[Source: Chengdu Business News, September 6, 2007. Byline: Wang Xiao]
Joan Chen may have been the busiest Chinese actor at this year's Venice Film Festival. After all, two of her works were in competition there, something not often seen at major film festivals. Although Chen had not been very active on the big screen in recent years, she is now back before the camera lens with renewed vigor. Whether playing any one of three roles – Mrs. Yee, a nurse, or herself – Joan Chen drew considerable attention from fans at Venice. 
Directors' Appraisals
Ang Lee
"Without her, it would be like the mahjongg board didn't exist." This was Ang Lee in Venice speaking of Joan Chen. Ang Lee is obviously very satisfied with Joan Chen: "Her performance gave us infinite possibilities. Is she aware of the relationship between Mr. Yee and Wang Jiazhi after all? His other women? Has she been corrupted by Mr. Yi? We can't be certain of any of these things, for if you watch Joan performing several times, you come away with a different understanding each time." For Ang Lee, Joan Chen is the movie's core, for "As a representative of that era, she provides a structure for the entire film."
Jiang Wen
"Joan Chen is someone who sees more clearly than I do what is needed. Don't forget she spent US$50 million when she directed 'Autumn in New York,' and Richard Gere – a real Hollywood name – was one of her actors! I don't know about other people, but Joan Chen is a major Chinese filmmaker. Can you name another person in China who has made a film that big? No. I know I can't." Jiang Wen, very direct and never mincing words, says "Joan Chen is my older dream. Although we're the same age, she became my idol very early on. When I was writing this role I felt it was really her."
[right, Jiang Wen, Joan Chen and Jaycee Chan at a promotional event for "The Sun Also Rises." Click on picture for larger image]
"Even if she's not doing anything, she's still doing everything." This was a Hong Kong journalist's appraisal of Joan Chen's performance in "Lust, Caution." And how many people, after seeing Chen's character go into hysteria in a hospital ward in "The Sun Also Rises," were startled by the performance by same woman who was the innocent and cheerful "Little Flower" of so many years ago? [a reference to the role that made Chen a star in China] Joan Chen is this kind of actress, one with the self-control that allows her in middle age to accept either a lead or a supporting role. Before leaving Venice, Joan Chen sat down with our reporter for an interview, and spoke freely about working with two great directors with such different styles.
Q: Although you've said before that these two films are both your children, we still have to ask how you compare the two.
Chen: For me, my characters in these two movies are like the North and South Poles of the earth. In Ang Lee's film, I needed to throttle my own instincts, everything was staged, and very inhibited. But in "Sun," the character was totally controlled by her instincts, she didn't know how to cover up her own instincts. That's something I normally wouldn't dare to do in my own life, so acting that was very satisfying.
Q: And how do you see them as a director? What are their differences in your eyes?
Chen: Jiang Wen is a good actor, especially when doing drama. In the movie I had a love scene with Anthony Wong, and when it comes to expressing love I'm normally pretty shy, so it was difficult for me. Jiang Wen told me to imagine myself an actress receiving an Oscar, how it would feel being up on that stage, how I would breathing rapidly with emotion, my speech becoming incoherent, and how that emotion would cause my tears to flow. When he told me that, I immediately understood completely. As for Ang Lee, there isn't much I can say. He is so great. The thing I appreciate most about him is his cool-headedness. Regardless of how things are going, whether there are restrictions or not, he just films what he wants. He puts everything into it, and he gets that total commitment from everyone around him.
Q: Here we have a situation where two outstanding directors coincidentally asked you to work with them. In your opinion, was this because they valued you so highly, or was it because they felt you would bring to their projects something they needed. And if so, what?
Chen: In "Lust, Caution," Ang Lee as director needed my bearing. I know he needed a foil, someone who would embody the identity of an official's wife. Someone with this kind of aura could serve as a foil, and this is what he needed from me.
In "The Sun Also Rises," I think Jiang Wen needed absolute sincerity from me, even that kind of naiveté I had back in my "Little Flower" years [Chen's 1980 breakthrough film in China]. Naturally, sex appeal is needed as well, but in "Sun" it had to be open and unaffected, not something put on.
Q: You've been making movies in Hollywood for so long, some people consider you a representative symbol of Eastern womanhood.
Chen: This year, we actually see many things which are symbolic. This symbolism thing is something that others bestow on you. Americans may think of me as a symbolic actor, so they write roles for me which accord with their understanding of me. But as far as I'm concerned, I don't see myself as symbolic of anything.
Q: You have told the press that most of your time and energy now are devoted to your family and children, but now it seems you have suddenly returned [to filmmaking].
Chen: Actually, I have all along looked forward to cooperating with Chinese directors especially, as well as that cumulative process I need in order to be a director. Cooperation with Jiang Wen, cooperation with Ang Lee, these are both part of that accumulation. Everyone saw that I made a few works during a short period of time, but actually [events in my life] were not happening during the time I was filming. Right now I am focused on my children, and if I get one role a year, that's enough for me.
***
Before departing Venice, Joan Chen granted several media interviews, at which she laughingly said her only reason for being in Venice was to publicize the movies.
Because she had two films in competition, Chen was at the Venice festival for nearly a week, the longest stay of any of the Chinese fimmakers here. And two films in competition required her to trod the red carpet twice, which in turn required she bring along several evening gowns.
She told reporters, "When you see me walking out here, wearing gorgeous clothes, remember these evening gowns are really just my work clothes, they go with hyping the movies."
