A trailer for John Woo's new film Red Cliff has surfaced on Yahoo Tawain, and it looks as if the old action master will no longer suffer indignities of Jean-Claude Van Damme or Ben Affleck. His first feature film since Paycheck (2003), it's a swordfighting epic that bypasses Woo's famous gunplay films (The Killer, Hard-Boiled, etc.) and goes back to his earlier films like Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979) with a dash of his epic war masterpiece Bullet in the Head (1990) thrown in for good measure. (It's also kinda sexy.)

The trailer is without English subtitles, but it's also mostly without dialogue. Set during the Three Kingdoms period of Ancient China, the film tells the story of the historical Battle of Red Cliffs. It's also apparently the most expensive Chinese film to date, costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million (US). Tony Leung Chiu Wai stars, along with Takeshi Kaneshiro, and the lovely Zhao Wei. (Former star and frequent Woo leading man Chow Yun-fat walked off the set last year.) According to the trailer, the film will be opening in the East this summer, but no U.S. release date has been set.

This is the kind of news item that burns through my guts: according to Variety, producer Fang Li and co-production company Beijing Laurel Films have been banned from any involvement in the film business for two years by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT, AKA Film Bureau) in China. The Film Bureau is responsible for censoring materials that might be objectionable to the Mainland Chinese government or cultural standards.

The reasons for the ban are related to director Li Yu's Lost in Beijing. (That's her in the photo with Fang Li.) Monika Bartyzel first wrote about the story nearly a year ago when the Film Bureau banned the film from screening at the Berlin film festival. As Monika noted, Lost in Beijing "involves a relationship between the boss of a Beijing massage parlor (Tony Leung) and his female worker (Fan Bingbing)." The filmmakers refused to edit the film and screened it anyway; in his review, Erik Davis said the picture includes scenes "that shed a negative light on China," but overall the material was "far from risky," at least from the perspective of an American audience member. He thought Lost in Beijing was "good but not great."

The controversy appeared to have died down by the time the film hit Chinese theaters on November 30, but the ban has just now been handed down. Variety says that the crux of the ban is the charge that the filmmakers illegally distributed "unapproved and pornographic clips online," according to the Film Bureau. Producer Fang told Variety that one of their "unprocessed, unedited images was stolen and distributed on the Internet." He said that he was shocked by the ban and will meet with the Film Bureau next week to discuss the whole mess. Fang also produced Lou Ye's Summer Palace; that film screened at Cannes without permission, resulting in Ye being banned from the industry for five years.

It may be a bit early for this, but I wanted to get my two cents in on some of my favorite performances of 2007 so far, especially since most of these will probably get overlooked in the great Oscar crush of December. The awards almost always go to actors who are involved in biopics, message pictures, costume movies or epics, so let's start with the wonderful Alan Rickman, who has yet to earn a single Oscar nomination. This year, he can be seen toiling away once again in the small role of Severus Snape in the fifth "Harry Potter" film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (283 screens). In the third film, he practically stole the entire movie with the way he read the line "turn to page 394," but in this fifth film, he actually has a scene with some meat to it. In training Harry to block his thoughts, Harry takes a peek into Snape's own mind and finds a disastrously sad childhood. When the flashback ends, the camera lingers on Snape's face for a moment, and Rickman renders an astonishing expression of hurt and hatred that broke my heart and sent chills through my spine.

One costume movie, Becoming Jane (32 screens), was unfairly judged, perhaps because it was too much fun and not somber enough (or not based on a literary source of proper merit). The lovely Miss Anne Hathaway usually lends a kind of smart energy to her best performances, as if she were slightly ahead of the game, and she does so perfectly as the budding Jane Austen. She's playful, but tough, beautiful but restrained. And when she falls in love with her man (James McAvoy), she does so breathlessly and with her whole heart; the movie more or less explains through fantasy how Austen was able to write so passionately from such a dull existence. The real Jane was said to be rather plain, but I'd much rather imagine her like this. Add to this Maggie Smith's delightfully wry supporting performance as the wealthy aunt, who can't understand the impudent youth of today and fires off comically nasty barbs at their expense.

