Going Gong Li

Without realizing it, I have become a Gong Li fan. I suppose my interest started with "Memoirs of a Geisha". I was smitten by Ziyi Zhang, but I kept looking at that other woman in the film.

Finally, when "Miami Vice" was rolled out in 2006, I damn near fell out of my seat, Gong Li was absolutely the only thing worth looking at in the film. An I mean; Oh Baby!.

Being Ga Ga over an actress is not my style, but there was something I liked in her presentation that seems worth digging into.

I have noticed the film credits are at best incomplete. Whether or not I should be seeing her movies in a certain order is more about my being at the mercy of Blockbuster and definitions like "really long wait".

If 1987 and "Red Sorghum" is Li's film debut then I am still looking for a copy to rent or purchase. From there it is "Ju Dou" in 1990. I finally got frustrated and purchased a copy, which is crawling its way to me via UPS ground service. Is this Gong Li's "Lust Caution"?

"Farewell My Concubine" is a great example of why I believe Hollywood makes such crap. The film offers that distressing and perfectly brutal fatalism that is what real life is often about.

Raise the Red Lattern is a regular on late night TV so I have seen this several times. It is not my favorite and I am not sure I am convinced by Li's interpretation of crazy. She can play a mean bitch pretty well though.

The Story of Qiu Ju is something I have rented several times and always enjoy the dark humor in this one. Gong is perfect in this. The movie is critical of the Chinese government making you appreciate the challenges of producing films in China.

Shanghai Triad seems to require you to wait half the film for Li's character to develop. It is worth the wait as the end of film is brutally perfect. It is almost scary that life (then and now) can have so little to offer that you would be willing to trade longevity for a few years of material wealth.

I will have to rent Temptress Moon again as having seen it once, it did not stick in my head. Have to understand why. Chinese Box is full of romantic symbolism and can be a good date movie if the living room is as far as you plan to travel.

Skipping several films there is "Zhou Yu's Train", either you get this film or you don't. I was told by someone it was a bit weird. Once I pointed out the whole thing is about it being the journey not the destination, at least she was willing to give it another view before giving up.

Eros is three short films. But I rented it originally to see my favorite screw up. Yep, RDJr. (Robert Downey Jr.) In "The Hand" Gong is again that perfect and fatalistic character that slips into oblivion.

The one stinker to me is "Curse of the Golden Flower" if this was supposed to be for Gong Li, it is visually lush to the point of overdone and if there is a script, it was written on a napkin.

Oh, one final observation. If you find yourself attracted to a particular Chinese lady, this is an excellent conversation starter.