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News Archives - March 2005 to April 2005

 

Ziyi meets with fans in Beijing - Pictures and Videos

On Thursday Ziyi got to meet some of her Chinese fans. It was a great idea and alot of fun for everybody. One of our forum members even got to meet and hug Ziyi :)  I hope Z does something like it here in the US someday. 

I can only post a brief summary on the front page, for complete coverage including 100 pictures see this page.

Maybelline sponsered this event in celebration of their 10th year of doing business in China. Ziyi met with fans at the Wanfujing Department Store in Beijing. The banner the fans are holding is for Ziyi's official website, HelloZiyi.com.  But notice that the picture used is one from HelloZiyi.us :) For many more pictures see the galleries.

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As you can see Z was having a great time,

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Forum member Liuyameng got to meet Ziyi and gave her a hug :)  Liuyameng has helped to translate parts of HelloZiyi.us into Chinese. 

maybelline_beijing13.jpg maybelline_beijing18.jpg

This is just a brief summary, for more see these two image galleries (Gallery 1, Gallery 2). Here are two videos from the event, you really need to see them to get an idea of how much energy and excitement there was.

Ziyi & fans 1 - 11 MB wmv, 5 min Ziyi & fans 2 - 42 MB rm, 25 Min

Thanks to Billie Jean who took several dozen photos at the event. Congratulations to everyone who had a great time!

04/30/05


 

Zhang Ziyi at the Dior fashion show in Seoul

Ziyi was in Seoul, South Korea on April 29th for Christian Dior's 2005 autumn/winter show. Here are some pictures, for a few more see this forum thread.

dior-seoul5.jpg dior-seoul8.jpg dior-seoul7.jpg

"The event at the W Seoul-Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul on Friday will be the first show the French fashion house has sponsored in Asia. Named publicity ambassador to Asia this year by the brand, Zhang Ziyi will show off rich, flamboyant designs by the company’s creative director John Galliano.

Chosen a while ago by the Time weekly as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People, Zhang is said to have been a fan of Christian Dior for a long time -- but it is her beauty that is sure to give the event an added dimension." (source)

Thanks to Fanqiemeimei for the pictures.

04/30/05


 

Zhang Ziyi one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People

For the second time, Ziyi has been included in People magazine's list of the world's 50 most beautiful people. The 2005 list is here, it is alphabetical so scroll down to see her name. She was also on the list in 2001. The issue goes on sale Friday.

Thanks to Timothy for the news.

04/28/05


 

House of Flying Daggers Pictures and DVD discussion

I'll talk more about the new DVD below, but first here is a new gallery of high-res pictures that are worth a look. These are all 1920x1280. See the samples below, then go check out the gallery

Zhang Ziyi house_of_flying_daggers_020.jpg Zhang Ziyi house_of_flying_daggers_011.jpg
Zhang Ziyi house_of_flying_daggers_012.jpg Zhang Ziyi house_of_flying_daggers_017.jpg

This is the second high-quality HoFD gallery I have posted.  If you missed the first one, make sure to go see it because the pictures were especially beautiful.

About the DVD

The new House of Flying Daggers DVD from Sony is very similiar to the Hong Kong two-disc set from Edko that I reviewed earlier. You can see a side-by-side comparison of the image quality at DVD Beaver. The Edko disc is sharper in most places, but the differences are small.  From watching both I can say the Sony disc looks much better during the Echo dance, where the otherwise solid Edko DVD has washed out and blurry footage.  On the whole I gove Sony the edge.

As for special features, it contains the same image galleries, the same making of feature (now subtitled), and the same storyboards.  The big difference is the excellent audio commentary with Ziyi and director Zhang Yimou, it's both fun and informative to hear them discussing the film. 

Parts of the making of feature are still available at Mymovies.net, and I had made two more clips which I will repost below.  The DVD of course still has missing scenes just as with the US theater release. Some of the more graphic violence has been removed and one shot was removed to shorten the film. There are video clips of the two major missing scenes below. On the whole Sony did a good job with the DVD and you should feel comfortable owning it.  You can buy it at Amazon.

