By Ada Tseng
Curse smashes records, The Host smashes competition, and Park Chan-wook smashes expectations. All this and more in the latest edition of News From Abroad.
Curse of the Golden Flower Smashes Box Office Records
It's been a while since both Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li have made a film in China, and Chinese audiences were clearly overjoyed with their return. Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower (Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia) made almost 100 million yuan over the weekend in the Chinese mainland, nine million yuan in Shanghai alone. The film, also starring Jay Chou, follows the family dramatics of the Emperor and Empress and their royal family in the 10th Century, Tang Dynasty.
APA Curse of the Golden Flower red carpet coverage (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/061222/article.asp?parentID=59577)
APA interview with Gong Li (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/061222/article.asp?parentID=59579)
APA review of Curse of the Golden Flower (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/061222/article.asp?parentID=59580)
APA interview with Zhang Yimou (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentID=59977)
Xu Jinglei Cast in Ci Ma
Actress-singer-director Xu Jinglei (Letters from an Unknown Woman) has recently been cast in Warner China Film HG's $40 million co-production Ci Ma (English working title: Violent Land). The film is a Qing Dynasty war epic which also stars a mega-cast including the likes of Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It tells the story of three brothers and their struggle in the midst of political upheaval, and it's based on The Assaination of Ma, a story about the killing of general Ma Xinyi. The story was also filmed by Chang Cheh in 1973 in the film Blood Brothers, but Ci Ma will not be a remake. The film is directed by Peter Chan Ho-sun, who is known for his works, Perhaps Love (Golden Horse Award winner) and Comrades, Almost A Love Story.
APA commentary on Letters from an Unknown Woman (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=23488)
APA commentary on Perhaps Love (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=38709)
Cyborg Number One Opening in Korea, but Disappoints
Oldboy director Park Chan-wook is back with his film I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, which debuted with modest ticket sales but still managed to capture the top spot in Korea's box office. However, after two weeks, the film will be pulled from most local screens due to disappointing results. Park Chan-wook is known for his Vengeance triology which includes Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. This film is a departure from that, being a romantic comedy set in a mental institution. The story is about a girl (Lim Soo-jung), a patient who believes she is a cyborg and refuses to eat. The love interest, who tries to persuade her to eat, is played by the popular Asian singer Rain -- who was named the world's second most influential performer by Time in April of 2006. The film opened to mixed reviews.
APA article on the most frightening scene in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=31958)APA review of Oldboy (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=22030)
APA commentary on Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=37819)
APA review of Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=46596)
Translation of a Korean review of Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=37704)
The Host Dominates Korea's Blue Dragon Awards
Bong Joon-ho's film The Host picked up five awards at the 27th Blue Dragon Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Byun Hee-Bong), and Best New Actress (Ko Ah-Sung). The film also picked up technical and lighting awards. For Best Actor, Ahn Sung-Ki and Park Joong-Hoon shared honors for their work in Radio Star, and Kim Hyee-Soo won Best Actress for her work in Tazza: The High Rollers. Best Director went to Kim Tae-Yong for his film Family Ties.
APA capsule reviews of The Host and Family Ties (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=57791)
Letters from Iwo Jima's Successful Opening Weekend in Japan
The official gross over the weekend in Japan for Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima was 493 million yen, which is 86% of The Last Samurai but more than 250% times the box office of Letters from Iwo Jima's American counterpart, Flags of Our Fathers. The film has been garnering lots of attention during awards season in the US, being nominated by The Golden Globes in Best Foreign Language film, as well as picking up top honors for Best Film from the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The film's opening in Japan was the best so far among the holiday movies this season.
APA review of Letters from Iwo Jima (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/061222/article.asp?parentid=59585)
Japanese reception to The Last Samurai (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=6157)
Korean Dramas on a Down-Swing
For several years, South Korean TV dramas have been very popular throughout Asia and around the world. They have become popular amongst Asian Americans in the States, as their stories about family drama and love triangles never fail to satisfy audiences' guilty pleasures. In fact, recently Bobby Lee and Sung Kang parodied the melodrama of Korean soaps on Mad TV (which you can watch here: Episode I (http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=81CtnGNCXhk&mode=related&search=), Episode II (http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc60hwDkm9A&mode=related&search=)). However, this year is the first year that exports of South Korean TV dramas have decreased since they started tallying the numbers in 1998. This is a 15.5 percent decrease from last year, which the Korean Broadcasting Institute is attributing to an "anti-Korean wave sentiment" in Asian nations. Sounds like it is a backlash from the "hallyu" or "Korean wave" in 2001 when Korean pop culture was on a high. Asia. Young people. So fickle. That's OK, Leo Decap had a backlash after Titanic, and look he's back. Viewers will love Korean dramas again soon.
APA review of My Girl (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=53255)
APA review of Sandglass (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=56467)
APA review of Princess Hours (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=54863)
Indian Actress Wins Best Actress Award in Singapore
On December 6th, actress Kangana Ranaut snagged the Best Actress Award at the Asian Festival of 1st Films in Singapore for her performance in the film Gangster -- A Love Story. This is her first film and her first award. Films from all over the world compete for this honor, and the jury members this year included Hong Kong actress Cecilia Yip, American writer-producer James Hart, British filmmaker Michael York, and India's Ketan Mehta. The nominees also included Aditi Rao Hydari in Sharda Ramanathan's Tamil film Sringaram. This is the first time that an Indian actress has gotten this award. A few days later, Ranaut received her second award, Best Debutante of the Year, at the Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA) in Kual Lumpur.
At the Japan Academy Awards
Yoji Yamada's Love and Honor scored 12 nominations for the 30th annual Japan Academy Awards -- which ties the current records for a live-action picture. However, as a first in Japan Academy history, a nomination has been rejected. Love and Honor's Takuya Kimura, who starred as the blind samurai in the period hit, has turned down his actor nominations. His rep only commented with the statement: they didn't "want to put him in a position of competing with other actors for the prize." Kimura is a member of the pop group SMAP and is big TV star in Japan. Suite Dreams received 11 nominations and Hula Girls -- Japan's submission for the foreign language Oscar -- took 10.
Published: Wednesday, December 20, 2006
