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ASIAMS.NET |
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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Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:49:53 PM)
Gong Li or Zhang Ziyi? Damn there is simply no comparison. Gong Li is by far and large a much more superior actress. In her films she has so much fire and passion. Ziyi just comes off as an angry chick. The depth of Gong Li's performances are really astounding. The viewer can really feel her emotions, her pride, and her vulnerability as well. To date, I haven't seen Ziyi in any role that has shown any real emotional depth. CTHD she was just a warrior brat who wanted her way in everything. Man that character she played would've made a hella annoying ass girlfriend. haha. Ziyi is just a pretty face.
taiwanese guy
Wednesday, October 09, 2002 at 20:12:08 (PDT)
[65.184.91.9]
{? After all her years in the entertainment business and after being the great actress that she is, even Gong Li doesn't come close}
I'm sorry...but i seriously think zshangziyi hasn't yet been in the same caliber w/ gong li. I personally think Gong Li is more beatiful and she acts better. I have nothing agianst ZYY and I think she's pretty and beautiful....but I'm sure there are lots of better looking asian actresses w/ talents out there. You guys just haven't seen them...
SOuthern Crane, TOdarello and VIrgule are all crazy fans of zhangziyi...so i know where you're all coming from...that is why I think your opinion understandably are prone to subjectivity.
Toeach his own...The discussion is a waste of time. After all, time will tell...just leave evrything at that.
A korean guy
Wednesday, October 09, 2002 at 20:04:04 (PDT)
[203.162.121.75]
Southern Crane,
True she did well in TRH in order for her to gain recognition. However, there are many actresses out there who is on par with Ziyi. They did not get the chance to work with Zhang Yimou. In turn, they weren't set up for an international film.
By the way, Zhang Yimou did not work with MANY women. He basically worked with Gong Li for almost ten years. From then on, he has casted 3 women as main characters, Ziyi included. The other two films were low budget. The other two actresses that Zhang Yimou picked represented the common person that they played, appearance wise(means they are very plain). He did not pick the actresses who were on par with Zhang.
By the way, to the Chinese people, Gong Li has a higher reputation. In Hero, Ziyi's appearance probably would help with international recognition. However, I think there are more people who know Jet Li than Ziyi. As far as marketing in China, I'd say Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung play a more significant role than she does since they are better known. So I don't think she's at the point where she's doing Zhang Yimou a favor to appear in his next film. As far as marketing goes, he probably won't be at a huge loss if he picked someone else.
Virgule Solidus,
She's not ugly but there are others who are prettier with equal or not better acting skills than she does. By the way, Ziyi working with first rate doesn't mean there aren't others who are first rate. The people that you called first rate are what the west perceives as first rate. The others who are relatively unknown by Hollywood may not consider Ziyi first rate. By the way, Vicky Zhao Wei is the highest paid Chinese actress, and that means more than Ziyi.
You are entitled to what you believe, however, before you go on to criticize the oppinions of other people, make sure that you know where their arguments are coming from. If you don't know that much about the Chinese entertainment industry, then don't be so quick to make assumptions that other people are lame.
Overrated
Wednesday, October 09, 2002 at 17:55:11 (PDT)
[141.151.10.202]
I'm glad you meant 'uncredible'. Every English dictionary on the face of the earth defines it as 'incredible'. That was not your intent, however. "Or is she a second-rater whose fame is as un-credible as her CTHD fight sequences?"
It's very obvious to anyone that can read English that your intent was to describe her performance as second-rate.
Well here's the fact of the matter. It was uncredible and it was also incredible. Do you know what a synonym is?
Virgule Solidus
v@ziyi.us
Wednesday, October 09, 2002 at 14:28:19 (PDT)
[205.254.147.8]
[Okay, this will be our one tangential discussion of the day. Yes, we know what a synonym is. Do you know how to avoid using a word for its original meaning when popular useage has supplanted it with secondary meaning? [Rhetorical question] Had we called CTHD's fight sequences or Zhang's acting "incredible", most readers would have taken it for high praise. We intended none. --Ed]
Yes. CTHD is nothing but an exotic flick whose lengthy and unbearable fighting scenes in the green bushes are the most disgusting artifice I've ever seen.
This Ang Lee flick has absolutely no depth at all. It appeals to the Americans and other foreigners only by its poor and superficial display of Chinese martial arts.
