“The Grandmaster” Nominated as Hong Kong’s Oscars Entry
Wong Kar Wai’s (王家衛) martial arts epic The Grandmaster <一代宗師> is Hong Kong’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 86th Academy Awards.
The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong Ltd announced their decision on September 23. Chairman Crucindo Hung (洪祖星) noted that while there are many strong contenders this year, The Grandmaster received the highest number of votes from its members. The Federation hopes that the film will snatch one of the final five nominations at the Oscars, and believes it will help promote Hong Kong’s local film industry under a global spotlight.
Some of The Grandmaster‘s rumored competition included Herman Yau’s (邱禮濤) Ip Man: The Final Fight <葉問：終極一戰> and Dante Lam’s (林超賢) MMA film Unbeatable <激戰>. Although both films generated local buzz and earned top spots at the box office, The Grandmaster‘s international appeal may have given it an edge in representing Hong Kong’s entry in the Oscars race. Initially introduced to the West via international film festivals, The Grandmaster caught the attention of Hollywood distributor The Weinstein Company, which immediately struck a deal for a worldwide release. Famed director Martin Scorsese also publicly endorsed the picture, lending his name in support. Currently screening in North America, the film has earned $6.3 million USD in the United States so far and received praise from prominent film stars Susan Sarandon and Samuel L. Jackson.
The production team behind The Grandmaster is certainly excited about the nomination. In a public statement, the team said that they feel honored that their film was chosen to represent Hong Kong, and called it the result of the cast and crew’s diligent efforts. The film’s stars, Tony Leung (梁朝偉) and Zhang Ziyi (章子怡), are also happy for director Wong Kar Wai. Both are hoping for the chance to step onto the Oscars red carpet.
Regarding other Chinese-language film submissions, Taiwan has officially entered Chung Mong Hong’s (鍾孟宏) horror film Soul <失魂> as their Oscars entry. China is still in deliberation about their choice, although Feng Xiaogang’s (馮小剛) historical film Back to 1942 <一九四二>, Wang Jing (王競)’s Feng Shui <萬箭穿心>, and Wang Quan’an’s (王全安) Tuan Yuan <團圓> (Reunion) are rumored to be the country’s top three candidates.
Source: Ming Pao
This article is written by Katrine for JayneStars.com.
I don’t think they will get nominated in the top 5.
i also think so,kung fu theme isnt that hot in hollywood as ten years ago.
Meh, unlikely that it’ll get into top 5. HK/ Taiwan both have not been in top 5 for far too many years.
When was the last time that either a HK film or a Taiwan film ended up in the top 5 nominations?
I know it is rhetoric but never?
HOWEVER the poor Departed won Oscar when Infernal Affairs the far more superior one was never even nominated. Not even entered as Hk’s entry I assume? And I remember oh so well; Korea, Japan but never HK.
Not rhetorical at all! I decided to get off my lazy behind and did the research.
The last time a Taiwan film was nominated and won the Oscar was (dada) Ang Lee’s Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger in 2000. The last time a Chinese film was nominated was Zhang Yimou’s Hero with Jet Li in 2004. The last time a Japanese film was nominated and won was Yojiro Takita’s Departure in 2008.
The last time a HK film was nominated was in my dream. Like Korean films, they never made it out of the application pool.
My apologies. Except for crud all are great films and deserving winners. Since wow is very popular with Gwailos god forbid your dream may come true. But ang lee won outright for life of pi.
My ipad auto correct me! I meant cthd and wkw.
Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou combined account for 90% of the Chinese language films that were nominated for Oscars.
WKW may be popular with the “Gwailo’s”, but he has never received a single nomination in his 20 years of film making. In fact, I don’t think the “Gwailo’s” really take any of the HK directors seriously, John Woo included.
Funn – lol.. CTHD turned into crud? One in the same isn’t it? 😛
Most foreign films don’t receive enough exposure in NA… most large NA movie productions companies will spend a fortune on voice overs and advertising in foreign countries… But the number of Asian movie production companies that do the same for their films is highly limited, probably because they don’t think there is a real market.
Only those that are aware of these films themselves seek them out… so it should be no surprise if the majority of us “Gwailos” don’t know Asian directors. 😉
This movie is soo boring…couldn’t stand it. I guess I am not in the higher class to appreciate these “artistic” War Ka Wai films… coudn’t stand the first 2 mins
But all those gwailos love it. I saw the trailer and I felt like it was such a pretentious film. Whatever real kung fu they had to learn, all those moves look very very choreographed.
@Joe…..you are right! I fell asleep after 5-10 min….I think Ipman (Anthony Wong) would stand a better chance, should it get the vote to represent HK. What a big letdown!
And watching Gillian Chung doing Kung Fu would surely get those “Gwailos” going. Wink!
I never thought a kungfu film can be so boring. All those matrix-ey effects really took away from the rawness of kungfu :[ …did not enjoy the storyline either it was such a drag…