Car chases are a classic element of great movies, especially when they are filmed by such renowned directors as David Fincher, Ang Lee (李安), Guy Ritchie and Wong Kar-wai (王家衛).
In a novel form of advertising, BMW has turned to these directors to bring car chase scenes to the Internet, using, of course, the German auto maker's own flashy cars. Each film will be five minutes long and will run on the Web site http://www.bmwfilms.com.
The list of collaborators in the project reads like a who's who of Hollywood talent, with Taiwan's Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Sense and Sensibility; Eat Drink Man Woman), Alejandro Gozalez Inarritu who was nominated for an Oscar for Amores Perros), Wong (In the Mood for Love, Happy Together, Chungking Express), John Frankenheimer (Ronin, Grand Prix), and Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) as directors and acclaimed filmmaker Fincher (Fight Club, The Game) as producer.
Shooting is already completed for portions of the project, with the first three shorts to be released having been directed by Frankenheimer, Lee and Wong. The first film will premiere today and the next two are expected to be released on successive fortnights. Each film will feature a recurring character, played by British actor Clive Owen (Croupier).
The series of cutting-edge, Internet films has been coordinated by the Los Angeles multimedia company Anonymous Content.
"I am pleased to be part of this project that is on the cutting edge of new technology. This film has huge action elements as well as a clever personal story. I am an admirer of Fincher and to work with him and Anonymous on this project has been a wonderful experience," Frankenheimer said while shooting his piece.
Having recently wound up work on his short, Lee said: "I'm thrilled to be working on this project with such fantastic talent as John Frankenheimer and David Fincher. And it's great to be working for the first time in such a cutting-edge fashion. All those fast cars definitely make me look cooler in front of my teenage kids."
Lee's piece, which was finished in February, follows a young Tibetan Karmapa played by Lee's younger son Lee Han (李涵), as he tries to escape a group of bad guys who want him dead.
"We are thrilled some of the finest directors, writers and actors have collaborated in this new venture," Steve Golin, chairman of Anonymous, said. "These films are going to shake up the industry."
The shorts mark BMW's first advertising project to be broadcast exclusively on the Net. Although the sponsorship amount is undisclosed, reports have said that Lee's film was shot on a budget of over US$2 million.
The dates of on-line screenings are listed below.
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