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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Zhang Ziyi: Major Talent or Lucky Starlet?
or some she was the most memorable part of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They were mesmerized by the dark energy she brings to her portrayal of a freespirited young adventuress. For others she was one more annoying thing about a glacial, poorly edited sword-fight flick. They were left cold by the hard, souless gleam of her obsidian eyes and her puckish face.
Regardless of your opinion of Zhang Ziyi, one fact is indisputable: since the release of CTHD in late 2000, the media has lionized the gamin-faced actress. Virtually every glossy and tabloid has hailed her as the hot new Asian female actor and/or great new beauty. In the heat of CTHD's surprise success Zhang was signed to several projects, including Rush Hour 2, The Legend of Zu, 2046 (a science fiction flick), Hero (a Jet Li kung-fu flick) and Musa (a Corean film set during the wars between the Yuan and Ming Dynasties).
Luck is essential to every success, but Zhang Ziyi appears to have enjoyed more than her share during her brief acting career.
She was born February 9, 1979 in Beijing to an economist father and a kindergarten teacher mother. At the age of 11 she enrolled in a dance school. Four years later she decided to switch to acting despite some promise as a dancer. She went for a shampoo commercial audition and was picked out by the legendary director Zhang Yimou to play a schoolgirl who falls in love with her teacher.
When The Road Home was released in China in 1999, the young actress was promptly dubbed "Little Gong Li" on the popular suspicion that she had followed the great actress into Zhang Yimou's bed. (Zhang Yimou had discovered Gong Li in 1987 and lost her in 1994 when she left him to marry Singaporean businessman Ooi Hoe Siong.)
The Road Home received no attention in the U.S. but won the 2000 Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It also caught the eye of Ang Lee who was casting Crouching Tiger. No one suspected that the low-budget film he was planning to shoot in China would go on to become the next year's most profitable film, ultimately grossing $150 million worldwide. It turned Zhang Ziyi into an international superstar in one fell, elaborately-wired swoop.
Is Zhang Ziyi really a great beauty and first-rate actor? Or is she a second-rater whose fame is as un-credible as her CTHD fight sequences?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:50:00 PM)
Insignificant? Hmmm, for someone so insignificant, she's the subject of this forum. For someone so insignificant, she is the youngest electee EVER to the China Film Board. For someone so insignificant, she has more box office credit than all other asian actresses combined. For someone so insignificant, she is the highest paid model in China. For someone so insignificant, she has her own Hong Kong postage stamp. For someone so insignificant, you had to write 1696 characters to point that out.
Oh yeah, she's a nobody alright.....
Virgule
Thursday, January 24, 2002 at 11:52:47 (PST)
To Bamboozled:
Thanks for the tip on the names.
However, the things that I have quoted you are not merely promos.
I know it is difficult for 90% of the worlds population to understand the emotional connection, respect, understand, and trust that evolves on a movie set.
It is a remarkable thing to experience. It is difficult to place into words the protectiveness that you have towards your cast mates. When you read things that are negative towards someone, or a group of people that you know in your heart is not true, it does hurt.
I deeply respect ALL of your opinion. I understand that not everyone will admire the same actress/ actor. If we all did, a lot of us would be out of work. However, what I have a problem on is when people take it to a personal level. If you don't like Ziyi's acting and prefer Zhao Wei that is fine. If you feel that another actress would have done a better job in some of Ziyi's movie, that is fine too. Nevertheless, don't confuse constructive criticism of one's work with false innuendo and blatant attack on ones personality ( when you don’t know them in a personal way). I am really learning a lot from some of you, in regards to your likes and dislikes. I hope that you guys will keep on supporting your favorite actors/ actress and learn to respect other people’s choices.
Page
Thursday, January 24, 2002 at 10:48:09 (PST)
Everyone has his/her own tastes and we are all entitled to our own likes and dislikes. Even well-informed and educated movie critics have different opinions on someone's acting. For those who refuse to accept other's dislike of ZZ, please get some therapy by forming your own ZZ Fan Club. Just because we are Chinese doesn't mean we have to automatically support any Chinese actors esp. if we feel their acting is not that great! If I diss Julia Roberts, are you going to call me anti-American? Not! This is a debate forum, not a fan club support board for ZZ. So learn to deal with it. Stop making it sound like we are traitors to our own culture by disliking a mere actress. We don't hate her, she is just INSIGNIFICANT. You might not have much of a life and worship a beautiful movie star like she was a Goddess or something, but that doesn't mean everyone share your starry-eyed movie star idolatry syndrome. To PAGE, here's a tip on Chinese names. Chow Yun-Fat : Chow is the last name such as Zhang, and Yun Fat Or Yun-Fat is what the westerners call the "first name". It's usually two characters and can be spelled with a dash between , such as Yo-Yo (Ma) or Ming-Na (Wen) of ER. Many have chosen to either skip the dash or to just combine the two characters together, such as Ziyi. I know it's confusing since some people prefer to keep their last name last (most Asian Americans such as Yo-Yo Ma) while the overseas Chinese keep it at the front. So next time, remember to write Yun-Fat or Yun Fat, NOT Chow Yun. And please stop with the quotes, they don't mean anything! Of course the directors/costars/producers are going to say great things about her! It's all promo! Peace to everyone.
Bamboozled
Wednesday, January 23, 2002 at 15:12:15 (PST)
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