Here are some useful video clips -

Missing Scene #1 - Jin slits the throat of a government soldier,4 MB avi
Missing Scene #2 - Jin finds Mei in the field, 8 MB avi

"Making of" Clip #1 - Making the Echo Dance, 10 MB avi
"Making of" Clip #2 - Rehearsing the Bamboo forest fight, 14 MB avi
"Making of" Clip #3 - Zhang Ziyi discusses her dance background, 11 MB wmv

For more about the movie, including videos, pictures, and articles, see the House of Flying Daggers page.

04/27/05


 

Zhang Ziyi appearances for Maybelline and Dior

Ziyi will be in Beijing on Thursday to attend a publicity event for Maybelline. It will be held at the Wanfujing department store, and I think she will be meeting with fans. Then on Friday she will be Seoul for a Christian Dior fashion show. "Named publicity ambassador to Asia this year by the brand, Zhang will show off rich, flamboyant designs by the company’s creative director John Galliano."

04/27/05


 

Time 100 Dinner and more

Ziyi attended a dinner last night hosted by Time magazine for those named to Time's list of the world's 100 most influential people.  Here are some HQ pics from the event.

Time100_dinner-3.jpg Time100_dinner-2.jpg Time100_dinner-1.jpg

The Cannes Film Festival has officially announced their selection of films that will appear at the festival, which runs from May 11th to May 22nd.  Operetta Tanukigoten (Princess Raccoon) will be screened as a film out of competition, so we can most likely expect Ziyi to be in Cannes next month. 

Ziyi was on the cover of the Village Voice last week, a popular New York City weekly.  Alongside is a new scan from Kakamier.

village-voice.jpg ziyi-in-black.jpg

The House of Flying Daggers DVD is now available in the US. You can buy it at Amazon or your local retailer.  I will have more on it later, but for now the Washington Post has a flattering review. A quote:

Both "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" boast visual and thematic elements similar to "Crouching Tiger," but they share something even more tangible: the gorgeous Ziyi Zhang. As long as directors such as Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee keep making (and exporting) visually striking cinematic showcases for the actress's talent and grace, audiences will seek out these films in theaters -- and on DVD.

04/20/05


 

Set pictures from Memoirs of a Geisha

These pictures show the family hut in the fishing village where Chiyo (who later becomes Sayuri) grew up.  We probably won't see Ziyi in these scenes as the young Chiyo will be played by Suzuka Ohgo.  The set is located at the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve in San Mateo, CA. For more information about the movie, see the Memoirs of a Geisha page.

Memoirs-set_2620.jpg Memoirs-set_2666.jpg Memoirs-set_2674.jpg
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Here is how it was described in the novel:

"In our little fishing village of Yoroido, I lived in what I called a "tipsy house." It stood near a cliff where the wind off the ocean was always blowing. As a child it seemed to me as if the ocean had caught a terrible cold, because it was always wheezing and there would be spells when it let out a huge sneeze-which is to say there was a burst of wind with a tremendous spray. I decided our tiny house must have been offended by the ocean sneezing in its face from time to time, and took to leaning back because it wanted to get out of the way. Probably it would have collapsed if my father hadn't cut a timber from a wrecked fishing boat to prop up the eaves, which made the house look like a tipsy old man leaning on his crutch."

You can read the entire first chapter here.

04/14/05


 

Director wants Ziyi in Sinbad film

Rob Cohen, director of the upcoming "8th Voyage of Sinbad" starring Keanu Reeves, wants Ziyi to take the lead female role. It doesn't say she has acepted the part, so we still don't know for sure what her next movie will be. From Entertainment Weekly:

"All heroes need a beautiful gal pal, and Cohen thinks Ziyi Zhang is the one for the job."

Sinbad will starr Keanu Reeves; and Jet Li, Djimon Housou and Zhang Ziyi are being considered for roles. It begins filming in January.

The role Ziyi would be playing, if she takes the part, would be an 8th century Chinese empress. Here's a description of the film from Comingsoon.net

Keanu Reeves will star as Sinbad the sailor, the legendary character from "The Arabian Nights." In the film, set in eighth-century China, Sinbad and his shipmates embark on a quest to find the Lamp of Aladdin. Along the way, they meet a beautiful empress and battle fantastical creatures as well as a rebellious Chinese general who threatens the kingdom with his supernatural powers.

