"Golden Flower" Follow-Up

Yesterday I wrote that there was almost no buzz for China's official Foreign Language Film submission, Curse of the Golden Flower.

Well today the L.A. Times is reporting that Sony Pictures Classics is mounting an Oscar campaign for Best Actress for Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha), and Best Director for Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers):

Sony Pictures Classics is so impressed with the final cut of "Curse of the Golden Flower" that the studio has officially decided to launch a Oscar best-actress campaign for Gong Li and to promote Zhang Yimou for best director.

"Golden Flower" reunites Zhang Yimou with the actress he cast in his first outing as a director, "Red Sorghum," in 1989 when she was still a student at the Central Drama Academy in Beijing. They teamed up again for a half-dozen films such as "Raise the Red Lantern," but haven't collaborated in recent years while she took on further breakout roles in "2046" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" and he achieved major b.o. success in the west with "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers."

"They're now working together at their peak of their talents," says studio co-president Michael Barker. "They've created a film of great dramatic tension and visual splendor. We're really excited."

Read the full story here.