“The Madonna of Mandarin”: The Asian actor Quentin Tarantino called “the best”
We know full well that Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of all things cinema, but the director holds a particular fondness for the world of Asian film. His Kill Bill movies were heavily influenced by the many martial arts films, particularly those of Hong Kong, that Tarantino had devoured during his days working at the famous video Archives store. But the director also admires many other Asian films from a wide range of genres.
Tarantino once expressed his admiration for Wong Kar-wai’s 1994 film Chungking Express, the romantic crime movie that tells of two separate narratives of two recently-dumped police officers falling for two very different women. It stars Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung and Faye Wong.
While holding a deep admiration for the movie, it looks to be Wong for whom Tarantino has the most profound love, though. She plays a coy and mischievous snack bar worker who develops an interest in Tony Leung’s character and eventually becomes an airline attendant when her subtle advances are not reciprocated.
“This was Faye Wong’s first movie,” Tarantino once said whilst introducing the movie. “She is the single most popular rockstar in Hong Kong. She’s a huge smash recording artist, and this was her first movie. She’s known as ‘the Madonna of Mandarin’. This was her first feature, and she just stole everybody’s heart.”
Wong first came to the public’s attention when she released her debut album Shirley Wong in 1989. She was once considered the best-selling musician in Cantonese, and after starring in Chungking Express, she also featured in Wong Kar-wai’s 2004 movie 2046.
“She won ‘Best Actress’ at the Hong Kong Film Awards,” Tarantino continued. “She’s great. She’s great in the film. The Chinese version of The Cranberries song that you hear in the film is actually sung by Faye Wong.” The song in question is The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’, which, as Tarantino noted, Wong does a brilliant cover of.
‘Dreams’ is not the only musical moment that stands out for Tarantino when it comes to Wong in the film, though, because The Mamas and The Papas’ ‘California Dreaming’ also features heavily. “And I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to see ‘California Dreaming’ again without, like, seeing Faye Wong do her little dance,” Tarantino added.
“She’s the best,” the director signed off. “I don’t know anybody who has seen this movie that hasn’t got a crush on her.” It’s true that Wong stole the show in the 1994 movie, showcasing her effortless acting abilities as well as her excellent singing, as shown in The Cranberries cover.
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