Movies

More than just another pretty face

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-10 14:19

Mainland actress Fan Bingbing (pictured left), who has long been pigeonholed as "just another pretty face", challenged herself to play the role of a lowly foot masseuse in Lost in Beijing (Pingguo) in 2007.

Although the film was later banned, many considered Fan's performance a breakthrough in her acting career.

Now, the 28-year-old has again joined hands with director Li Yu to play a teenage rocker.

In Guanyin Mountain (the tentative title), Fan plays a young lady who fails the college entrance examination and decides to become a rock singer.

She and two other teenagers rent the home of a 50-year-old former Peking Opera actress, whose husband and son have both died. As the four become close friends, they learn that life is not as horrible as they had thought.

Fan is confident about playing the role of a teenager.

More than just another pretty face

"I've never felt that I'm too old for this," she says.

"If you visited my home, you'd find many comic books. It's all about what you feel in your heart; if you think young, you are young."

But looking young is another issue.

The shirt she often wears in the film cost only 20 yuan ($2.9). Fan bought it from the cheapest market in Beijing. She also found a pair of boots that had cost only 60 yuan when she bought them 13 years ago, when she started her career in Beijing.

She also listened to rock 'n' roll for three months to get a feel for what life was like for rockers. And she does all of the singing in the film herself.

Li, who shocked many by casting Fan as a foot masseuse in Lost, believes in Fan's potential.

"She has so many sides," Li says. "I believe I can make a different side shine every time I work with her."

Li uses her signature handheld approach to the film's cinematography and gives the cast as much freedom as she can.

"I never cut if the actors are showing emotion, because I want them to become the characters, not just play them," she says. "For passionate and diligent actors, this is the most enjoyable way of acting."

Onboard with Fan is another belle - 56-year-old Taiwan actress/director Sylvia Chang (pictured right), who plays the landlady.

The renowned actress has not appeared in films for three years. She joined the project because of what she calls "a magical connection".

"The film is set in Sichuan, and my parents met and fell in love in Chongqing (which used to be a city of Sichuan and is now a municipality)," she says. "And my middle school in Taiwan was at the foot of a mountain called Guanyin. I felt thrilled when I read the script."

A successful director herself, Chang argued with Li about the film's ending for two days.

Chang believes her character should live, because she has learned life could be so happy while living with the three teenagers, but Li prefers a tragic conclusion.

In the end, Chang respected Li's wishes, while Li compromised by shooting multiple endings.

The film is expected to premiere next summer.
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