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News Archives - May 2005 to June 2005
New MTV pictures and more
Six more HQ photos were added to the MTV Movie Awards gallery, a few are below. Thanks to Mansi of Aishwarya-Forever for the pics.
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And here are a few more nice pictures, courtesy of Fiziyi and Fanqiemeimei.
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06/30/05
New Asience "Asian Beauty" commercial
Zhang Ziyi stars in her seventh "Asian Beauty" commercial for Asience, the Japanese beauty products company. A man asks what is her secret, and she replies "Inner beauty." You can watch the commercial here
The first five "Asian Beauty" commercials, all featuring Ziyi, are on the videos page, and the sixth is here.
06/28/05
2046 Official US Site Open
The official US site for 2046 has opened today: 2046film.com. The US release of 2046 is slated for August 5th. You can watch the trailer here.
Thanks to Monkeypeaches for the news.
06/28/05
Zhang Ziyi in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly has included Ziyi in their list of the "Must" see stars of 2005, noting her upcoming appearances in Memoirs of a Geisha and 2046. The article comes with a large picture of Z and a short interview. I scanned both below
06/24/05
Ziyi invited to join the Oscar's Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited Zhang Ziyi to join their membership, which basically means she will be able to vote for the Oscars next year. Congratulations Z!
06/24/05
Memoirs of a Geisha News
A new official poster for Memoirs of a Geisha was shown at a recent convention in New York, and AICN managed to get a nice picture of it. This same picture was actually shown on the MTV Movie Awards two weeks ago, but since it was shown in black and white, you couldn't see the distinctive white makeup and blue eyes, so no one connected it to Memoirs.
Also, according to Comingsoon.net and Variety, director Rob Marshall has finished his first cut of Memoirs and showed it to Sony executives on Friday. Jane at Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre says some prints of Bewitched had labels indicating that the Memoirs trailer was to be included with it, so it was possibly only withdrawn at the last moment.
06/24/05
Princess Raccoon Reviews
AICN has an ecstatic review of Princess Raccoon, which was shown this week at the New York Asian Film Festival. You should read it all, here's the beginning:
Veteran director Seijun Suzuki's new film Princess Raccoon, making its North American debut about four hours ago at the New York Asian Film Festival, is the most jaw-droppingly insane, hilarious, sweet, beautiful and tuneful film I've seen in many moons. It is a crowning work for the aging, ailing auteur, a valedictory, joyous lap around a century of Japanese cinema and Eastern and Western music. This is no old man's movie. This is the work of a man dementedly drunk on the beauty of movies and myth. I. Fucking. Loved. This. Movie. And if you have a heart in your chest and an inner child that hasn't been suffocated by decades of cynicism, you will love it too....more
Twitchfilm also has their Princess Raccoon review up
There are the vibrant and beautiful period costumes that fill every scene with color, a hallmark of any Seijun Suzuki film. There are the sets, which at times are extremely minimal and look more like they're from a stage play than a film. At times characters appear superimposed over what look like images from Japanese prints, but the prints aren't static backgrounds. Waterfalls cascade, and rivers snake through them. This does a good job of putting the viewer into an unfamiliar space. Are we watching a play? A movie of a play? A movie musical? Maybe we're somewhere in that "floating world" Japanese woodblock prints are meant to represent.
06/24/05
Ziyi filming a new Maybelline commercial
On Thursday, Zhang Ziyi was in New York filming a new commercial for Maybelline. Check out this gallery with 16 HQ pictures from the photoshoot. A few samples are below.
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Thanks to Moses for the pictures.
