aza! finally a project for her! we've been waiting!
thanks JB for the article!

First, the appearance of Zhang Zhiyi made me doubt the value of this production
Second, I hope this is not anything similar to Wong's last film My blueberry night, which is boring as hell and his worst film so far (unless The Grand Master takes the title)
Third, I hope Wong Kar Wai brings out the best in Song Hye Kyo.

Wong Kar-wai's movie about the origins of Wing Chun and the person who started it, with Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Brigitte Lin, and Zhao Benshan? Seems a bit... odd to cast SHG.

I am a little curious as to what role SHG would play. Brigitte Lin instead of Gong Li, okay, but is SHG going to take a musical chairs role that was slated for Gong Li that ended up with Brigitte Lin, and if so, what is Lin going to play?

And I love Tony Leung, but this is Wing Chun, and Donnie Yen already did this movie?

"I am a little curious as to what role SHG would play. "

This being a Wong Kar Wai film, I'm sure he hasn't figured out what the story actually is. We won't be seeing this film for another 5 years. :D

@4: LOL very typical of Wong's production

"I don’t have anything against Song Hye-gyo but her acting is never convincing enough for me. "

It's a different playing field with a WKW film because most of the scenes are constructed through a bare script and improvisation, a la Hsiao Hsien or Mike Figgis. There's a very, very basic concept for a story, but really he's going to make up the story as he's filming it, so you as an actor can only concentrate on the here and now.

"But there will be another movie about IP man again? ~ I am bored."

Could be like the Donnie Yuen flick. Could be his modern version of Ashes of Times. Could be 2012, his sequel to 2046. Ya never know with WKW, except that it'll take a bloody long time for the film to come out.

Oh and . . . whatever happened to Lady of Shanghai?!?

Woah....She gets to work for the coolest director on earth. I have always loved how WKW brings out the beauty of Asian women in his films and except for Blueberry Nights all his films are amazing to watch. MBN didn't work because of Norah Jones and the damp Jude Law. If it only had been Ewan Mcgregor and Rachel Adams. Norah is very beautiful but she isn't meant to act. Her singing leaves me zzzzzz too. I'd rather listen to Zee Avi. Yes, I am plugging Zee Avi. Sorry.
Takuya Kimura's few minutes in WKW's 2046 made a far more greater impression on me than all his many fun but forgettable dramas.

@9:
My Blueberry Nights is a disaster. I don't know if it's the language barrier between Wong and the actors/ actresses or not, but the cast obviously didn't get into their characters and the story was boring and uninspiring. Not a recommendation.

Yeah, Maggie Cheung pwns all the actresses that have ever appeared in Wong's movies. Her role in In the mood for love is just... perfect, I have no words to describe how beautiful it is.

I meant Rachel McAdams. I love her. Really looking forward to her film Sherlock Holmes with my other love Robert Downey Jr.

@butterball
I love Maggie but for me Bridget Lin surpasses Maggie.

Good luck to her, looking at all the cast, she probbaly will get minor role, but good enough exposure for her. To give her lead role, first you need to master the language, even in Korean she's having difficulties in line delivering, how about in chinese.

I actually like 'My Blueberry Nights'... as boring and disjointed as it was, I thought Jude Law's chemistry with Norah Jones was very good. I find myself watching just scenes of that movie rather than it as a whole.

I still respect WKW work greatly and I look forward to this.

love Maggie but for me Bridget Lin surpasses Maggie._

And Gong Li surpasses them both. Not surprised she passed. She has said she would not do Kung Fu films.

@18
Yes, the glorious Gong Li is the empress!

I haven't seen any of his films since 2046. In the mood for love was a film that I love more and more with each watching but unless your in the mood for it it can be be a little trying like many of his films. I'm sure SHK will be shown to her fullest effect considering how atmospheric his films are.

@belleza
"This being a Wong Kar Wai film, I’m sure he hasn’t figured out what the story actually is. We won’t be seeing this film for another 5 years."

haha. Something that was in my head while reading the post.

@Sonam -
"I meant Rachel McAdams. I love her. Really looking forward to her film Sherlock Holmes with my other love Robert Downey Jr. "

Ah that bastardization? Who would make Sherlock Holmes have a love interest? Guy Ritchie thats who.

