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China news tagged with: Ang Lee (18)

• Video: Director Ang Lee on the Making of “Lust, Caution” 色,戒

  

  In December 2007, Asia Society interviewed Ang Lee and Tang Wei, the famous director and lead actress, respectively, of the erotic espionage thriller “Lust, Caution” which won Best Film at the Chinese-language Golden Horse Awards as well as the Venice Film Festival. [Click to see]

  - Read also previous news The Most Misread Person of 2007: Ang Lee and Cinephiles Pack Your Bags via CDT

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  • January 12, 2008 6:24 AM

• The Most Misread Person of 2007: Ang Lee - Qiu Liben (邱立本)

  

  
  In a long and impassioned essay, Asia Weekly’s top editor takes critics on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to task for failing to understand what pan-Chinese director Ang Lee accomplished with his 2007 blockbuster “Lust, Caution.” Translated by ESWN:

  
  

  Never has any movie drew such extreme responses from the opposite sides of the political and cultural spectra as “Lust, Caution” did. This movie was labeled a “pornographic” and “dirty” movie by tabloid magazines and movies, but it is actually a movie that bore the burden of history and sentiments. This movie subverted the long-standing historical narratives that were promulgated by the Democratic Progressive Party, the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang. It went beyond the boundaries of “sexual love” that the audience were seeing before, and it also went beyond the framework of the original story written by Eileen Chang. Such was the brilliant radiance of “Lust, Caution”. [Full Text]

  Original in Chinese posted on Qiu’s blog.

  [Image: "Lust, Caution" promotional poster, via iFensi.com]

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  • December 24, 2007 12:32 AM

• Cinephiles Pack Your Bags - Howard W. French

  

  
  While one frustrated fan has famously sued, many more movie-lovers have gotten around the censorship of Ang Lee’s award-winning film Lust, Caution by going to Hong Kong to see the full version. So writes Howard French in the New York Times:

  Travelers have made their way to Hong Kong to see movies before, of course, but always in much smaller numbers. Critics and commentators here attribute the interest in Mr. Lee’s movie to a variety of factors, from word of mouth about risqué sexual content stripped from the censored version, to a sensitive political subtext rarely seen in mainland cinema, to the fame of the Academy Award-winning director.

  Perhaps most important, though, is the rise of a class of affluent urbanites in China’s rich eastern cities who have grown increasingly accustomed to ever more choice in their lives. “I went to Hong Kong with my girlfriend to see “Lust, Caution” because it was heavily censored here,” said Liang Baijian, 25, a businessman and stock market investor from the Guangxi autonomous region. “We could have bought a pirated copy of the movie here, but we were not happy with the control and wanted to support the legal edition of the film.” [Full text]

  [Image via Focus Features]

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  • December 19, 2007 8:06 PM

• Lee Film Sweeps Taiwan ‘Oscars’ - BBC

  

  From BBC:

  Ang Lee’s controversial spy thriller Lust, Caution has won a host of prizes at the Golden Horse awards in Taiwan.

  The World War II drama was named best picture at the annual event - seen by many as the Chinese-language equivalent of the Academy Awards….[Full Text]

  [Image: Ang Lee received two Golden Horses while actress Tang Wei won one, via BBC]

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  • December 9, 2007 3:49 PM

• Ang Lee Acknowledges Editing New Film For Political Reasons - AP

  

  From AP, via International Herald Tribune:

  Ang Lee said Saturday he edited a line in the mainland Chinese version of his new spy thriller “Lust, Caution” at the request of censors, to make the main female character appear less of a traitor to the Chinese.

  The Oscar-winning director had said earlier he cut sexually explicit scenes from the Chinese-language movie. Mainland China doesn’t have a ratings system. All movies that pass censorship must be appropriate for all ages.

  But Lee said at a press conference in Taipei besides editing the film for sex and violence, he also changed the dialogue for political reasons. [Full Text]

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  • December 9, 2007 4:28 AM

• Filmgoer Sues Beijing Censors Over Cuts - Mure Dickie

  

  The Financial Times has another report about the lawsuit filed by a filmgoer over cuts made to Lust, Caution:

  When Chinese censors got through with the new Ang Lee film Lust, Caution , it was less about lust and more about caution.

  But the decision to order the excision of seven minutes of explicit and unorthodox sexual activity from the film has prompted some unusually bold challenges to Beijing’s film censorship ¬≠system. Graduate law student Dong Yanbin has drawn widespread local attention by trying to sue a cinema chain and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft) for infringing his rights by screening a version of the film with an incomplete plot structure. [Full Text]
  
  

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  • November 17, 2007 9:53 AM

• China Censors Sued For Cut Steamy Sex Scenes - Ian Ransom

  

  From Reuters, via Washington Post:
  

  A Chinese moviegoer is suing China’s film watchdog in frustration with the censored version of Ang Lee’s steamy World War Two drama “Lust, Caution,” Beijing media reported on Wednesday.

  …Dong Yanbin, a Ph.D student at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, had filed a suit against the nation’s film censor, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), for infringing upon his “consumer rights,” the Beijing Times said. [Full text]

  Read also an entry from Global Voices Online for reactions from the Chinese blogosphere, the Shanghaiist for its comments and its link to a spoof of the matter à la South Park, and past entries for some additional background information.

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  • November 15, 2007 6:13 PM

• Lust Lost In (Beijing’s) Translation - Kent Ewing

  

  From Asia Times:

  It is ironic that Beijing’s latest campaign to turn the world’s most populous country into a sexless nation coincides with the release across Asia of Ang Lee’s award-winning film, Lust, Caution, which takes eroticism to new heights in Chinese-language cinema.