06/19/05
Memoirs of a Geisha pics and trailer update
It seems the rumor about the Memoirs of a Geisha trailer being shown next week with Bewitched is false. That's a shame because I'm certain we were all looking forward to it. But to make up for it here are some HQ versions of the Memoirs promotional pictures. In the first one, you can clearly see the blue contact lenses Ziyi had to wear. Click to enlarge
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And here is an two-part article titled "Cinderella in Kimonos" that was written by one of the extras, describing his experience making the film. A quote:
While I snacked at the craft services table, young Chiyo & Pumpkin were filmed running to geisha school. Late in the afternoon, preparations began for a scene at the Baron's Estate (the Tea Garden entrance). Three 1930s luxury cars were brought out, including a Pierce-Arrow and a Maybach SW 38; extras were nattily dressed as servants and guests in both Western & Japanese garb. The last minutes of daylight were used to film the arrival of Sayuri & Mr. Bekku...Because the car's 70-yr. old windows had permanent streaks, they were rolled down for the shot - moving reflections would be added digitally, along with the background, a bamboo forest. When Zhang Ziyi was filmed in full geisha drag, peering out in wonder, she was a sublime spectacle of exotic glamour. It was impossible not to stare. To simulate motion, crewmen behind scrims waved panels to cast shadows on the car, and another man jostled it, using a long 2x4 as a lever. After several takes, we were wrapped.
For more information about the movie, see the Memoirs of a Geisha page
06/18/05
Memoirs of a Geisha news
Rumor is that the first trailer for Memoirs of a Geisha will be attched to Bewitched, which opens June 24th. There is a new poster being used for the film at the official Spyglass site. It is very similiar to some of the book dustjackets, so I am not sure if this is specifically intended for the film. It is only thumbnail size.
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Thanks to Chian for the poster
06/16/05
New Pictures
This forum thread has some nice pictures of Ziyi from the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and a House of Flying Daggers press conference in Korea last year. Thanks to Moses for the pictures.
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06/15/05
MTV Movie Awards Video
The MTV Movie Awards were broadcast last night. Thanks to Shadow for making this video of Zhang Ziyi presenting the award for Best Kiss with Paul Walker. Ziyi's MTV Presentation - 14 MB avi
06/10/05
Princess Raccoon review, Australian screening
Salon has a short review of Zhang Ziyi's latest film Princess Raccon (Operetta Tanuki Goten). This is actually from the end of a review of Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle", which opens today in a few cities. Here's the relevant part:
I confess that my problems with "Howl's Moving Castle" may have been exacerbated by the fact that I'd been lucky enough to see a new movie by the 82-year-old wild-card director Seijun Suzuki in the same week. Suzuki's "Princess Raccoon," which stars the luminous and dazzlingly gifted Zhang Ziyi (and which will play the New York Asian Film Festival later this month), is the kind of dream-logic fairy tale that Miyazaki's pictures aspire to be -- it's live-action filmmaking that's more enchanting, and wilder, than almost any animation I've ever seen. "Princess Raccoon" is a musical that was clearly made on a tiny budget, though it feels lavish: The hero must save the life of the woman he loves by capturing the Frog of Paradise, which is really just a small gilt figurine but which nonetheless has a healing croak; spirit characters emerge from a rock grotto that's basically a charcoal-drawing backdrop, and the juxtaposition of reality and fantasy is heart-stopping.
"Princess Raccoon" is inventive, weird and beautiful, all the qualities that are commonly ascribed to Miyazaki's movies. But unlike "Howl's Moving Castle," it's also passionate and heartfelt, and not just an exercise in studied whimsy. Sadly, unlike "Howl's Moving Castle," "Princess Raccoon" won't play multiplexes, which means that relatively few people will have a chance to see it. Miyazaki may be a mischievous, talented demon; but Suzuki is a grand, invisible prince.
Australian readers will be happy to hear the Princess Raccon will be screening later this month at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
06/10/05
More MTV photos, Princess Raccon premiere tickets on sale
Here are five more HQ pictures from the MTV Movie Awards. Yes, that means more great legs in short shorts...oooh, too cute. Thanks to our friend Moses. If you missed the first 10, check them out here.
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- Tickets for the US premiere of Princess Raccoon (Operetta Tanuki Goten) are now on sale at the website for the New York Asian Film Festival. It will be showing on 6/19 and 6/25. If you live in or near NYC, get your tickets now. From the site:
We are over-joyed to host the North American Premiere of his latest movie, fresh out of Cannes: Princess Raccoon. A musical, starring Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, this flick tells the story of a young prince who is banished from the palace and falls in love with a tanuki princess. A what princess? A tanuki: a magical Japanese raccoon that can disguise itself as a human. Zhang Ziyi plays the tanuki princess and, needless to say, things get wild and wooly in a song-and-dance kind of way. For director Seijun Suzuki, making a movie is just downright fun, and his joy is infectious. Silly and stunning, Princess Raccoon is a wild ride if you've got your head on right.
