Foreign Film Necessities

With Nathaniel from The Film Experience unfortunately out of the blogging pool for a while (I wish your friend well Nat!) I wasn't sure if this information was getting out there. Nat recently discussed Curse of the Golden Flower Vs The Banquet in relation to the Chinese Foreign Language Film selection.

Golden Flower is Zhang Yimou's latest (he has two films out this year, but Flower is the more commercial of the two) starring Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat, while The Banquet is Feng Xiaogang's Hamlet adaptation starring Ziyi Zhang and Daniel Wu.

Turns out all the worrying was for nothing. China has indeed selected Curse of the Golden Flower to represent the country in this year's Oscar race, but don't feel bad for The Banquet. It turns out Hong Kong submitted The Banquet as their representation in the category. So there you go folks. We saw Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li battle for supremacy in the weak Memoirs of a Geisha last year, will they do battle again this year in Best Foreign Language Film category with opposing films? Time will tell.

For a look at The Banquet's trailer and stills go here. That trailer makes it look stunning! And then put it next to the American trailer with the lovely references to The Matrix and Kill Bill and the voiceover saying it's "...A tale of passion. Lust. Murder. Deceit. Revenge." LOL

For Curse of the Golden Flower you can go here and take your pick of any number of teasers for the film or go here for a much better quality version of the American teaser. Again, it looks absolutely divine and a feast for the eyes. If you go to the American Apple site (the second link) there is a plot description that, humourously I think, includes the line "...which entails betrayal, deceit and passion, pitting the King against Queen and father against sons." Betrayal? Deceit? Passion? I think I've seen those before. But, I don't really care because... well, yeah, just watch the teaser. Looks like Yimou is trying his own Ran style action setpieces there? Love the shot of the fighters floating through the valley. And while large armies have become incredibly boring on screen (see Troy and Kingdom of Heaven), this one looks great!

Also, Spain did indeed choose Volver to represent them this year. But, let that not dampen it's Best Picture prospects. The last two foreign language films to get Best Picture nominations? Life is Beautiful and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - both were seemingly unharmed by their respective countries submitting them for Best Foreign Language Film consideration. Here's hoping Pedro Almodovar can score the first Best Picture Oscar nomination of his career!

Check out all the Foreign Language happenings at Nat's Foreign Language Hub. I still hold hope for Rolf de Heer's Ten Canoes!!