Ye Lanqiu (Gao Yuanyuan) is a beautiful and successful young woman who, as the film opens, is diagnosed with an advanced lymphatic cancer that requires immediate treatment. Numb with shock, Lanqiu sits on a crowded city bus, hiding behind large sunglasses and completely oblivious to what is happening around her, not even registering the conductor’s persistent request that she give up her seat for an elderly pensioner. This moment of perceived incivility is recorded on a mobile phone by an assistant to journalist Chen Ruoxi (Yao Chen), and the zealous reporter quickly decides to go viral with the video, flooding the web with the footage of the callous “Sunglass Girl”. The video triggers a massive internet hate-mail campaign against the already stricken Lanqiu, and heralds even more catastrophes in both her personal and professional life. But fate is not yet finished with Lanqiu, and the chaotic course she has been unjustly set upon will,...
- 6/9/2022
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
As the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway with North American and World debuts of films that will hit Awards Season and beyond,a good number of seasoned films that have traveled the festival circuit are finally making their way into the Specialty Box Office. Drafthouse Films will open Cannes ’13 title The Congress starring Robin Wright and Harvey Keitel in a dozen locations this weekend, while SXSW’s Juliette Lewis starrer Kelly & Cal will open exclusively in NYC. Sundance’s Last Days In Vietnam will have a theatrical run before heading to PBS next fall and the Guadalajara Film Festival’s Frontera is taking advantage of a timely topic in the U.S. Venice financed its 2013 premiere Memphis, opening exclusively this weekend in NYC. And China Lion hopes to take a successful template for romantic dramas and apply that to But Always.
The Congress
Director-writer: Ari Folman
Writer: Stanislaw Lem (novel)
Cast: Robin Wright,...
The Congress
Director-writer: Ari Folman
Writer: Stanislaw Lem (novel)
Cast: Robin Wright,...
- 9/5/2014
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline
There have been scads of books and movies and essays written about truly knowing and understanding people in the modern world, walking a mile in their shoes, etc. Chen Kaige, the critically acclaimed director of "Farewell My Concubine," weighs in on this topic in the gaudy melodrama "Caught In The Web" as such: you can't really know anyone in the modern world. More specifically, you can't know Ye (Yuanyuan Gao), an office worker who receives news that is beyond unfortunate from her doctor: she has thirty days to live before succumbing to cancer. What Ye does next is either understandable, contrived or maddening, depending on whom you ask. While riding the bus, she refuses to give up her seat to an elderly man. When he asks to set himself down, lost in her thoughts, she rudely rebuffs him. As an American, the cultural exchange seems a bit unusual: this happens on our trains every day.
- 12/7/2013
- by Gabe Toro
- The Playlist
Once Upon a Time, in the Digital Age…: Chen’s Latest a Message Heavy Oddity
A critique of the hounding one sidedness of the omnipresent media mixed with a heavy swirl of romance and melodrama dictates Chen Kaige’s latest feature, Caught in the Web, an oddly flat critique of the life and times in which we live, especially considering the controversy courting director’s past work, including his much hailed Farewell, My Concubine (1993). Despite dealing with modern issues of modern technological advances further mutating and bastardizing notions of journalism in a sensational driven news medium, Kaige’s film peculiarly feels out of touch, a generational rift in attitude and communication, or something that thinks it’s a bright critique of “the youth today” in a world still spinning swiftly out of control. While performances and visual aesthetics are engaging, there’s a definite shortage of narrative cohesiveness, and...
A critique of the hounding one sidedness of the omnipresent media mixed with a heavy swirl of romance and melodrama dictates Chen Kaige’s latest feature, Caught in the Web, an oddly flat critique of the life and times in which we live, especially considering the controversy courting director’s past work, including his much hailed Farewell, My Concubine (1993). Despite dealing with modern issues of modern technological advances further mutating and bastardizing notions of journalism in a sensational driven news medium, Kaige’s film peculiarly feels out of touch, a generational rift in attitude and communication, or something that thinks it’s a bright critique of “the youth today” in a world still spinning swiftly out of control. While performances and visual aesthetics are engaging, there’s a definite shortage of narrative cohesiveness, and...
