Venice, Aug 30: The Venice film festival unveils Taiwanese director Ang Lee's steamy spy thriller "Se, jie" (lust, caution) on Thursday, as its 75th anniversary celebration goes into full swing.
Also on the menu was British Director Kenneth Branagh's "sleuth" starring Michael Caine and Jude Law.
Yesterday's sparkling opening gala of the festival, which runs through September 8, saw the world premiere of British psychological drama "Atonement" with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. Based on the best-selling novel by Jan McEwan, the movie follows the consequences of an impressionable girl's tragic misreading of events at an upper class English home in the years leading up to World War II.
Despite a preponderance of British and US entries this year -- nine of the 22 candidates for the Golden Lion in the main competition -- the festival also boasts a sizeable Asian contingent, leading with Oscar-winning Lee's "Se, jie" (lust, caution). Set in Shanghai in the 1940s, is based on a short story by Eillen Chang.
"No story of Eileen Chang's is as beautiful or as cruel as 'Se, jie,'" said Lee, whose "Brokeback Mountain" took the top prize in Venice in 2005.
Festival Director Marco Mueller let drop yesterday that the "surprise film" to be screened next week will be from an Asian country, specifying only that it is a country other than China, South Korea or Japan.
"Only from Asia do we have that special kind of present," said Mueller. He further added, "it will be a brand new film -- he's still mixing it -- by an Asian master."
Bureau Report