This should be interesting -- an impressionistic version of the Ip Man story. Hasn't this movie been in the pre-production forever now? I wonder if this news means that is finally in production.

I appreciate WKW and I get it that he is genius, or some such thing, but in recent years, I have gotten the impression of his "art" as being more about gathering big names in his movies, which makes me uneasy. I also didn't "get" 2046 -- yes, I understand that it is a sequel of sorts to In the Mood for Love. And then there are all the BTS stories about him recently that make him sound more diva than artist at this point. Or maybe it's just the western press (American, in particular) that has a love-hate relationship with him?

Regardless, he has an eye for beauty, that's for sure -- and I can see why he would be interested in Song Hye-gyo.

And I mean this in a tongue-in-cheek way (as a meta-nod to YAB-fever) but then also I don't: I wish WKW would consider someone like Jang Geun Suk for a moody, color-suffused, postmodern, nihilistic dream-narrative about...nothing, with lots of close-ups and lots of silence and lots of smoking.

@11 and 14:
BOOOOO
Maggie Cheung is the best.
Gong Li only managed to be exceptional in Zhang Yi Mou's work.
I'm not following Brigitte Lin so I don't know about her but is she the one who played the mysterious woman in Chungking Express? That was pretty awesome screen presence.

Such predicament. Love to see Tony Leung but hate to see ZZY.

This WKW movie has been in planning for YEARS, even before Donnie Yuen's Ip Man (or about similar time). Tony Leung does Kung Fu training in preparation for his role as Ip Man and has his leg broken earlier this year. I guess it will be an impressionistic version of Ip Man or something like that, and SHK will just have to look pretty and remote without much real acting :)

I actually liked My Blueberry Nights, and yes Norah Jones wasn't a strong one in the movie, but Rachel Weiz was amazing in her portrayl of her character.

But I think Norah Jones did an excellent job for a musician. It's one of my favorite movies.

@dramalover
Wasn't she amazing in Chungking Express?!!! Loved it when Takeshi tried to pick her up.
You have to watch her in Swordsmen II. She plays a man who castrates himself for power and turns into a woman and Jet Li falls in love with her. One of my fav' Hong Kong films.
Zhang Yimou had Maggie pay homage to Bridget's legendary wailing in Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time for his film Hero.

@17 And I have Go Soo fever and was fantasizing him in a Wong Kar Wai film. As a lovelorn hitman.

@dramalover
Wasn't she amazing in Chungking Express?!!! Loved it when Takeshi tried to pick her up.
You have to watch her in Swordsmen II. She plays a man who castrates himself for power and turns into a woman and Jet Li falls in love with her. One of my fav' Hong Kong films.
Zhang Yimou had Maggie pay homage to Bridget's legendary wailing in Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time for his film Hero.

@17 And I have Go Soo fever and was fantasizing him in a Wong Kar Wai film. As a lovelorn hitman.

Gong Li only managed to be exceptional in Zhang Yi Mou’s work.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Are you kidding me? How about Farewell My Concubine, Eros - Hand (probably her best performance ever), Memoirs of a Geisha, 2046, etc? she is the best actress in Asia, and one of the greatest worldwide. Maggie Cheung is no comparision to Gong Li, from acting skills and beauty. Actually the actresses in mainland China are generally a lot better than the ones in HK and Taiwan.

Maggie Cheungis probably the best one in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and for sure is better than Brigget Lin, who is a mediocre actress (but beautiful). Even ZZY acts a lot better than Brigget Lin.

"Gong Li only managed to be exceptional in Zhang Yi Mou’s work."
----------------------------

Ummm,No. Farewell my concubine, Eros "The Hand"
Breaking The scilence

"Gong Li only managed to be exceptional in Zhang Yi Mou’s work."
----------------------------

Ummm,No. Farewell my concubine, Eros "The Hand"
Breaking The silence

@16 nycgrl - "Ah that bastardization? Who would make Sherlock Holmes have a love interest? Guy Ritchie thats who."

