Having canceled his press conference on Wednesday because he was feeling unwell, Tony Leung (
Having spent four years shooting the movie, in which he reprised his character from Wong Kar Wai's (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
"When I was already absorbed in the character of Chow Mo-wan, I needed to jump out of character to shoot Infernal Affairs and Hero, and take on totally different roles. And then the process of 2046 took so long that I had to jump back to Chow Mo-wan again."
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Even so, Leung said 2046 was his best performance in a movie so far. "I think I've reached my best in acting. I give myself 90 percent. Why? Because there are so many layers and changes in my character. My character in In the Mood For Love is very tender and repressive. But for this film I need to put on the voice of a tramp in Won-kok. You know I worked three years on the character for In the Mood For Love so it was really hard to shift onto the new character, but he is still named Chow Mo-wan."
Kissing Gong Li (鞏俐) for 30 seconds in one of the final scenes of the movie was memorable for Leung. "It took 30 times for us to do that kissing scene. You know Wong Kar Wai. He is such as meticulous director that he would shoot us kissing from the right angle, about 10 times, and then from the right, and then in the front with a wide angle. I really admire Gong Li because she had to cry more than 30 times for that scene."
"Oh, but you enjoyed the kissing scene. It was comfortable, wasn't it?" interrupted Wong Kar Wai, by his side.
Asked how he felt about being invited to meet with Robert DeNiro, Leung said, "Of course I'm very excited. Meeting with my idol is a thrill. It would be for any Hong Kong actor of my generation. But the actor said he has no time to think about what to say to DeNiro. "I need to practice kung-fu for the next project," where he plays the teacher of Bruce Lee.
Last week, Hong Kong pop star Jacky Cheung (張學友) was in town to promote his new album Black and White (黑與白) and found himself outdoors on an MTV photo shoot during one of Taipei's occasional air-raid drills. Shocked by the sight of Taipei's usually bustling avenues suddenly emptied of cars, the singer agreed with the MTV crew that it'd be a good time for a photo op in the middle of the road. The cops thought differently, though, and now Jacky faces a fine of up to NT$150,000 that sent Universal Records' vice president Fan Chih-chao (范智超) through the roof in anger. MTV has since stepped forward with an apology and an offer to pay the fine.
Nicholas Tse (
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist