The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences salutes Wong Kar-wai on July 22nd

salute to wong karwai

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will be honoring Director/Writer Wong Kar-wai on July 22, 2013 with an onstage conversation followed by a sneak preview of his latest film, The Grandmaster.

From the Academy’s website:

Hong Kong-based filmmaker Wong Kar Wai is known for his unique sense of style and emotionally resonant work. The first Chinese director to win the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his 1997 film “Happy Together,” Wong has been called a “poet of time” by Sight & Sound and “perhaps the most revered and singular of Hong Kong auteurs” by The New York Times.

salute to wong kar wai 2

ITMFL on Empire’s 100 Best Films of World Cinema

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/