04/13/05


 

Zhang Ziyi named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People

The latest issue of Time magazine has their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Zhang Ziyi is one of the 24 people in the Artists and Entertainers category. Of those 24, the only other actors are Johnny Depp, Jamie Foxx, Hilary Swank, and Clint Eastwood. The writeup about Ziyi is only available to subscribers, so I have posted it below.

China's Gift to Hollywood

By RICHARD CORLISS

Oscar-night-hq6.jpg

The first impression is of a china doll, porcelain pretty, fragile to the touch. It takes a moment to see the resolve in Ziyi Zhang's perfect posture, the ardor in a gaze with laser intensity. The little princess she played in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the movie that introduced her to world audiences, had a sense of drama: a girlish petulance that ripened into mature strength, a will growing steelier before our eyes.

The Beijing native was 20 then. At 26, she has finessed that early promise into a résumé unmatched by any other actress her age. She was the feisty student in love with her master in the worldwide hit Hero, then the renegade kung-fu femme in House of Flying Daggers, executing devious martial artistry. Both films were directed by her discoverer Zhang Yimou. She played a prostitute in Wong Kar-wai's 2046 (to open in the U.S. in August), in which, aswirl in a flutter of erotic pouts and surrendering smiles, she outdazzled such beguilers as Faye Wong and Gong Li. Having done superb work for the top auteurs of all three Chinas, Zhang had no industry left to conquer but Hollywood—which she may have done by snagging the title role in Memoirs of a Geisha, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Oscar winner Rob Marshall (Chicago). It's due out in December.

We're not sure why a Chinese actress was cast as the ultra-Japanese heroine in a movie of Arthur Golden's best seller. The producers must have thought, as we do, that Zhang can inhabit any character with passionate plausibility. She has an ambition that the previous all-China film fatale lacked. Gong Li was happy to stay in the East; she got married, took few roles. Zhang quickly learned English, came West and, after four years of international renown, flipped her name from Zhang Ziyi to Ziyi Zhang.

Can Zhang achieve Western stardom? She would be the first Chinese-born actress to do so. But we wouldn't bet against the slim charmer whose dreams are as big as her awe-inspiring talent.

This is great news for Z and is just one in a chain of recent high profile successes, including her Oscar presentation, the cover of Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue. and The New York Times Style Magazine cover and article.


Sina, the huge Chinese media company that runs Zhang Ziyi's official website (HelloZiyi.com), is running a poll about Time's selection of Ziyi. They have decided to us this occasion to create controversy instead of to positively promote Ziyi, and their poll has slanted and hostile questions. I think we should all vote in it to show our support for Ziyi.  Go here and choose the first choices under each question to support Z.  

http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/m/2005-04-11/2105700352.html

The poll questions are translated below, with my comments in brackets.

1. "Time" says Zhang Ziyi is "China's gift to Hollywood"; after Gong Li, she is the most famous Chinese actress in the eyes of Westerners. What is your opinion? [Ziyi is far more famous in the West than Gong Li, to begin with.]

- I approve of it, she has become part of Hollywood.
- I disapprove of it, she cannot represent Chinese actresses.
- I can't say, Westerner's don't know enough Chinese actresses.

2. What do you think is the biggest reason Time chose Zhang Ziyi?

- Her acting talent.
- Her appearance.
- Her personality. [The Chinese media often criticizes her for catering to Western tastes.]

3. How do you see Zhang Ziyi's future development?

- Hopefully she will become Hollywood's Eastern star.
- First she needs to learn to speak English properly, then we will see. [The Chinese media has often been critical of her English.]
- I can't say.

This is not the first time Sina has done something like this, they have previously published a fake nude photo of her, and they routinely report inaccurate news and rumors. You might be wondering why the company that runs her official website would do that to her. As far as I can tell, it basically because they are jerks. They care more about using her to promote themselves and their business than in promoting Ziyi in a positive way. You also might be wondering why Ziyi doesn't just go kick their asses. I don't know the answer to that, but I would assume it involves a contract she has gotten locked into, and that Sina is a rather large, billion dollar company.


In related but less important news, the New York Daily News included Ziyi as one of the 10 movie stars on their "Hot, hotter, hottest" list. 

