[On September 5, 2006, CCTV-6, China's national TV movie channel, broadcast an interview with actress Zhang Ziyi on its nightly program "China Film Report." The focus of the interview was her latest film, "The Banquet," which had just premiered in Beijing. A loose adaptation of "Hamlet," directed by Feng Xiaogang and also starring Ge You and Daniel Wu, "Banquet" was released in China last August and while not yet in worldwide release, it has been shown at several film festivals in the West, including Venice and Toronto. In the interview transcribed here, I have used the film's international English release title "The Banquet," rather than "Night Banquet," the literal translation of its Chinese title "Ye Yan" (夜宴). If a person is referred to in the interview by their Chinese name, that name has been converted to its Western form, if that is how the person is more commonly known in the West, for example all references to Wu Yanzu are given here as Daniel Wu.
In the transcript which follows, "Tu" before a statement refers to the program host and interviewer Tu Jingwei , and "Zhang" of course refers to Zhang Ziyi. Italicized sections are Tu's voiceover comments, and comments in brackets, like this paragraph, are translator's comments, added where it was felt further clarification might be needed]
After wrapping up four months of shooting on "The Banquet," the simply but tastefully and youthfully dressed Zhang Ziyi seemed an entirely different person than the complex and multi-faceted empress she portrays in the film. Feng Xiaogang told "China Movie News" that Zhang was the key to his movie's success or failure, so when she accepted your program host's request for an exclusive interview, my deep feelings of joy at this would be impossible to describe.
Tu: We know that the story is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Was this the first time you saw this story?
Zhang: No, it wasn't, because when I was at the Cannes Film Festival last year, [producer] Wang Zhonglei told me they had this story and wanted to gauge my interest in doing it. After that, I felt that while the role of the empress mother presented quite an age gap for me, there were so many layers to the character, such a richly layered woman, that I said I'd try it. We consulted on how it might be done, and when I made my suggestions the director Xiaogang was quite enthusiastic about them, and quickly agreed to my changes. After the script was revised, we very quickly reached agreement on what we wanted, and hoped we would achieve that.
Tu: So you're saying that the role of the empress mother was not like this in the original script? And these revisions were made afterwards because you were set in the role?
Zhang: Yes, that's right.
Zhang Ziyi has played 10 different roles in her 7-year film career, ranging from a simple and pretty peasant girl to a stubborn, beautiful "dragon," an impetuous younger sister, the worldweary Bai Ling, and three different women in "Jasmine Women," distinct individuals with differing personalities. Now, at the age of 26 she has again accepted a personal acting challenge, and in "The Banquet" portrays an empress.
Zhang: She has a violent side, but also shows initiative. But I feel this woman is actually very pitiful, in that her love encompasses her own self-preservation and apprehensions about her own position, and these things put her under considerable pressure. So while on the outside she is very gorgeous and moving, on the inside she is very complex, someone not at all clear in what she says. I always felt if someone tried to explain her in words they could never quite capture the essence of her. To me, portraying her was a great challenge. because while she had this fierce and malicious side, she also had her fragile, feminine side.
Tu: That's a very complicated character.
Zhang: Yes, very complicated.
But while she says that this sort of role is unclear, Zhang Ziyi still set out step by step on the road to getting into the empress's heart and mind, and was willing to sacrifice her own image in order to do this.
Zhang: My makeup this time was very much in character, because my eyebrows were shaved off.
Tu: Completely shaved off?
Zhang: Right. They left half of a brow.
Tu: And then the brows were drawn on?
Zhang: When going outside they were like this, but later she used red. The use of red makeup was typical of the Tang dynasty, and in "The Banquet" they made up the whole person in red.
Tu: It was very far away [from the real you]?
Zhang: Yes, my whole person was like this. She didn't say anything.
Tu: But your eyes looked very scary.
Zhang: Yes, and since she doesn't say anything, you wonder how she can be so scary! Actually, the character uses her external appearance and image to suppress any sort of rebellion from the rest of the household, and her reaction to anything is to suppress it, and she even tames the emperor, so her whole facial appearance is very small, very red. Every time the makeup was completed, I didn't even recognize myself, but that's good, because I believe that sacrificing myself for the film is something I should do, because it helps you get inside your character's condition. Although I might not like myself much, being so scary, still, someone who could be that stoic and fearless, but so complex inside, I think the character was correct.
In the hands of makeup artist Ye Jintian, an image emerged of a queen who is honorable and dignified on the outside, but coldly beautiful, aloof, arrogant, and diabolically cunning inside. This gave Zhang Ziyi confidence that she could accurately portray the character.
