TIFF Bell Lightbox will celebrate Chinese Cinema with a comprehensive exploration of film, art and culture. A Century of Chinese Cinema will feature a major film retrospective of over 80 titles, sessions with some of the biggest names in Chinese cinema, and a free exhibition featuring two internationally acclaimed visual artists. The programme will run from June 5 to August 11, 2013. A veritable who’s who of Chinese cinema will descend on TIFF Bell Lightbox over the course of the series.
I am extremely excited that the Opening Night festivities will include renowned director Chen Kaige introducing his Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece, Farewell My Concubine, one of my absolute favourite films from the 90’s. And one that I will not miss seeing on the big screen.
It will also be a great treat to have cinematographer Christopher Doyle introduce the beloved Chungking Express as well as Comrades: Almost a Love Story. As well as, having producer-director Johnnie To walk audiences through his action-packed career for an In Conversation With… appearance, and have him introduce his films Election and Election II.
FILM PROGRAMME AND GUEST HIGHLIGHTS
A New China picks up in the wake of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Major films of the era included sweeping patriotic epics, such as Red Detachment of Women (Xie Jin, 1961), alongside gritty war films such as Shangrao Concentration Camp (Sha Meng, 1951). Meanwhile, an influx of Mainland talent launched a new era in Hong Kong and Taiwan, with such works as the social drama In the Face of Demolition (Li Tie, 1953), and the hit romance, The Winter (Li Han-hsiang, 1969).
Swordsmen, Gangsters and Ghosts: The Evolution of Chinese Genre Cinema highlights the genre films that first brought Chinese cinema to the international stage, including the wuxia (swordplay) films that date back to China’s earliest filmmaking days. The genre came alive again in the late 1940s with Wong Fei-hung: The Whip That Smacks the Candle (Wu Pang, 1949), and flourished through the 1960s and 1970s, with films like A Touch of Zen (King Hu, 1969), and Bruce Lee’s international ascendance in Fist of Fury (Lo Wei, 1972). Guns and gangsters also became a Hong Kong trademark, beginning with the long-neglected masterpiece, The Story of a Discharged Prisoner (Patrick Lung Kong, 1967), which was remade as John Woo’s landmark 1986 A Better Tomorrow. More recently, a new generation has reinvigorated the genre with films like Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, 2002); this being my absolute favourite from actor Andy Lau.
New Waves looks at the moment when Chinese film dominated the international art- film scene. The work ranges from the Hong Kong New Wave exemplified by Ann Hui (Boat People, 1982) and Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues, 1986); to the new generation of Taiwanese masters led by Hou Hsiao-hsien (A City of Sadness, 1989) and Edward Yang (A Brighter Summer Day, 1991); and the Mainland’s Fifth Generation directors, including Zhang Junzhao (One and Eight, 1983) and Chen Kaige (Yellow Earth, 1984; Farewell My Concubine, 1993).
EXHIBITIONAn important component of the programme is the main gallery exhibition. It will run from June 7 to August 11 in an exhibition curated by TIFF’s Noah Cowan and Shanghai-based curator Davide Quadrio.
Looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time at TIFF Bell Lightbox this summer. Out of the many films screening as part of this programme, here are a few that I am hoping not to miss:
One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh, 1967)
Fist of Fury (Lo Wei, 1972)
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Lau Kar-leung, 1978)
Drunken Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1978)
Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, 2002)
A Better Tomorrow (John Woo, 1986)
The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1985)
The Story of Qiu Ju (Zhang Yimou, 1992)
Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, 1993)
Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
Still Life (Jia Zhangke, 2006)
For information on the films, guests and events that are part of A Century of Chinese Cinema visit tiff.net/century. Tickets for the film programmes go on sale May 21 at 10AM for TIFF Members and May 27 at 10AM for non-members. Ticket packages are also available: Martial Arts & Gangsters 6-Pack and Melodrama and New Women 6-Pack. Admission to the exhibition is free.
