2 films featuring Zhang Yi screened at Venice Film Festival
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E-mail CNTV, September 5, 2014
Chinese actor Zhang Yi is making his mark in Venice, as two movies in which he plays major roles are being screened. Famous for his soldier roles in a string of TV series, this time around Zhang plays a wealthy man whose child is abducted in one film, and a poet in another. Let's head to the Venice Film Festival and hear what he has to say about his latest career moves.
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Chinese actor Zhang Yi is making his mark in Venice, as two movies in which he plays major roles are being screened. |
In 2012, Hong Kong director Ann Hui was preparing for " The Golden Era", the biopic about Xiao Hong, a legendary female writer at the peak of her fame in the 1930s. Zhang Yi was eager to be cast in the film - Not only out of his love for literature, but also because of his connection to the legendary woman's life.
"Xiao Hong and her husband Xiao Jun used to live on Shangshi Street in Harbin. As time went by, the road changed its name to Hongxia Street, which was just 5 minutes' walk from the place where I grew up. I think there's something in my destiny close to Xiao," said Zhang.
Though he was rejected at first, he was finally cast in the film. The story is mainly about Xiao Hong's romance. Zhang portrays a poet named Jiang Xijin, a warm-hearted friend who often helped Xiao Hong.
"We weren't intended to shoot a biographic movie. The director didn't want to copy the characters in history. As for my role, she said I should be more free. So not only the voice, the tone, but also the expression and the mentality, I tried my best to act in a more relaxed way," Zhang said.
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Chinese actor Zhang Yi is making his mark in Venice, as two movies in which he plays major roles are being screened. |
But in "Dearest", another film screened at the Venice Film Festival, Zhang Yi becomes a present-day wealthy man whose daughter is abducted. For an actor famous for more humble roles, he says this one has been quite challenging.
"I have never thought I could act as a 'Tuhao', people with peasant backgrounds who become "new-money" very quickly, but don't have manners, education or good taste, as in the film 'Dearest'. Because I was totally against these kinds of people in my real life. The director told me he wanted a different kind of 'Tuhao', and he trusted me. You know how being trusted by others makes you happy and confident. So I was willing to try it," he said.
Zhang became popular with Chinese audiences in 2006, by playing a tough soldier in the TV series "Soldiers Sortie". From soldier to poet to "Tuhao", his new roles represent a major breakthrough for the actor's career, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.
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