Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s stylish, snowy spy thriller “Impasse” is set to debut in China over the May 1 Labor Day weekend, joining what will be an unusually competitive line-up.
“Impasse” was supposed to hit screens last year, but its release was pushed back to this upcoming April 30 due to the pandemic. Starring Zhang Yi (“Operation Red Sea”), Yu Hewei (“A Writer’s Odyssey”), Qin Hailu (“White Deer Plain”) and Zhu Yawen (“The Witness”), the 1930s-set story tells the tale of four Chinese agents specially trained in the Soviet Union who parachute into the puppet state of Manchukuo, as northeast China was called under Japanese rule, to carry out a secret operation — only to discover they’ve been set up in a trap.
Including “Impasse,” six strong titles are now set to debut over the three-day holiday.
Three will premiere alongside Zhang’s latest on Friday, April 30: video game adaptation “Dynasty Warriors,...
“Impasse” was supposed to hit screens last year, but its release was pushed back to this upcoming April 30 due to the pandemic. Starring Zhang Yi (“Operation Red Sea”), Yu Hewei (“A Writer’s Odyssey”), Qin Hailu (“White Deer Plain”) and Zhu Yawen (“The Witness”), the 1930s-set story tells the tale of four Chinese agents specially trained in the Soviet Union who parachute into the puppet state of Manchukuo, as northeast China was called under Japanese rule, to carry out a secret operation — only to discover they’ve been set up in a trap.
Including “Impasse,” six strong titles are now set to debut over the three-day holiday.
Three will premiere alongside Zhang’s latest on Friday, April 30: video game adaptation “Dynasty Warriors,...
- 3/24/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Going into this year’s Berlinale you could be forgiven for thinking that all the A-list talent was presiding over the jury. It’s an impressive roster: Mike Leigh is at the head, accompanied by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (last year’s Golden Bear champion for A Separation), Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, French auteur Francois Ozon (Potiche), Dutchman Anton Corbijn (Control), and Charlotte Gainsbourg. By comparison the competition line-up seemed extremely obscure. Whilst Cannes and Venice tend to lead with premieres from established directors, the Berlin Film Festival continues its recent tradition of backing more obscure auteurs.
Out of the directors in the main competition only Italian veterans the Taviani brothers (with drama-doc hybrid Ceasar Must Die) and actor-turned-director Billy Bob Thornton (Jane Mansfield’s Car) came with anything like a reputation. Most of the films come via relative unknown talents with few previous features to their name, such as...
Out of the directors in the main competition only Italian veterans the Taviani brothers (with drama-doc hybrid Ceasar Must Die) and actor-turned-director Billy Bob Thornton (Jane Mansfield’s Car) came with anything like a reputation. Most of the films come via relative unknown talents with few previous features to their name, such as...
- 2/19/2012
- by Robert Beames
- Obsessed with Film
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die Paolo Taviani, 80, and Vittorio Taviani, 82, were the big winners at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival. The Taviani brothers' documentary Cesare deve morire / Caesar Must Die, about a staging of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in Rome's maximum-security prison Rebibbia — with the actual inmates playing the various roles, was the surprise winner of the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlinale. (Caesar Must Die photo: © Umberto Montiroli.) “I hope that someone, going home, after seeing Caesar Must Die will think that even an inmate, on whose head is a terrible punishment, is, and remains, a man. And this thanks to the sublime words of Shakespeare,” Vittorio Taviani remarked. Through a translator, Paolo Taviani explained that "we chose Julius Caesar for one clear reason. We were working in a prison. That meant it was easy to get the message across with this play where actors are talking about freedom,...
- 2/19/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die has won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale. The other awards, presented by Mike Leigh and his International Jury (Anton Corbijn, Asghar Farhadi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jake Gyllenhaal, François Ozon, Boualem Sansal and Barbara Sukowa):
The first Silver Bear, the Jury Grand Prix, goes to Bence Fliegauf's Just the Wind. (Last year, this prize went to a Hungarian as well, to Béla Tarr for The Turin Horse.)
Silver Bear for Best Director: Christian Petzold for Barbara.
Silver Bear for Best Actress: Rachel Mwanza for her performance in War Witch.
Silver Bear for Best Actor: Mikkel Følsgaard for A Royal Affair.
The Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution goes to Director of Photography Lutz Reitemeier for his work on White Deer Plain.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg for A Royal Affair.
The Alfred Bauer Award...
The first Silver Bear, the Jury Grand Prix, goes to Bence Fliegauf's Just the Wind. (Last year, this prize went to a Hungarian as well, to Béla Tarr for The Turin Horse.)
Silver Bear for Best Director: Christian Petzold for Barbara.
Silver Bear for Best Actress: Rachel Mwanza for her performance in War Witch.
Silver Bear for Best Actor: Mikkel Følsgaard for A Royal Affair.
The Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution goes to Director of Photography Lutz Reitemeier for his work on White Deer Plain.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg for A Royal Affair.
The Alfred Bauer Award...
- 2/18/2012
- MUBI
★☆☆☆☆ Director Quan'an Wang brings his overly-sprawling epic White Deer Plain (2011) - adapted from the controversial novel by Zhongshi Chen - to this year's Berlinale as one of the Golden Bear contenders. Set during the final years of Imperial China, it traces the stories of two ruling clans, the Bai and Lu, who find themselves locked in a battle for land ownership - a microcosm for what occurred in this period of China's history.
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- 2/16/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
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