Saturday, June 5, 2010

Fan Bingbing in June Esquire




 


In August 2009, Fan Bingbing appeared in Esquire as the embodiment of femininity of a bygone era, Marilyn Monroe (CRI). 

Now, in the current June issue of Esquire, Fan Bingbing returns and takes on four men's personae to illustrate masculine bravery, determination and masculinity of prior decades. She also pens an open letter to men (see bottom of post for a weak Google translation). In the open letter, an Esquire first, she declares an era of independence and issues her complaints, disappointment in men and comments on her future expectations and desire for self-perfection in life and experience.


Fan Bingbing as Che Guevera

Elvis Presley




Bruce Lee


Superman


The past year has been a busy one for Fan Bingbing but it has not been all successful. She's appeared in Shinjuku Incident, Wheat, Bodyguards and Assassins, Future X-Cops, East Wind, Rain, Guanyin Mountain, Chongqing Blues and New Shaolin Temple. However, some of these films were not shown in the mainland and other were not well received. But Fan Bingbing also lost to rival Li Bingbing. The Message was a hit and Li Bingbing replaced her in Huayi Brothers' Snow Flower and The Secret Fan. Yao Di also replaced her in Love of Three Smiles after the director decided she was unsuitable after an audition, though Fan Bingbing claimed a schedule conflict. More recently, Wilson Yip confirmed Liu Yifei as the leading actress in Chinese Ghost Story, beating out Fan Bingbing, Li Bingbing, Guei Lun-Mei and Zhou Xun for the role. In addition, Gong Li was cast in the Chen Daming remake of What Women Want with Andy Lau over Fan Bingbing because she was deemed too young and not 'fresh' enough and maybe the failure of the pairing in Future X-Cops. (Xinhua)


Fan Bingbing: a letter to men

Men:

Hello. See words like surface.

I have a father, but also a younger brother. Between the two ages, probably should be called a man.

I would have preferred to you, is broad-minded, and has a dictionary or Baidu that knowledge and did not say much the same sense of humor.

Are not loquacious humor. This one's sense of proportion needs you to take advantage of.

Also, you should treat people sincerely, at least, wider than the girls. I hope you have a story, not boiled water.

Most importantly, I think you should have some courage. The courage of everyday life may not come out totally, but to a critical moment, you should be playing.

I played Concubine Yang, Yang Yuhuan love the Tang emperor as a state, but also versatile, I think it is very romantic man. Some say the ultimate betrayal of the Tang emperor to his lover, and I do not think so. The face of love, two people will be afraid, Yang Yuhuan was one who paid for love, she knew the fate of love, she was willing to do the price with their lives. The Tang emperor, after the loss of love can only live in the recall, he was more painful, his life is black and white. I think they both respect the love people have done, and for each other in good faith to pay, this is love I want to get.

Of course, you will say, "not the same as the life and drama," I agree that men die for love, which is indeed a horrible reality. I do not think love is 100 percent important thing, as for marriage, marriage for me is the end of love and life start. Marriage means a man handed himself in the hands of another person, this is a bit of terror. I now fear of marriage, perhaps someone among you will be cured of this fear.

But I do not about that. Career, love, family, it is every modern girl must face the choice, I know a lot of good sex, they can be played every role in society very well. For his life, living for others, it is willing to share with you my creed.

You do not think the Chinese men to "face" seen too important? This is perhaps the legacy issues now. I hope you relax a little, a little too real, sincere and a little further on their own, with a healthy attitude to life. For those of you married, my advice is: keep good sight of the well-being. For singles, I think you do not need suggestions as you face unlimited possibilities.

I and everyone of you, like, is slowly growing, slowly changing, previously firmly believe that some of the things shaken, I think this is terrible. In fact, although I consider myself an independent, self-reliance, used to take care of others, I still look forward to get some guidance from you.

Perhaps, as I did not find fault with any way to you. My last words are: to be fair to their own.

 Sincerely, Fan Bingbing

[Hopefully, I will find a more credible translation, in which case I will update here. Sorry.]


(Sina), (Xinhua)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are pretty cool! Actually, they bumped up my opinion of Fan Bingbing a bit. Their cartoonish may put off some folks, but I like that aspect of the photos. And I like Fan Bingbing's willingness to take a risk with these.

BTW, does anyone know who the photographer is? Most of the outfits look like they were painted on with the addition of some real accessories.

Anyway, I can't say that I've seen a film yet that makes me like her as an actress, but Fan Bingbing is a great model.

dleedlee said...

I can't find the credits anymore though I remember seeing it on one page. I think Zing (makeup artist of the stars) was the stylist but I didn't note the name of the photographer. Even the Esquire site doesn't give out the credits. And, yes, bodypaint was mentioned.

Most of the current news articles are focusing on her open letter now. It's drawing a lot of attention since it was published.

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid I didn't have the energy to try and translate the translation into something that made sense.

Is it drawing attention because it's controversial?

dleedlee said...

My grasp exceeds my reach, surely.

The commentaries and reactions are just beginning to surface. There's additional context and background in the original that I don't get. But it seems to be a critique of men. I've updated the opening graf to reflect some added nuance based on something I read today.

Originally, I thought the spread was a play on a sate of male Fan Bingbing imitators on talent shows recently.

Anyway, all in good time, I'm sure. ;D

Gossiping about boob jobs, pregnancies and marriages are definitely easier to understand! :D

Anonymous said...

Male Fan Bingbing imitators?

I want pictures! ;)