A commentator
Wednesday, October 09, 2002 at 13:45:44 (PDT)
[130.126.39.53]
In the first place, she is the highest paid commercial model in China. You don't get to that level by being average looking. She's made the cover of many fashion plate magazines, including Elle Magazine twice. That doesn't happen if you're plain ugly, I can assure you. She represents VISA, Maybelline, Pantene and Tag Heuer. Those folks don't hire ugly people to represent them.
As for being a "first rate actor", no one knows what that means. By my definition, it means you've won acting awards, which she has done all over the globe and stars in films with other "first rate" actors, people like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat. Everyone of these celebrities respects her talent. It also means you work with first rate directors, people like Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Brett Ratner. Simply by the company she keeps and the circles she travels in, you have to be an idiot to believe she has no talent. From what I have read on this board, these associations mean nothing and that the naive definition of 'talent' is coupled to a myopic opinion having no credibility beyond the flamer's keyboard.
Lastly, this thread wants to know "Or is she a second-rater whose fame is as uncredible as her CTHD fight sequences?" That is a low blow. It presents the pejorative premise that the CTHD fight sequences are second-rate 'uncredible'. Used in that context, the definition of the word 'uncredible' is 'incredible' (look it up), which I believe the CTHD fight sequences were, unless of course you also believe Yuen Woo Ping is equally talentless. I therefore thank the editor of this thread for witlessly making the point - CTHD was incredible, even though the intention here was clearly to describe it as far less than that.
Threads of this type are meant to simply foment controversy where there is none; aggrevate Ziyi fans, of whom I am one, and generate hostility and discord between normally rational people.
By the way, CTHD grossed 213 million world wide. Lots and lots of people no doubt, went to see it because Zhang Ziyi is an ugly second-rate actress. Yeah, right.
Virgule Solidus
v@ziyi.us
Wednesday, October 09, 2002 at 07:01:24 (PDT)
[205.254.147.8]
[Whoa! Let's start by wiping the foam off your mouth. :) We said "uncredible" and meant it. You witlessly tried to put "incredible" in our mouths. Look it up. Your heated defense of Zhang Ziyi shows that our interactive article is serving its intended purposes admirably -- to engender discussion. As you can see, many posters don't share your rabid devotion to Zhang Ziyi and CTHD. --Ed]
Everything happens for a reason, and for some reason, ZiYi was meant to meet Yimou as he was meant to meet and cast her in TRH. THE ROAD HOME didnt make her an international star...it proved she could act with her eyes ala Clint Eastwood. The Road Home was a stepping stone to CTHD, which made her a success in the U.S.. I dont think the character "JEN" (Jiao Long) in CTHD would have went over so well had another Asian actress played the part. Ask yourself this: If ____(name here) would've got the part to play the thief that steals the sword in CTHD, would ____ have become an inernational star like ZiYi?
todarello
ftoad@webtv.net
Tuesday, October 08, 2002 at 18:41:28 (PDT)
[209.240.198.63]
Overrated:
"She is very lucky bc she met Zhang Yimou for her debut. Its like being the only major role in a Oscar potential film working with one of the best director nowadays known for his ability to make actors/actresses apear exceptionally well in a debut film. Thats like chances of 1 outa a million."
You obviously have NO idea what you're talking about. Many other actresses have also met and worked with Zhang Yimou. How many of them have come even close to halfway eclipsing Zhang Ziyi's celebrity status at home and abroad? After all her years in the entertainment business and after being the great actress that she is, even Gong Li doesn't come close. Zhang Ziyi's on-camera appeal goes WAAAY beyond Zhang Yimou. From a marketing perspective, he's lucky she agreed to even appear in his next film!
kYx:
"To me CTHD was a bad movie version of the original TV series. there was relly no plot and the entire movie hinged on the special effects and fighting scenes.not to mention to stars in it."
You too have NOOO idea what you're talking about. The CTHD TV series was produced AFTER the movie! Like its dagger-like, all-poerful sword, the TV series lacks ANY real appeal. Overall it's the TV series that's "a bad version of the original" movie!
WAKE UP, PEOPLE! There's little point in dissing Zhang Ziyi so... The girl is here to stay!