Lastly, Ziyi is on the cover of the Beijing Review alongside Indian actress Aishwarya Rai

04/12/05


 

New Gallery - Wallpapers 2

Here's a new gallery, Wallpapers 2.  36 stunning Zhang Ziyi wallpapers, mostly made by Wangerlai, wallpaper-guy extroadinaire. If the Cuteone doesn't already grace your desktop, what are you waiting for? Go check out the gallery.

895ziyi-zhang-wallpaper-003.jpg 895wel-zz22.jpg 924ds9r_ziyi_a.jpg

04/10/05


 

2046 US Release Date, Tanuki Goten at Cannes, New pictures

2046 will be released in the US on August 8th, according to the Sony Pictures Classics website. Oddly, the running time is listed as TBD (To Be Determined), but hopefully Sony will do the right thing and present the full uncut Hong Kong version.  Later this month, 2046 will have its US premiere in New York City during the Tribeca Film Festival.

Variety is reporting that Operetta Tanuki Goten ("Princess Raccoon") has been chosen as an Official Selection for the Cannes Film Festival, which will be held in May. May looks set to be a busy month for Z, with Jasmine Women opening in China early in the month, Cannes in the middle (May 11th-22nd), and the Japanese release of Tanuki Goten at the end of the month, May 28th.

Kakamier sends in some new scans.

Zhang Ziyi asience-large.jpg Zhang Ziyi hofd-action.jpg
Zhang ziyi-bw1.jpg Zhang ziyi-bw2.jpg

And Fanqiemeimei found this set of 26 excellent photos of the Hong Kong Film Awards.  A few samples are below, for the rest see this gallery page.

Zhang Ziyi hkfa2005-25.jpg Zhang Ziyi hkfa2005-24.jpg Zhang Ziyi hkfa2005-13.jpg

04/07/05


 

Zhang Ziyi at an Armani party in Tokyo

On April 1st Zhang Ziyi attended a party in Tokyo hosted by fashion designer Giorgio Armani. It was held after his first fashion show in Japan in 8 years. Here are a few hi-res pictures, thanks to Moses.

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Ziyi wore an Armani dress to the AFI Festival for the premiere of House of Flying Daggers.

04/03/05


 

New Asience "Asian Beauty" Commercial

Ziyi is in a new commercial. Asience, the Japanese maker of beauty products, has released their sixth "Asian Beauty" commercial starring Zhang Ziyi.  This spot is set in a musuem decorated with large pictures of Z, other musuems should take note. You can watch it here.

Zhang Ziyi Asience commercial

I think she made this during early February, right after filming ended for Memoirs of a Geisha. The release of this spot was likely timed to coincide with Ziyi's visit to Japan.  The other five "Asian Beauty" commercials, all featuring Ziyi, are on the videos page.

04/02/05


 

Videos from the Tanuki Goten press conference

This Japanese website has an excellent five minute video from the Operetta Tanuki Goten press conference which was covered in the previous news update. It also includes some short scenes from the movie. And here is another short video with one more scene (the talking in the background is actor Joe Odagiri answering a question): Tanuki Goten scene - 1 MB wmv.

Zhang Ziyi tanuki-goten-video3.jpg Zhang Ziyi tanuki-goten-video2.jpg

For more information about the movie, visit the Operetta Tanuki Goten page.

03/30/05


 

Operetta Tanuki Goten press conference!

Operetta Tanuki Goten

A Tanuki Goten extravaganza! Zhang Ziyi is already in Japan and has attended a press conference to promote Operetta Tanuki Goten. News reports say the film has been submitted for the Cannes Film Festival, and that advance ticket sales are already higher than for Spiderman 2. The film is set for release in Japan on May 28th.

The official website has been completely redone, and it's lovely (but all in Japanese.) Best of all it has music, the sweet sounds of Ziyi singing! I saved the 3 songs that can be played and you can download them here.


Audio Clips

Chan - 1 MB mp3 - This is Zhang Ziyi singing by herself, in Chinese.
Two - 2 MB mp3 - Ziyi and Joe Odagiri singing together in Japanese, as in the trailer.
Joe - 1 MB mp3 - Joe singing by himself.


