Although the Oscar-winning director's movies--both in English and Chinese--have long garnered praise from around the world, it was the first time that Lee had won a Golden Horse Award in the best-director category. Lee's film is adapted from a short story written by the well-known Shanghai-born author Eileen Chang.
Lee said he was very glad to receive such positive support from people in Taiwan, in particular from his family in Tainan City, admitting that he had gone through an immense moral dilemma while making the film, due to the sexually explicit nature of some of the scenes. In addition, the U.S.-based director was also honored with the title of Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year. "I'm proud of being Taiwanese and proud of Taiwan too," Lee said, while encouraging young Taiwanese directors like Doze Niu and Jay Chou to help revitalize the nation's movie industry.
The actor-turned-director Niu won an International Federation of Film Critics award for "What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?!," a nomination in the best-film category. Chou, a noted Taiwanese pop singer, garnered three awards for his debut movie "Secret," including best original film song, best visual effects and Taiwanese Film of the Year.
The best-actor award went to Tony Leung Chiu-wai from Hong Kong for his penetrating portrayal of the merciless spy chief in "Lust, Caution," which is set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II. It was Leung's third Golden Horse Award.
Shanghai-born Joan Chen emerged victorious in the best-actress category for the movie "The Home Song Stories," in which she plays a struggling Shanghai nightclub singer who decides to immigrate to Australia with her children. Chen also starred in "Lust, Caution" and Jiang Wen's "The Sun Also Rises," a nomination for the best-director category.
Despite losing out to Chen in the best-actress category, Tang Wei from China won a Golden Horse Award for being the best new performer. She played the role of a patriotic student who tried to steal information from Tony Leung's character in Lee's movie, but sacrificed her life in the process. Tang said the award was a great honor, and she praised the whole film crew for all the hard work that they did to complete the movie. Furthermore, awards for the best supporting actor and actress went to Tony Leung Ka-fai from Hong Kong in "The Drummer" and Fan Bingbing from China in "The Matrimony," respectively.
This year's lifetime-achievement award was given to Taiwan's noted director Edward Yang, who died of cancer in June this year. Yang is considered as being a key personality in Taiwan's "New Wave" of directors in the 1980s that made incalculable contributions to the nation's film industry. His last film, "Yi Yi: A One and a Two," received the best-director honor at the film festival in Cannes, France, in 2000.
Write to Allen Hsu at allenhsu@mail.gio.gov.tw