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KILLING ME SOFTLY Review (Aintitcool.COM)
June 4, 2002

Reviews: KILLING ME SOFTLY (Negative, Major Spoilers) by Elaine

An X-rated French trailer is online now: Real  Windows Media

The movie will be released in France on June 5. Official French Site

MGM Killing Kaige Softly - KILLING ME SOFTLY Pushed Back Again (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
April 12, 2002
(Left) The Japanese poster.

(Right) Chen Kaige and Heather Graham at the Japanese première (January 22)

Once again, Chen Kaige's English-language début is pushed back. According to Variety, people running MGM are currently try to decide whether to have a full release, a limited release or push it direct to video.

 

Based on early interview with Chen Kaige, I suspect Chen Kaige has refused to alter some nude, sex or horror scenes. Motion Picture Association of America has given it an R rating for strong sexuality, some violence and language.

 

KILLING ME SOFTLY has been released in Japan and Italy earlier this year.

Variety article: Inside move- Lion gauges Kaige

Review: KILLING ME SOFTLY (by David Rooney)

Photos: 予告篇大画報, @nifty, cinemacafe.net.

KILLING ME SOFTLY - A Third Japanese Trailer And The Longest (1:48) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
January 27, 2002
Here is the third Japanese trailer of Chen Kaige's English language film début with many new scenes. February 23

Real Player

Windows Media  

(Correction: the Japanese date is February 23, not in January)

 

Chen Kaige and Heather Graham at the Japanese première (January 22)
 
 
Poster  
Photo courtesy: 予告篇大画報, @nifty, cinemacafe.net.
 
KILLING ME SOFTLY - A Third Japanese Trailer And The Longest (1:48) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
January 27, 2002
Here is the third Japanese trailer of Chen Kaige's English language film début with many new scenes.

Real Player

Windows Media  

Photo courtesy: Cinefex Online.

 
More KILLING ME SOFTLY Pictures MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
January 23, 2002
Some new stills have been discovered on the net. The film will be released in Japan on January 23 and in Australia on January 31. Meanwhile its North American release date has been set in June according to some report.

 

The novel with Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes on the cover Chen Kaige and Heather Graham at the Japanese première
Photo courtesy: Darkhorizons.COM. Cinefex Online & SINA.COM.
Softly, MGM Pushed It Back Again (Upcomingmovies)
November 18, 2001
MGM is currently looking for a new date, most likely later in the spring.
 
MGM Pushes Chen Kaige's "Softly" To January (Reuters)
August 27, 2001
By Dana Harris
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - MGM has slated Chen Kaige's erotic thriller ``Killing Me Softly'' for wide release Jan. 18, the start of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. ...
 
Killing Me Softly - An On Set Photo (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 13, 2001
Post-production will be completed by July and the film will be released in North America on September 17 (?). Its Japanese releasing right has been sold for $4.5 million US.
Photo courtesy: People's Daily
 
Photos From The MGM Site (MGM)
May 14, 2001
Photo courtesy: MGM
 
Censor Troubles (The Z Review)
March 11, 2001
Joseph Fiennes who will be on our screens next week in Enemy At The Gates has been getting all seamy with Heather Graham in their upcoming movie Killing Me Softly. They spent a week in bed filming the scenes for the movie and he describes it as "It is very passionate and very physical, my character has had a cursed past with women. He falls in love with Graham's character and their relationship is excessive to the point of becoming dangerous." The scenes are thought to be so hot and steamy that the movie will have a real problem getting past the censors without some major cuts. But the scenes are vital to the plot of the movie and this may cause problems for the flow of the movie itself. He then explains a bit more about the plot of the movie " She leaves her boyfriend, they marry quickly and the sex becomes darker and very adventurous. She then starts getting obscure letters, saying that he has killed previous girlfriends and also raped someone, so is this complicated man a murderer and a rapist?" The movie is directed by Chen Kaige who previously directed Farewell My Concubine. Graham has said of her part "some people were telling me that perhaps I should not do such a darkly erotic film, but I have to accept that this stuff just interests me, I like to think I am comfortable with my own sexuality, it is a risk but I have become braver with each film so far."
Killing Me Softly Is In Postproduction (Shopping Guide) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
February 21, 2001
Chen Kaige has completed the principal shooting and started to work on post-production. He refused to say anything about the film but "it's Chen Kaige style ... actually the same story can be transformed into different stuffs by different directors." He also review that Mel Gibson once traveled to Beijing with his wife and six children to discuss A Tale of Two Cities with him. The project is still alive, because the producer has nailed him.
The Poster Reviewed (Myriad Pictures)
2001
 
