John Woo's "Red Cliff" to Start in 2007

[Berri]

John Woo's long time partner producer Terence Chang told Associated Press that the shooting of the historical war drama The Battle of Red Cliff was set to start in 2007 in order to release it just before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Chang said the project was backed by China Film Group Corp., the biggest state-own studio in China. He also mentioned a few battle sequences from the script, including "the burning of 2,000 boats with horses jumping around on them" and another sequence involving "a booby-trapped battleship". Writer, Wang Hui-Ling (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has joined the writing team now working on the eight draft of the script. Also according to several Chinese newspapers, Asian Union Films, another state-owned studio involved in the project, just announced that mainland actor Liu Ye was in talk to join the cast and he would meet director John Woo next month.'Dong Ping', the president of the studio was impressed by his performance in Jasmine Women and his height (1.86 meters).Dong also said that they had reviewed the resumes of many Chinese actors and actress and the casting was also open to talents from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. [source:Chinabroadcast]

[Berri]

Lin Zhi ling Slammed for her Role in John Woo's film

The news that Taiwan model Lin Chi-ling would star in Hong Kong director John Woo’s new film “The War of Red Cliff” as Xiao Qiao, an ancient Chinese beauty during the Three Kingdoms (220-280), hit like a bomb on the mainland and raised a wave of protest on the Internet.

　　

Starting Sunday some 10,000 people had signed a petition protesting Lin’s role on tianya.com, one of China’s most popular Web sites. Eighty percent of an estimated 5,000 people in an online survey by Sina.com also protested Lin’s taking the role of Xiao Qiao. 　　

Their biggest concern is that the Taiwan model, without any acting experience, would damage Xiao Qiao’s reputation as one of the most beautiful women in Chinese history. 　

Xiao Qiao, wife of Zhou Yu (175-210), military commander of the Wu State emperor, is remembered for beauty that “can make birds alight and fish drown, the moon hide and the flowers blush for shame at the sight of her face,” according to the description in “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by 14th century Ming author Luo Guanzhong. 　　

“Given her age and her modern look, the thirtysomething model faces a real challenge in portraying a classic teenage Chinese beauty,” one netizen wrote. 　　

Respondents resented Lin’s unnatural childlike voice. “The image and reputation of Lin forms a strong contrast with that of Xiao Qiao. Having Lin in the film makes me worried the film would become a p0rn movie,” said an online postage. 　　

Lin has not responded to the mainland protests. Instead, according to her publicist surnamed Fan, Lin said that she would reread Luo’s “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” to learn more about Xiao Qiao. “Lin won’t let anyone down,” Fan said. 　　

Filming is scheduled to start at the end of the year or early next year.