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News Archives |
| July 2003 | |
| PURPLE BUTTERFLY Stills (Paradise.sh.cn) | |||||||||||||||
| July 31, 2003 | |||||||||||||||
Photos: Paradise.sh.cn |
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Someone Has Seen A Six-Minute Trailer Of 2046 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 30, 2003 |
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"Visual and colors of the trailer are very beautiful! Just felt like IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. There was a shot with Maggie Cheung turning her head. (Spoiler Alert! Highlight to read!) She wore a metal collar around her neck and judging from her moves, she should be a robot. Wong Faye and Zhang Ziyi looked no different from any normal woman. (I) couldn't guess their professions. There was a long shot of a bed scene with a man and a woman fully naked. It was very blur and beautiful. But I couldn't see who they were. I felt like watching an oil painting at the Louvre of Paris. It's not pornography, not at all." (End of the Alert) This is what Wu Hehu, the marketing director of the theater chain owned by Shanghai Film Studios, told Nanfang Daily. According to the paper, Wong Kar-Wai will move the production to his hometown Shanghai in September or October. The release date in China (including Hong Kong) has been pushed from October back to the Christmas. |
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| WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND HEARTH Official Site Launched (NetandTV.com) | ||
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July 29, 2003 |
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The official site, available in Simplified Chinese and English, features a trailer, a synopsis description, characters stories and cast bios.
English URL: www.warriors-movie.com Chinese URL: www.tdyx.com.cn
Thanks to Al Young |
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| PAYCHECK - Trailer No. 1 (Yahoo! Movies) | |
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July 29, 2003 |
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John Woo is directing this futuristic thriller based on the 1953 same name short story, by Philip K. Dick, whose works are behind several other sci-fi movies, including BLADE RUNNER, TOTAL RECALL and MINORITY REPORT. Starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman, PAYCHECK is currently under production in Vancouver. |
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| Director Hou Yong Takes About JASMINES BLOOM (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |||||||
| July 28, 2003 | |||||||
Director Hou Yong has been talking to Sichuan Daily while doing the editing work of MO LI HUA KAI (JASMINES BLOOM) in Shanghai.
You have read the novel Fu Nü Sheng Huo (Life of Women) a decade ago. What caused you to make it into a film as a director?
Many who have read the book only remember the dark side of human nature written by (the author) Su Tong, but what really touched me are women's struggle and misery in their lives. Back then, I had an idea - let one actress playing three women of three generations of the family. This is a feminist film.
You are already a well-known cinematographer. Becoming a director, are you trying to prove anything?
Make it straight. It's human's desire for power. To make it sounds better - I have the desire to do better and I keep improving myself. As a director, I am still a rookie.
Are you worried about not getting appreciated by the audiences?
No. There is no need to worry right now. Just like buying stocks. Why we buy stock? Because we want to make money! It's your decision of when to buy and which to buy. Just like watching movies. A movie is out, and someone will analyze it - the film is good or not, and how the market will react. Whoever you are, an expert or an artist, like those stock analysts on TVs, just nonsense. Their analysis is so complete but how come they are not buying (those stocks). Why show those words telling people to be fully responsible for their own action?
Why let Zhang Ziyi playing three characters?
To save money. This is equal to she playing three movies for me. (Laugh) Actually, I insist on letting one actress playing three characters since the beginning. I just want the audiences, from an expression in her eyes or a smile of her, find out something from her mother and let them think more. If I use three actresses to play these three characters from three different times, that will not be neo-classic, it will be post-modernist. If I made (the film) ten years ago, these roles would belong to Gong Li, but now they are for Zhang Ziyi. The reason is very simple - I must use the best actress in China and she is also good for the box-office.
But many people think the characters Zhang Ziyi has played are still very similar and she is still not able to go beyond performance from her own personality.
