The Director / Writer
In 1993 Chen Kaige won the first Palme D’Or for a Chinese language
film at the Cannes Film Festival for his epic Farewell, My
Concubine. The film went on to gather critical praise, an Academy
Award Nomination and was a box office success throughout the world.
Prior to the Chinese Cultural Revolution of 1966, Chen, the son of a
respected film director, attended a school for privileged children
in Beijing. When the revolution took hold, Chen, along with many
thousands of his middle class contemporaries, was sent to the
countryside for re-education and to work on the land; in his case
clearing trees in the south of the country. From there he was
inducted into the regional army and served five years before
returning to Beijing.
In 1978 Chen was among the first intake of students at the newly
reopened Beijing Film Academy. These talented students became known
as the Fifth Generation Directors and included director Zhang Yimou,
who originally collaborated with Chen as his cinematographer. As
students, the Fifth Generation was influenced by Western European
directors rather than Hollywood movies.
Yellow Earth, Chen Kaige’s debut film, was hailed as the audacious
beginning to a new era of Chinese theatre, and was awarded prizes in
festivals from London to Hawaii. His following films The Big Parade,
King of Children and Life on a String, were interspersed by sojourn
at the American University of Columbia. Following the international
success of Farewell, My Concubine, Kaige directed Temptress Moon
(1996), The Emperor and the Assassin (1999) and Together (2002).
Cast and Characters
Jang Dong Gun as Kunlun the slave
Jang Dong-Kun is a multi talented artist - a fashion model, singer,
TV star and movie actor. He is well known across much of Asia
including Japan, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, and has become as
famous internationally as he is in his own homeland.
Jang made his film debut in 1997 with Repechage, followed by the
visually stunning Holiday in Seoul the same year.
In 1999 he starred alongside Park Joong-hoon in the acclaimed
Nowhere to Hide. With each new role Jang has achieved more praise
and renown, and is currently one of the most sought-after lead
actors in Asia. In 2001, director Kwak Gyeong-taek cast him in his
semi-biographical film Friends. The film became an instant success
and became the most successful Korean film ever made - rocketing
Jang to stardom.
Jang also starred in the big budgeted sci-fi action film 2009: Lost
Memories and The Coastguard helmed by controversial director Kim
Ki-duk. Prior to his work on The Promise, he starred in Taegukgi,
which was released in early 2004 and broke all box office records in
Korea, with over 12 million admissions.
Currently, Jang Dong-Kun is filming Typhoon, one of the most
ambitious film projects ever produced in Korea.
Cecilia Cheung as Qingcheng the
princess
Born in Hong Kong and educated in Australia, willowy beauty Cecilia
Cheung speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. She was discovered
in a TV soft drink commercial by Chu Wing Lung, who is now her
manager. Initially, Cecilia's family was reluctant to allow their
daughter to enter the entertainment industry, but Chu promised her
father that he would look out for her.
Cecilia made her film debut in comedian Stephen Chow's 1999 Chinese
New Year release King of Comedy, in which she plays a nightclub
hostess who experiences an unhappy love affair. More than a dozen
films have followed, including Master Q 2001, with Cecilia starring
opposite Nicolas Tse. Most recently, Cecilia garnered the title of
Best Actress at the 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards -- among the most
prestigious on the global Chinese-language cinema circuit -- for her
role in Lost in Time, in which she plays a young woman meeting a new
love after the death of her boyfriend.
Aside from her motion picture career, Cecilia has made a name for
herself in the recording industry. Her first CD, “Any Weather”, was
released in 1999 and was followed by several more including a Live
in Concert recording and “Cecilia Party All the Time”. She is also
well known in the advertising world, having done both commercials
and print ads for such internationally known companies as American
Express, Benetton, and Marks & Spencer.
Nicholas Tse as Wuhuan the Duke of
the North
Nicholas Tse Ting-Fung was born on August 29, 1980 and spent most of
his formative years in Vancouver and Phoenix, Arizona. Hong Kong
audiences, however, became acquainted with him as a child due to his
parents, veteran actors Patrick Tse and Deborah Li.
Initially starting out in music, Tse became a professional singer
and performer after signing a long-term contract with Fitto
Entertainment Ltd. in 1996. In 1997, the Hong Kong Commercial Radio
invited him as a guest singer on the Annual Ultimate Song Award
Presentation. His debut album, My Attitude, released in May of that
year became an immediate success. It hit Number 3 on the Hong Kong
IFPI Chart making it the best- selling album for two consecutive
weeks and was certified platinum for selling over 50,000 units in
Hong Kong. Since that time he has become one of the top solo
recording artists in the region, touring extensively in China and
throughout Asia, including playing to sold-out crowds in Singapore,
Tokyo and Osaka.
Tse made his first venture into motion pictures with his role as a
young Chan Ho-Nam in Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (1998). His
performance was rewarded with a Hong Kong Film Award for Best New
Artist. He quickly followed up with strong outings in the drama
Metade Fumaca (1999) and in commercial productions such as Gen-X
Cops (1999) and My Schoolmate, the Barbarian (2001). In addition,
Tse had a scene-stealing cameo in Comic King (2000) and wrote and
co-directed a short with fellow actor Stephen Fung for the anthology
film Heroes in Love (2001). The last few years have been a prolific
time for Tse as an actor with roles in several feature films
released in 2004 alone, including New Police Story opposite Jackie
Chan.
When not filming or on tour, Tse keeps busy shooting commercials and
print ads and has endorsement agreements with a number of
internationally known companies such as Coca Cola, Puma and Sony.
Hiroyuki Sanada as Guangming the
General
Hiroyuki Sanada is an internationally renowned stage and screen
actor. He has dazzled audiences around the world with his talent and
versatility in such internationally acclaimed motion pictures as The
Last Samurai, co-starring Tom Cruise, and Yoji Yamada’s 2004
Oscar-nominated film, The Twilight Samurai and Sharaku, an official
selection for the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. Sanada also starred
in the original Japanese version of the modern horror-classic The
Ring.
Sanada is also a celebrated stage actor in his home country of Japan
as well as internationally. In 1986, Sanada starred in Romeo &
Juliet directed by legendary Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando. On the
London stage, Sanada played the role of “Fool” in the Royal
Shakespeare Company’s millennium production of King Lear for which
he was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth
ll.
Upon completion of his role as “The General” in director Chen
Kaige’s epic fantasy romance, The Promise, Sanada immediately began
work on the Merchant Ivory Production of The White Countess,
co-starring Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, and Vanessa Redgrave.
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