- 12/6/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Chinese director Chen Kaige is a veteran filmmaker and no stranger to U.S. fans of foreign language cinema. He’s been directing features since 1985 and even scored two Oscar nominations for his 1993 film, Farewell My Concubine. His career since has been somewhat eclectic with the standouts being a handful of epic period pieces (The Emperor and the Assassin, The Promise, Sacrifice) filled with martial arts, doomed romance, and gorgeous visuals. The less said about his singular foray into Hollywood the better. His latest film sees a young woman lost in her own issues unknowingly cause an incident that rattles the fragile social mores of those around her. Her transgression goes viral, streaming across the airwaves and internet, and while it marks her as a pariah, it also sets in motion a chain of events in the lives of several other people. A single act, a multitude of ramifications. Caught In the Web races into the present...
- 12/6/2013
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Former THINKFilm executives David Hudakoc and Michael Baker have launched the Toronto-based distributor, one of several new players that are expected to arrive in the wake of the eOne-Alliance merger.
The goal is for levelFilm to release 10-12 “quality independent films” a years starting with Chen Kaige’s Caught In The Web.
The plan will balance platform theatrical releases with day-and-date digital.
Baker [pictured at right] and Hudakoc [pictured at left] will handle acquisitions together while Baker will oversee content development and Hudakoc will supervise distribution and marketing.
Caught In The Web will open in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto in October and expand into 15-20 major markets.
The contemporary ensemble drama centres on the story of a young woman with a terminal illness who becomes the victim of a viral internet campaign after she is caught on video mistreating an elderly bus passenger.
Yuanyuan Gao stars alongside Chen Yao, Mark Chao, Hong Chen and Xueqi Wang. Kaige co-wrote...
The goal is for levelFilm to release 10-12 “quality independent films” a years starting with Chen Kaige’s Caught In The Web.
The plan will balance platform theatrical releases with day-and-date digital.
Baker [pictured at right] and Hudakoc [pictured at left] will handle acquisitions together while Baker will oversee content development and Hudakoc will supervise distribution and marketing.
Caught In The Web will open in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto in October and expand into 15-20 major markets.
The contemporary ensemble drama centres on the story of a young woman with a terminal illness who becomes the victim of a viral internet campaign after she is caught on video mistreating an elderly bus passenger.
Yuanyuan Gao stars alongside Chen Yao, Mark Chao, Hong Chen and Xueqi Wang. Kaige co-wrote...
- 8/15/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
'City of Life and Death' is about the Forgotten Holocaust
Cast: Hideo Nakaizumi, Ye Liu, and Yuanyuan Gao
Directed by: Chuan Lu
Rated Nr
City of Life and Death takes place in 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the then-capital of the Republic of China, Nanjing. What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a period of 6 weeks wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed with a total of 13 million Chinese dead. The film tells the story of several figures, both historical and fictional, including a Chinese soldier, a schoolteacher, a Japanese soldier, a foreign missionary, and John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who would ultimately save over 200,000 Chinese civilians.
Depending on your beliefs of what really happened you'll have different reactions when watching this movie. The Japanese government has refused to apologize...
Cast: Hideo Nakaizumi, Ye Liu, and Yuanyuan Gao
Directed by: Chuan Lu
Rated Nr
City of Life and Death takes place in 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the then-capital of the Republic of China, Nanjing. What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a period of 6 weeks wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed with a total of 13 million Chinese dead. The film tells the story of several figures, both historical and fictional, including a Chinese soldier, a schoolteacher, a Japanese soldier, a foreign missionary, and John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who would ultimately save over 200,000 Chinese civilians.
Depending on your beliefs of what really happened you'll have different reactions when watching this movie. The Japanese government has refused to apologize...
- 5/21/2011
- by Jack Thompson
- GetTheBigPicture.net
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.