Lame horse put down: Gong Li slams 'amateur' Golden Horse Awards

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Lame horse put down: Gong Li slams 'amateur' Golden Horse Awards

Staff Reporter
2014-11-27



Gong Li and Hou Hsiao-hsien on stage at the Golden Horse Awards, Nov. 22. (File photo/China Times)

Chinese movie star Gong Li, nominated in the Best Actress category at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei last weekend for her role in Coming Home, has blasted the awards as "amateur" and "unfair," reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.

The winner of multiple international film awards, Gong missed out on the Best Actress award by one vote to Chen Shiang-chyi of Taiwan for her role in Exit.

Gong, who was attending the festival for the first time, called the proceedings amateurish and says she will stay away in the future, according to her agent Christophe Tseng.

"The Golden Horse is an unfair game," Tseng said, reportedly speaking on behalf of both Gong and himself. "The movie festival needs to specify its stand as to whether it is an international or a domestic Taiwanese event."

"[Chinese director] Lou Ye's Blind Massage won Best Feature Film award, but the film's budget was merely several million yuan and it was hardly influential; many Chinese don't even know who Lou is," Tseng said. "As to [Chinese actor] Chen Jianbin, he alone grabbed three awards. How many people do you (the festival committee) want him to offend?"

Gong Li has not seen Exit, according to the report.

The accusation about fairness has many baffled as the majority of the awards were won by China-based productions, leading some media outlets to complain that if anything there was an anti-Taiwan bias.

Tseng added that Gong Li's words were based on the comments of internet users. There is speculation that the incident is another episode in the long-running dispute between Gong Li and Joan Chen, the Chinese and American actress who was on this year's panel of judges.

After the winners were announced, many internet users went online to say Chen used the occasion as an opportunity to get back at Gong. The two are understood to be long-time rivals who have beaten each other to acting roles over the years.

Tsao Yuan-feng, a Golden Horse jury member, said when the votes for best actress were revealed, Chen jokingly said, "I'm doomed," knowing that she would be bombarded with criticism. Another juror, Sheng Ko-shang, said Chen was the first of the judges to praise Gong's acting and she had been fair during the voting.

Unnamed sources said Gong Li is well-known for demanding superstar treatment. On her sedan there was a note recommending staff members obey whatever she says, the source said.

But a certain incident of "inhospitality" may have triggered Gong Li's negative response, according to the report. On the red carpet, Gong Li said she would gladly take on a comedy role. One of the hosts put an abrupt damper on her mood, saying, "You need to get the Best Actress award first, then." Veteran Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-ssien also made a somewhat indiscreet remark during the awards ceremony by advising her openly to "get the award next time."

Sylvia Chang, head of the executive committee for the film festival, said in response to the episode that Gong Li's comments were not intended personally. Tseng said he spoke only because Gong had already said somwthing to the same effect, and he dismissed reports of bad blood between his client and Joan Chen.





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