If I remember correctly, Sherlock Holmes did fall in love once in his life, with the beautiful Irene Adler, the actress. But after that, the "loving" fell to his loyal friend, Watson.

@spencer
ZZ better than the iconic Bridget Lin? I like ZZ but BL is the sun to ZZ's star when it comes to charisma , screen presence, power, style, beauty, acting...you name it.
I cannot believe you have watched any of B's films to say something like that.
ZZ was good only in 2046, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (she was so incredible in this film and I was very annoyed she didn't get an oscar nomination for best supporting actress )
I didn't like her cutesy act in The Road Home. She was OK in House of Flying Daggers, good in Hero and The Banquet. But she is nowhere near BL . BL was a goddess in her time. When you watch her films you feel like she was born to be onscreen.

Sorry further Tangent:

Not a fan of Guy Ritchie and having been an avid sherlockian since age 8 I doubt I can stomach this even for Robert Downey Jr.

Also in the story Scandal in Bohemia, Holmes does not fall in love with Adler. He admires her for her brains and courage. In every story Homes is pretty much shown as a misogynist.

Edit: if you read non-doyle stories there are romances with holmes but anything directly from Doyle portrays Holmes as only showing interest in women as part of mystery or problem to be solved except for Adler who he greatly admired.

Unfortunately, I don't consider Briggett Lin as a good actress by any standard. I've watched too many crappy Taiwan and HK movies with BL in it (which I wish I hadn't).

Is it only me? I thought Song Hye Gyo in this photo looks like Zhang Ziyi.

wait is this the sequel to donny yen's ip man? i is confused. *runs off to the internet to do some research*

on another note. yay for casting tony leung! i looooooooooooove him. and if he wasn't married to carina lau, he would be my husband. this movie looks like it has a pretty solid cast, hope SHK won't stick out like a sore thumb.

"Gong Li only managed to be exceptional in Zhang Yi Mou’s work."
----------------------------

?????? Ummm,No. Farewell my concubine, Eros "The Hand"
Breaking The silence. All great performances
Gorgeous and insanely beautiful.

I can't stand Ziyi Zhang. Ewwwww.

@butterball,

"And that movie was not as good as In the mood for love"

Yeah, I hear that one a lot, but for me In the Mood for Love is merely a beautiful catwalk sequel to Days of Being Wild. And 2046 is really Wong Kar Wai looking back at Days of Being Wild, without his Leslie. WKW may be a poet of sadness corroborative with Tony Leung, actor of sadness. BUT, Leslie is really the muse -- or some female version of the mad, brilliant, screen-kiss idol-idol -- .for whom his movies tears up.

@sonam,

". I have always loved how WKW brings out the beauty of Asian women in his films"

Sometimes I do think it's in a way that grows ever more sexist and fossilized by, well, the ashes of time. (Though it still works in 2046, because the lead male character IS objectifying all the women all around him for the sake of his sadness-made-vindicated art.) After Fallen Angel, he longs for an Hong Kong world that's already gone, and I wish he'd move on.

@Nom_Kitteh,

"And then there are all the BTS stories about him recently that make him sound more diva than artist at this point".

Ehh . . . that's Wong Kar Wai for ya. He drives producers and actors crazy, because only he has any concept of whether his movie is "done", let alone what the movie "is." And he's known for making films in parallel, not because he's efficient, but because he can't be arsed to finish anything.

"I also didn’t “get” 2046 — yes, I understand that it is a sequel of sorts to In the Mood for Love"

2046 is pure masturbation . . . but by virtue of that, it's periodically his most orgasmic work since his mid-90s period. The way he reworks cod-1960s sci-fi idioms (i.e. Barberella) is so poetic, poignant, and on-the-money. The meta-icon, international love swoon between Kimura and Faye Wong is, well, swoon worthy. Even the petulant posturing of Zhang Ziyi, that's wonderful if you the Chinese viewer are kinda rooting for Tony Leung to "punish" Zhang Ziyi for her "Devil Western" ways.

"Jang Geun Suk for a moody, color-suffused, postmodern, nihilistic dream-narrative about…nothing,"

Only if he was making Happy Together 2 and didn't tell Jang Geun Suk until he was slobbing it with another guy. I don't think he's a good fit for WKW's approach. Not at this point in his career.

