Gong Li: Goddess of the Silver Screen
Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 8:32AM 
Earlier this month, Sean Donovan wrote a beautiful piece about Tilda Swinton's 2005 Hollywood adventure. The movies mentioned in that text mean a great deal to me since they represent the first time I ever came across the alien allure of that British thespian. Even as an eleven-year-old, I was hooked on this beguiling creature of the screen. Surprisingly enough, Swinton wasn't the only performer whose 2005 forays into mainstream American movies served as a gateway for my love of auteur cinema and über-glamourous deities of the big screen.
For that was also the year when Chinese superstar Gong Li blessed Rob Marshall's unfortunate Memoirs of a Geisha with her electrifying presence…
Born in Shenyang, Liaoning, and educated at the Beijing Central Academy of Drama, Gong Li was quick to find success in the movie business. While at school, she was spotted by Fifth Generation filmmaker Zhang Yimou and he cast her in what was to be his debut. 1987's Red Sorghum was both cineaste's first feature and first success, making the two of them into internationally respected artists. The Golden Bear-winning film is like a rural poem of cinema, a striking mural painted in shades of gold and blood, ravishing to behold and painful to feel. Their follow-up collaborations would be even greater, with Gong Li becoming a more seasoned performer with each film.
By the time of 1991's Raise the Red Lantern, she was a master of her craft, capable of singing an opera's worth of human tragedy with a single look or the aborted movement of her hand. For the actress' efforts in that merciless drama, she got a National Society of Film Critics Award, the first of many international accolades. The following year's social realist comedy The Story of Qiu Ju, for instance, got her two prizes at the Venice Film Festival among other honors. That being said, when it comes to the matter of Oscar gold, Gong Li's first realistic bid for a nod would come, not by the hand of Zhang Yimou, but through the cinema of another up-and-coming director.
Chen Kaige's historical epic Farewell, My Concubine is still the only Chinese film to conquer the Palme d'Or, and Gong Li's mercurial supporting turn got her a well-deserved New York Film Critics Circle Award. It's still her best performance, a mix of movie star intensity and psychological acuity whose effect cannot be overstated. She draws the audience in with intimidating glamour before breaking their heart, stepping on it, and then setting the remains on fire. Looking at Gong Li's filmography it's quite impressive how she managed to become such a commercial star while maintaining a high standard of artistic accomplishment. Easy popularity sometimes trumps the need to challenge oneself, but Gong Li has always been able to keep the balance.
Just look at her 1994 as an example, and see that dynamic at its most extreme. In the same year, she starred in the incoherent wire-fu extravaganza of The Maidens of Heavenly Mountain and breathed life into one of Zhang Yimou's most bruised and realistically underplayed dramas, To Live. The rest of the 90s were similarly spent, cementing an enviable filmography that dazzled both the public and the critics. It was during those wonderful years of endless success that Gong Li first tried her luck at English-speaking cinema, though her linguistic limitations forced her to learn the roles phonetically.
Sometimes, that approach works, like in 1997's autumnal Chinese Box. Sometimes, it results in stilted performances that rely mostly on the actress' natural magnetism – 2006's Miami Vice, for example. It was between those two forays into Anglophonic cinema, that I first became aware of the actress. As previously mentioned, Memoirs of a Geisha was the movie that introduced me to Gong Li. To this day, and despite the controversy of casting a Chinese actress as a Japanese character, it remains her best work from an English screenplay. In part, that's because Marshall makes such great use of the diva's qualities as an aesthetic phenomenon and raw screen presence.
Gong Li's confidence is overwhelming as is the air of slight threat that infects her every action as the callous Hatsumomo, an antagonistic geisha that plots against the story's heroine. Just seeing her slinking her way across a scene's background tells us all we need to know about the character. If Zhang Ziyi's Sayuri is water, then Gong Li's Hatsumomo is a volcanic eruption, exploding fire that threatens to burn everything to a crisp at the slightest provocation. How appropriate then, that the character exists the narrative on the advent of fire. As she walks away from her life leaving behind only ashes, we know this disaster was unavoidable. Even if Rob Marshall didn't foreshadow this end, Gong Li's fieriness did it with only the insolence of expression and pose.
Memoirs of a Geisha once again brought Gong Li to the Oscar conversation, just like Concubine had done. She got a National Board of Review prize for the star turn, though her bid lost steam as the awards season went on. Zhang Ziyi ended up winning most of the buzz for the movie, but even she failed to secure a nomination for the Academy Awards. Since then, Gong Li's worked less than before, though her career continues golden in her native China. In the past decade, she's even reunited with Zhang Yimou for 2014's Coming Home and also starred in 2019's Saturday Fiction, directed by Ye Lou. More recently, she played one of the apparent villains of the live-action remake of Mulan, which is coming to Disney+ on September 4th. Hopefully, the role will befit Gong Li's extraordinary talents so that other little cinephiles can discover the marvels of Chinese cinema through this goddess.
Are you a fan of this Chinese superstar? If so, what was the first movie you ever saw Gong Li in?
Reader Comments (18)
I adore Gong Li. I feel she should hold several Oscar nominations, but my favorite performance is in 1994 in To Live. I would easily snatch back Jessica Lange’s Best Actress Oscar that year and present it to Gong Li.
"Coming Home" - I really hoped her performance in this 2014's movie could have some attention back in the day. Not only she's magnificent in that part, but 2014's Best Actress Oscar race was kinda weak (apart from Moore and Pike... And maybe Witherspoon).
