Aaron Kwok and Zhang Ziyi in film The Era of Magic

Zhang Ziyi and Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok will play a couple suffering from AIDS in director Gu Changwei's first-ever feature film tackling the issue, entitled "The Era of Magic."

Aaron Kwok was spotted on the set in Beijing Tuesday with a bearded and weary look, the Beijing News reports.

The film, adapted from a novel, tells a tragic love story between two AIDS-afflicted lovers. Kwok plays a primary school teacher who is sent from the city to teach in the countryside, but contracts AIDS and develops a crush on Zhang Ziyi's character, also an AIDS patient.

Director Gu Changwei insists Zhang Ziyi as the right actress for the lead, despite her recent embroilment in a slew of scandals about her personal life and alleged donation fraud.

Gu thinks the internationally famous Zhang will ensure a box office cache for the upcoming film.

Reportedly, award-winning actress Jiang Wenli, wife of director Gu, was cast in a supporting role.

Other big names joining the cast for very little pay include Pu Cunxin, Cai Guoqing, Li Xuejian and Li Danyang - all ambassadors of an anti-AIDS public campaign, the paper says, citing unnamed sources.

Chinese Films

China Actress Zhang Zi Yi returned at New Year Party

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi has returned to the public eye at a New Year’s party for Chinese entertainment industry professionals in Beijing on January 31 after a a personal scandal last month.

Zhang cracked a smile when she was invited onstage at the party for a formal champagne toast alongside veteran actresses Yu Lan and Xu Fan. Most of the time, Zhang seemed in low spirits and spoke with emotional overtones, saying, “It is so not easy in the movie industry,” according to a “Beijing News” report.

The party was jointly organized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the movie channel of China Central Television. Other big stars included actors Yan Ni, Hao Lei, Zhang Yuqi and pop singers Alan Tam and Li Yuchun.

Zhang was involved in a scandal involving money, friendship and a love affair in January and was later questioned for allegedly not fulfilling donation promises to help those affected by the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.

The actress had quit her roles as the producer and lead actress of the upcoming film “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” last week, which roused widespread speculation that her action could have resulted from her recent problems.

88news.net

Shu Qi and Zhang Zi Yi to write on each other’s nude chests?

HONG KONG: Taiwanese actress Shu Qi has turned down a role in Chinese star Zhang Ziyi’s English movie “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”.

Based on a novel by Lisa See, “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” is jointly produced by Zhang, Wendy Deng, wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Florence Sloan, wife of MGM chairman Harry Sloan, and also stars the Chinese actress.

The movie tells a story about a community of women with bound feet living in a remote Hunan province seeking companionship from one another. As they developed close friendships, the women developed a secretive Nu Shu language as a form of communication and to keep their secrets from the men.

In the film, Snow Flower, who was supposed to be played by Shu Qi, develops a lifelong friendship with Lily (Zhang) and there is a nude scene which shows them writing on each other’s chest in the Nu Shu.

Though baring all is nothing new to Shu Qi, a former soft-porn actress, she reportedly turned down the role because of the scene.

The Taiwanese star, who started her career in soft porn films, proved herself to be a credible actress after winning the Best Actress Golden Horse Award in 2005 and has no intentions of stripping unless she is really attracted to the script.

Hopefully, Shu Qi will not regret her decision.

Shu Qi famously rejected a role in Lee Ang’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, which later went to Zhang and catapulted her to international fame.

Zhang is said to be disappointed with Shu Qi’s decision and is now looking for an actress to replace her.

The film will be helmed by “Joy Luck Club” director Wayne Wang and shooting is expected to begin early next year in China. – CNA/fa

88news.net