Xu: The image was so well made up, so well costumed, it really made her the image of a queen mother. Could you discuss a bit your portrayal of her? What you needed to make her so fearsome?
Zhang: To portray someone I feel I have to really get into her, and I felt with this woman that I didn't want to be a 20-something, I wanted to get into her as a 30-something. But sometimes, when I would discuss her light-colored costumes with [costume designer] Wu Chanzu, I would think about maybe settling into her as a young girl, for I believed that this woman was so multi-faceted, her emotional world was such, that she could present a variety of images to others. But she was really just one person, and her true self would only show when she was with her lover.
While bridging the age gap to portray a 30-something woman was one challenge for Zhang Ziyi, another was presenting a three-dimensional portrayal of the empress's complex emotional world.
Xu: Her romantic entanglements should be with the two characters played by Ge You and Daniel Wu.
Zhang: Yes.
Xu: These are very complex romantic entanglements.
Zhang: Right. I feel she can be described with colors. To me, the queen mother can be described using dark reddish purple, that describes her. But when she and Daniel Wu are together, she can look like she did back when she did not bear any burdens, when she had no feelings of pressure. This gave her an aura of being very pure and tender, so her color then was a light yellow.
The queen mother that Zhang Ziyi portrays in "Banquet" and the crown prince played by Daniel Wu have a mutual affection. Because he has returned to the palace seeking revenge, in order to save the life of this man she cares for, she confronts the emperor, played by Ge You. With the crown prince she is a simple woman, but with the emperor her character's feelings turn more complex.
Tu: In speaking just now of this role, you said she could be described in colors; what color would you use to describe Ge You's emperor?
Zhang: It would definitely be a deep color, because in my contacts with Ge You I've always felt that is what he is like. But in the movie, when I decide to kill him, I felt those old feelings again, especially complex feelings, and so I think that the most complex emotions in the whole world are those of women.
Tu: No one can figure that out.
Zhang: That's right, that even though she, she understands where her love is coming from, still, when things happen which involve her, or when she confronts these things, she's confused. Because I feel that women are weak, while she is so brave, her innermost being is still fragile, and that is the time your are most vulnerable, you might say when you are most likely to make a mistake. Although outwardly she gives everyone the impression she's in total control, her emotions have worn her down and weakened her.
Tu: I note that you talk quite a bit about this character's complexity; is that what attracted you to this role?
Zhang: Yes. I feel it's a bit habitual. I wanted this because I felt that there was an empathy between this character and me, and during the time I have been performing in Japan and the US, I have all along wanted to come back to act here.
Tu: Following your heart.
Zhang: Yes. I felt I wanted to return, I wanted to live in her world. When I become a character I am paralyzed in that person, and she was like that. It's much like putting on a disguise. You become paralyzed in the character, her clothing, the properties, are all there; you become this person, and this person lives.
Tu: Actually, I've interviewed many actors, and many of them have expressed this kind of passion for a role when talking about it. Do you just feel that way about this role, or does Zhang Ziyi have this passion for every role?
Zhang: That's basically how I am, yes.
By relying on her own efforts and desire to succeed, Zhang Ziyi has achieved worldwide success as well as huge opportunities, but in her films, her acting, she still maintains a pure heart.
Tu: What specific plans do you have for your next step?
Zhang: Choosing from among the scripts I receive.
Tu: So, if you receive a script from overseas, and a domestic script, how do you choose between them?
Zhang: I first consider whether it will improve me artistically, whether it will be a new acting challenge for me. It's like the Korean movie "My Wife Is a Gangster 3": they kept asking me to be in it, I thought about it a long time, and actually it was unfortunate because from a monetary standpoint they really offered me a lot, a lot of money, you couldn't imagine how much they wanted to pay me to be in it. But at last I decided that I shouldn't do it. That is, I'm not saying it wasn't a good movie, it was just that I felt that looking at it artistically, I just felt it was not something I wanted to do.
Tu: So do you think that each film you make offers you some new artistic breakthrough?
Zhang: Yes. Because I am very serious about acting, I don't consider the five roles I might play are equal to the five paydays they bring. For me, the work I am doing is what I want to be doing, and I don't rely on it to satisfy my material needs. I want to do what particularly inspires me, much like "The Banquet," which really inspired me to want to do it. So I feel that audiences should see that enthusiasm when they see the product, the degree of enthusiasm we put into making it. But that might not always work out in every case.
Tu: That's right. Ziyi, we were really moved by your views on the motion picture art and your very high requirements. I thank you again for being our guest on "China Film Report."
Zhang: And I thank you for the support "China Film Report" has always given me.
Tu: Thank you, Ziyi, thank you.
