With the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival running for nine days--June 13-21--to show hundreds of movies in more than 35 cinemas across Shanghai and tickets sold a week before the opening day, film buffs are having a field day.
Hong Kong director Derek Yeen Tung-sing’s comedy film about movie extras, “I Am Somebody,” opened the festival. Chinese director Dong Yachun and Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov’s romantic film, “Ballet in the Flames of War,” will be the concluding movie.
Here are some of the movies to be shown at the event:
For Asian films, there’s South Korea’s “Salut D'amour” about a 70-year-old man who is courting an elderly neighbor; Japan’s “River” about someone coming to terms with her boyfriend’s death, and “100 Yen Love” about an introvert who enjoys watching a middle-aged boxer practice and later builds a relationship with him; Taiwan’s “Where the Wind Settles” about three Chinese soldiers starting anew in Taiwan after participating in a civil war in their country.
For American films, there’s “Cake” about a parent, played by Hollywood A-lister Jennifer Aniston, dealing with the loss of her child after they figured in a car accident; “Gone Girl,” top-billed by Ben Affleck, about a husband’s dilemma after his wife mysteriously disappeared; and “The Theory of Everything” about the relationship between real-life individuals Jane Wilde Hawking and her former husband and multi-awarded physicist Stephen Hawking.
For a taste of classic Hollywood, there’s the 1939 “Gone with the Wind” about a rich girl’s failed romantic pursuits, and the 1965 musical “Sound of Music” about a postulant who becomes a governess for a widowed navy officer’s seven children.
For Canadian films, there’s the sci-fi musical “Bang Bang Baby” about a teenager who aspires to be a singer and lives in a town where the residents become mutants; the drama “Mommy” about a widow’s struggle in raising her 15-year-old son with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); the romantic comedy “Relative Happiness” about a bed-and-breakfast owner who thinks a guest falls for her but finds true love in another guy; and the coming-of-age movie “Wet Bum” about a 14-year-old girl dealing with school bullies, diminished self confidence partly due to her body, and having no boys fancying her, among many other things.
For other foreign films, there’s French “Bird People” about an American engineer who gets a second chance at love when he meets a French maid while staying in a hotel in Paris; Poland’s “Carte Blanche” about a teacher who is about to become blind but keeps it a secret as he continues to teach passionately (based from true events); Russia’s “Leviathan” about an alcoholic convicted of murder where the victim actually committed suicide; and Finland’s “The Midwife” or “Wildeye” about the love story between a Nazi officer and a midwife.
Some of the venues where the movies are being screened include Premiere International Cinema, SFC Expo International Cinema City, Shanghai Film Art Center, Shanghai Grand Theater and Shanghai Film Plaza. The audience can expect for Chinese and English subtitles.
As they say in the entertainment world: “Seat back, relax and enjoy the show.”