摘要
Chen Kaige’s latest film has set a new box office record for Chinese film,and looks bound for international success.
CHEN Kaige＇s epic extravaganza The Promise （Wu Ji） is the product of three years＇ work and 10,000 kms＇ travel, having been shot on location in northeastern Inner Mongolia and in southerly Zhejiang Province. The film＇s hefty investment of US $35 million is only to be expected, in view of the pains taken by Chen Kaige＇s distinguished production and shooting crew. Tim Yip, awarded an Oscar for his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is the film＇s art director, and his fellow 72nd Academy award winner Peter Pau its cinematographer. The movie＇s all-important martial arts directors were Dong Wei and Lin Andi, who worked on The Matrix Trilogy and Spiderman. The setting for The Promise （billed as Master of the Crimson Armor in the US）, as the prologue explains, is ＂At that time long ago when the lives of gods and mortals intertwined.＂ As such, it gives Chen Kaige limitless scope in which to indulge the Chinese - and indeed international - appetite for fantasy fare.
