by Nathaniel
Hong Kong has selected Better Days (available to rent on Amazon), to represent them at the 93rd Oscars. Its director Derek Tsang (also known as Tsang Kwok Cheung) first entered the movies as an actor. But for the last decade the now 41 year old talent has been moving behind the camera. (He's the son of the director Eric Tsang who followed a similar path working both sides of the camera). His film is a contemporary crime drama about a bullied teenage girl and a mysterious thug who protects her. It won 8 prizes at the annnual Hong Kong Film Awards.
The Academy Awards have been notoriously resistant to Asian cinema, apart from a 20th century fixation on Japan. Most Asian countries have somewhere between zero to two Oscar nominations, usually not a number that accurately reflects their status in global cinema. Only in the 1990s when Chinese cinema was all the rage at US arthouses, did Oscar come around and then only for a few short years. After the jump at look at China and Hong Kong's track record with Oscar. We're grouping them together, despite how problematic that is politically, because when it comes to the film industries it can be hard to separate them for us Americans across the ocean. That's because the two countries often share the same directors and movie stars. That's reflected in their Oscar submissions...
CHINA
(Submitting since 1979)
33 submissions (they have not yet announced their 2020 submission)
2 nominations
HONG KONG
(Submitting since 1959)
39 submissions
2 nominations
1 additional finalist
KEY SUBMISSIONS - CHINA
Ju Dou (1990) was the first Chinese Oscar nominee.
- Red Sorghum (1988) the first time Zhang Yimou was submitted. Oscar passed.
- Ju Dou (1990) Nominee Zhang Yimou's first of two consecutive nominations in this category, which in combo made Yimou and his then-muse Gong Li international superstars.
- The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) Oscar passed on this Zhang Yhimou/Gong Li classic which caused huge waves at the Venice Film Festival. But the film was well received in its US release the following year picking up the NBR and NSFC wins for Foreign Film as well as a Spirit nomination.
- Hero (2002) Nominee. Strangely it took another two years for this wuxia drama make it to US theaters at which point it was a big hit but ineligible for regular Oscars like Costume Design and Production Design since it had already been a nominee.
Zhang Ziyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro in "House of Flying Daggers"
- House of Flying Daggers (2004) Oscar's foreign committee passed on this stunning Zhang Yimou effort but the film was deservedly nominated in Best Cinematography and it also received a Globe nomination in Foreign film plus nine (!) BAFTA nominations.
- Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) Zhang Yimou and Gong Li famously reunited after years apart for this design spectacle of a royal intrigue action drama. Oscar's foreign committee passed but the film was deservedly nominated in Best Costume Design.
- Dream Weaver: Beijing 2008 (2008) This marks the only time China submitted a documentary in the International category. It was about the build up to the Olympics.
- Aftershock (2010) A blockbuster disaster movie which held the distinction of being the first major IMAX film made outside the US.
- Ne Zha (2019) The first time an animated film was submitted. It was a record-breaking blockbuster in China.
KEY SUBMISSIONS - HONG KONG
"Come Drink With Me" a very famous wuxia
- The Love Eterne (1963) Famous opera drama hit from the Shaw Brother studio. Oscar passed.
- Come Drink With Me (1966) King Hu's classic was denied by Oscar. But its reputation lives on.
- The Arch (1969) This film marked the first time Hong Kong or China submitted a female director. Her name was Tan Shu Shuen
- Raise the Red Lantern (1991) Nominee. Zhang Yimou & Gong Li's masterpiece (and that's saying a lot since their other films together are pretty special) and their second consecutive nomination in this category. That it didn't easily win the prize that season is a stain on the Academy
- Farewell My Concubine (1993) Nominee.
Movies don't get much better than "In the Mood for Love"
- In the Mood for Love (2000) One of the worst snubs in Oscar history, any category. Wong Kar-Wai's modern classic picked up two prizes at Cannes (as well as numerous other honors including the EFA, the César, and the NSFC). In the Mood for Love was a critical sensation all over the world and a hit in arthouse US release in 2001. It's impossible not to imagine it making (at least) the finalist list now. Whenever people bemoan "gatekeepers" in art, I feel like they should study this particular Oscar race to see the service gatekeepers, like museum curators or festival programmers, can actually provide whenever you have to select and spotlight a small group of art from hundreds of options. This category's overall nomination list quality has vastly improved since the Executive Committee system took effect 12 years ago after the media gave the Academy a deserved thrashing after the snub of Romania's Palme D'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
- Infernal Affairs (2003) Oscar passed on this positively cracking crime drama starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau and then three years later they gave Best Picture to the remake by Martin Scorsese, The Departed, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon in those roles. So this omissions feels quite rude in retrospect.
- A Simple Life (2011) Oscar passed on this successful drama from Ann Hui, who is Hong Kong's most often submitted female director.
- The Grandmaster (2013) Finalist. Sadly the foreign committee didn't go all the way with this one but at least this gorgeous Wong Kar-Wai movie about the history of Ip Man received two craft nominations: Costume Design & Cinematography.
Most frequently submitted directors (combo of China & Hong Kong since they've submitted a few of of the same directors over the years)
Gong Li and Zhang Yimou at Cannes in May 1990
- Zhang Yimou (8 submissions, 3 nominated films)
- Chen Kaige (4 submissions, 1 nominated film)
- [TIE] 4 submissions each, none of them nominated: Ann Hui, Feng Xiaogang, and Johnnie To
- Han Hsiang Li (3 submissions, none of them nominated)
- Wong Kar Wai (2 submissions, neither nominated but 1 finalist)
- [TIE] 2 submissions, neither nominated: King Hu, Dante Lam, Wai Ka-Fai, and Yim Ho
Most Oscar-honored Chinese or Chinese descent talent
(Not all from China. Some from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etcetera)
James Wong Howe. One of the all time great cinematographers. He shot Hud, The Old Man and the Sea, The Rose Tattoo, Algiers, The Thin Man, Picnic, and many more...
- James Wong Howe (Cinematography) - 10 nominations, 2 wins
- Ang Lee (Producer/Director) - 5 nominations, 2 wins PLUS 3 nominations and 1 win in Best International Film*
- Ai-Ling Lee (Sound Mixing/Sound Editing) -4 nominations
- Zhang Yimou (Best International Film) - 3 nominations*
- [TIE] 2 nominations and 1 win each: Tan Dun (Composer) and Ruby Yang (Documentary Short)
* We realize these aren't official nominations for the directors. But they should be!
Several other people have been nominated (or even won) a single time but these lists are only about people who've been in multiple Oscar competitions.
Enjoying these recaps of International Oscar history?
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