Chen Kaige Interview (Translation) (Beijing Youth) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
January 22, 2001
by Feng Mei
Director Chen Kaige

Chen Kaige talked about his English language début Killing Me Softly.

see the complete text

 

 
Heather Heats Up (TALK Magazine)
January, 2001
Heather Graham on the Cover of Talk Magazine Heather Graham

Chris Connelly talks to Heather Graham about Heath Ledger, Ed Burns, what a Catholic upbringing did to her, and why she hasn’t seen or spoken to her family since 1994. About her new film Killing Me Softly, Heather says, "I was thinking that maybe I shouldn’t do it because people are telling me that I was over the top, overly sexual, 'Oh, you’re playing the sexy girl too much.' But that stuff just interests me."(p. 73)

Graham, reports Connelly, is obsessed with her therapist and estranged from her parents--for a contact in case of emergency, Graham usually gives her personal assistant. "They are really nice people," she says of her parents. "I hope they’re happy, but I feel that it’s not good for me to have a relationship with them at this moment." (p. 74)

"It’s brave," she says, "to fall in love. If it doesn’t work out, you go out there and do it again. ‘Yeah, I got hurt and it’s hard, but that’s good.’" (p. 124)
Photos from the Set of Killing Me Softly (Empire Online)
November 15, 2000
Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes started filming Killing Me Softly in Islington, London, a couple of weeks ago, and now we're bringing you some sneak preview photographs from the set. ...
Heather Graham on the set of London Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes on the set of London  
Graham Fiennes Love In London (Empire Online)
October 31, 2000
Killing Me Softly, an erotic thriller starring Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes, began principal photography in London yesterday (30 October), marking the beginning of a 12 week location shoot around the capital. ...
Joseph Fiennes Cast as the Leading Man (Monkeypeaches Exclusive)
October 28, 2000
Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love has been cast for the upcoming film Killing Me Softly. Based on Nicci French's same name novel, it tells a tale of a British girl's life being disturbed by a handsome stranger. Invested by Miramax, it will be Chinese director Chen Kaige's English language film debut. His works include Yellow Earth, The Big Parade, King of the Children, Life on a String, Farewell, My Concubine, Temptress Moon and The Emperor and the Assassin. Shooting will start in London in October. Farewell, My Concubine was the winner of International Critics Prize and Golden Palm of the Cannes Film Festival, Best Foreign-Language Film of the British Academy Awards, and Best Foreign Film of New York Film Critics Circle.
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North America Distributor

Distributor (outside of North America)

Production Company

Foreign Sales

MGM

Montecito Pictures

Montecito Pictures

Myriad Pictures

Initial budget: US$30,000,000

Current stage: post-production
Release date: Late Spring  (US and Canada)

Crew:   Cast:  
Director Chen Kaige Alice Heather Graham
Screenplay Kara Lindstrom Adam Joseph Fiennes
Executive Producer Ivan Reitman   Natasha McElhone
  Tom Pollack   Helen Grace
  Daniel Goldberg   Ian Hart
Producer Joe Medjuck   Jason Hughes
  Lynda Myles   Kika Markham
  Michael Chinich   Ulrich Tomsen
Associate Producer Anna Chi Mike Ronan Vibert
Director of Cinematography Michael Coulter    
Production Designer Gemma Jackson    
Special Effects Supervisor Clive Beard    
Editor Jon Gregory    
D.O.P Michael Coulter
Costume Designer Phoebe De Gaye
Synopsis:
From the very moment that Alice (Heather Graham) locks eyes with Adam (Joseph Fiennes), a mysterious stranger, who is catapulted into a whirlwind of intense erotic desire and adventure, risking everything just to be wipth him. But, when secrets from Adam's past begin to surface, Alice finds herself in a bizarre situation she can't escape. Acclaimed director Chen Kaige directs this contemporary suspense thriller.
(from the official MGM website)
 
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Japanese trailer 1 Japanese trailer 2 French trailer  
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North American teaser poster Japanese poster  
 
       
         
 
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