Pictures

New pictures from the website

tanuki-goten-main.jpg tanuki-goten-ziyi-joe.jpg tanuki-goten-ziyi.jpg

And pictures from the press conference.  There are 12 total, so I made a seperate gallery for them.  Here are three samples

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For more information about the movie, visit the Operetta Tanuki Goten page.

03/29/05


 

More from the Hong Kong Film Awards

Moses sent in these two superb high resolution pictures. In the second Ziyi is posing with her 2046 costar Tony Leung, who won the award for Best Actor.

In case you were wondering, her dress is by Salvatore Ferregamo. Also, I have two more videos. The first is of her arrival: Ziyi arrives - 2 MB wmv

The next video is of the press reception after the ceremony: Zhang Ziyi at press reception - 2 MB wmv (This is just a sample of a longer video you can watch here.)

03/29/05


 

Zhang Ziyi wins Best Actress at Hong Kong Film Awards

The Hong Kong Film Awards were held on Sunday, and as many expected Zhang Ziyi walked away with the Best Actress award for 2046. In addition, Ziyi presented the award for Best Director alongside Tian Zhuangzhuang (director of The Blue Kite.)  Her escort on the carpet was actor Chang Chen, a costar from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and 2046.

Here is a picture gallery with 47 images from the ceremony.  A few samples

ziyi_with_chang_chen.jpg Ziyi_24thHKFA11.jpg Ziyi_24thHKFA9.jpg


And here are the videos. Zhang Ziyi and Tian Zhuangzhuang present the award for Best Director to Derek Lee for One Night in Mongkok: Presenting Best Director - 10 MB rm

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Ziyi wins the Best Actress award, presented by Andy Lau and Carina Lau. While in the audience she was sitting right next to Ang Lee: Receiving Best Actress - 5 MB rm

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2046 won a total of six awards including Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume/Make Up Design, and Best Original Film Score. Monkeypeaches has the complete list of winners and nominees.

03/27/05


 

Producers respond to "The Geisha, in Translation"

Two weeks ago I posted an article about Memoirs of a Geisha from the LA Times titled "The geisha, in translation".

The LA Times has now published a letter from the producers of Memoirs of a Geisha, Steven Spielberg, Lucy Fisher, and Douglas Wick, in response to what they see as criticism towards their casting choices.  While this was written in response to a single article, I think it clearly applies to the entire unfortunate debate that has swirled around the casting choices from the beginning.  Here are some excerpts from the strongly worded letter:

Times staff writer Wallace [seems to imply] that when it comes to roles in our movie, only a Japanese actor should be allowed to bring these characters to life.

...Should the historical turbulence between China and Japan prevent Zhang Ziyi from being cast in roles she completely commands with elegance, talent and grace?

Casting a film should never be subject to a political litmus test. Isn't there already enough prejudice in the world? Films such as "Memoirs of a Geisha" allow audiences to travel across borders and peek behind cultural curtains to discover the universality of human emotions.

Criticizing a film because of an actor's birthplace or race is as ugly as it is wrong. When audiences finally see "Memoirs of a Geisha," they will be captivated by the amazing performers who have respectfully and lovingly brought this forgotten world and epic love story to life.

I am happy to see the producers come out and say that criticizing an actress as inappropriate for a role simply because of her nationality is prejudice. People who insist that Japanese roles only go to Japanese actors are essentially demanding that Marshall and Spielberg discriminate against Chinese and other non-Japanese actors, excluding them no matter what their talents or accomplishments may be.

03/23/05


 

2046 US release details

2046, the award winning blend of classic romance and science fiction starring Zhang Ziyi, will have its US premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 23rd. According to Moviehole, the premiere will be followed by a general release in the fall. Lead actor Tony Leung will be attendance, but there is no word yet about Ziyi.

03/23/05


 

Ziyi on CCTV

There were two half-hour long TV specials about Ziyi broadcast on CCTV-6 on the 21st and 22nd. I don't know anything about them, as even most of the Chinese fans seemed to have missed it. From these pictures the content seems to be similiar to the hour long Japanese TV special back in December: a biography with footage of her early dancing, some behind the scenes material from Tanuki Goten, and I'm not sure what else. If anyone knows more about the programs, email me: hzadmin@helloziyi.us

(Update: Mocha posted his description of them in the forums.)