06/07/05
Zhang Ziyi at the MTV Movie Awards
Ziyi attended the MTV Movie awards last night, where she had been nominated for Best Fight for a scene from House of Flying Daggers. She didn't win, but she did get to present the award for Best Kiss along with Paul Walker. The awards show will be broadcast on MTV June 9th, at 8:30 EST.
Here are some HQ pics, for more see the MTV photo gallery.
Thanks to Moses and emacs for the pictures.
New Tanuki Goten trailer, Cannes videos, more
- Operetta Tanuki Goten was released in Japan last week, and a new trailer was made available. It's quite different from the first one, you should give it a look.
- Here is a brief english interview Ziyi gave while in Cannes, along with a higher quality video of her presentation speech.
| Interview - 2 MB wmv | Presentation - 8 MB wmv |
- UK magazine Harper and Queens has named Ziyi to their list of the world's most beautiful women.
- CRI reports that Zhang Ziyi has been named one of the Top Ten Youth Pioneers in China: "The ten Chinese youth pioneers are all under the age of thirty-five and have been influential in their fileds. Judges also considered if they acted as positive representatives of China to the world." Incidently, it was very polite of CRI to credit HelloZiyi.us as the source for one of their stories last week.
- Zhang Ziyi was on the cover of Japan's Mainichi Sunday Magazine last week.
Thanks to gaoda_gy and Weiweigege for the videos.
06/04/05
Zhang Ziyi in V Life magazine
Z is featured in this month's V Life magazine along with her Memoirs of a Geisha co-star Michelle Yeoh. Both have short interviews that discuss 'Memoirs' and there is a longer article which talks about Zhang Ziyi and the growing success of Chinese film in general. Here is Ziyi's interview:
'Working on "Memoirs" was wonderful because Michelle and I had more time to have conversations. There's still pressure (on the set), but this time it's more about the language barriers. We did hair and makeup in the same trailer every day, so we had many opportunities to talk and catch up on everything that's been happening since "Crouching Tiger." We were like girlfriends, all of the girls, just talking and laughing all the time.
'Rob (Marshall) was very patient. Everyone had their interpreters on the set - Chinese for me and (Gong) Li, and Japanese for Ken (Watanabe) and Koji (Yakusho) - so it was very hectic. If he didn't have enough patience, I can't imagine how this would have worked. Like Zhang Yimou ("Hero"), he's always thinking about his actors and looking out for them, protecting their emotional well-being. I think that is why anyone who has ever worked with Rob is so appreciative of him.'
You can read the article: page 1, page 2, page3 - and Michelle Yeoh's interview
And of course the pictures
Michelle Yeoh's pictures came out very nice too: pic 1, pic 2
05/26/05
Operetta Tanuki Goten Interview and Review
The Japan Times has an informative review of Operetta Tanuki Goten. They also have an interview with director Seijun Suzuki. Here's an excerpt
The songs are an important element. How was Zhang Ziyi's singing of the Japanese lyrics?
That was a problem (laughs). At first I wondered what I could do. She was singing by rote memorization, without understanding the meaning. There was no way she could really get the feeling of the lyrics. But with practice she ended up being pretty good. I was relieved (laughs).
The story is not just a romance with a happy ending. The princess has to fight for a forbidden love -- that is, love with a human being. How did you come up with that particular story?
It's the Snow Princess [Yuki Hime] story. The basic idea is that of love blooming after the lovers die. Both the man and the woman are dead. Then they come back to life and kiss for the first time. That's a bit different from the love stories we've had till now, wouldn't you say?
Thanks to Bobby for the news.
05/26/05
2046 Screenings
2046 will be shown next month at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 25-26. There will also be a special screening in New York City on June 19 with Wong Kar Wai in attendance, the remaining tickets are standby only.