That's because was not given the right chance before. Very few actress are given such chance, and offered roles designed for them. I told her every character were created perfectly, and can be called flawless. I give her 100 marks (full-mark). Zhang Ziyi's performance in MO LI HUA KAI will show a brand new of her and it will completely derail what you remembered about her - teen idol, good girl, fight girl, and so on.
Is Zhang Ziyi the biggest star in the film?
Of course. But there are also Jiang Wen and Chen Chong (Joan Chen). Although they play supporting roles, they still shine. People are not just watching the lead. Having these big stars really saved a lot of efforts of mine. They can think everything for me, give me suggestions, and what I have to do is just choose one. Big stars think more for the director. They know, as actors, their duty is to act according to the director, not to do what ever they want.
Did you work well with Jiang Wen? Is he an actor with his own thought?
Jiang Wen knows what a direct want. On the set we may have some disagreement, but we all tell our argument to each other, and in the end, it's still the director's decision.
Can you tell me an example?
For example, there was a scene in which Jiang Wen closes the door and stares at Zhang Ziyi. The first take wasn't good, because I wanted Jiang Wen to have a feeling of being a father. After talking with him, he got it during the second take. It was handled perfectly. |
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Tsui Hark Talks About XANDA And Others (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 27, 2003 |
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Early this month, Tsui Hark brought XANDA he produced to Beijing for a charity screening. XANDA is about a relatively new sport called Sanda. Meaning "free fight" in Chinese, Sanda is created based on Chinese martial-art but fighters are allowed to use any fight still. Directed by Marco Mak and played by real Sanda fighters, XANDA will be released in China in September.
While in Beijing, he has been interviewed by several papers. Here is a highlight of what he said.
About XANDA: "XANDA is more real, closer to the real fight, so it's not for big stars. I don't think it's not appealing without big stars." "Sanda was born from traditional Chinese martial-art. The foreigners think Chinese martial-art is just people flying in the air. This is a misconception. We made XANDA to tell the world, in Chinese culture, there are more than just mysteriousness and more than just aesthetics. There is also something realistic. As a movie, it has some chance internationally, I think."
Tsui Hark is still crazy about CG effects. He said he liked LORD OF THE RINGS and THE LEGEND OF ZU failed because the CG effects in the film was not good enough. He also said the INITIAL D, the adaptation of the same name Japanese comic book, is still on. |
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| More Shots From The Set Of Stephen Chow's KUNG FU (Jiefang Daily) | |||||||
| July 26, 2003 | |||||||
(Left) Shooting under way at the multi-million set. (Right) Office of a community center. The sign shows "Pig Cage Walled City Community Welfare Society / Public Security Squad / Fire Squad) - looks like the set was modeled after Kowloon Walled City of Hong Kong.
Other Shots: Stephen Chow entering the set. Sammo Hung thinking about getting some foot massage at the hotel he stays in. |
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HEROIC DUO Trailer / Behind-The-Scene Clips (Sina.com) |
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July 24, 2003 |
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A big-budget psychological thriller, this Hong Kong production will be released in Hong Kong and the mainland China next week. Directed by Benny Chan (WHO AM I? GEN X COPS, GEN Y COPS). A police officer (Ekin Cheng) dragged into a diamond heist by a mind-controller (Leon Lai). He escapes from jailhouse in order to catch the mind-controller, a psychiatrist worked for the police before. Soon he discovers the psychiatrist is not the mastermind... Arclight Films has acquired the worldwide rights excluding Asia.
