Beginning today, and for the next 8 weeks, local entrepreneur David Huang will be presenting a Chinese film at the local Kentlands Stadium 10 movie complex. This week's feature film will be Chen Kaige's Forever Enthralled (Mei Lanfang) starring Leon Lai and Zhang Ziyi. The 8 week series is a test run and if it proves successful will be a regular ongoing program. The Chinese Film Week inaugural is timed to coincide with Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the US next week.The other films (all presumably subbed) to be presented in the following weeks: Crazy Racer, Invisible Wings, The Knot (Vivian Hsu, Li Bingbing, Isabella Leong), A Singing Fairy (In Search of Third Sister Liu), Fit Lover, Freeway (starring Yao Chen), and The Message (!).
So, if you live in the DMV come on out and support Chinese film!
David Huang also operates the local Chinese channel broadcast on MHzTV and, in the 1980's, operated the old American Theater (in the basement of L'Enfant Plaza as I recall) that featured Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest releases, if anyone remembers. And all these years later, I'm still trying to identify the gambling comedy featuring those 8-pointed throwing stars planted in the face of the gambler (could it have been Patrick Tse?) that I saw there.
Posts
4 comments:
You lived in this area? I recall reading about the theater in L'Enfant Plaza but that was years ago.
Thanks for the heads-up on this festival in my general area!
I enjoyed "Forever Enthralled" (Mei Lanfang). My mother liked it too - my late grandmother was a big fan of Mei Lanfang.
I'm too far to attend the movies, but I hope a decent number of people do show up to watch them. :)
I was tempted to pick up one or two old Mei Lanfang vcds when Forever Enthralled was in production but I never got around to it.
I'm taking my parents tomorrow so we'll see how many people show up. Not many I suspect.
A decent-sized audience Sunday. I'd guess about 30 people. I enjoyed it well enough, Leon Lai, and Zhang Ziyi to a lesser extent, notwithstanding. :D Of more interest, to me, were Sun Honglei, Ying Da (who I just saw in The Message) and Wang Xueqi. Yu Shaoqun as the young Mei Lanfang was excellent, too.
Maybe someday, Gillian Chung's scenes will get reinstated.
Post a Comment