05/26/05
Cannes Wrapup - HQ photos, Princess Raccoon review
The Cannes photo gallery has been updated with 12 HQ pics from the Tanuki Goten premiere and the closing ceremony. A few are below
The NY Sun has a review of Operetta Tanuki Goten ("Princess Raccoon"). An excerpt
Simultaneously exhilarating and enervating, Seijun Suzuki's hallucinatory operetta "Princess Raccoon," screening out of competition, was the perfect film to end the festival...Although technically the penultimate press screening (Martha Fiennes's "Chromophobia" was the official closer), "Princess Raccoon" came as a jolt of sheer spectacle late Friday morning...Playing the titular royalty, Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi dazzles as an otherworldly vision.
Sina has an Chinese interview with Ziyi about Princess Raccoon, and also a video of her awards presentation, in case you missed my update yesterday. (For instructions on saving the videos, see this thread.)
Thanks to Moses and Mansi of Aishwarya-Forever for the pictures.
05/23/05
Zhang Ziyi in Cannes 5/21 - Closing Cerememony
At the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, Zhang Ziyi presented the award for Best Screenplay to Guillermo Arriaga, for his script of The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, directed by Tommy Lee Jones. Update: Sina has a video of her presentation.
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Here are slightly larger pictures from the premiere of Operetta Tanuki Goten on Friday , there are more in this forum thread.
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Reuter's has an article based an interview Ziyi gave while in Cannes. An excerpt
"I always think it's really hard if you are Asian or Chinese to be really in Hollywood," Zhang Ziyi said.
"There are not so many really great characters for you. I always think you are lucky to get offered (something like) 'Memoirs of a Geisha', but I don't think it will happen all the time."
Speaking of Memoirs of a Geisha, Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre found this photo of Sayuri (Zhang) and Mameha (Yeoh) entering a teahouse.
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05/21/05
Zhang Ziyi in Cannes 5/20
Operetta Tanukigoten is being premiered as I write this, hopefully we'll have some pictures and videos from the red-carpet soon. Here is a quote from director Seijun Suzuki
"Imagine blending elements of architecture, art and traditional prforming arts like Kabuki and Noh... with opera, ballet, and rock'n'roll! Operetta Tanukigoten (Princess Raccoon) tells a compelling story about the triumphant nature of self-determination, beauty, and love."
Updates:
- First pics from the red carpet,
- 10 More HQ photos from Thursday - thanks Mansi!
- A very positive short review from the New York Times
MANOHLA DARGIS | 05.20 02:06 PM
Good Fun From JapanSeijun Suzuki's "Princess Raccoon" is mad, nuts, lysergic, wonderful, kitsch, genius, smutty, sexy, funny, funny, funny, Zhang Ziyi, Joe Odagiri, Kabuki,"Snow White," "The Wizard of Oz," "Romeo and Juliet," Noh, hip-hop, rock, Broadway, Disney, fuzzy-wuzzys, yakuza, swordsman, by the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea, the cherry blossoms are in bloom again. In other words: I had a blast.
05/20/05
Zhang Ziyi in Cannes 5/19 - HQ photos
On Thursday Ziyi attended the "Cinema Against AIDS" Gala, which raised $3 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. (story). Here are five high res photos, thanks to Moses and Mansi of Aishwarya-Forever.
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Time reports on events earlier in the day
The Carlton Beach was a-dazzle with beautiful people in formal dress. Mainland star Zhang Ziyi, who will light up U.S. moviehouses this December as the lead in the Steven Spielberg production of Memoirs of a Geisha, was even more radiant than usual, pouting only when she said of her Hollywood handlers that "they made me" upend her Western screen name to Ziyi Zhang. Her Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon co-star, martial-arts prima ballerina Michelle Yeoh, set a thousand paparazzi bulbs to popping and graciously endured a hundred interviews —though she didn't repeat one of her greatest stunts, in the same venue five years ago, when she hosted a contest to see who could consume the most Chinese liqueur and drank some of her heavier Western competitors literally under the table.