In the first minutes of Lust, Caution, we get one of those shots where the camera swish-pans quickly to the side to reveal a guy looking through binoculars; the effect, used in countless Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, is as if we were also looking through binoculars, spying. Then we get a shot of four women playing Mahjong and talking, talking, talking. The clacking of the tiles mixes with their chattering, and the subtitles flash across the screen on top of images of tiles. Are we supposed to be looking at the pictures on the tiles, and if so, did we miss anything important in the dialogue? Following that, a car rolls down the street. We cut to another shot of the car rolling down the street, this time entering a gate. Then the car parks. A man gets out and walks into a large house. That's roughly the first ten minutes of the film. It begs the question: what do these shots have to do with one another? What does any of this have to do with anything? What does it have to do with the art of cinema?

I got the impression, here and throughout Lust, Caution, that director Ang Lee just arbitrarily set up his shots without much consideration for what they meant. His only concern is the story, not the art behind it. In a crucial, early exchange between our two lead characters, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) and Mrs. Mak (Tang Wei), Lee very simply cuts back and forth between them on the beats of dialogue. When one finishes speaking, he cuts to the other, who starts speaking. There's no mystery or rhythm, and no concern for reactions or pauses. I bring all this up only because Lee is widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in the world, and he ought to be a good deal better than this. I suspect that, like many others throughout history, he mistrusts cinema as an art form in itself, and sees it only as an extension of literature and theater. He adds external elements to make his films seem important. In this case, the movie's length (nearly 160 minutes) and his story about the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in the late 1930s and early 1940s, carry a historical weight.

Posters for Ang Lee movies are typically unimaginative, so I was pretty shocked when I saw the new one-sheet for Lee's latest, Lust, Caution. It isn't exactly an innovative design, but it is a lot more interesting than his usual head-shot type of poster. I like it even better than the Brokeback Mountain look-away-in-shame artwork. And if we can base the quality of Lee's movies on their posters (just look at the awful designs for Hulk and Ride with the Devil to see how it works), then Lust, Caution could be his best film to date. This poster, with its browning tones and its shadows, make the film look like it's directed by Wong Kar Wai (whose films also didn't have good posters until recently). It could just be because Tony Leung stars, or because of that dress, but for me the poster evokes Wong's In the Mood for Love. I am surprised that Joan Chen isn't featured anywhere, but I guess they preferred to spotlight newcomer Tang Wei, who gets even better exposure here than Leung (though it must be said that Leung's profile is more recognizable than many other stars').

Lust, Caution is Lee's return to Chinese-language filmmaking again following Hulk and Brokeback, and it marks his first film after winning the Oscar for the latter film. He is again working with executive producer James Schamus of Focus Features and he has brought back Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon producer William Kong and screenwriter Wang Hui-Ling. Lee's longtime editor Tim Squyres also returns after not working on Brokeback. It seems the only collaborator that Lee is keeping from his Oscar darling is cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. Lust, Caution is set in WWII Shanghai and involves a plot to assassinate an intelligence chief in the Japanese-backed Chinese government. Leung plays the intelligence chief, Chen plays his wife and Tang is a student who seduces Leung's the character in order to set up the assassination. Focus will open the film in limited release September 28.

Check out the trailer after the jump.

It isn't uncommon for an actor to drop completely out of a movie, but how often does it happen that an actor drops out and then is later re-cast in a different role? That seems to be what is going on with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and the Chinese epic The Battle of Red Cliff. Leung left the project a month ago claiming he didn't have time to prepare for his role (though there were other rumors), but now he's returned to the John Woo film, which has already begun shooting. Because his original part ended up going to another actor, Takeshi Kaneshiro, he is now likely attached to a different character than the one he abandoned.

