The new DANGEROUS LIAISONS Feb 12

[JNagarya]

Originally Posted by eiknarf

Yeah I figure the USA version (Well Go) would have good subtitles being it's being marketed for English speakers.

My main concern was if I import this Hong Kong one. Would the subtitles be as good as Well Go?

I have both Hong Kong/Asian (via Canada) and Well Go releases of "The Great Magician" (Tony Leung, Zhou Xun). The subtitles on the Asian are passable; on the Well Go very good.

Sufficient that I'll trust Well Go (though the prices tend to be steep, so I wait until they drop).

I hope Well Go takes advantage of the gaps in the market for Asian blu-rays: there are many I want in the format which are few-to-non-existent in Asian release, and then uncertain as to all around quality, especially of subtitles. (In addition, the prices tend to be prohibitive, and local sellers poo-poo the Asian versions of blu-ray as being any different than standard DVD, despite the labeling.)

[eiknarf]

Originally Posted by JNagarya

She cries in every film I've seen with her, except "Rush Hour 2" and perhaps "House of Flying Daggers".

She says in interview that she had a difficult time crying, having to hunt for painful memoires -- until "2046," in which she said she "fell into my own pain". In the last scene with Tony Leung, leaning against the wall, she couldn't stop crying after director Wong Kar Wai said, "Cut!"

Her interviews on her experiencing in making that film -- working with Wong Kar Wai, who doesn't tend to provide a complete written script, or give his cast members indications as to who the character is or should be -- especially fascinate. She was confused, frustrated, even self-intimidated to the degree of actually wondering if she could act. Leung, having worked with Kar Wai, explained to her that she had to build her own character, from within, and with that she "got it". (And the result is terrific.)

(Leung had some discussion with Wong Kar Wai about the moustache. As he was to be the same character as in "In the Mood for Love," Kar wai wanted him to essentially be the same. Leung wanted to indicate that the character had to some degree changed, thus the moustache. Leung obviously won the "argument".)

I noticed elsewhere that someone asked if anyone had seen Zhang Yimou's "The Road Home," Zhang Ziyi's first film (not counting a prior TeeVee film in which she plays a ballerina). I have (in fact have at least three copies, as backups), and it's in my top five of all time. Not only is Ziyi adorable and luminous, and the story intimate and unique, but the cinematography (Zhang Yimou began as a cinematographer, but not on this film) is splendid, both in colors (most of it takes place in Autumn) and in framing of shots.

A gorgeous film all around. See the reviews on Amazon, including mine. But be forewarned that the the "spoilers" in those reviews are actually all over the place as to "accuracy"; i.e., they are riddled with errors as to what actually happens in the film.

How good is the film? For those to whom I've showed it, it immediately became an "instant top five". And the two films I most want on blu-ray are "A Man for All Seasons," and "The Road Home".

I had THE ROAD HOME on DVD since I first saw Crouching Tiger! =)
Great flick! Zhang Yimou is the one that suggested Ang Lee use ZiYi for Crouching Tiger.