28-7-08: With Gong Li

THE MOST STRIKING GONG: In ‘Shanghai’ with China’s greatest screen actress.

Considering the 1.3 billion population of China, and the fact that, as Mao said, women hold up half the sky, it seems remarkable that, for a good number of years, modern Chinese cinema produced only one screen actress of note. More remarkable still is that the same performer, Gong Li, remains easily as luminously, stunningly beautiful, on-screen and off, as she was when she first became the muse for Zhang Yimou, most illustrious of China’s 5 th generation film directors. It’s been a huge pleasure to work with Gong on our film ‘Shanghai’, a project that brings together the greatest screen performers from across Asia.

I first became aware of the star when her early films for Zhang, Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern, were given an art-house video release in the UK. Yes, I’m more of a Gong Fu than a Gong Li kind of guy, but I was trying to expand my cultural horizons (and I still am!). What I found fascinating about Gong Li is that, the same year she made Raise the Red Lantern for Zhang Yimou, she also starred in God Of Gamblers II: Back to Shanghai opposite Stephen Chiau, directed by the prolific, populist director Wong Jing. On first meeting Gong, I realized that this apparent dichotomy perfectly reflects her character: she can be effortlessly glamorous, but also has a wry, quirky sense of humour.

Any woman of such beauty, with so many great performances and so much acclaim to her credit, might be forgiven for playing the diva, but Gong Li seems constantly to defy expectations. One major sequence in this period thriller is set in a Shanghai casino. (As I mentioned in earlier blogs, our Shanghai was actually filmed in London and Bangkok.) The scene climaxes with a major dramatic beat for star John Cusack, and I noted how, for take after take, Gong and co-star Chow Yun-fat were there, off-camera, to give John a genuine performance to react to. Gong Li was there late in the evening, emoting her heart out solely to support a fellow actor. So much for playing the diva…

I really treasured the opportunity to watch Gong at work. One thing that struck me was the way she is such a wonderful re-actor. It doesn’t matter who the other performer is, when you watch Gong listen to them, you absolutely believe in them, because you believe in her. For obvious reasons, a lot of attention is paid to the way she looks, but she brings so much to a scene simply from the way she listens.

On the day of our Thai press conference for ‘Shanghai’, reporters from around the region were gathered in a soundstage at the Moonstar studios to meet director Mikael Hafstrom, stars Cusack, Gong and Chow, as well as producers Jake Myers and Steve Squillante. At the very last minute, I got drafted in to host the event, and to improvise questions for the assembled film-makers. When I got to Gong, her eyes met mine and, for once in my life, I totally blanked on what I wanted to say. To jump start my brain, I tried to phrase the query in Cantonese, asking how our Shanghai back-lot measured up to the real thing, where Gong Li had shot films like ‘Shanghai Triad’. Gong replied, in Mandarin, that our Shanghai seemed ever more real than the original, and her answer was immediately translated into English and Thai. It felt like working in the United Nations…