The most simple speculation is that Leung is taking over for Chow Yun-Fat, who this week suddenly departed from the project, similarly claiming an inability to sufficiently prepare. For some reason Red Cliff producer Terence Chang won't specify which character Leung will play nor will he confirm that the actor is replacing Chow. The only things he will say is that all these casting changes are not affecting the shoot and that Chow's absence is not affecting the financing of the film. Hopefully more will be revealed about Leung's involvement when he arrives on set next week -- unless, of course, he drops back out. Maybe the next thing we hear will be that Ken Watanabe is back on the film, too, as a replacement for the replacement.

After his last two English-language films garnered completely different reactions from audiences (Hulk was a bomb, whereas Brokeback Mountain was last year's Oscar darling), Ang Lee is leaving his Wyoming-based gay cowboys for a WWII-era espionage thriller set in Shanghai.

Based on the 26-page short story by Chinese writer Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution "follows a group of patriotic students who plot to assassinate the intelligence chief in the Japanese-backed Chinese government." Having already signed Tony Leung Chiu Wai to play the intelligence chief in question, Mr. Yi, popular actress (and formerly known as the "Elizabeth Taylor of China") Joan Chen has now come onboard to act as his wife. Newcomer Tang Wei also stars as the student who seduces Yi in an effort to set up the assassination.

The last we heard about John Woo's long-simmering The Battle of Red Cliff was back in February, at which point there were rumors that it actually might be moving forward. And now, a mere seven months later, the project finally has financing lined up, a cast in place, and a confirmed start date. Woo (if you will) hoo! For those of you who have forgotten, the movie is based on a classic Chinese novel, and tells the true story of "the final days of the Han Dynasty in the year 208, ... [covering] the war that established the Three Kingdoms period, when China had three rulers." The central battle of that war took place, as you might have guessed, at Red Cliffs, and involved as many as a million soldiers. Damn.

Surprisingly, the mutterings about the cast have turned out to be mostly true: This morning's Variety reports that the film will star frequent Woo collaborator (back in the Hong Kong days) Chow Yun-Fat, as well as Ken Watanabe, Tony Leung and Lin Chi-Ling, who apparently is a Taiwanese model. The IMDb also lists Andy Lau in the cast, but his presence is unconfirmed.

Production is expected to begin next March, with release planned for early 2008.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• Though Casino Royale isn't due out for another few months, its producers are so sure it's going to be a hit, they've already jump-started the follow-up, currently titled Bond 22. Apparently, Notting Hill director Roger Michell is in negotiations to helm it, what some are saying, is an original idea from producer Michael Wilson. Hey, I have a feeling this old school Bond will be fun to watch. If they remain on that path, I'm all for a few more films -- so long as Hugh Grant doesn't play villain.
• Looks like Ang Lee has found the stars for his follow-up to Brokeback Mountain, a WWII-era spy thriller, Lust, Caution. Tony Leung and newcomer Tang Wei have landed the lead roles in this Chinese-language feature for Focus Features, which is based off the short story written by the late Eileen Chang. If the plot stays true to the short story, it will revolve around a man who attempts to seduce and assassinate a spy working for the Japanese government.
• While some feel his films are annoying and self-serving, I'm a big fan of Wes Anderson's work. I mean, how can you comfortably live your life and not think Rushmore is one of the greatest films, like, ever? Currently, the director is working on the animated The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which his is co-writing (based off the novel by Roald Dahl) and directing. However, Owen Wilson recently told CNN he's going to be working with Anderson on another film set in India. Though he didn't give many details, he did say the story followed three brothers who go on a journey throughout India and it's not a buddy comedy movie. India? Owen Wilson? Wes Anderson? I'm there.

• Even though it played on only half as many screens as Steve Martin's latest, it's still disturbing to read that V for Vendetta was beaten to the top of the international box office by the dreadful The Pink Panther. Now showing in countries including Germany, Hong Kong, and Australia, the comedy made a total of $12.3 million for the weekend to only $8.5 million for Vendetta, which nevertheless dominated the charts in the Asian markets in which it opened.
  

• If anyone needed a sign that relations between North and South Korea are thawing, this is it: a South Korean film about a Northern spy is expected to be shot in Pyongyang, the capitol of the North. The movie, tentatively titled Yun Isang, The Wounded Dragon, will be shot in both Pyongyang and Germany, which is where Yun, a well-known composer, both spied and ended up living after he was released from prison.
  