05/20/05
Ziyi arrives in Cannes - Pictures and Videos
Zhang Ziyi arrived in Cannes on Wednesday to attend Chinese Film Night. Many other stars of Chinese film were in attendace, including Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung, and John Woo. Here are a few pictures and video clips.
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Videos
Ziyi at China Film Night - 8 MB wmv, She yells "Oh my God!" at 0:45, I can't make out who the guy is though.
Ziyi Interview (in Chinese) - 8 MB wmv
Thanks to Fanqiemeimei for the pictures.
05/20/05
Gong Li and Maggie Cheung picture gallery
It's really hard to find good pictures of Gong Li and Maggie Cheung on english-language websites, which is surprising as they are two of the most beautiful and accomplished actresses in the world. To fill that hole I made a gallery with 30 of their best pictures, just click below
Gong Li and Maggie Cheung gallery
Gong Li worked with Ziyi on 2046 and will costar with her in Memoirs of a Geisha.
Maggie Cheung costarred with Ziyi in Hero and had a cameo in 2046. She is one of the most popular actresses in Hong Kong film history, and won the Best Actress award at last years Cannes Film Festival.
Amazing ladies, right? Now go see the whole gallery.
05/18/05
Ziyi in Cannes, Zu Warriors release in August
-Zhang Ziyi will arrive in Cannes on Wednesday to attend Chinese film night, a special event at this years festival to celebrate 100 years of Chinese filmmaking.
- Operetta Tanukigoten will be shown in Cannes on Saturday. The festival website has a page for the movie with a dialogue extract and a synopsis, which I'll quote below
No man should love a 'tanuki'. Even less should this enchanted forest creature ever love a man.
Princess Tanuki was invited to Raccoon Palace from the land of Cathay. Amechiyo is a Prince whose father Azuchi Momoyama, Lord of Castle Grace, seeks his life.
It is their fate to fall in love at first sight, but one obstacle after another keeps them apart. Only the holy Kairasu Mountain knows the course their love will take.
- Legend of Zu, filmed in 2001, will finally be released in the US by Miramax on August 19th under the title "Zu Warriors". See the official page on Miramax's website. You can download the trailer here, and there are old reviews at Kung Fu Cinema and Love HK Film.
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Thanks to Daniel for the news.
05/17/05
Zhang Ziyi "still considers herself a Hollywood outsider"
The Associated Press has an article about Ziyi, it reports on a recent interview she gave to a Chinese newspaper. Here's a quote
"I don't want to call myself a Hollywood star because I still feel like an outsider at this moment... Hollywood is, of course, an ideal place for any actor or actress, because it draws the best talent in the world, and being part of the scene has given me access to a wider scope of scripts and roles... But at this time I still feel like a transient; it's not my world,"
"Everything in Hollywood is big-budget and sophisticated, but it doesn't necessarily mean bigger is better," Zhang said. "For me it's not where the film is made but the story itself that is important. I think 'The Road Home' was an excellent film for me as an actress but it cost very little to make compared with Hollywood movies,"
05/17/05
Starstyle Revisited
Last year Zhang Ziyi did one of her best photoshoots ever for Starstyle magazine. Here are scans of these great pictures that are larger and better than any before. There are seven total, to see them all click here
Thanks to Moses for finding these.
05/14/05
Ziyi a Presenter at MTV Movie Awards, Princess Raccoon News
- Zhang Ziyi will be a presenter at the MTV Movie Awards, according to Entertainment Weekly. The awards will be filmed on June 4 and broadcast on June 9.
- The US premiere of Operetta Tanuki Goten (Princess Raccoon) will be at the New York Asian Film Festival, which runs from June 17-30. Their website is here, but it doesn't mention Princess Raccoon yet. (Thanks to twitchfilm.com)
- The Princess Raccoon soundtrack was released yesterday, hmv.co has short excerpts from all 26 tracks. Most of the ones with Ziyi singing are already available on my Princess Raccoon page.
- Taiwanese politician James Soong, twice nearly elected Premiere of Taiwan, gave a speech at Beijing's Tsinghua University where he used Ziyi's recent Newsweek cover as an illustration of China's growing prominance. He specifically mentioned Zhang Ziyi, along with other filmmakers like Ang Lee, as helping to lead the way.
