interested in the role of Kong Li's wife and the role of nurse Manna is for Joan Chen or Maggie Cheung. Hong Kong director Gordon Chan has signed up to helm the project. Shooting location will most like in the northeast China (Manchuria). Production will likely start late this year or early next year and Ruddy Morgan is still working on the script based on the demand from the Chinese side.

Photo courtesy: amazon.com

Jackie Chan And Jet Li Running At Midnight (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 5, 2001
At the Montreal International Film Festival, just closed two days ago, Jackie Chan said the possible Jackie Cha / Jet Li movie will be loosely based on 1988's classic MIDNIGHT RUN.
Photo courtesy: mov3.com

HERO News 06 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 5, 2001
At a news conference yesterday in Hong Kong, Maggie Cheung has briefly talked about the shooing. So for all she did are fighting scenes with Jet Li, which were handled by deputy directors and choreographers. Therefore she has not been able to have a taste of Zhang Yimou's directing style. She said, "the weather in the desert is very bad and got wind filled with sand. (I'm) afraid of getting high-altitude illness. It's already very hard to breath, (I) have to make fighting scenes, that's even more challenging. But I feel I must endure (the pain) when necessary. She said Zhang Ziyi is very loveable and Leung Chiu-wai has a lot of non-fighting scenes.
Photo courtesy: Oriental Daily

HIGHBINDERS - Two Pix (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 5, 2001
Photo courtesy: China.com
Shi Yue Wei Cheng (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 4, 2001
Shooting of SHI YUE WEI CHENG (OCTOBER IN VICTORIA HARBOUR) will start in October. Based on an very unknown event, it tells a largely fictional story of five bodyguards protecting Sun Yat-Sen, China's revolutionary leader, in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour at the turn of the 20th Century. Sammo Hung and Jiang Wen have reportedly signed up as two bodyguards.
Sammo Hung Jiang Wen
Photo courtesy: IMDB and Nanfang Daily

Chinese Language Films At The Toronto International Film Festival (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
August 31, 2001
Illustration by Raffi Anderian / Toronto Star

 

 

BEIJING BICYCLE (Taiwan/France)
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Wang Xiaoshuai is best known for his tough, unflinching portraits of contemporary China in films like SO CLOSE TO PARADISE and THE DAYS. So his new film, BEIJING BICYCLE, comes as something of a surprise. A lyrical, good-natured romp through present day Beijing, it is a breezy allegory about how we might rethink our ethical constructs in a changed society. The film shimmers with Xiaoshuai? characteristically beautiful imagery, and follows two intertwined stories of people dependent on that unshakable symbol of transportation in mainland China, the unpretentious bicycle.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Noah Cowan

 

 

MIRROR IMAGE (Taiwan)
Director: Hsiao Ya-chuan
This enormously fun, frolicking romantic comedy signals a fresh new voice in the Taiwanese cinema. First-time feature director Hsiao Ya-chuan has certainly seen and digested the films of Wong Kar-wai. He has a great time with innovative camera angles and neat colour schemes; he is also a romantic, though of a far more down-to-earth variety. The main character? love life is positioned somewhere between fortune-telling and street commerce, a nice metaphor for issues of the heart in our new millennium.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Noah Cowan

 

 

THE ORPHAN OF ANYANG (Mainland China)
Director: Wang Chao
Surely one of the most auspicious debut films from mainland China in ages, The ORPHAN OF ANYANGr is a simple, tough and deeply affecting look at a rarely seen part of the world. As one might imagine, the film is set in Anyang, an ancient city in the province of Henan. This city is not a rich metropolis like Shanghai or Guangzhou, nor is it a dirt-poor, isolated provincial village. It is like much of China, slowly growing more wealthy in a low-key way, but plagued by failing industry, the emerging forces of corruption and violence, and the other growing pains of Chinese capitalism.
...
(full article from the official site)
By Noah Cowan

 

 

QUITTING (Mainland China)
Director: Zhang Yang
Zhang Yang's newest film will come as a surprise to his fans. This work is much more formally complex and political than SHOWER, his feel-good family hit of last year. QUITTING concerns a troubled soul and how the massive changes wrought in contemporary urban China can batter a man. But the protagonist is not a hapless naif, fearing and defeated by change. Both the star of the film and the person on which it is based is Jia Hong-Sheng, one of China's most visible young stars, whose performances in SUZHOU RIVER and FROZEN practically define the bursting exuberance of young Chinese cinema. Both historical biography and documentary re-enactment, QUITTING defies easy categorization, with the real protagonists of Jia? hellish life journey playing themselves in almost every case.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Noah Cowan

 

 

WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (Taiwan/France)
Director: Tsai Ming-liang
While less twisted than his 1998 feature THE HOLE, Tsai Ming-liang? latest work is certainly disquieting. In WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?, the director addresses the themes of alienation, anomie and compulsion that have been central to his previous work, this time separating characters from each other by time zones, superstition and death.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Dimitri Eipides

 

 

MILLENNIUM MAMBO (Taiwan/France)
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Looking at the young friends around me, I find that their life cycle and rhythm, birth, aging, illness and death move several times faster than those of my generation. This is particularly true among young girls: like flowers, they fade almost immediately upon blooming. The process occurs in an instant.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Noah Cowan

 

 

FULL TIME KILLER (Hong Kong)
Director: Johnnie To, Wai Ka Fai
A hitman slides through the rain as neon lights reflect in slick streets. A figure in the shadows whirls around, baring his face for a second, only to return to the shroud of darkness. Enter the blood-splattered ring with the FULL TIME KILLER.
...
(full article from the official site)
By Colin Geddes

 

 

DIGITAL SHORT FILMS BY THREE FILMMAKERS (South Korea)
Director: Jia Zhang-ke, John Akomfrah, Tsai Ming-liang
While the conversation concerning an emerging digital cinema focuses on its promise to interrupt established infrastructures – lower budgets, increased accessibility – each year sees new and established filmmakers exploring, questioning and playing with DV’s aesthetic potential. In these works lie hints of what a mature digital cinema may look like – a swirl of new and mutant forms which offer a teasing glimpse into a transvalued audio-visual universe.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Sean Farnel

 

 

 

INTRUDE SANCTUARY (Taiwan)
Director: Hsiao Shuo-wen
The perfect opener to a programme of new works, SOUNDINGS, Sandra Gibson’s refreshingly colourful foray into the realm of direct animation, makes inspired use of sound/image collage. Calm sea greens and blues, refined lines of perspective and dynamic editing distinguish Minyong Jang’s outstanding water study, THE DARK ROOM, filmed at San Francisco’s Camera Obscura overlooking the Pacific Ocean. TREE-LINE, Gunvor Nelson’s first digital video work, deals with complex variations in rhyme and locomotion.
…
(full article from the official site)
By Sean Farnel
Photo courtesy: Toronto International Film Festival

Update On Tsui Hark's BOOK SWORD LOVE HATE Casting (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
September 4, 2001
Princess Xiang Xiang Cecilia Cheung (THE LEGEND OF ZU)

Emperor Qian Long

Guo Yan-Jun

Yu Ru Yi

Fan Bingbing