• Hong Kong's Media Asia announced its slate for the next year this weekend, and among the eight-to-ten projects in the works are a pair from Infernal Affairs directors Andrew Lau (the director, not the actor) and Alan Mak. The first, Behind the Sin, stars Tony Leung #1, and is about "a cop and...a private detective - who investigate the murder of the cop's father-in-law." The second, meanwhile, is an untitled period piece set in 1940s Hong Kong which "revolves around a trader from mainland China who moves to Hong Kong, attempts to set up a business and inevitably gets mixed up with local gangsters."

French director Olivier Assayas has an impressive filmmaking pedigree: his father was writer/director Jacques Rémy and, like François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard before him, he wrote for Cahiers du cinéma before taking up direction. Irma Vep, his international breakthrough, got a certain degree of exposure in the US, but despite its complexity and relative success, he's be largely overlooked here since then. While it's unlike that anything will change with the release of his next project (which he wrote and will be directing) it nevertheless sounds intriguing.

Entitled Boarding Gate, the movie boasts a multicultural universe of stars, including Michelle Yeoh, Asia Argento, Michael Madsen, and not one but two Tony Leungs. According to early web reports, the film's convoluted plot revolves around "An Italian woman [Argento] who lives in London [and] has a passionate affair with a former financial big gun [Madsen]. She also had a second lover [a Leung], a contract killer who has to kill the big gun. Her second lover's wife [Yeoh] is behind the scenes, pulling the strings."  With Assayas at the helm, the chances that the movie will be the straightforward genre story that summary suggests is pretty much nil, so it'll be exciting to see what approach he takes. No information is yet available about when he might begin shooting, however, and it's likely to be a while before we get to take a look.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai (the one who's been in a bunch of Wong Kar Wai movies, not Tony Leung Ka Fai) is a big fan of American crime writer Lawrence Block. He's been thinking for a decade about taking one of Block's stories, moving it to China, and making a movie of it, much like Akira Kurosawa did with Ed McBain when he set High and Low in Japan. Instead, though, Leung just he asked Block to write him a screenplay - and Block is doing it. Swwwwweeeeet.

According to Leung, the story will be set in the US and, as a result, will be made in English, with an American-born Chinese central character, to be played by Leung himself. Since the actor says his character is being "changed from an American," the suggestion is that Leung's film will be based on one of Blocks existent novels, but there's no indication in the article of which one.

Hopefully this isn't another one of those tantalizing projects about which we'll never hear another peep. Leung is a fantastic actor and, given his success in crime films made in Hong Kong, it's certain that a Block movie would be a hit there. The problem, of course, is making the transition to the US - is Leung's American audience big enough to make the film worth releasing over here, even when he's speaking English? Please?

First reports of John Woo's The Battle of the Red Cliff surfaced as much as 18 months ago, and details have been few and far between since then - in fact, some have wondered if, like a lot other announced Woo projects, this one might never advance beyond the discussion stages.

Based on a portion of a 14th century novel about a real-life battle in 208AD (got that?) involving over a million soldiers, the story of the film is wildly complicated. To sum up, "During the battle the joint force of two warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated the much stronger invading army led by warlord Cao Cao. Shortly after the battle, the Han dynasty officially ended and China split to three kingdoms." Needless to say, there are a whole lot of details not included there, and Woo claimed from the very beginning that the movie would be sprawling and expensive; current speculation puts the budget at about $50 million, which would make it the most expensive film ever produced on the Chinese mainland.

The fact that the movie was originally slated to shoot last year makes it hard to believe any start dates at this point, but a target of September 2006 has been pretty consistent as of late, so the production just might finally be getting off the ground. There is also a fleet of stars supposedly in negotiations to appear in the film, among them Chow yun-Fat, Tony Leung (the one from Chungking Express and 2046, not the other one), and Ken Watanabe. Man, if this movie ever comes out, I am so there.

[via Twitch]