Movie Box Review

Wang Xueqi (second left), Fan Bingbing (third left) honor late director Xie Jun

Photo courtesy of mingpao.com

Photo courtesy of takungpao.com

The film CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH made over 150 million in the Mainland box office. After less than two weeks in release in Hong Kong, it also made an ideal 3 million. On the other hand the Feng Xiaogang directed IF YOU ARE THE ONE made 300 million in the Mainland and only 1.58 million in Hong Kong. Feng Xiaogang's other film THE ASSEMBLY also suffered the same fate, which made him earlier criticize the Hong Kong audience. However, CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH's decent box office dispelled Director Feng's comments. Although this film was shot in black and white it had great word of mouth. Johnnie To Kei Fung felt that the film showed Lu Chuan's persistence and perseverance. Andrew Lau Wai Keung praised the film's documentary style production. The black and white visuals not only did not reduce the visual effect but also added to the story's realism.

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH's group booking response was also very passionate. Some schools even used it for history education purpose. Director Lu Chuan and the cast were very pleased to learn about the film box office and word of mouth. The director even treated the cast to dinner and drinks because the cast had a very tough time during the production. Now he was able to thank them and he truly wished that he could buy them drinks everyday.

Photo Courtesy of takungpao.com


THE CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH premiered last week. Lead actress Jiang Yiyan came to Hong Kong to promote with director Lu Chuan. This new star from the Beijing Film Academy appeared on TVB, Cable and other media interviews. Everyone was surprised that Jiang Yiyan who played a heroic prostitute in this film was very mild mannered and quiet. RTHK Radio 5's film program host Sze Kai Keung and Lau Shek Yin said that Jiang Yiyan opened the entire station's men and described her as having Fan Bingbing's feminine charm, Li Bingbing's quick wit, Gao Yuanyuan's sweet looks, Vicki Zhao Wei's cleverness, and Xu Jinglei's power of
making men's hearts pound without any word or movement. Four days after the show aired, the station received nearly 50 letters from male listeners who told Sze Kai Keung that they saw Jiang Yiyan on television and were completely under her spell. They wanted to form a fan club
through RTHK Radio 5 and invite Jiang Yiyan to appear in Hong Kong again. Sze Kai Keung responded that they were very busy with radio and did not have time to organize them. They could only relay their good intention to Jiang Yiyan's manager Wang Jinghua.