2010 Mar 19 Screen Time: Alice in Burton Land, Zhang Ziyi's Bad Year & Zhang's B*stards at UCCA
There’s lots happening around Beijing in the world of film over the next week – here’s the run down on gossip, Tim Burton’s latest and indie screenings around town.
First the big release. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp hits Beijing next week on Friday, March 26. While the pairing of Burton with the classic Alice in Wonderland tale seems a natural fit, the film has had a mixed reception overseas. Variety had this to say:
“For all its clever design, beguiling creatures and witty actors, the picture feels far more conventional than it should; it's a Disney film illustrated by Burton, rather than a Burton film that happens to be released by Disney.”
The UK Guardian was similarly unimpressed – you can read their interview with Burton earlier this month here.
Alice in Wonderland will be on many screens around town, including Megabox in the Village, Sanlitun, and Wanda International Cinema. An IMAX version will be at Wanda Cinemas in Shijingshan, the China National Film Museum and UME in Shuangan.
Now the gossip. Zhang Ziyi has been in the news a lot lately, though not for the right reasons. First there was an incident last December which saw a prominent advertisement bearing Zhang's image vandalized at Beijing's Park Hyatt. Since then accusations have been flying about Zhang’s failure to deliver all the money she pledged for earthquake relief following the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. Earlier this week Zhang was interviewed by China Daily’s Raymond Zhou about the scandal – you can read the full transcript here.
Danwei (requires a VPN to read) carried a translation of an Oriental Morning Post article this morning which read in part:
“Yesterday, the Top China Awards (华鼎奖), which are often referred to as the 'People's Choice Awards' (老百姓口碑奖) announced the nomination list for their 20 awards. Zhang Ziyi was missing from the list, despite early rumors that she was nominated. It was also revealed that the judging panel are in the process of canceling her qualifications for ‘The Public's Favorite Performing Artist’ and ‘China's Highest Achiever's Award,’ and they are at the final stages of their debate.”
Conversely, Chinese actress Li Bingbging has been voted most popular actress in Asia by the 4th Asian Film Awards. Li, who recently starred in The Message (风声), launched her career way back in 1998 in Zhang Yuan's Seventeen Years (1999).
Which provides a nice segue way into this week’s art house screenings. In conjunction with an exhibition of his photographs, 798’s UCCA has a retrospective of Zhang Yuan’s work, showing between now and April 11.
Zhang is one of the key figures of China’s “Sixth Generation” of filmmakers, which includes Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai. The UCCA retrospective includes Beijing Bastards (1993), Zhang’s controversial early feature starring Cui Jian; his documentary The Square (1994) which is screening tonight at 7pm; East Palace, West Palace (1996), said to be the first mainland film with an explicit gay theme, and Li Bingbing’s debut Seventeen Years. Entry to the screenings is RMB 15, and most films have English subtitles. You can access a full schedule and synopses here.
To mark the passing of French New Wave director Eric Rohmer, who died in January, UCCA also has a retrospective of his work starting this Saturday, March 20. All films are in French with Chinese and English subtitles – access the full program here.
Finally, Broadway Cinematheque continue their showcase of emerging Chinese directorial talent with Yin Lichuan’s second feature Knitting (牛郎织女). Yin’s debut The Park (公園) screened n Beijing back in mid-2008 (you can read a review by yours truly here). Her new work looks like a similarly involving small-scale drama. It will be unveiled tonight with the director in attendance and cocktail party after the screening. Here’s the full screening schedule:
19/03 (Fri) 19:30 (includes cocktail party + Q&A with the director)
20/03 (Sat) 16:00
21/03 (Sun) 16:00
24/03 (Wed) 21:30
27/03 (Sat) 16:00 (includes Q&A with the director)
28/03 (Sun) 16:00
Finally, some great news for fans of Chinese propaganda pics. According to China Daily, the success of Founding of a Republic has inspired a follow up entitled, predictably, The Founding of a Party, which will “focus on the birth of the Chinese Communist Party in the early 20th century.” Can’t wait for that one.
Oh, and China’s only uncensored major film festival kicks off on Sunday. The 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival runs until April 6, and is well worth a trip down south if you have the time. You can access the full program and book tickets here.
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