maggie cheung article

[lucky]

in case you are interested, this week's ny times magazine is devoted to film, etc.

there's an article and interview on maggie cheung. it also briefly touches on why maggie cheung is unknown in the usa (possibly due to geography, stereotypes of asians in general, and stereotypes of asian performers.)

Why Isn't Maggie Cheung a Hollywood Star?

nytimes magazine for all the articles
http://www.nytimes.com/magazine

if it asks for a password, get one from bugmenot.com

[kasia]

American producers do occasionally send Cheung scripts, but the independent films are always about, as she put it, "ABC's," or "American-born Chinese," struggling with their identity, and the Hollywood scripts feature dragon ladies or Chinatown mafia molls or martial artists or mysterious fortunetelling women. Right now the West, whether it's New York or Paris, represents freedom for Cheung, and to sacrifice that anonymity for an uninspiring role would be folly.

"Especially since Cannes, I have a nice feeling out in Hong Kong -- like Maggie is ours, and we're proud of her," she said. Shown a script for "X2: X-Men United" a few years back, she declined to pursue it, uninterested in the film itself. "If I start making films like that, they won't be proud," she said. "I'd feel like I was cheating. And I don't want half the world -- we have 1.3 billion people in China -- to know I'm cheating. That matters to me. I have more pride than that."

maggie cheung is so cool. have any of you seen her new film, "clean"?

[thaite]

good article

[s1eve]

ditto. i don't think 'clean' is out yet for general release. a film to definitely see though.

[applehead]

wow. i didn't know she was so reclusive?
is that the word?
guarded. maybe that's better.

she sounds very intelligent and sensitive.
i think hero is the only movie i've seen her in.

[yoMAMA]

Why is hollywood so narrow minded?

[TB4000]

She declined X2? Wow...that would've put her on the map over here for definite, but she had to stick to those guns.

[amidaladown]

i bet they wanted to give her kelly hu's role. But Maggie is a much more versatile an actress than that.

[kasia]

maggie starred in a movie with sammo hung back in the 80's. it was kinda like the chinese 'green card'. and she never sold her co-star out like kelly hu.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by kasia

maggie starred in a movie with sammo hung back in the 80's. it was kinda like the chinese 'green card'. and she never sold her co-star out like kelly hu.

well she did a wide range of movies in the past before now, when she pretty much strictly sticks to "artsy" or "meaningful" movies. i mean, after Comrades, Almost A Love Story, she really secured a place amongst the best in the world.

but X2? come on. it's not even about selling out or not. that role didn't even have any lines. like she said, she had never had to audition for roles before. she'd been handed her roles since she was 18. why the hell would she want a role with no lines and pretty much only 2 emotions? she's already famous all over Asia and in international film festival circles, especially those in Europe. besides, she's one of those people (like Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau) in the HK entertainment industry that don't think Hollywood is a must, unlike Chow Yun Fat and Jackie Chan.

[TB4000]

http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_multi...hp?IDfilm=3032

Just posted that Clean trailer.

[Irezumi Kiss]

That movie is about her being a recovering drug addict or something, right?

[younggiftedandblack]

Originally Posted by Irezumi Kiss

That movie is about her being a recovering drug addict or something, right?

Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is a woman who wrestles with her dream of becoming a singer, her fitness as a mother, and daily life without her partner Lee (James Johnston). Her past is riddled with drugs and regrets, the result of which left Lee dead in a desolate motel room in Hamilton, Ontario, and landed Emily with a six-month jail sentence. The only thing that she desires for the future is a loving relationship with her son Jay, who is being cared for by Lee's parents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry). While Rosemary blames Emily for the death of Lee, Albrecht recognizes the importance of the bond between a mother and her son, and his faith sets the standard for the faith Emily must find in herself. Clean follows Emily to Hamilton, Paris, London and San Francisco and in three languages (English, French and Cantonese), as she battles for a place in a world reluctant to forget the woman she has been and unwilling to accept her as the woman she longs to be.

[Faithless]

Maggie Cheung calling it quits?

Maggie Cheung: Why the Asian star is turning her back on film

By Bob Flynn | Published: 10 April 2007
...
Cheung, 43, is a luminous presence, her features dominated by razor-sharp cheekbones and wide, dark eyes. On screen, she exudes a mix of enigmatic beauty, cool melancholy and torment. But she is warm and relaxed in person, ready to talk about a life she is preparing to leave behind.

After 90 or so films, Cheung is, she says, moving away from cinema. "I don't want it to be the only thing I've done in my life. I'd like to paint and compose music, which means everything to me. I have to have music from the moment I wake up. My goal is to edit and score films. Maybe I'll discover I'm not talented that way, but I want to try. And I want to travel more."
...
"I realised what acting could be," she says. "It was about exploring what was going on inside you emotionally. Wong gave me a completely different direction as an actress."

Is Cheung really ready to abandon such a career? She concedes that she may consider another project, but only if it is a comedy. "I've done too many sad victim roles," she says. "You can experience a lot of pain playing these parts. Outside cinema, I have my own problems, as we all do, and to carry the emotions of, say, a girl who is about to commit suicide gets heavy. Now I want to enjoy life, leave the sadness behind. I'm ready to change. Life is about timing and I've always had good timing."