Southern Crane
c@ziyi.info
Monday, October 07, 2002 at 17:17:50 (PDT)
[147.70.18.7]
i think Zhang Ziyi is really pretty and she is a great actor as well. But she is just like most other women in Shanghai, only Zhang Ziyi is one of the few people who actually decided to pursue acting.
f4rox
Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 20:00:45 (PDT)
[203.171.105.237]
When I first saw the CTHD, I didn't think she was that beautiful. But, she has that certain intangible that grows on you over time. I saw her on the cover of GQ a few months ago, and she really looked good on the cover. Probably the sexiest pair of legs I have seen in a while. In fact, they are so sexy, I am not even sure they are hers.
Coi
Monday, September 30, 2002 at 22:34:29 (PDT)
[12.242.136.63]
I totally agree with Zhang Ziyi. To me CTHD was a bad movie version of the original TV series. there was relly no plot and the entire movie hinged on the special effects and fighting scenes.not to mention to stars in it.
I also do NOT think Zhang ziyi has that much talent or is that beautiful.
oh and us ads w/ asians in them are insulting to look at. it seems to represent that all asians are that ugly. which obviously isn't tru. i have so many friends who look so much better than those girls (and guys) in those ads, who also want to go into show biz. but there must be soemthing going wrong.
kYx
Sunday, September 01, 2002 at 06:29:10 (PDT)
I might be in minority here so don't bite me. Personally I think CTHD and Ziyi's status in America is totally overrated. First of all I'm not crazy over that movie. In fact I thought it was pretty bad compared to what I would've expected for its hype. Its not really that great of a martial arts movie bc I've seen better and too much with other Chinese non-Hollywood related martial arts movies. Also the bad mandarin of Michelle Y and Chow just bothered me so much during the movie that I just wanted to scream. I ended up covering up my ears and reading the captions.
Ziyi is NOT the most beautiful women or the best actress in Asia please. A lot of you seem to believe that its bc of the Chinese's bad taste but lemme tell you its bc you haven't seen much. She is very lucky bc she met Zhang Yimou for her debut. Its like being the only major role in a Oscar potential film working with one of the best director nowadays known for his ability to make actors/actresses apear exceptionally well in a debut film. Thats like chances of 1 outa a million. Actresses that are equally pretty and with better acting skills aren't as lucky as she is. Martial Arts skills? man what martial arts skills, she has non before the movie. Even with extensive training most of her harder moves were done by stuntmen. Hidden Dragon I know you're a Ziyi fan and I'm not bashing her or denying her of any talent. Sure she's pretty and a talented actress to make it this far but I have to point out, yes there are a lot of Chinese Actresses that can do Martial Arts like her, can act well, and are just as pretty if not prettier than her. I can think of about 2 people right away(one played the same role in the CTHD TV series and I'm sure there are many more. You obviously haven't been to China cause otherwise you would know that there are much more prettier women in China.
Overrated
Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 23:32:26 (PDT)
asianDude,
I think it could be taste. Because the white women model in Taiwan magazine are also pretty ugly.
I think it could do with money. Taiwan advertisers won't spend that much on a white girl. So they don't attract the biggest white talent in the world.
The same is true in the USA, they probably don't spend that much to find asian talent to represent their product here. They just figure, like in Taiwan, that ethniticity 90% of the ad.
AC Dropout
Monday, August 19, 2002 at 09:00:05 (PDT)
I totally agree that Asian models in American ads are butt-ugly. I recently went to Taiwan and all the ads in Taiwan had Asian women 100000000% more beautiful than the Asian models in America. I think those in charge of American ads try to hold Asians to Western standards of beauty, instead of taking an open-minded perspective to beauty.
asianDude
Thursday, August 15, 2002 at 00:17:15 (PDT)
Hey bitchun poo, I agree with your point, although Ziyi Zhang and Kelly Hu don't have tiny eyes. But they're an exception. Also, I think this weird fetish is more apparent now in print media than movies/TV: I find most Asian models featured in American ads, movies, etc. to be butt-ugly. They look more like caricatures of Asian women than beautiful examples of them. This pisses me off. I know I shouldn't care whether Joe Shmo or Jane Schmo in Iowa think Asian women all look like these ugly models, but I can't help it. And if you look in Asian mags, most of the models are gorgeous.
VN Chick
Tuesday, August 13, 2002 at 16:25:47 (PDT)
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