|
Ang Lee seen starring in Oscar
Reuters
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LOS
ANGELES: The Taiwanese film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon," whose heroes fly through the air with grace,
charm and explanatory sub-titles, is seemingly unstoppable
in the battle for the Oscar for best foreign language film.
But the
big question is what else will it win.
Thanks
to 10 nominations, it may make some extra Oscar history on
Sunday -- as its acclaimed director Ang Lee is up for best
director and the film itself up for best picture.
Taiwanese-born
Lee, who credits failing college examinations with getting
him into film-making, made three highly praised films in English
when he decided it was time to return to his roots. He said
he originally intended "Crouching Tiger" as a film
for Chinese audiences and was taken aback by the film's success
in America.
"All
that's happening now is really a bonus. It's not something
you can calculate and try to hit," he said after the
Oscar nominations were announced.
Lee, who
first came to the attention of western audiences with "The
Wedding Banquet," has garnered critical acclaim in Hollywood
for movies like the adaptation of Jane Austen's "Sense
and Sensibility" and the suburban drama "The Ice
Storm."
But the
mainstream success of "Crouching Tiger," a magical
epic rife with stunts like sword-fighting atop swaying bamboo
forests, has placed Lee in the rare company of directors able
to deliver blockbuster movies.
As of
mid-March, the subtitled martial arts romance had grossed
over $100 million in North America, making it the biggest
grossing foreign language film.
Lee, who
has already won the Directors Guild of America prize and a
Golden Globe for directing "Crouching Tiger," is
considered something of a front runner for the Best Director's
Oscar.
He is
up against Steven Soderbergh, a double nominee for "Erin
Brockovich" and "Traffic," Ridley Scott for
"Gladiator" and Steven Daldry for the British movie
"Billy Elliot."
"Crouching
Tiger" is also nominated, along with "Chocolat,"
"Erin Brockovich," "Gladiator," and "Traffic"
for the best picture Oscar. Only two other foreign films have
ever before been nominated in both categories -- "Life
is Beautiful" and "Z." They went on to win
the foreign-language Oscars, but no subtitled movie has ever
won Hollywood's highest honour.
There
has been talk that the Chinese language movie's probable lock
on the foreign film category could put it out of the running
in the broader category, but no one will know for sure until
the envelope is opened on Sunday night.
Michael
Barker, co-head of Sony Pictures Classics, which released
"Tiger," said that the foreign-film category has
produced consistent surprise winners over the years, so there's
no assurance that it will win in that category.
If it
wins best foreign film, "Crouching Tiger" would
be the first Chinese-language movie to be honoured with the
award.
Other
foreign film nominees include the satirical French comedy,
"A Taste of Others." Director Agnes Jaoui last month
took home the best film Cesar, the French version of the Oscars,
for this film about a busy industrialist who is blindsided
by love and idealism.
"A
Taste of Others" is the 31st French film to be nominated
for a best foreign film Oscar. Twelve French movies have won
the award.
"Amores
Perros," a hip drama that uses a canine theme to tie
together several gritty tales, is the first Mexican movie
to be nominated for best foreign film in 25 years.
The movie,
directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, has been compared
to Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" because of
its violence, including simulated dog fights, and intertwining
stories.
"Amores
Perros," has so far won nearly 30 prizes in festivals
around the world, including the 2000 Critics Prize at Cannes.
A dark
comedy set during the final years of World War II, the Czech
Republic's "Divided We Fall," is also nominated
for best foreign film.
"Divided,"
directed by Jan Hrebejk, tells the story of a Czech who hides
a Jewish man from the occupying Nazis. In an interview with
Reuters, Hrebejik said he did not expect to win but added
through an interpreter, "I would be the happiest person
on earth if the nomination would last a whole year."
Belgium's
"Everybody Famous," a story about a teenage singer
whose father comes up with a scheme to launch her career that
involves kidnapping, rounds out the five foreign film nominees.
Directed
by Dominique Deruddere, the movie marks the fifth Academy
Award nomination for Belgium.
TOP
|
Cover
Story
