By Larry Kao
John Woo casts his next epic, Chinese filmmaker banned, legendary Bollywood director dies, and Japanese drag is hot again. All this and more in the latest edition of News From Abroad.
Romancing East Asia's Superstars
Hong Kong action film director John Woo has finally cast his epic The Battle of Red Cliff, and the film is set to be huge. The film will star a pan East Asian superstar cast of Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling. The co-production with the China Film Corporation is based on the Chinese classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and is set in the final days of the Han Dynasty in 208 A.D. The film is about the battle that establishes the three warring kingdoms after the fall of the Han. The film has a budget of $50, and starts production in March 2007 in Yi county of Hebei province. Behind the camera is another high profile team- Terence Chang, a friend of Woo is helping production, and the screenplay was written by Wang Hui-Ling, also known for his work with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film is hoping to gain a release directly prior to the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Bollywood Bids Farewell
On August 27, 2006, Bollywood bade farewell to longtime director and industry veteran Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The 84 year-old director passed away in a hospital in Mumbai. He was known for his award-winning popular films, and in 2001 received India's highest film award, the Dada Saheb Phalke award. His most popular films were Anand, Chupke Chupke and Abhiman, that helped set the current standard for Bollywood films.
Official tribute page: http://www.hrishikeshmukherjee.com/
From Drunken Master to Puritan Protester
Jackie Chan joined with other Hong Kong celebrities in a protest at the Central Government headquarters, pushing for legislation and restrictions against racy photos in magazines. The incident that sparked the celebrity protest was the publishing of the current issue of Easy Finder weekly that featured a cover photo of Gillian Chung of the pop duo “Twins” backstage changing after a concert in Malaysia. Since the magazine was released, the central government been getting numerous complaints of indecency, and Chung has filed an injunction against the magazine, and has reported the matter to authorities in both Malaysia and Hong Kong. The incident again calls into question the limits of freedom of the press, especially in star-struck, and celebrity laden Hong Kong. Chan was not opposed to photographs with journalistic integrity exposing celebrity wrong-doings; he is more against the invasion of privacy that led to the cover shots of the magazine.
Direction of the New Jay Chou
September 5th, 2006 saw the release of Taiwanese pop icon Jay Chou's latest album, Still Fantasy. But aside from the release of his seventh album, the star has kept himself busy with other pursuits. In late August, the singer signed a deal with mobile phone giant Motorola, effectively becoming one of the company's brand ambassadors for the greater China region. He will appear in Motorola commercials and advertisements, and users of Motorola phones will have exclusive access to Chou's back catalogue through MotoMusic, the pioneer in legal Chinese music downloading sites. Additionally, Jay Chou fans can look forward to more promotional product in the form of a Jay Chou model of Motorola's MOTOROKR E2 phone and headset, and new Jay Chou and Motorola accessories.
Aside from his new Motorola ambassadorship, Chou has also starred in Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower, undergoing post production work right now. The film has a tentative release in December of this year in Hong Kong. Chou plays a prince in the film that also stars Chinese actors Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li. Chou has also expressed interest in eventually directing films in addition to starring in them. His past film appearance in Initial D, coupled with Zhang's Curse, and his exposure to the craft through directing several music videos is said to have inspired this new career aspiration.
APA CD review of Jay Chou's November Chopin
APA Jay Chou concert review
APA review of Initial D
No Laughing Matter
Two of the three Mustache Brothers, Myanmar's comedic trio, have been jailed and banned from performing, except at their home, and for tourists. The two jailed were sentenced to 5 years of jail and hard labor after poking fun at the country's military government. Despite the troupe's celebrity status, it was Amnesty International that secured their release and the no-public-performance bargain. But it was likely the celebrity status that gained them their relative leniency on performing rights; other performers and comedians have been banned completely from working.
Speaking of Bans…
China Bans Filmmaker from his Craft Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye is banned from making films in China for 5 years. The move by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television is meant as a punishment against Lou for submitting his film, Summer Palace to the Cannes Film Festival in May without prior government approval. While the film is a love story, its setting is of concern to Chinese authorities; the story takes place in the tumultuous time of the 1989 protest movement in Beijing, and uses documentary footage of the crackdown, still a touchy subject among China's power brokers. Lou is no stranger to controversy and was similarly banned from filmmaking for two years in 2000 with the release of Suzhou River. Lou was not the only filmmaker punished- producer Nai An was also banned from making films for 5 years. Despite the ban on its director, and possibly because of the ban, Summer Palace has already been picked up for distribution in the United States, France, Japan, and South Korea, and will make its rounds at other film festivals.
APA Review of Lou Ye' Purple Butterfly
Vietnam's Korean Television Studio
South Korean CJ Media has opened Vietnam's most modern television production studio. The studio, also known as Studio 1, is located on the outskirts of Ho Chi Min City, and features state-of-the-art production units, including indoor sound stages, and outdoor backdrops with traditional Vietnamese scenes. Despite opening last week, the facility has already begun production on the television show Mui Ngo Gai. Cj also has plans to produce over 200 hours of programming by 2007 at its new facility, and will allow third-party producers to rent facilities, though no agreements have been made yet. CJ Media is a subsidiary of the larger South Korean conglomerate, CJ Group, and is said to have invested in the low millions for the facility.
Bollywood Spurs Infidelity Debate
Bollywood director Karan Johar has released his latest film to record Indian box office receipts. His film, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (Never Say Goodbye), is set to be the biggest hit of the year, bringing in 720 million rupees (or 15.5 million US Dollars) in its first week of release. But while the style of the film is pretty standard Johar, it has sparked controversy because of its subject matter of infidelity, spurring national debate on marriage and society. The film is about Dev Saran (Shah Rukh Khan), bitter man in a loveless marriage, who has an affair with Maya Talwar (Rani Mukherjee), a woman whose marriage is good except for a lack of passion. Though other films have featured infidelity in their storylines, Johar's is the first where the woman ends up leaving her husband. The widespread distribution of the film and its non-traditional finale has brought the issue to the national forefront, and opinion split on how marriage should be viewed in modern society, especially as India grapples with its own changing society with industrialization and a rapidly growing economy.
Official Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna site: http://www3.dharma-production.com/
Dude Looks Like a Lady; Japanese Dragsters Gain Popularity on Japanese Television
The Japanese tradition of "onnagata" – men dressed up as women for Kabuki theater – has found a modern incarnation. Akihiro Miwa, Kenichi Mikawa, Kaba-chan, Sakuraduka Yakkun, and several others have taken to the dressing as women for social and political commentary on television broadcasts. By dressing in drag, they have the ability to say many things that people would not in mainstream Japanese society; their image allows them a certain degree of leniency. Miwa is among the more popular of the modern day onnagata, appearing on several television shows throughout the week, and analyzing celebrity personalities and aiding introspection on broadcast television.
APA article on Korean star Harisu
APA review of Beautiful Boxer
APA review of Splendid Float
Published: Wednesday, September 6, 2006