  While Lee’s co-stars - veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai and film ingenue Tang Wei from the mainland - engage in sexual calisthenics for packed audiences in cinema houses throughout the region, China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) is busy banning advertisements for women’s underwear. The problem, it seems, is the targeted lingerie’s provocative selling point: propping up sagging tops and reining in expanding middles. [Full Text]

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  • October 5, 2007 8:13 PM

• Ang Lee Gets Second Golden Lion at Venice Festival - Gina Doggett

  

  Unlike Ang Lee’s film Brokeback Mountain’s unsuccessful experience in China, this time his film Lust Caution will be launched in China. Brokeback Mountain touched on a subculture, homosexuality, and was banned from being shown in the country. Similarly, Ang Lee had to edit out the controversial sexual scenes for the Chinese version of Lust Caution. Ang Lee has been called an honored Chinese director by the Chinese state media. But when will his films to be shown in China without being cut? From AFP:
  
  

  Taiwanese director Ang Lee picked up his second Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival on Saturday for his erotic spy thriller “Se, Jie” (Lust, Caution)…

  Victorious two years ago with “Brokeback Mountain,” which also won him an Oscar, this time Lee served up a tense drama set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the 1940s.

  Novice actress Tang Wei plays a resistance spy who slowly lets her target, a powerful political figure played by Tony Leung, “worm his way into her heart.” [Full Text]

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  • September 8, 2007 9:48 PM

• The Big Ang - China Daily

  

  From China Daily via China.org:

  Some directors dazzle us with films that are slick, cool and stylish. Ang Lee’s are none of those things especially but instead reveal the wisdom of a truly great storyteller.

  Who would imagine that a Chinese-language kungfu film would conquer the heart of mainstream America as well as sweep up many of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards? [Full Text]

  [Image of Ang Lee via China.org]

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  • September 4, 2007 6:29 PM

• Lust, Caution to Screen in China Despite Sex Scenes - China.org

  

  Ang Lee’s new film “Lust, Caution (Ëâ≤Êàí)” will be showing in both North America and China, via China.org:

  …The erotic spy thriller, adapted from a short story by the famed Chinese author Eileen Chang, will premiere in North America in late September. It has recently been given an NC-17 rating in the United States, signifying that admission to the film will not be granted to anyone under the age of 17.

  But Zhang Peisen, an official from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said this would not affect the film’s screenings in China. He revealed that the film has already passed the content and technical examines….[Full Text]

  [Image from MonkeyPeach]

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  • August 28, 2007 4:55 PM

• “Lust Caution” to vie at Venice Film Festival - Xinhua

  

  From Xinhua:

  Ang Lee’s new film “Lust Caution Ëâ≤Êàí” has been invited to compete for a Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice Film Festival in August, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported.

  All the cast members of the film are expected to attend the festival, which begins Aug. 29….[Full Text]

  - See trailer of “Lust Caution” HERE.
  - More previous news here from CDT and here from MonkeyPeach.

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  • June 30, 2007 5:07 PM

• Ann Lee casts Tang Wei for “Lust, Caution” - Shenzhen Daily

  

  From Shenzhen Daily via Xinhua News Agency:

  Taiwanese director Ann Lee has finally decided to cast mainland actress Tang WeiÔºàʱ§ÂîØÔºâ as the female lead, Wang Jiazhi, in his new film “Lust, Caution,ÔºàËâ≤ÊàíԺ┠according to Tuesday’s Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

  “Lust, Caution” marks Lee’s return to Chinese-language films after several English-language productions including “The Hulk” and “Brokeback Mountain,” for which he won an Oscar for best director. [Full Text]

  See previous post about “Lust, Caution” preparation via CDT.

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  • July 12, 2006 6:55 AM

• Ang Lee and Feng Xiaogang Talk About Chinese Films Going International - CRIEnglish

  

  From CRIEnglish.com:

  Feng Xiaogang (ÂÜØÂ∞èÂàö)described how he has witnessed the development of Chinese films.”In 1997 when the Chinese film industry was in a down period, I decided to set foot in it. Perhaps thanks to the depression of the film market, I, as a rookie, stood out. My first film brought in box office revenue of 28 million yuan and became that year’s box office winner. Since then, the domestic film industry has greatly expanded in only nine years. Now a box office return of 80 thousand yuan can’t ensure you a position in the top 8 movies of the year.”…

  Ang Lee offers his secret of success in Hollywood.”Chinese films should preserve their very own character, because no matter how hard you try to imitate the Hollyhood style, your movies won’t be more Hollyhood-like than their own movies. My films are successful in the United States just because I look into their society with my Chinese perspective and my films serve as a mirror.”…[Full Text]

  For more about Ang Lee’s new movie project, see ESWN’s partial translation of an interview with Lee from Southern Daily.

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  • June 22, 2006 6:36 PM

• Ang Lee to Direct Lust, Caution Next - Focus Features

  

  From Comingsoon Net (link):

  Ang Lee has pacted to make his second consecutive film, following his Academy Award win for directing Brokeback Mountain, with Focus Features. Lee will next direct Lust, Caution(Ëâ≤Êàí), an espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai. Bill Kong, who previously produced Lee’s hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(ÂçßËôéËóèÈæô), will produce the new film with the director. Focus Features CEO James Schamus, who will executive-produce Lust, Caution, made the announcement today.

  The Chinese-language feature is being scripted by Wang Hui-Ling, who previously co-wrote Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman (È•ÆÈ£üÁî∑•≥)and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lust, Caution is being adapted from a short story by the late Chinese author Eileen Chang(º†Áà±Áé≤). Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film, excluding Asia. Overseas sales and distribution will be handled by Focus Features International. Production is anticipated to begin in the fall.

  See also “Ang Lee to shoot WWII China thriller” by Xinhua News Agency (link)

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  • May 27, 2006 12:14 PM

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