@spencer
You consider Ashes of Time, Bride with White hair, Swordsmen II to mention a few crappy?
You can't watch an action film these days without Hong Kong cinema's influence. Even as recently as IRIS where the north and south spies are pointing guns at each other......pure Hong Kong. Hollywood has been doing HK style films for the last two decades now.
Crappy Taiwanese cinema? Some of the most amazing films I have seen are from Taiwan.
I guess each to his own. And no, SHG doesn't look like Ziyi in this picture. ZZ's face is flatter.

Well said Spencer. Gong Li is "the Queen"

I agree about Eros. Such presence.
As for Ziyi Zhang, Can take her or leave her.

Yes, ZZ’s face is flatter and she has bigger ears that stick out. Lin was a beauty but now not so much.

Leung punching Zhang would be a great delight.

@nycgrl

I don't like GR too. Too pretentious. But I love Robert Downey Jr and Sherlock Holmes.

I just love it when amateur critics take established talents to task merely for the fact that the said talent's only recognizable offense is being more aesthetiacally pleasing than 99% of the human population on this planet. You're absolutely right kids: Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Song Hye-gyo continue to win over fans, critics, and the directors because their skills are so below par. If only some of our esteemed colleagues could be afforded the opportunty to ply their own wares before the greater public at large...Wouldn't that be something?

"Some of the most amazing films I have seen are from Taiwan."

Indeed. Hou Hsiao-Hsien is probably my favorite director working today.

"I think it would be really interesting to see So Ji Sub in a Wong Kar Wai film.. "

Ehhh . . actually don't think So Ji Sub would work well in a WKW film either. Wong Kar Wai doesn't give you a lot of direction, and you as an actor can't rely on your relationship with the camera. You have to self-direct a bit and trust yourself in the moment.

Also, he tends to give the guys a lot more work to do than the gals. (That also applies to Maggie Cheung.) Choi Min Sik, Hwang Jung Min, Song Kang Ho. Ha Jung Woo. Then again, maybe So Ji Sup or Jang Geon Suk could work too. Heh.

Also worth pointing out, actors in WKW films often just do their parts and then go onto other projects while WKW keeps tinkering away. So it isn't like Song Hye Kyo would do her part and then wait until her next project. She'd probably show up for a few weeks and then be done with it, so she can move onto the next show or movie.

To Hong Kong fans like me, It's good news that Song would take part in this Hong Kong film. But it's really doubtful whether the film would be widely loved here, coz Wong Kar-wai's films are very special, so special that you either like it very much or dislike it very much. Let's hope for the best.

"It’s good news that Song would take part in this Hong Kong film. "

I was really banking on the 1949 project, but John Woo's known for his vaporfilm promotion. Natch. Not a bad idea BTW if she tries a crossover action or rom-com.

@whoever said that HK and Taiwanese movies are crappy: you should watch more movies.
also, Zhang Zhi Yi is nowhere compared to her seniors like Gong Li, Maggie Leung, Brigit Lin (Brigit's short but legendary presence in Chungking Express pwns everything ZZ has done until now)
between Gong Li and Maggie Leung, I still have to go with Maggie. She has a longer movie career with different types of roles and I always find a certain charm in her characters. Gong Li was exception in Zhang's movies but other than that, she's just good, not very good (although she pwned everyone else in Geisha)

Whoah, this turned into a which-actress-which-film-industry-which-country is better slugfest! See, this is why we can't have nice things :-)

@belleza,
I'd watch Happy Together 2.
...with JGS/JKS and Hong Ki.
...Or JKS and Lee Jun Ki.
...Or JKS and Kim Hyun Joong.
...Or JKS and random pretty face

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels was excellent! What are you guys talking about!!!! Don't make me turn the car around.

Love, Love SKH wish her all the best cannot wait to see her in a drama soon.

wow! another tony leung and WKW collaboration! definitely looking forward for this one.. but SHG? i agree with some of you.. she's not the strongest actress out there, but i hope WKW will bring the best out of her.

all the best for the production!