Trailer (Windows Media Video / 2:15): Stream Download (zip)Behind-the-Scene (Windows Media Video / 4:06): Stream Download (zip) |
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| A Look Inside Set Of Stephen Chow's KUNG FU (Jiefang Daily) | |||||
| July 23, 2003 | |||||
Shanghai's Jiefang Daily just posted picture (left) taken inside the set of KUNG FU / KUNG FU HUSTLE. It shows the interior of an old apartment building from the 1940's. The is also a street built next to the apartment, which is not shown. Picture on the right is the exterior of the set. According to the paper, Stephen Chow is thinking about blowing the set up after the shooting wrapped up or even including the destruction in the story. Based on what we know so far, this is where Stephen Chow's character lives. |
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| PURPLE BUTTERFLY Review (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||||
| July 22, 2003 | ||||
***1/2
Zhang Ziyi plays a freedom fighter against the Japanese aggression in the early 1930's Shanghai, while emotionally attached to three men who are on a track of wiping each other out. This is an overly simplified version of the film if you want to hear it in one sentence. But it is not about a love rectangle. It is about a young girl torturously trapped in between love and duty, in between the memory of the past she tries to avoid and the the future she dare not to think about, and in between the guilt of what she did and pity about the innocent.
The story starts in 1928, in the Northeast China (Manchuria), a young Chinese girl Xin Xia (Zhang Ziyi) sees the departure of her Japanese boyfriend Itami (Nakamura Tooru) to Japan. She returns home and witnesses her brother, who runs a newspaper opposing the Japanese aggression, bloodily murdered by a Japanese extremist. The story is re-picked up three years later in Shanghai. The Northeast China has fallen into the hand of the Japanese and menace of war has shadowed the city of Shanghai. Yiling (Li Bingbing) arrives at the train station to meet her boyfriend Situ (Liu Ye) who is returning home. On the platform, a mysterious woman shows up. She is Xin Xia, now known as Ding Hui and is a member of Purple Butterfly, a secret organization violently against Japanese infiltration of the city. Ding Hui and her comrades come to pick up a killer they hired to assassinate Yamamoto (Kin Ei), head of Japanese spy agency in Shanghai. But Siut is mistaken as the man they are looking for. Gunfight erupts out between members of Purples Butterfly and Japanese spies who have been tipped off by a mole. Yiling is gun down by Ding Hui and Situ is captured by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Itami, the new deputy of Yamamoto has arrived in Shanghai. He set Situ free in attempt to track down Purple Butterfly. Xie Ming (Feng Yuanzheng), leader of Purple Butterfly, asks Ding Hui to get in touch with her ex-lover, even though he himself is deeply in love with her. Reunion with Ding Hui quickly makes Itami falls for her again but his will of destroying Purple Butterfly remains unchanged. Situ is confused after seeing Ding Hui with both Purple Butterfly and the Japanese, and does not know who is really responsible for the death of Yiling...
PURPLE BUTTERFLY is written and directed by young Lou Ye, an active figure among the Sixth Generation Directors of China. Just like his last film, the internationally acclaimed SUZHOU RIVER, PURPLE BUTTERFLY carries on his highly cinematic artistic style - long shots, jump cuts, jazzy camera work and an intricate storytelling. Tone of the film is very dark and heavy. Everything, the streets, houses, vehicles, and even the clothes look very old, rusty and grayish. The almost non-stop rain makes everything on the screen wet and everyone watching the screen feel cold. (I know it's summer right now.) There are very few dialogues and for audience who are trying to figure out what is going on, they are not really helpful. But there are many dead quite and long close-up shots, in which both the camera and the characters are motionless. This left their faces, getting so close to the camera and we can even count how many freckles on their noses, the only thing left to show what is inside his or her mind.
The story is not told with a single straight time line, but rather in a fashion of backwards within forwards. The viewers must be very careful on not missing any small detail, or will in end up with no clue at all. A second time, or even a third time viewing is necessary if anyone does not get it during the first time. But this is not the kind of films, which is magically capable of letting everything watching it over and over again. The very dark tone, the suspension-lacking storyline, and the long and motionless shots are clearly pushing many people away, even for the first time. This is the major failure of the film, I think. Shortening some of the long shots and smoothening the cut might make the film more appealing, but it is up to the director.
Zhang Ziyi is clearly the shining point of the film and she has proved once again, she is more than just a one-dimensional fight girls. This is the first time Zhang Ziyi taking up a leading role since her big screen début THE ROAD HOME (WO DE FU QIN MU QIN / MY FATHER AND MOTHER). What she plays here is so remotely different from from her previous works, that during the screening, I completely forgot every character she has played before. The rest of the cast is simply superb, which really carry the film through.
