Great expectations for Jiang Wen

Jiang Wen (second from right), earned wide praise for his performance and direction of Let the Bullets Fly (above and below) four years ago. Photos Provided to China Daily

Chinese figures in Venice

Cast members promote Gone with the Bullets

Still photos from 'Gone with the Bullets'

Jiang's explanation of the film, "an adventure, thriller and romance", fails to unveil the mysteries and merely stirs curiosity. "The main characters are very changeable," he says. "Sometimes, you just cannot tell one from another."

Set in the 1920s' Shanghai, which was an adventurers' playground, the storyline develops from a fictional presidential election. It is not difficult to feel Jiang's continuing affection for political metaphor.

Jiang, a veteran actor, has not been a prolific director since his directoral debut with the award-winning In the Heat of the Sun in 1994. Gone with the Bullets is the fifth film he's directed.

It has been four years since his last performance and direction of Let the Bullets Fly, a bandit-theme comedy and action film, which earned wide praise and about 700 million yuan ($114 million) from box office.

A glimpse of the trailer easily reminds people of Let the Bullets Fly, and their English titles also seem to compose a series.

"If I tell you the new film is not a sequel of the previous one, you may call me a liar after watching it," the director says. "They both have Ge You. They both have guns. They both have trains.

"However, if I give an affirmative answer, that is not accurate either. It's an independent story."

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