The award winning film 'Letter from An Unknown
Woman', directed by Xu Jinglei, is making an impact on Chinese audiences.
'Letter from An Unknown Woman' is adapted from a novel of the same name
written by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig.
Director, Xu Jinglei, transplants the story to the background of
Beijing in 1940s.
The film depicts the moving love story of a woman who secretly loves a
romantic writer from childhood. She falls pregnant and, after delivering
their child, raises the boy all by herself and is forgotten by the man she
loved.
It is not until the loss of her son that this woman writes a long
letter to her former lover before she dies.
The movie was an emotional experience for director, Xu Jinglei.
"It was back in college when I first read this
novel and my tears wet the pillow. At that time, I read it as a novel
about a faithful love being cheated. Ten years later, when I read it again
I discovered something more in it – something about the life, the soul,
and the great helplessness of people. I think this is a major reason I
wanted to shoot
this film."
There are a great number of psychological descriptions in the novel,
which were turned into delicate and aesthetic images on the screen.
Last year,‘Letter from An Unknown Woman' won "Altadis – Best New
Director" at Spain's prestigious Sebastian Film Festival.
Thirty-year-old Xu Jinglei graduated from Performing Department of
Beijing Film Academy.
She's not the type of actress who impresses you with her attractiveness
but with her fresh and natural manner.
So far, she has appeared in dozen films.
However, Xu Jinglei was never satisfied with only being an actress.
In her opinion, an actress means a lot of long waiting for a good
screenplay and a good director.
In 2002, she released her maiden work ‘I and Papa', a realistic film
that depicts the vague and changing emotions between father and daughter
in a broken family.
Xu Jinglei prefers directing to acting and is confident of producing
excellent work.
"Now directing is more important to me. I could shoot a film that is
both artistic and commercial. I like watching British and French films,
and also the Hollywood blockbusters. The shooting practices of film are
what we can see the key is how and where you apply those practices."
Xu Jinglei says, her directing career seems much smoother than her
acting career..
After ‘I and Papa' and ‘Letter from An Unknown Woman', Xu Jinglei has
three others films she's working on.
One is about ancient China, one she is currently writing a script for
herself, and the other is one of the films that the U.S. invited directors
from ten countries to record in the U.S. after 911.
None of the screenplays for these films is yet complete.
The director says she will start shoot whichever one has a finished
screenplay first.
Anyway, all the films of this talented director are worth seeing. They are always artistic and
often surprising.
(CRI news) |