The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

Martial arts movie by Wong Kar Wai to open Berlin fest

Posted: 19 Dec 2012 05:12 AM PST

Hong Kong heartthrob Tony Leung leads the cast of the new movie, which is set in 1930s China. — AFP pic

BERLIN, Dec 19 — Chinese director Wong Kar Wai will screen his new martial arts drama at the opening of the 63rd Berlin film festival in February where he will also serve as jury president, organisers said today.

The award-winning filmmaker will present "The Grandmaster", billed as an epic drama inspired by the life of Yip Man, the mentor of kung fu hero Bruce Lee.

Hong Kong heart-throb Tony Leung, who also starred in Wong's 2000 slow-burn drama "In the Mood for Love" and its science fiction-tinged follow up "2046", leads the cast of the new movie, which is set in 1930s China.

"With his signature style-defining mood, atmosphere and reality, director Wong Kar Wai delves into the eternal question in martial arts of whether the victor is more than merely the 'last man standing', and brings the genre to new heights," the festival said in statement.

Wong "has added a new and exciting facet to his body of work, and created an artful, visually powerful genre film," festival director Dieter Kosslick added.

"The Grandmaster", which will have its world premiere in China next month, will screen in the festival's official selection but out of competition.

The director, who was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong, will lead the panel picking the winners of the Golden and Silver Bear prizes in Berlin, one of Europe's top cinema showcases, running February 7 to 17.

Wong made his international breakthrough in 1994 with "Chungking Express".

"2046" won a European Film Award in 2004 while "My Blueberry Nights" starring Jude Law and singer Norah Jones opened the Cannes film festival in 2007.

Last week the festival unveiled its preliminary line-up including anti-fracking film "Promised Land" which reunites Hollywood actor Matt Damon with director Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunting").

This year's Berlinale jury president was British director Mike Leigh, who awarded the Golden Bear to Italy's veteran filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani for "Caesar Must Die", a docu-drama about inmates at a high-security prison staging Shakespeare. — AFP/Relaxnews

With new home, Mariinsky builds Russian roots

Posted: 18 Dec 2012 11:52 PM PST

LONDON, Dec 19 — With the imminent opening of its third home venue, St Petersburg's Mariinsky opera and ballet will ramp up an already prodigious output but may ease back on hectic foreign touring, director Valery Gergiev said yesterday.

Ballet dancers perform during the premiere of a new production of the Russian composer Sergei Prokoviev's "Metaphysics" in the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, November 15, 2006. — Reuters pic

World audiences have come to know Gergiev and his company well as they crisscrossed the globe after the collapse of Soviet state funding. But with Russians now pouring the kind of money into the arts that has just built the US$700-million (RM2.1 billion) Mariinsky II theatre, he wants to concentrate on domestic performances.

"It's important for us to continue to go to London, Berlin or Chicago," Gergiev told Reuters after a presentation of plans in London. "But now we are more comfortable at home."

Touring remains important, not for commercial gain but for "national pride" in promoting Russian music, he said. Some 300 of 1,000 performances in 2014 would be on the road — but many of these would be not abroad but in distant Russian regions where Gergiev sees it his mission to bring music to the provinces.

For those unable to visit St Petersburg, where the 2,000-seat new venue will open on May 2 to complement the 150-year-old opera house and a concert hall opened in 2006, the company, known as the Kirov in Soviet times, is expanding its recordings and video broadcasts to theatres worldwide, including in 3D.

A 3D recording of Christmas ballet "The Nutcracker" is in cinemas this winter and Gergiev will go a step further in what he acknowledged is not a risk-free experiment with a live 3D broadcast from St Petersburg of "Swan Lake" on February 14 — St Valentine's Day. It is being produced in partnership with the Hollywood 3D studio of "Avatar" director James Cameron.

Turning 60 next year, Gergiev shows little sign of slowing down; he plans to direct all three of the orchestras that will play under the Mariinsky name once the new venue opens, will begin new recordings of Wagner's "Ring" cycle and plans to complete his series of discs of all Shostakovich's symphonies.

While working the company hard, he denied there have been serious rumblings of discontent in the ballet troupe over pay and conditions. Responding to a letter of complaint from dancers that was widely publicized in Russian media last month, he said: "There's nothing terrible happening in the Mariinsky — no way."

In a move to address concerns, however, he announced a plan to build 50 or more apartments to house performers: "They will be relatively cheap apartments, basically a gift to them from the company," he said. "But then they have to perform." — Reuters

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Rabu, 19 Disember 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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