The 57th Berlin Film Festival opened last night with distinctive French undertones as La Vie en Rose, a film about Edith Piaf's rise from seedy poverty to glory, starting proceedings.

 

Two Chinese movies, Lost in Beijing and Tu Ya's Marriage, are vying for the Golden Bear, competing along with such major productions as George Clooney's The Good German and Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd.

 

Hong Kong film producer Shi Nansun, who is also director Tsui Hark's wife, is a member of the Berlinale jury headed by Paul Schrader, who will be premiering his thriller The Walker out of competition.

 

Lost in Beijing is young director Li Yu's latest film after her movie Dam Street, which won several awards internationally. Lost in Beijing catalogues the odd relationships and conflicts between two couples and seeks to explain ethical conflicts caused by differences in social status.

 

This movie will have its world premiere in Berlin on February 16.

 

The other Chinese entry, Tu Ya's Marriage, by director Wang Quanan, casts a uniquely female look at life. Lead actress Yu Nan plays a Mongolian woman who is urged to remarry by her own husband after he becomes paralyzed. The poignant story looks at the ramifications of the couple's divorce and the heroine's pressures to remarry.

 

The prizes will be awarded on February 17.

 

The Berlinale vies with Venice for the title of Europe's second-largest cinema festival after Cannes. 

 

(CRI.cn February 9, 2007)