Category: The Crossing

20 Years Career Retrospective

A retrospective of Ziyi’s career was organized in a theater in Beijing to mark her 20 years long career. She showed up and sat with Hou Yong and others to talk about her work and movies such as Crouching Tiger, 2046, The Grandmaster, and more.

The Crossing: Part 1 Screencaptures

I added more than 900 screencaptures of The Crossing: Part 1. Enjoy!

25th Singapore International Festival

Yesterday, the cast of “The Crossing” attended the 25th Singapore International Film Festival.

During the press conference Ziyi talked about John Woo, her character and her vision of life.


Who wouldn’t want a chance to work with the legendary John Woo?” she said. “My generation of actors all relish an opportunity to work with a director like him. He’s a very caring director. Plus, when I looked at the script, I was very moved.”

In the movie, Zhang plays Yu Zhen, a woman who goes through much hardship – including being a prostitute – in order to find happiness with her beloved. “She has persistence and perseverance and I think all successful women in the world have that trait,” she said. “So why did I choose to do this role? Because in my life, I’ve never had this same experience. I never had to endure (Yu Zhen’s) pain. It was a very challenging role.

“If I find a movie and role that I like, I’ll insist on doing it,” she added. “Even though it might be very difficult preparing for it and filming it. If I really believe that my choice is correct, then I’ll do it! Because you become stronger after the going through a difficult process.”

[…]

And as for Chinese media reports about her recent revelation about her desire to get married soon, Zhang said: “Marriage, and life in general, all needs to happen naturally. Really, I feel that a lot of things cannot be planned. Especially relationships. How do you plan that? You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow, right?

Source
You can read two other interesting articles here and here.

In the evening, the cast attended the opening ceremony of the festival and the premiere of the film. Ziyi was absolutely gorgeous ! Watch a video of the red carpet by clicking here.


Tencent TV Show

Ziyi and the cast of “The Crossing” appeared on a chinese TV show. Some pictures are in the gallery.

The Crossing – Magazine Promotion

Ziyi covers and appears in different magazine to promote “The Crossing”. Some gorgeous pictures are to discover in the gallery.

Lifestyle


Fashion 163


Femina

Prestige

The Crossing – First reviews

Screen Daily:

The film certainly delivers as star-laden festive entertainment, but as just the latest in a long line of Chinese war-time epics, one feels The Crossing will need the fireworks of Part 2 to truly rise above the competition.

Meanwhile, lowly KMT Communications Officer Tong Daqing (Tong Dawei) enters into a marriage of convenience with an impoverished young woman, Yu Zhen (Zhang Ziyi) before being shipped out to the front line. While Tong experiences the full horrors of war first-hand, under the leadership of Commander Lei, Zhen suffers through a series of hellish misfortunes as she struggles to survive in a Shanghai being torn apart.

[…]

Tong Dawei pitches his liable everyman soldier spot-on throughout, demanding sympathy without ever feeling helpless. This leaves the real emotional burden of the drama at the feet of Zhang Ziyi, who endures an endless parade of torments and tragedies that will inevitably see her as one of the crew of the Taiping when Part 2 arrives next May.

Read the full review

The Hollywood Reporter:

An epic visual spectacle more about men in war than in love – with hardly a glimpse of the high sea

Meanwhile, back in Shanghai is Yu Zhen (Zhang Ziyi), an illiterate young woman who came into the equation when Dong pays her to have a photograph taken together as a couple as a proof of marriage, which would provide his family back home with more food rations. This financial exchange is a harbinger of Yu’s unraveling existence, as unforgiving circumstances eventually force her to go into the skin trade so as to secure enough money to travel to Taiwan with hope of finding her missing lover. Of course, Yu is a prostitute with a heart of gold: soft-spoken and incredibly photogenic given her precarious financial situation, she also spends her daytime as a volunteer nurse caring for injured soldiers, which provides more opportunities for histrionic depictions of the brutalities of war.

Read full review

The Crossing Released Today in China

Today, the first part of “The Crossing” is released in China. Enjoy this new trailer and 5 new promotional stills!


The Crossing Promotion in Beijing

Yesterday the cast of “The Crossing” was in Beijing for a press conference…


Woo says he believes audiences will enjoy the movie no matter what culture they are from:

“In the past, people thought that only action films or martial arts were understood universally, but in reality I don’t think that is correct. If we can appreciate western types of love stories, I am sure they can also appreciate and understand our Oriental type of love stories.”

The film’s leading actress, Zhang Ziyi, also shared her hopes that “The Crossing” will be well-received both at home and abroad, emphasizing the hard work both cast and crew put into the epic.

Source.

And the premiere of the film!