Chinese film director Feng Xiaogang's much anticipated Beijing premiere of his martial arts epic "The Banquet" starring Zhang Ziyi was held on Saturday, receiving both kudos and criticism.

Known in Chinese name "Yeyan", the film is a loose adaptation of "Hamlet" set in ancient China's Five Dynasties and Ten States period (907-979). The Empress Wan'er, played by Zhang Ziyi, is forced to serve Emperor Li, played by renowned character actor Ge You, in order to protect her lover prince Wu Luan played by Hong Kong actor Wu Yanzu (Daniel Wu).

The complicated plot unfolds with Emperor Li assuming the throne after ruthlessly killing the reigning monarch who was his own brother. The Empress who was married to murdered monarch is forced to marry Li but actually loves her stepson Prince Wan'er, who is assumed to be Li's next target. The Empress gets revenge by poisoning Emperor Li at a banquet but her lust for power and the prince finally leads to her destruction.

The audience and critics praised the high production values of the film along with the emotional performances of Zhang Ziyi and Ge You.

Critics complain, however, that the dialogue is stilted and awkward as the actors mouth modern phrases that don't fit the movie's ancient time frame. The audience was heard to laugh at a few of the lines even though they were not meant to be funny.

Saturday's Beijing premiere was attended by leading actors and actresses Zhang Ziyi, Ge You, Zhou Xun, Wu Yanzu, Ma Jingwu and Huang Xiaoming along with Oscar-winner composer Tan Dun and famed choreographer Yuen Wo-ping.

The 20 million U.S. dollars-budget movie is co-produced by China's Huayi Brothers, makers of Feng's hits "Cell Phone" and "A World Without Thieves."

Director Feng has also held screenings in Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenyang and Xi'an.

The movie will be released in Asia on Sept. 15.

ZHANG ZIYI: "I'M SATISFIED WITH MY PERFORMANCE IN 'THE BANQUET'"

Actress Zhang Ziyi said the movie gave her room to exercise her potential as an actor. "The psychological contradictions, sadness and happiness, as well as the age of empress Wan'er are far beyond my own experiences. The difficulty was to overcome the distance and make a storybook character come alive. I'm satisfied with my performance."

Zhang says she consulted historic materials two months before production began to learn the mannerisms of women who lived more than 1,000 years ago. She also studied the temperaments of women monarchs throughout the world's history.

She confessed she felt relieved to be working in China and in her first language again. "Movie making at homeland is very different from filming overseas. I felt more comfort making the movie in China." The Banquet is her first movie since her performance in the English-language film

"Memoirs of a Geisha".

Zhang said she plans to work with some new-generation directors in the future.

Zhang also slammed the rampant movie piracy in the country, saying that piracy is unfair to movie professionals, especially young directors. "Sometimes, young directors' movies were swallowed by piracy," she said. FENG XIAOGANG: "I HAVEN'T LOST MY ABILITY TO JUDGE AUDIENCE'S TASTE"

Facing some worries about the box office of "The Banquet", director Feng Xiaogang, widely believed as one of the most successful commercial directors in China, said on Saturday's premiere ceremony that "I haven't lost my ability to judge audience taste."

He said "to be a director, what I'm good at the most is the judgement of audience's interest. If I lost the judgement, everything will be in danger. But I believe I haven't lost it. "The Banquet" will be well accepted by the audience."

Facing some media's criticism on his movie "The Banquet", Feng said he grows up amid criticism. "Cell Phone" and "A World Without Thieves" also received criticism (but finally proved a commercial success). "The Banquet" will not be an exception. Every director must face criticism.

Feng said "The Banquet" is a literary film mixing with some commercial elements. The film is well balanced between commercial interests and art value.

Feng's movies were always about an increasingly cosmopolitan and wealthy China. The characters chat on mobile phones, drive BMWs and star on TV shows.

"Cell Phone" (2003) follows the breakdown of a philandering TV host who juggles calls from different girlfriends on his mobile phone.

"The Banquet" was widely seen as a landmark demonstrating Feng's radical style change from black comedies to epic ancient film.

"Movie viewers don't care the change of your style at all. What is important is that the film should be very dramatic and could pull audience in from the beginning to the end," said Feng at the premiere ceremony.

Source: Xinhua