The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival has announced the results of its survey of the “100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films“. 122 industry professionals took part in the survey, including film scholars, festival programmers, film directors, actors and producers.
With 73 votes, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s ‘A City of Sadness‘ topped the poll. Edward Yang’s ‘A Brighter Summer Day’ came a close second.
Wong Kar-wai was Hong Kong’s most recognised director with five slots headed by ‘Days of Being Wild‘ in 4th place. The other films by Wong Kar-wai in the list are ‘In The Mood For Love‘ (joint 9th), ‘ChungKing Express‘ (21st), ‘Happy Together‘ (26th), and ‘Ashes Of Time‘ (joint 50th)
Top 10:
1 A City of Sadness; dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
2 A Brighter Summer Day; dir. Edward Yang
3 A Time to Live and a Time to Die; dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
4 Days of Being Wild; dir. Wong Kar-wai
5 Spring in a Small Town; dir. Fei Mu
6 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; dir. Ang Lee
7 Yi Yi: A One and a Two; dir. Edward Yang
8 Dust in the Wind; dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
9= Dragon Inn; dir. King Hu
9= In the Mood for Love; dir. Wong Kar-wai
http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/horse-announces-greatest-chinese-films
British magazine Empire picked the 100 Best films not in the english language.
Wong Kar-wai’s “In The Mood For Love” was ranked at number 42.
The entry:
Why so great?
Wong Kar-wai’s achingly romantic account of star-cross’d lovers has a strong claim to be the best-looking film you’ll ever see. The ’60s costumes, neon cinematography from genius DoP Christopher Doyle and unspeakably gorgeous cast will catch the eyes while the tale of two neighbours, who discover that their spouses are cheating on them and fall in love with one another while trying to deal with the revelation, tugs the heartstrings. Melancholic, perhaps, but as inspirational as Yo-yo Ma’s bittersweet performance of the score.
Hollywood remake?
Not quite, but the film has been riffed on in Lost in Translation, which lifted its famous whispered goodbye from a similar scene here.
Prizes
No Oscar nomination, but a BAFTA nod and wins at the Césars and Cannes to soften the blow.
http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=42
The top 10:
1. Seven Samurai
2. Amelie
3. Battleship Potemkin
4. Bicycle Thieves
5. Pan’s Labyrinth
6. Battle of Algiers
7. City of God
8. The Seventh Seal
9. The Wages of Fear
10. Spirited Away
The full list: http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/
In a conversation with director Gus Van Sant for Interview magazine, Madonna spoke about her admiration for Wong Kar-wai:
MADONNA: I look at movies like Wong Kar-Wai’s films, and they all have such a familylike feeling about them. He just keeps working with the same actors and art director and DP, and the stories don’t change that much. There seems to be this familiarity there that must be such a nice luxury.
VAN SANT: Wong Kar-Wai is a really great inspiration. He’s always referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of filmmaking.
MADONNA: What does that mean?
VAN SANT: It means that he’s so loose and familiar with his craft that he can sort of do anything.
MADONNA: I was actually watching In the Mood for Love [2000] again last night because I love the music. And I mean, how overused is slow motion in film? But, for some reason, he gets away with it. Every time the characters pass each other on the stairs, there’s that same piece of music. It’s so beautiful. He has these two married couples living next door to each other, and you never see the wife of one couple or the husband of the other, but you always hear them talking. And it’s not so much of a story, but you’re so sucked into it. It’s something to be envied. While the stories seem simple, you really end up feeling kind of devastated and moved and melancholic every time you watch one of his movies-well, I do, anyway.
VAN SANT: I do too.
MADONNA: But maybe there’s something wrong with me. Maybe I’m just a sucker.
VAN SANT: No, I think they’re very strong films.
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/madonna/4/
