Gong Li

Gong Li



Gong Li in Miami Vice Movie

Date of Birth : 31 December 1965
Birth Place : Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
Sometimes Credited As : Lei Gungg

Gong Li is also known as 巩俐; Traditional Chinese: 鞏俐; pinyin: Gǒng Lì) (born December 31, 1965) is a Chinese film actress. Gong Li first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

Born in 1965 in northeastern Shenyang, Gong was the youngest daughter of an economics professor. Gong Li knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress, and at school Gong Li excelled at singing and dancing almost to the exclusion of other subjects. In spite of failing her college exam twice, she was eventually accepted to the Beijing Central College of Drama in 1985. At that time, Chinese cinema was experiencing a renaissance after the tumult of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth (1984) had just taken the Hong Kong International Film Festival by storm, heralding the rise of the Fifth Generation of filmmakers. One of these young directors was Zhang, the cinematographer for Yellow Earth, who cast Gong in his debut project, Red Sorghum (1987). Immediately a critical and commercial success both abroad and at home, the film garnered the Golden Bear award at the 1987 Berlin Film Festival and thrust both director and star into the international limelight.

One of China's leading young stars of the 1980s and 90s, Gong has appeared in films by other directors ("The Empress Dowager" 1988, directed by Li Hanxiang; "The Terra Cotta Warrior", in which Gong Li acted opposite Zhang) but it is in Zhang's films that Gong Li is best known internationally. Slender and demure-looking but possessing a naturalistic verve and strength onscreen, Gong Li embodies a new generation of Chinese women, brought up amid ancient tradition but reaching toward feminist values. In the title role of "Ju Dou" (1990), Gong Li played a married woman whose torrid affair with her husband's nephew brings about tragic consequences, while in "Raise the Red Lantern" (1991) her character also causes trouble as the newest addition to a man's bevy of wives. Gong Li ventured into comedy with another eponymous heroine in "The Story of Qiu Ju" (1992) as a woman farmer determined to avenge an injustice done to her husband. In 1993, Gong Li starred in a film by another Fifth Generation stalwart, Chen Kaige, "Farewell to My Concubine" which shared the Palme d'Or at Cannes for best picture.

Zhang once again directed Gong Li in the well-received historical epic "To Live" (1994), which followed a married couple over 30 years of modern Chinese history. Uncharacteristically, Gong Li's role as a devoted wife and mother was overshadowed by that of a strong male lead, actor Ge You, who played her husband. The pair's next collaboration "Shanghai Triad" (1995) offered Gong Li a tour-de-force role as a nightclub chanteuse and gangster's moll. Gong Li reunited with Chen Kaige for "Temptress Moon" (1996), in which she essays the role of an isolated, spoiled heiress. A year later, Gong made her English-language debut in Wayne Wang's "Chinese Box,” staring opposite Jeremy Irons. Gong Li returned her native land for her next feature, “Piao liang ma ma” (“Breaking the Silence,” 1999), China’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000 about a hard-working single mom who struggles to earn enough money to buy a new hearing aid for her son. Gong Li won Best Actress at the 2000 Montreal World Film Festival for her performance.

Gong Li has since become one of the most successful actresses in Chinese cinema, with fame that has extended abroad to many areas. Her work has been recognized with awards from the Venice International Film Festival and New York Film Critics Circle, and she retains a strong popularity.