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Journalism of Courage
Not surprising because, of late, Hong Kong seems to have become the new capital of Hollywood — whether it is in producing Jackie Chan potboilers, lending John Woo’s frenetic action style, or throwing up the lissome Michelle Teoh, who may well change forever the image of flakiness that Bond’s women carry.
The 32-year-old Wong’s film is an ordinary Hong Kong melodrama, complete with weeping, kicking, screaming and flying objects. What saves it from silliness is the couple — the gay lovers Jiu-Fai and Po-Wing, played by stars Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung. Christopher Doyle’s camera follows the two around Buenos Aires and then to the Falls as they make up, break up and start all over again.
Winner of Best Director at Cannes, Kar-Wai always pushes the envelope in his film-making. For, though sex sells cinema, gay sex isn’t the kind of thing that brings in the crowds. Even some respectable voyeurs at Siri Fort III were appalled at the film.
Saeed Mirza has already seen all of Wajda. So he was concentrating on soaking in the sun and “watching people go by”. He had just watched Paper Aeroplanes by Iranian director Farhad Mehranfar. Now, he’ll be off to see Professor Irfan Habib in Aligarh for help on Delhi of the 17th-century poet Zafar Jattali. “But I need Rs 10 crore for it. I have to recreate the whole of 17th-century Delhi for it. Do you have the money?” he asks impishly.
One man who manages to straddle that divide is Mani Ratnam, who seems to have become like a UFO, sighted everywhere but pinned down nowhere.
Apparently, the only place he will be for sure is the Republic Day rehearsals. His cinematographer on his latest Hindi movie, Santosh Sivan, is a little more regular in his 11 o’clock visits to the festival.
But what he couldn’t understand was why his film, on which NFDC has staked a considerable sum, was selected for the Cinema of the World and not Indian Panorama. “They must have thought it’ll look better if we say it’s from Germany,” commented the outspoken Khosa sarcastically.
