"The Grandmaster"'s First Screening / Press Conference
Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 8:01PM It seems like we've been hearing about Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster for about a decade now. But it finally exists as a "completed" project. No more tinkering. The movie will premiere at Berlinale next month. With a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes (or 2 hours and 13 minutes depending on which report you read). The movie has now been screened and press conferenced... in China. Here are the stars earlier today at that first post-screening press conference.
Chang Chen, Zhang Ziyi, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai meet the press
The entire team at the press conference. Wong Kar Wai, cast, and key crew
Tony, a frequent overseas correspondent among TFE readers, writes...
Very enthusiastic first wave of response! Apparently more straightfoward, no fragmented, mosaic-style narrative structure. Every frame is desktop picture pretty (obviously). Zhang Ziyi's performance singled out. More than one critic mentioned the first 2/3 of the movie is especially fantastic."
Hmmm. I worry about the last sentence. Generally you have to end strong to not win mixed reviews. Let's end with a newish picture of Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (aka one of the greatest movie stars in the universe) in the title role.
Can't wait! Wong Kar Wai and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai haven't made a movie together in so long and with so many masterpieces and/or damn strong pictures behind them (2046, In the Mood for Love, Happy Together, Chungking Express, etcetera...) it'll hopefully be a worthy reunion
Reader Comments (9)
Oh hey, my boyfriend Tony Leung is lookin pretty fine there
Chang Chen's career had been on the rise ever since Crouching Tiger, but somehow he didn't become as big of a star as he should be. He's got the look (don't you agree he looks hot?), he's got the talent (he's among the most acclaimed young stars in Chinese movies these past few years), so maybe it's the luck that he needs, or maybe he chose to be low profile. But really, we need to see more of him.
Maybe we'll finally see some love for Asian actors at the Oscars? No? Ok :(
I want to sleep with every person in that first still.
That is just too much beauty for one picture. (The same statement applies to everything Wong Kar-wai ever made.)
I forgot how gorgeous Zhang Ziyi is....damn.
Can't wait! The last time Zhang Ziyi starred in WKW's film, she gave the best performance of her career. Can't wait to see how she can top that one!
Chang Chen has worked with some of the best directors in Chinese cinema:
"A Brighter Summer Day" by Edward Yang (in which he made his acting debut)
"Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" by Ang Lee
"Three Times" by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
"Red Cliff" by John Woo
"2046" "Eros" by Wong Kar-Wai
This year he not only has "The Grandmaster" by Wong Kar-Wai but also reunites with Hou Hsiao-Hsien for another Wuxia drama "The Assassin", again co-starring Shu Qi.
The point being: whether he becomes a bigger movie star or not, he already has a pretty impressive filmography with several truly great movies on it. But true, he deserves to be even more famous.
I have loved Chang Chen ever since he showed up for the big premiere of Crouching Tiger wearing a leather jacket without a shirt on underneath. I mean that did happen right, not just in my dreams?