PURPLE BUTTERFLY is created by a director with distinctive artistic style. To fully understand it, you need patient, a pair of good eyes and some decent knowledge of the history. It is not intended for everyone's entertainment. Some of you may find the art style hard to stand - you don't have to. For the rest of you, just enjoy it if you can.
I attended a screening yesterday started at 7:30 pm at an old fashion (non-multiplex) theater. Two hours and four minutes later, director Lou Ye, Zhang Ziyi and Li Bingbing showed up on the stage. I forgot to bring my camera with me, something very regrettable. The host only allowed three of us to ask questions and they will be presented with flowered by the three guests. Unfortunately I was not picked, even though I was sitting on the front raw directly facing Zhang Ziyi. The first question was from a history teacher. She asked whether the film was about a resistance organization against the Japanese. Dumb question! The answer she got from Lou Ye is simply "Yes." The second question is from a guy claiming he had been learning acting. He wants to know the difference between this film and PULP FICTION. Lou Ye answered they were different and the structure of PURPLE BUTTERFLY is a sort of tree branch-like. The question question, actually is not a question, is from the photographer hired by the theater. He jumped right in front of me and started complaining - the film is hard to understand, the director should take some music lesson because the score was very bad, the rain made him muggy... The meeting came to the end with three of them tossing some "color balls" to the audiences. Something could be exchanged for T-shirts and other promotional stuffs. I didn't get one either. Well, here is my story.
Meng Ye July 22, 2003 Beijing, China |
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| Stanley Tong Talks About TIME BREAKER (TITANIUM RAIN) With Jackie Chan (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |
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July 21, 2003 |
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Director Stanley Tong is currently in China scouting locations for the upcoming Jackie Chan project TIME BREAKER, formerly known as TITANIUM RAIN. He has sit down and talked about the project with Chinese paper Shenyang Today. He side, "this is a film frequently shifting between the ancient time and the present days. It will have flashback to the ancient time and will go all the way back to Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC). I Want to make the scenes of the ancient time look beautiful, because all Jackie Chan's works will be shown to the whole world and we can take this opportunity to show our beautiful sceneries to the international audiences and let them visiting China." Stanley Tong said Jackie Chan will start working on the project once he was done with AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. In this film, Jackie Chan will "have a brand new look". He said it would be a love story (!!!) and Jackie Chan would be very gentle (!!!). Budgeted at US 35-40 million, the film is largely financed by Hong Kong's Media Asia. |
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A Few Pictures From Océan Films, The French Distributor (Océan Films) |
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July 20, 2003 |
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Three promotional stills have been posted on the official site of Océan Films - Zhang Ziyi, Leung Chiu-Wai and a futuristic city scene (note: "ville" means "city" in French).
The site (click here) also has a very confusing description of synopsis:
2046, c’est un nombre qui évoque
une année, cinquante ans après la cession de Hong Kong à la Chine…
mais c’est aussi le nombre qui ne quitte pas l’esprit de Chow
Mo-Wan (Tony Leung), depuis In the Mood for Love.
Est-ce un nombre lié à son passé qui le hante ? Est-ce un nombre de son présent, alors qu’il se réfugie dans des chambres d’hôtel bon marché ? Ou est-ce le nombre qui s’impose à lui dans le feuilleton de science fiction qu’il écrit pour gagner sa vie ?
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| PURPLE BUTTERFLY's Shanghai Première (Various) | ||||||||
| July 20, 2003 | ||||||||
The première followed by a news conference was held yesterday. Unfortunately, the Beijing premiere scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled.
More shots from the Shanghai première: Click here, here and here.
