Trends and Buzz

Tsui Hark to film Brigitte Lin biopic

JDM050725lin.jpg
Can Cecilia measure up to Brigitte?

Tsui Hark, fresh off the premiere of his new wuxia flick The Seven Swords, has finally received permission from Brigitte Lin to film The Brigitte Lin Story. And the actress he's fingered to play Ms. Lin is Cecilia Cheung.

It's a bit hard to imagine Cecilia commanding the same sort of steely fierceness that made Brigitte such an effective star in wuxia roles like Asia Invincible; Cecilia's cross-dressing has been played for laughs rather than for menace. And though Cecilia played Brigitte's character in the remake of Zu Mountain, it's hard to compare the two since the second movie was such a mess. Fortuantely the biopic will only cover Ms. Lin's early years, probably up to the point when she was plucked off the street to star in Outside the Window.

This isn't the first association between the two actresses; back in 2000 it was rumored that they were to appear in a movie together as mother and daughter. It's also a bit strange to shoot a biography of an actress who's still alive and only just turned 50. But Ms. Lin hasn't appeared in a movie since 1994, and given the current state of the HK film industry, maybe nostalgia is the order of the day.

Meanwhile, on the guy movie side of things, a confluence of action stars is set to shake the universe to its very core. Ken Watanabe, Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, and Tony Leung will star in The Battle of Red Cliffs, a Three-Kingdoms adaptation directed by John Woo.

Links and Sources
 
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Books on China
Leslie_Chang_Factory_Girls_s.jpg
To die poor is a sin: An excerpt of Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang.
In Wang Shuo's No Man's Land: Geremie Barme addresses Wang Shuo's 千万别把我当人.
Swimming with Mao, a memoir essay: This memoir piece is by Xujun Eberlein, author of the new short story book Apologies Forthcoming'.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Public intellectuals on the road to debauchery? (2004.12): Southern People Weekly gets the authorities in a snit with its feature on Public Intellectuals.
+ Don't ask so laowai don't have to tell (2008.07): An essay was written by Geremie Barmé, scholar, filmmaker and author of the new book The Forbidden City.
+ China's illegal yellow press (2005.05): On the left is the front page of 'Military News', a newspaper without masthead, contact phone number or any kind of publication licence (required by Chinese law). The paper was purchased on the Beijing subway for two yuan, which is relatively expensive, as most of the city's daily newspapers cost only half a yuan.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main posts: All main page posts
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30