Wong Kar-wai's Grandmaster put forward for Oscar nomination
Wong Kar-wai's film about martial arts master put forward for Academy Award
Hong Kong filmmakers have chosen Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster to represent the city at the Oscars.
It is hoped the film about wing chun master Ip Man will be among the five nominees for best foreign-language film at the 86th Academy Awards in March.
The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong said yesterday the US version of the film, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Ip and Zhang Ziyi, was chosen from the 40 local films screened in the past year.
"The film is very artistic and it shows a lot of local Chinese elements," federation chairman Crucindo Hung Cho-sing said. "The Oscar academy usually chooses films that reflect the country's features, so there's a big chance it will be a nominee."
The US version is 22 minutes shorter than the 130-minute version released in Hong Kong and the mainland.
Another popular choice was boxing drama Unbeatable, directed by Dante Lam Chiu-yin.
Comparing The Grandmaster to previous films based on Ip Man, board member Patrick Tong Hing-chi said earlier ones focused more on action, while Wong's version was more emotional. "He paid a lot of attention to shooting techniques," Tong said. "The kung fu moves are very elegant."