The Banquet
Critical praise for Zhang Ziyi in 2046
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"The affair between Chow and Bai Ling consumes only part of the story (a science-fiction allegory that Chow writes constitutes another), but Ms. Zhang's shockingly intense performance burns a hole in the film that gives everything, including all the other relationships, a sense of terrific urgency."
"Of all the women with whom Chow dallies, Zhang emerges the most powerfully as Bai Ling, the subject of his most lasting relationship. She's all grown up, heart-stoppingly beautiful, with a startling command of the screen. Here she fulfills the promise of her more youthful performances in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
"My favorite scenes at this year’s festival came in Leung’s erotic byplay - first delightful, then cruel - with the beautiful young Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger fame, who startled everyone with her passionate, heartbreaking performance."
"Zhang is simply phenomenal, effortlessly capturing her character's caprices and heartbreak.... It's Zhang who is the real surprise here. Her breakout performance puts her on a level with the world's best actresses."
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"But Chow's most torrid, and ultimately tragic, romance is with a gorgeous but naive hooker with a heart of gold — an Oscar-caliber performance by Zhang Ziyi."
"...mainland actress Zhang Ziyi proves she's a star of major range and luminosity."
"...Zhang, in a panoply of pouts, flirtations and surrendering smiles, is at her most ravishing and nuanced."
"...the women caught in Chow's web are extraordinary beauties, not the least the prostitute Bai Ling played to perfection by the luminous Zhang Ziyi."
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"There's little question that the movie belongs to his female co-stars, especially Zhang Ziyi, who plays his party girl neighbor Bai Ling.... Their love affair is the focal point for film, as she falls in love with him only to be treated by him like a common prostitute. She accepts the discount rate of $10 from him every time they make love. Without question, this is Ms. Zhang's finest moment. Having grown up on screen, the role shows her advanced maturity as an actress, as she goes from laughter to tears in mere seconds. You would have to be inhuman not to have your own heart ache while watching her emotion-filled performance."
"Watch Zhang's obstinate call girl barely register the debasement of being paid by the man she loves, and then jump painfully beyond it, and you'll see a level of craft not trusted in this country."
"It is Ziyi Zhang who owns 2046, pulling us in as her coquetry turns into unrequited need. She's phenomenal in a film that's a 'Who's Who' of Chinese actresses.... The brightest star of the ladies is, easily, Ziyi Zhang and the young actress proves that she has it all."
"...particularly Ziyi Zhang, almost preternaturally gorgeous and delivering an ineffable performance"
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" Of the women who past through his life, much has been made, rightly, of Zhang Ziyi's performance as Bai Ling... Zhang is unbelievably good here, the incandescent axis around which the film turns."
"It's this love-for-sale plot that rivets our attention, and the riveter isn't hard to locate -- Ziyi Zhang dazzles as the hooker with the gold-plated heart... Chow has adroitly insinuated himself into her affection, so deeply that Bai Ling wants to suspend all business, to give to him freely what she once sold. His refusal elicits from Zhang one of the more astounding moments in acting ever to grace the screen: Simultaneously, she sheds a single tear while flashing an ironic smile, both the "emotion" and the "recollected tranquility" captured in a single instant. Breathtaking."
"Bai Ling is played, in a performance that can only be called a coming of age, by Ziyi Zhang, the young sensation of ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," who negotiates such hairpin turns of emotion here that a viewer can only watch in awe. Ling is controlling, kittenish, lusty, petulant, and, finally, a harrowing vision of romantic devastation, and the actress somehow makes her all of a piece."
"Wong Kar-wai’s 2046, is quite simply an incomparably sublime work of art, a triumph of lyricism over narrative in the cinema, and the most exquisite homage to the beauty of women it has ever been my privilege to witness on the screen... I wasn’t completely swept away by the film until Ziyi Zhang arrives on the scene as Bai Ling, a stormy lady of the evening who greets the suave Chow with well-founded suspicion. The maneuvers of the two form the heart and soul of 2046."
"The actresses, in contrast, seem passionately alive. Gong Li has a quiet pensiveness, Faye Wong a slightly selfish intelligence. But Ziyi Zhang delivers "2046's" most powerful performance... Zhang plays the part with a jewel-like mix of hardness and radiance. When she loses herself to passion, it overwhelms us too."
"In a film that likes teasing mysteries, the greatest revelation is Ziyi Zhang. As Bai Ling, the star of the upcoming "Memoirs of a Geisha" brings a clarity to the movie's themes of desire and missed opportunities."
Entertainment Weekly
"Breakout Performance: As the deceptively naive call girl whom Chow seduces, Zhang demonstrates a new maturity that raises her beyond mere martial artist."
"The most vibrant is a teasing call girl played by Ziyi Zhang, of House of Flying Daggers, in a hugely emotional role that liberates her from the martial arts epics in which she's recently been typed."
"...it’s Ziyi Zhang, carrying on a long and doomed affair with Leung, who really shines here, refining her usual bratty impatience to a more distilled performance that’s nothing less than heartbreaking."
"Zhang Ziyi was also perfect in this film, and showed that she's not just another damn gorgeous face, but a decent little actress as well."
(Thanks to Fanqiemeimei for help in compiling these reviews.)