You saw Zhang Ziyi flying through bamboo forests in Oscar-winning martial arts movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," by director Ang Lee. She also starred in the Steven Spielberg-produced movie Memories of Geisha. The actress' s latest role, in "Sophie's Revenge," which opens on August 14, surprises moviegoers by showing her funny side.

In the romantic comedy, Zhang plays Sophie, a young cartoonist who plans to win her boyfriend back after he dumps her for a beautiful actress, played by Fan Bingbing. She desperately schemes though most of these ideas don't turn out as she hopes.

In the movie, Zhang is at various points: drunk, mad, frustrated, eccentric, sweet, innocent and triumphant.

In her first attempt at comedy, the 30-year-old Zhang also tries her hand as a producer. Directed by local novice director Jin Yimeng, the film is full of dreamy colors, from the cartoon figures to characterize imagination, to the bright and dark colors that match the mood of the protagonists. Jin, who has returned from the United States after studying filmmaking, puts strong visual and audio effects into the movie.

The movie also unites some movie stars, Yao Chen and Ruby Lin, as Sophie's two girl friends, Peter Ho as a photographer who falls in love with Sophie at the end, and Korean actor So Ji-sub as Sophie's fiance Jeff.

(Global Times August 17, 2009)