侯孝贤在发表获奖感言时说，此前已经参加过7次戛纳电影节，以前曾经得过一次奖。这次能得到最佳导演奖对他来说是极大的鼓励。
侯孝贤此次参加戛纳电影节主竞赛单元的影片为武侠片《聂隐娘》(又名《刺客聂隐娘》)，该片由舒淇、张震、周韵、谢欣颖、许芳宜、妻夫木聪等主演。
HOU Hsiao-Hsien from China's Taiwan scooped the best director award at the Cannes Film Festivalon Sunday for his slow-burning minimalist drama "The Assassin".
The film is set in 9th-century China, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, with Asian megastar Shu Qiplaying a highly trained female assassin who, after failing in one mission, is sent back to her homeprovince to kill its governor, who is also the man she loves.
Despite its action-packed premise, the film is a study in lingering, contemplative art from directorHou, who continues a similar aesthetic from his previous films "Millennium Mambo" and "ThePuppetmaster".
Speaking through an interpreter, Hou kept his acceptance speech short and sweet, saying: "It'sdifficult to make cinema, to find financing. I want to thank all my crew and cast."
The 68-year-old is one of the most recognisable names in Taiwan's "New Wave" cinema, havingwon a string of international film prizes, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Award for "Cityof Sadness" in 1989 and the 1993 Cannes Film Festival third place prize for "The Puppetmaster".
Born in China's Guangdong Province in 1947, Hou moved to Taiwan with his family the followingyear to escape the civil war on China's mainland. He started working in the film industry in 1973after graduating from college with a film degree and shot his first feature film, romantic comedy"Lovable You" (1981).
Hou is best known for lingering camera shots and minimalist dramas depicting the upheavals inTaiwan in the 20th century. His autobiographical movie "A Time To Live, A Time To Die" (1985)told the story of a family that fled to Taiwan from China's mainland in the 1950s.
"The City of Sadness" which won him international recognition touched on a taboo -- the February28, 1947 massacre by Kuomintang troops that took over Taiwan from the Japanese colonialpower after the Second World War, and a family caught up in the political turmoil.
"Three Times" portrayed three love stories set in three different periods and competed for theCannes film festival's Palme d'Or in 2005.
Hou has also taken part in a number of international projects. He directed the Japanese film CafeLumiere (2003), a homage to the late Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, and went to France in 2006to direct "Flight of the Red Balloon" starring French actress Juliette Binoche.
