Oscar 2007: CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, THE BANQUET Submitted
China has picked Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower as its submission for the next Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award. The martial-arts costume drama, which stars Chow Yun-Fat, Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou, and Zhang’s old muse, Gong Li, portrays assorted intrigues plaguing one of China’s highly dysfunctional imperial families.
There has been some discussion regarding a potential gay love affair in the film — one involving a prince and a (male?) bodyguard — but I couldn’t find any confirmation (or denial). The Sony Pictures trailers are great to look at — and we learn that Gong Li is the chick who appeared in Miami Vice — but they offer no clues as to the film’s plot or characters.
Two other Zhang-Gong films have been nominated in the foreign-language film category: Ju Dou in 1990 and Da hong deng long gao gao gua / Raise the Red Lantern in 1991. Zhang’s Gong-less Ying xiong / Hero was nominated in 2002.
The Federation of Film Producers of Hong Kong — which, curiously, is considered a territory apart from China, as far as filmmaking is concerned — has selected Feng Xiaogang’s epic Ye yan / The Banquet as its Oscar film. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Banquet stars Ziyi Zhang, You Ge, and Daniel Wu.
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Ok, so Curse of the Golden Flower wasn’t the most exciting movie ever made. Still, it should have received an Academy Award nomination for best foreign-language film.