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Thanks to Billie-Jean and Fanqiemeimei for the news.
05/12/05
Operetta Tanuki Goten Preview Video
Here are a few nice things for those looking forward to Zhang Ziyi's upcoming Japanese musical, Operetta Tanuki Goten (Princess Raccoon).
First is a preview video with seven minutes of footage. It begins with some cute tapdancing and ends with powerful dramatic scene where Ziyi's character, Tanuki-hime, is in anguished mourning. This is the most we've ever gotten to see of the film. Tanuki Goten Preview Video - 15 MB rm
Moses sent in some high-res promotional photos. I've posted smaller versions of most of these, but this is the real deal.
The film will be premiering in Cannes on May 20th. For more pictures and videos see the Operetta Tanuki Goten page.
05/09/05
New pictures
On the left is a new scan I made from a 2001 Movieline magazine. The other two were sent in by Moses, and are from Hero and Rush Hour 2. Click to enlarge.
05/09/05
Ziyi Pictures and News 05/05
I made a full size scan of the Newsweek cover. Beside it are some nice pics from our pictures forum
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Ziyi was sick last week but she is feeling well enough to return to the US. After spending much of April in New York polishing up her English, she will be finishing up the final dubbing for Memoirs of a Geisha this month in Los Angeles.
The release of Jasmine Women has been delayed again. The people behind the film want Ziyi to be availabe for promotional work when it is released, so the release date, previously in early May, has been pushed back again. I haven't heard a new date but I would guess June or July.
The movie that will be released this month is Operetta Tanuki Goten, which is premiering at Cannes on May 20th and the opening in Japan on the 28th. Another song from the soundtrack with Ziyi singing has become available, you can download it here: Oujisama - 1 MB wma. And here are some pictures
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For more about the movie, including more pictures and songs, see the Tanuki Goten page.
Thanks to Hiro of Ziyifan.com, and fiziyi for the news.
05/05/05
Ziyi nominated for Best Fight at the MTV Movie Awards
For the second time, Ziyi has been nominated for the MTV Movie Awards in the Best Fight category, for the fight against the guards on horseback in House of Flying Daggers. She won the award in 2001 for the restaurant fight in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
You can vote for Ziyi at MTV's website, let's help her win!
Thanks to Grover and Bobby for the news.
05/05/5
Ziyi on the cover of Newsweek
Zhang Ziyi has landed on the cover of Newsweek's next issue, which hits stands on Monday. The main headline of the issue is "Special Report: China's Century", and it includes a series of articles about China's growing political, economic, and cultural significance. One article is about Chinese film, and it begins and ends by talking about Z. You can read the article here, below is an excerpt
Just a few months ago, 26-year-old actress Ziyi Zhang found herself on a panel at the Telluride Film Festival, seated beside Joan Allen, Ellen Barkin, Laura Linney and Annette Bening. "Ziyi was scared to death," says Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, "She thought, 'There's no way I can compare with these great actresses.' But the minute that panel started, all those women deferred to her, in a way, as the actress of the future." Even if most Americans don't yet know her name , Zhang and her fellow Chinese filmmakers have added their own artistic accent to American movies, and have helped turn film into China's most powerful cultural export. |
This is just further proof that Ziyi has become the international face of China. She is a symbol of China's modernity and cosmopolitanism.
The Telluride panel mentioned was titled "Women in Cinema", here is a bit more about it: "The women discussed their strengths and frustrations as stars both in and out of the studio system, and the difficulties that some of them have had, as they advance out of their glamour years, in finding powerful cinematic roles as mature and interesting women, compelling them to go into producing and developing projects of their own."
05/01/05
The Definition of Beauty...
That's just my opinion, but I'm certain this series will take your breath away. These pictures were taken by photographer Jack Guy around the time of the Oscars. They are elegant and gorgeous portraits, her eyes especially are captured so well. Click to enlarge...
Thanks to neno and Moses who both found these.
05/01/05