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Here is a CCTV interview Ziyi made before the Oscars. The clothing she is wearing is the same as in the Oscar rehearsal photos. This interview is also from CCTV-6 but I don't know if it was part of the TV specials or not. CCTV Oscar interview - 5MB wmv

03/22/05


 

Zhang Ziyi News: HKFA, new pictures, PB in Chicago, DVD boxsets

Ziyi will be attending the Hong Kong Film Awards to be held this Sunday. She is nominated for the best actress award for 2046. Good luck Z!

Here are a few nice pictures sent in by "Kakamier"

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oscar96.jpg oscar97.jpg

Purple Butterfly will be playing in Chicago (finally) starting on Friday at the Siskel Film Center. It will be playing all next week.

Here you can find some pictures of the Japanese deluxe boxset of House of Flying Daggers. It's a pretty amazing package, but unfortunately costs about $100

Not to be outdone, here are pictures of the 2046 Extreme(ly Expensive) Edition from Taiwan, complete with a 2046 totebag and T shirt. It sells for $150. Ouch! Maybe if it came with a pair of Wong Kar Wai's trademark dark shades...speaking of which, Sina managed to snag some pics of Wong without his dark shades, quite a feat.

03/22/05


 

Zhang Ziyi Interview

Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre has posted an exclusive interview (scroll down) with Zhang Ziyi. It was conducted on the set of Memoirs of a Geisha back in December by journalist Akiko Tetsuta.  Below are some interesting excerpts,

Q: Interesting comparing to "House of Flying Daggers"... So how is it going? You're wearing the kimono.

Zhang Ziyi: (in English) It's different! (the rest is in Chinese) In fact I feel that our costume, wardrobe and makeup are very helpful for us. They provide such an environment that we can look for the right feeling. I feel the character has gotten more and more under my skin. Because if you portray such a character you need to truly understand it....

Q: And how is it working with the Japanese actors in this film?

Zhang Ziyi: Very happy. With them together you can learn a lot. Because they are so natural in terms of the walking and the different aspects of Japanese culture. They don't have to think about it. It's in their blood. Many times they have helped us. For example, like Ken Watanabe often says: oh it's better if you put your hands here, or, it's better if you walk like this. And Yuki Kudoh has been very helpful as well.

03/12/05


 

Operetta Tanuki Goten and Asience

All the news is from Japan today. There was a press conference in Tokyo a few days ago concerning Operetta Tanuki Goten.  Zhang Ziyi was not there, but director Seijun Suzuki announced that post-production work was completed and a release date of May 28th was set. A soundtrack will also be availabe on May 11th, and it should include a track with Ziyi singing. Here are a few production photos I hadn't posted before.

Zhang Ziyi in tanuki-goten1.jpg Zhang Ziyi in tanuki-goten3.jpg Zhang Ziyi in tanuki-goten4.jpg

Asience, the Japanese maker of beauty products, has started an online promotion campaign and they have some new pictures of Ziyi. I also recently added all the Asience commercials to the videos page.

Zhang Ziyi asience-promo1.jpg Zhang Ziyi asience-promo2.jpg
Zhang Ziyi asience-promo3.jpg Zhang Ziyi asience-promo4.jpg

Thanks to Hiro at Ziyifan.com (Japanese.)

03/11/05


 

Memoirs of a Geisha News

The LA Times has a long, informative article on Memoirs of a Geisha titled "The geisha, in translation". It includes a small picture of Zhang Ziyi performing the umbrella dance in the snow. The new picture is on the left, the older one from Entertainment Weekly is on the right for comparison.

Zhang Ziyi - Memoirs of a Geisha Zhang Ziyi - Memoirs of a Geisha

Excerpts from the article

[Director Rob Marshall] acknowledges that casting a movie of mixed cultural complexion was not his original preference. The director says he spent a year searching for a Japanese actress with the combination of dancing skills, beauty and English proficiency to play Sayuri.

"She also had to be someone who could hold a movie, carry it on her back," Marshall said. "I felt like I was casting Scarlett O'Hara."

