China's Chen eyes comeback in biopic of opera star

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-04 17:21

A performer dressed in full Peking Opera costume takes part in a press conference for the movie world premier of Director Chen Kaige's new movie 'Mei Lanfang' in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Dec.2, 2008.Mei lanfang, English title is 'Forever Enthralled'. The movie marks top Chinese director Chen Kaige's comeback attempt after his last movie, the epic fantasy movie 'The Promise' was panned by critics three years ago.[Agencies]

Chinese director Chen Kaige is seeking artistic redemption with a return to Peking Opera — the subject matter that has won him the greatest international acclaim — after a poor reception to his fantasy epic three years ago.

Chen's profile of Peking Opera star Mei Lanfang, "Forever Enthralled," which hits Chinese theaters Friday, is his first movie since his much-criticized $35 million production "The Promise" in 2005.

Chen, who launched his career in the late 1980s with grim movies set in rural China, has also seen his fame eclipsed in recent years by contemporary Zhang Yimou, who worked as his cinematographer on his first two films but moved on to directing himself.

Zhang designed the lavish opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics in August.

"Forever Enthralled" is the story of late Peking Opera star Mei, who is known for developing the performance of female characters and promoting Peking Opera abroad by touring Japan, the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

In tackling the life of Mei, Chen is returning to familiar subject matter that brought him his greatest international recognition. His 1993 film "Farewell My Concubine," about the homosexual relationship between two Peking Opera stars, won the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and earned two Oscar nominations.

He's helped by a stellar cast led by Zhang Ziyi from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." Hong Kong singer-turned-actor Leon Lai, a best actor winner at the Chinese equivalent of the Oscars, Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, plays Mei.

Calling "The Promise" "disastrous," film professor Stephen Teo said Chen "needs to re-establish himself."

"He's trying to do a film on an opera subject. It seems to present the same kinds of opportunities, the same kinds of motifs and themes that he did with success in 'Farewell My Concubine,'" said Teo, who teaches at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Chen says it's unfair to compare "Forever Enthralled" and "Farewell My Concubine."

"These two movies are so different. You can't use the style I used in 'Farewell My Concubine' again. The times are different," the director said in an interview with the Chinese news Web site Sina.com on Tuesday.