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China Daily

Focus> Life & Art> Content
Thursday, September 19, 2019, 11:35
Warrior's work
By Wang Ru
Thursday, September 19, 2019, 11:35 By Wang Ru

An event highlights Zhang Ziyi's films over the past 20 years, Wang Ru reports.

From left: Huang Haikun, chief editor of Movie View, actress Zhang Ziyi, cinematographer Hou Yong and Zuo Heng, a researcher at the China Film Art Research Center, talk about Zhang's films at the opening ceremony of a retrospective event on Sept 10. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Meng Xiaoqiang, the publisher of the Chinese magazine Movie View, says he was impressed by leading actress Zhang Ziyi's "perfectionism" when he was a film reporter 20 years ago.

"One day after I interviewed her at her home, she called to request another interview since she thought she had not answered well enough the first time. Of all the stars I have interviewed, she is the only one who has made such a request," Meng said at the opening ceremony of a screening event of Zhang's films held in Beijing on Sept 10.

Zhang also attended the ceremony to talk about her work and the development of Chinese cinema.

All I was concerned about was finishing my work every day as well as I could, investing all my emotions and energy to shape the character

Zhang Ziyi, actress

Organized by the China Film Archive and Movie View, the event, Zhang Ziyi and Her Film Career: A 20-Year Retrospective, ran until Sept 14.

Zhang started her career in 1999 by playing the role of Zhaodi in The Road Home, and has taken part in over 30 films, mostly as the female lead, since then.

Hou Yong, the main cinematographer of The Road Home, said at the same ceremony his first impression of Zhang was that she was a regular young woman, with a bit of a naughty streak.

"Zhang and other actors and actresses were taken by the assistant director of the movie to the countryside two months before filming to observe daily rural life, and practice carrying water so that they could behave like the villagers in the film," Hou added.

Zhang said at the time she was ignorant about acting. She was asked to cry during one scene, but she found she couldn't do it. As a result, director Zhang Yimou frightened her by saying they would leave her alone in the mountains at night to confront the wolves there if she still could not do it, and she finally managed to cry for the scene.

The actress plays the role of Gong Er in the 2013 film The Grandmaster. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Zhang in a fight scene as Jen Yu with Michelle Yeoh's character of Yu Shu-lien in the Oscar-winning 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Zhang plays her first female lead in the film The Road Home in 1999. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The film earned Zhang Ziyi, then a 20-year-old undergraduate, the best actress award at the 23rd Hundred Flowers Film Festival, one of China's top cinema events, in 2000.

She then won this award again in 2014 for her performance in the film The Grandmaster (2013). Zhang Ziyi has won many top honors in Chinese cinema over the years at events including the Huabiao Film Awards, the Golden Rooster Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards.

Huang Haikun, chief editor of Movie View, said at the event's opening that director Ang Lee told a story about Zhang Ziyi in his biography while she shot his Oscar-winning film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. When hoisted up for fight sequences in the 2000 film, Zhang Ziyi didn't flinch in the face of danger. She didn't appear to protect her head or face during the shoot.

Zhang Ziyi explained that she was inexperienced at the time and lacked awareness about the need to protect herself while shooting tough fight sequences.

"All I was concerned about was finishing my work every day as well as I could, investing all my emotions and energy into shaping the character (Jen Yu)," she said.

"I do not behave like that now since I need to be responsible for my family, but it seems that kind of effort (hard work) has pushed me to where I am today."

Zhang plays Bai Ling in director Wong Kar-wai's 2004 film 2046. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Zhang Ziyi. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

When asked why she is so tough at work, Zhang Ziyi said it could be related to her experience of learning how to dance during childhood.

"I entered a dance school at the age of 11 but I was not a talented dancer. I knew I wouldn't ever be a good student but I was afraid of being last. So I kept making the effort, and the habit of working hard was formed during the six years I stayed there," she added.

Zhang Ziyi said the turning point in her career came in 2004 while filming the movie 2046, during which she started to find out that she could inject emotions into her character and express herself through her acting much more. "Since then, I have nurtured both self-confidence and a greater interest in acting."

Huang said the years between 1999 and 2019 also witnessed the fastest development of Chinese cinema.

Zhang Ziyi agrees, adding that she has been "lucky to be able to develop in her career alongside the growth of Chinese films".

Speaking about the changes in the Chinese film industry over the past 20 years, she said: "Twenty years ago, film technology was undeveloped, and we used measuring tapes to decide where we should stand when acting. Now technology has advanced and films are digital. But making films used to be a professional's job, now anyone can make a film."

The audience watched The Road Home after the opening ceremony, and six other major films by Zhang Ziyi were shown during the event.

Contact the writer at wangru1@chinadaily.com.cn


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