"I said, 'Guys, we need to cast a wider net,' " Marshall recalls. Back in New York, he met and auditioned Ziyi Zhang. "I had seen her in 'Crouching Tiger' and thought she was beautiful," he says, adding with a laugh that Spielberg had rejected Zhang for a part in "Memoirs" years earlier because the only English words she knew at the time were "hire me."

But the new director was taken by Zhang's athleticism and her dancer's training. "It was the fit," he says. "It was the slipper."

The decision to cast Chinese actresses in the main roles was widely debated at Sony Pictures — a Japanese company, after all — and by the movie's producers, including Spielberg. In a movie without a big-name male lead, Zhang's rising star power in the West had appeal. She is already a superstar in Asia and is well-known in Japan.

Thanks to Jane and Eric for the news!

03/07/05


 

Zhang Ziyi Music Video, Articles page update

This is a new Ziyi music video made by fan John Nguyen. It's titled "Chang Xiang Si", which means "long yearning love" or lovesickness. The music is a song by S.H.E of the same title. The video is 4:30 long. The scenes are mostly about love and yearning from all Ziyi's various movies and it's put together quite well. The music is good too.

Chang Xiang Si - 43 MB avi


The Articles page has been updated with five of the most recent articles about Ziyi,

Zhang Ziyi - Already an Icon - The Times of London, December 2004
Zhang's action career flying high in U.S. - Boston Herald. December 2004
Zhang Ziyi Redefines Action - NOW Toronto, December 2004
15 Things to Know About Zhang Ziyi - Chicago Tribune, December 2004
A Star Rises - The New York Times, February 2005


03/06/05


 

Jasmine Women Pictures and Posters

[updateMonkeyPeaches corrected me about the release date, which has been pushed back from March to May.]

Here's a new gallery of 11 promotional photos and four posters, Jasmine Women gallery . A few samples are below.

Zhang Ziyi jasmine-women6.jpg Zhang Ziyi jasmine-women3.jpg
Zhang Ziyi jasmine-women11.jpg Zhang Ziyi jasmine-women4.jpg

These are two of the four official posters, the complete set is in the gallery.

jw-poster1.jpg jw-poster4.jpg

Jasmine Women was first shown in China at the Shanghai Film Festival in June of last year, where it won the Jury Prix Prize. Zhang Ziyi's performance also won her Best Actress at the Golden Rooster Awards, China's most prestigious film awards. It is due for release in China in May.

A story of love and loss in three generations of a single family in Shanghai, Jasmine Women tells of the family's struggle to overcome its tragic history, as each daughter repeats the mistakes of her mother. Zhang Ziyi plays mother, daughter, and granddaughter as the film moves from the 1930's to the 1950's to the 1970's. Co-starring with her is Joan Chen, and they are supported by a trio of popular Chinese actors, Jiang Wen, Lu Yi, and Liu Ye (who was also in Purple Butterfly.)

For more information about the film, including a trailer, plot summary, and articles, visit the Jasmine Women page.

03/03/05


 

House of Flying Daggers HQ gallery

Here are the House of Flying Daggers pictures I promised. There are 12 total so I made a seperate gallery for them, HoFD High Quality Pictures . These are by far the best HoFD pictures available, and some of the most beautiful pictures of Ziyi ever made. Below are a few samples

Zhang Ziyi Hofd-hq1.jpg Zhang Ziyi hofd-hq2.jpg
Zhang Ziyi hofd-hq4.jpg Zhang Ziyi hofd-hq10.jpg

Now go see the whole gallery. Once again, thanks to Moses for these pictures.

03/01/05


 

Z News

Fiziyi found some more lovely Oscar night photos, which are exceptionally cute even for the Cuteone

Zhang Ziyi 240ziyi_oscars1.jpg Zhang Ziyi 240ziyi_oscars2.jpg Zhang Ziyi 240ziyi_oscars6.jpg

In other news, Ziyi has been nominated for "Most Popular Actress" from the China Film Billboard Awards. According to Xinhua, these new awards are "jointly sponsored by the Chinese Director’s Association, Film Publishing Association and Cinema Association....The winner [of the "Most Popular Actress"] will be decided by a public poll and announced at the ceremony later this month."

03/01/05



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