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Forever Enthralled

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Genre
  
Biography, Drama, History

Duration
  

Language
  
Mandarin

6.8/10
IMDb

Director
  
Music director
  
Country
  
China

Forever Enthralled movie poster

Release date
  
December 5, 2008 (2008-12-05)

Writer
  
Kaige Chen (screenplay), Geling Yan (screenplay), Kuo-fu Chen (screenplay)

Screenplay
  
Chen Kaige, Geling Yan, Chen Kuo-Fu

Cast
  
(Mei Lanfang), (Meng Xiaodong),
Sun Hong-Lei
(Qiu Rubai),
Hong Chen
(Fu zhifang),
Yu Shao-Qun
(Young Mei Lanfang), (Shi San)

Similar movies
  
Chen Kaige directed Forever Enthralled and Farewell My Concubine

Forever enthralled trailer sd


Forever Enthralled (simplified Chinese: 梅兰芳; traditional Chinese: 梅蘭芳; pinyin: Méi Lánfāng) is a Chinese biographical film directed by Chen Kaige; the film marks Chen's eleventh feature film as a director. Forever Enthralled follows the life of Mei Lanfang, one of China's premiere opera performers. It stars Leon Lai as Mei, Zhang Ziyi, Sun Honglei and Masanobu Ando.

Contents

Forever Enthralled movie scenes

Known during production as Mei Lanfang, the film's English title was changed in November 2008, shortly before its release, to Forever Enthralled.

Forever Enthralled wwwgstaticcomtvthumbdvdboxart3606706p360670

The film was shown in competition at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival for the Golden Bear award.

Forever Enthralled Forever Enthralled AsianWiki

Production

Forever Enthralled Berlinale Archive Annual Archives 2009 Programme Forever

Forever Enthralled was produced on a budget of $15 million (US) by the China Film Group and Taiwan's China Magnetics Corporation Company (CMC Company), which had previously helped fund John Woo's Red Cliff and Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers. Unlike Chen's previous film, The Promise, Chen is not re-teaming with his usual producers, Etchie Stroh and Moonstone Entertainment.

Forever Enthralled Mei Lanfang

Just prior to the film's release in December 2008, Forever Enthralled producer, the China Film Group, ran into legal hurdles after it was sued by another production company, Milimeter. Milimeter claimed that it held the copyright to the film based on a contract signed between the two companies in 2004.

Forever Enthralled Forever Enthralled aka Mei Lanfang 2008 movieXclusivecom

In an interview with Newsweek, director Chen Kaige stated that in contrast with his previous film about Beijing opera, "Farewell My Concubine is fiction" whereas "Mei Lanfang existed in history." In Farewell, Chen had more freedom with the story (based on Lilian Lee's novel), but with the biographical Mei Lanfang, Chen was more careful as the film was made under the blessings of Mei Lanfang's family and Chen consulted with Mei's son about the film's story. Chen revealed that many topics, such as Mei's extramarital affair, were "taboo" to the family, but that Mei's son told Chen to "do whatever you want to do" so long as the film deals with those topics with respect.

Cast

Forever Enthralled Forever Enthralled Mei Lanfang

  • Leon Lai as Mei Lanfang. Before Lai was tapped to play the famous opera singer, Chen Kaige reportedly also considered Taiwanese star Leehom Wang. Lai, along with Zhang Ziyi, underwent training with veteran Peking Opera singers to ready themselves for their roles.
  • Zhang Ziyi as Meng Xiaodong, Mei Lanfang's lover.
  • Wang Xueqi as Tan Xinpei, a veteran opera singer.
  • Sun Honglei as Qi Rushan
  • Chen Hong as Fu Zhifang as Mei Lanfang's wife.
  • Masanobu Ando; Japanese actor Ando joined the cast along with Gillian Chung and Chen Hong. Actor Kimura Takuya was also considered for the role as an opera-obsessed Japanese army officer, Tanaka Ryuichi, who befriends Mei Lanfang.
  • Previous casting

  • Gillian Chung as Fu Zhifang as a young woman; the Hong Kong actress joined the cast of the film as Mei Lanfang's wife shortly after it began principal photography, along with actors Chen Hong and Masanobu Ando, in July 2007. After she completed her scenes, Chung faced some controversy as a result of her involvement in the Edison Chen photo scandal. Rumors swirled that her scenes would be cut due to public outcry, though producers at China Film Group initially announced that they would keep her in the film and that she would participate in the film's publicity. The decision to keep Chung was reportedly met with disapproval by Mei Lanfang's family. By November 2008, the film's producers confirmed that Chung had indeed been cut from the film, thought it was unclear whether the decision was made because of the scandal, or it was made by the SARFT, or was the result of bowing to Mei Lanfang's family's wishes.
  • Reviews

    The film made its international premiere in competition at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, where critics called it a "sumptuous" film.

    The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as "traditional but elegantly mounted," and although less exotic than Farewell My Concubine, Chen "exhibits a firm grasp of subject, sympathetic characterization and a connoisseur's eye for the cultural milieu of 1930s-'40s China." The review writes the film's art direction as "superb" and states "from splendidly lit interiors to authentic costumes and accessories, evoking the theater culture and literati scene of 1930s Beijing."

    However, Variety on the other hand states the film is a "largely workmanlike biopic" that is only "occasionally engaging." Variety describes the film's supporting performances are strong and more so than the leading performances, and the film "rarely achieves the artistic elevation it strives for." The review did however gave praise to the film's production design, costume and cinematography.

    References

    Forever Enthralled Wikipedia
    Forever Enthralled IMDbForever Enthralled Rotten TomatoesForever Enthralled themoviedb.org


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