One day, the AMPAS will give her a "career win"
She definitely should gotten an Oscar nod for MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. Best Supporting Actress was a weak year in 2005. She's in my lineup that's for sure.
That final moment with the ace of spades in 2046 breaks my heart.
The first movie I ever saw Gong Li in is "A Terracotta Warrior" which was made at the beginning of her affair with Zhang Yimou, who is the also the lead actor (he admitted once that they accepted the offer just so they can spend time together).
According to Feng Hsu, the producer of Chen Kaige's "Farewell, My Concubine" and "Temptress Moon", Gong Li was not the first choice of either one of these films. Chen wanted his then girlfriend Summer Xu (the lead actress in Chen's "Life on a String", also appeared briefly in "Looper") for "Farewell" but Feng insisted on Gong Li. His tried to cast Chen Hong (who later became his wife) in "Temptress Moon" and was again blocked by Feng. Chen and Feng never work together again.
IMO Gong Li's best performance to date is still "Breaking the Silence". It's the film that finally proved that her acting range and abilities are beyond Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige's films, and won her the most respect within the Chinese film industry. It also famously helped her defeat Zhang Yimou's new girlfriend Zhang Ziyi (nominated for "The Road Home" that year) at the Golden Rooster Award, AKA the mainland Chinese Oscar.
Memoirs was also my first introduction to Gong Li as well. I agree with bhurray that she should have been nominated that year. Perhaps the casting controversy or the fact that the movie wasn't as great as the hype around it caused her to be left out. She crafted a fascinating villain in the film and unfortunately when she walks away from it all the momentum comes to a complete stop. Once she is gone there is no longer a movie worth watching.
Farwell my Concubine is IMO her best work,shame on the Academy for overlooking her for Holly Hunter.
Funny you should write this now. I was planning on rewatching all of her best films next week. I consider her the most egregiously Oscar snubbed of all modern actresses. I'd have given her at least 6 noms and 2 wins by now. Her run of late 80's/early 90's films is amongst the greatest in cinema history for me. Ju Dou, Red Sorghun, Raise The Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju, Farewell My Concubine, To LIve - All AMAZING!!!
She was at TIFF last year for the screening of Saturday Fiction last year. The film was totally incomprehensible but I still stood at the stage door like a groupie. I can't think of a single other person I would have done that for. Don't think I even took a picture was just happy to be in the presence of a genuine Goddess of the Silver Screen <3
This woman can really touch my heart. Her performances move me to tears. The same thing happens to me with Sophia Loren in Italian, Penelope Cruz in Spanish and Marion Cotillard in French films..
I think I first saw her in Memoirs which is an overrated film that's all style and no substance as the casting of Chinese actors as Japanese didn't work for me at all. Fortunately, I would see Gong Li in better films such as Farewell, My Concubine and 2046 while I really think she was seriously overlooked in Coming Home which she was just great in. She's the only reason I have any interest in Mulan.
I too discovered Li in “Memoirs of a Geisha”, and despite the film’s obvious shortcomings, was completely taken by her magnetic screen presence. Her performance in “Farewell, My Concubine” has since become one of my favourites of all time.
My intro to this outstanding Star was in Raise The Red Lanterns. I second the comparisons with Loren or Cruz. She’s wonderful always but, along with her works with Zhang and Chen I like to remember her sensuous presence in Wong Kar-wai’s The Hand.
Even if I’m not a fan of Memoirs I ❤️ Gong Li as Hatsumomo and she and Maria Bello (A History of Violance) are my fav supporting actresses of 2005 (Rachel Weisz for me is a Leading Lady in TCG).
As an Asian, I've since given up on the Academy to award the likes of Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and a host of others (Japs, Koreans, Taiwanese, etc). That's why I have not paid much attention to the Oscars for a long time.
Thanks for this write-up.
My gateway drug was "Temptress Moon."
My Oscar nominations and wins* for her:
Raise the red lantern*
The story of Qiu Ju
Farewell, my concubine*
To live
Memoirs of a Geisha
I hope Chloe Zhao cast her in something juice and te academy fine give her her well deserved Oscar!
I hope Almodóvar cast her in something in the future!
We never imagined him working with Swinton and here they are.
I like the way ScottMichael put it "gateway drug". Mine was FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE which I still think is one of her best performances. After seeing it I rented JU DOU and RAISE THE RED LANTERN which were even better movies. And I've been hooked ever since.
That was a golden year for Gong Li and the year I discovered her on the big screen for the first time. First I saw 2046 earlier that year and was so enchanted by her performance. Even though, it was brief, it left a lasting memory. And then by Christmas, I finally saw her on another great performance in Memoirs of a geisha. She really gave it her all as Hatsumomo as I was a big fan of the book prior to seeing it. She really burned the screen down (literally) with her exist. After that I begun to buy her early films and became a fan since.
Regarding the casting controversy, I feel most of it was due to the fact that that it was directed by Rob Marshall. He won the Oscar so any follow up would be met with disappointment. I was not upset in anyway that the three leads were Chinese. I mean actors are supposed to be able to play all kinds of characters. And these were fictional characters. And I’m Asian and a lot of Asians were not upset by that at all. I mean Kate Winslet won an Oscar playing a German character speaking English a few years after that. Didn’t see anyone raising issue with that at all.