Tongue twisters

Isabella Ho, a film scholar from Taiwan who did her PhD at Exeter on The British Film Institute, observes that two prominent Asian directors are at Cannes with their first films shot in languages not their native tongue. Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai (read THR's Q&A here) opens the festival with his competition title “My Blueberry Nights,” starring Jude Law and chanteuse Norah Jones speaking English, and Hou Hsiao Hsien from Taiwan brings “Flight of the Red Balloon” to Un Certain Regard, a French-language film based on a children’s book classic set in 1950s Paris.

“I think it’s very sad that these directors are driven to make movies outside their home countries and in other languages,” said Ho, a representative of Taiwan film distributor cum production company CMC. “Their home audience doesn’t seem to appreciate the stories they are trying to tell,” said Ho, who will translate for “Balloon” director Hou for the English language press. Of course, both Hou and Wong have long drawn investment from abroad, observes Ho, which might explain their choice of international settings, too, she says, adding another speculation: “Wong probably just doesn’t want to deal with the censors in Beijing, now that they’re watching Hong Kong more carefully,” she said over an afternoon fruit juice on the Croisette. (Jonathan Landreth)