Photos: Sina.com |
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| Trailer Clips Of WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND HEARTH (NetandTV.com) | |
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July 19, 2003 |
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Clips of the trailer has been shown during a report by Net and TV. The report is about the incident of unauthorized release of 30 promotional photos for the film. Columbia, co-financed the film, is in charge of launching the official site. A web designer being hired uploaded the 30 photos to a website he was working for as a full time employee. The photos, supposedly to be released on the film's official site first, were quickly removed from the unidentified site but the incident has ruined the entire promotion plan set for the film which will be released in China the coming October.
Click here to watch the report online Click here to download the whole video (attached with other reports) (right click and save) |
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| PURPLE BUTTERFLY's Chinese Poster (Sina.com) | ||
| July 18, 2003 | ||
On the left, it is the Chinese poster, and on the right is the poster revealed in Cannes.
Zhang Ziyi will chat with everyone online this coming Sunday. Click here for detail
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| THE MEDALLION Trailer In QuickTime Format (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||
| July 18, 2003 | ||
It is the same trailer we have seen last week, but it is in QuickTime format which is gloriously better.
Official site by Sony (English) Official site by EMG (Chinese)
Photos: Sing Pao |
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HERO News 281 - Shots From The Tokyo Première (Photocome) |
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July 18, 2003 |
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More pictures:
(Left) Director Zhang Yimou, Zhang Ziyi and Jet Li
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HERO News 280 - A DVD Review (IGN.com) |
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July 17, 2003 |
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HERO News 279 - More Shots From The Tokyo News Conference (Xinhua News Agency) |
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July 17, 2003 |
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HERO News 278 - Heroes Of HERO In Tokyo (Sina.com) |
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July 16, 2003 |
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Director Zhang Yimou, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi and producer Bill Kong attended a news conference this afternoon in Tokyo . The Japanese première will be held tomorrow and the release date is set for August 16th.
Shots from the new conference: Zhang Yimou, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi and Bill Kong Zhang Yimou and Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi
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July 15, 2003 |
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Want to know what 2046 is talking about? Nanfang Daily just posted a mini plot description, which was obtained from "someone who knows".
A writer (Leung Chiu-Wai) meets a prostitute (Maggie Cheung) at a hotel (2046 is the number of the room he stays in). He then starts telling her stories of his love life. In each story, the writer had a short-lived relationship with a girl. Wong Faye, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen plays a group of robots who also have their own desire for love. Human and robots, they have different understanding of and attitude toward love, which lead to the result unique to their own. Kimura Takuya plays a Japanese who has a relationship with one of the girls.
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| Fresh Shots From KUNG FU's Set In Shanghai (Sina.com) | ||||
| July 14, 2003 | ||||
Sina.com posted three snapshots taken at the heavily guided backlot of Shanghai Film Studio. The first one is the overall view of the set; the second one shows Stephen Chow, half-naked and bearded; and the third one shows action director Sammo Hung walking out of the set. He said shooting of fight scenes has not started yet because the actors still need more practice. |
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| Ang Lee Is Not Retiring, He Is Will Work On HULK Sequel And CROUCHING TIGER Prequel (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | ||
| July 13, 2003 | ||
Ang Lee told Taiwanese media that he had been interviewed by so many papers, magazines, TV media, etc., and had to answer the same questions over and over again. When he got bored, he "just joked about getting retired." Looks like Ang Lee has never felt tired about making films but about answering those questions. While talking with German magazine Spiegel, Ang Lee said he "implied" HULK might be his last film.
He said the script of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON prequel (PRECIOUS SWORD, GOLD HAIRPIN) is not ready and shooting of the HULK sequel will not start until at least 2005.
Thanks to everyone who expresses your concern about Ang Lee's "retirement". |
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| Jackie Chan Opens His Own THE MEDALLION Page In English (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |
| July 13, 2003 | |
A special section for THE MEDALLION has been launched at Jackie Chan's official site |
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| Andy Lau Confirmed His Commitment To Zhang Yimou's Untitled Martial-Art Film (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) | |||||||
| July 12, 2003 | |||||||
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