Download the full version of Apple's DVD edition

◆Original Name: Lost in Beijing

◆Translated Name: Apple

◆Director: Yu Li

◆Cast: Bingbing Fan

Tony Leung

Dawei Tong

Elaine Jin

◆Type: Drama

◆Duration: 1h 52m 59s

◆Release: 2007

◆Country: China

◆Language: Mandarin

◆Subtitles: English (embedded)

◆File Size: 411MB

◆Link:

[color=#0000ff][u]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949489[/u]

◆Rating: 7.0/10 (82 votes)

◆Video Dimensions: 608*336(1.82:1)

◆Compression Format: 1pass,500k

◆Synopsis:

"Apple" is a modern urban-themed dark humor film. The story tells of an accidental and controversial "rape/adultery" incident that leads to a series of bizarre and strange conflicts and emotional dislocations between two families - Tony Leung's family with his wife Elaine Jin and Bingbing Fan's family with her husband Dawei Tong - one rich, one poor.

Behind the scenes:

To compete in Berlin, it went through five rounds of reviews

The original name of "Apple" was "Lost in Beijing", but the review committee believed that Beijing was a politically charged word and could not be used. There was a supporting role in the movie, a little girl from the countryside working in the city who later became a prostitute, and this whole storyline was removed. The review committee believed that a country girl should be very upright, how could she fall? In the play, there is a scene where she gets drunk and says: "Beijing is so big, why can't it accommodate me?" Even this line made them feel uncomfortable.

Originally, the main characters were four: foot massage girl Apple, window cleaner Dawei Tong, foot massage parlor boss Tony Leung, and boss’s wife Jinling. Jinling's part was almost completely cut. The character relationships changed, all the original subplots disappeared, leaving only the relationship among Bingbing Fan, Dawei Tong, and Tony Leung. Many supporting characters actually played an important role in enriching and highlighting the main characters. Now the character relationships are much weaker.

Yu Li: Accepting this result is not difficult, it's painful! There's no way, I can only persist until now, otherwise I wouldn't make movies in China. I have to accept this challenge and pain. I can only console myself like this - the story is still here, my point of view is still here, if it can be shown domestically, I still hope to see the reactions of domestic audiences.

I cried when I received the first review comments. At the time, I thought, maybe I should just become an underground director, or just go out like this, banned for five years then five years, I can still do some other things. But alas, the country is like parents, this is an unavoidable reality. And there are many objective conditions, such as the producer's recovery, etc. I considered for a long time, and decided to make the sacrifice. In the end, more than fifty changes were made.

Young Chinese directors all face problems. When looking for investment, they can't find funds, after shooting, they face censorship, and after censorship, it's the market. Even the most excellent directors have to face these issues. Look at Jia Zhangke, perhaps only the step of attracting funds is a bit easier. This is the current overall environment of China's entire film industry.

Story Origin

"Apple" is a realistic drama art film, its artistic core and commercial elements are organically combined with the modern urban theme and dark humor style: an accidental and controversial "rape/adultery" incident causes a series of bizarre and strange conflicts and emotional dislocations between Tony Leung's family with his wife Elaine Jin and Bingbing Fan's family with her husband Dawei Tong.

The original name of "Apple" was "Lost in Beijing", the story was "imaginary". Although it was imagined, the value and moral conflicts triggered by the opposition of rich and poor classes and the misplacement of family relationships in the film are everywhere in real society. Director Yu Li hopes to use dark humor to present such a modern urban story triggered by a "rape/adultery" incident.

"Tailor-made" for Tony Leung

This "Apple" gathered a full star cast from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. Talking about inviting Tony Leung to play the foot massage parlor boss Lin Dong in the movie, Yu Li explained: "When I was writing the part of the boss, I felt it was Tony Leung. I need the actor's life experiences rather than acting experiences. Tony Leung himself is a person with very rich life experiences, accumulating unique personal charm. I believe he can not only handle this role well but also bring a lot of surprises to the audience."

As an emperor of cinema, a popular lover on the screen, and a mafia big brother, the foot massage parlor boss that Tony Leung plays has a huge difference from his previous roles. "Because I haven't played this kind of role before, I think it's a big challenge, and I feel the script is very special, the story is very interesting. Besides, collaborating with a new director, we are not familiar with each other, which makes it easier to create sparks." When Tony Leung learned that the script was specially tailored for him by Director Yu Li, his excitement was evident: "The director thought of a completely new role for me, I feel very happy."

Trivia:

• "Apple", which entered the competition section of the 57th Berlin Film Festival, had a bumpy process during its submission for review, passing smoothly after the fifth revision. It was revealed that this version had already been cut by over twenty minutes based on the version first completed by Director Yu Li.

• The parts deleted from "Apple": Tony Leung soliciting prostitutes; scenes hinting at sexual relations between Dawei Tong and Jinling; the supporting role of the "little sister" working part-time turning into a prostitute and being killed by a customer; old Beijing documentary footage and Tiananmen flag-raising scenes referenced in the film; shots of sewage on the ground in Beijing residential buildings.

• To change her previous impression, Bingbing Fan deliberately made herself look unattractive this time, not only adding many freckles to her face but also a very noticeable mole near her nostril.

• Dawei Tong played the "Spiderman". To perform this role well, he overcame his fear of heights, gradually progressing from the third floor, fifth floor to the tenth floor, twentieth floor, finally being able to descend freely from the roof of Beijing's KunTai Tower.

• Tony Leung hoped to use this role to impact the 2008 Hong Kong Film Awards, "Although I don't lack trophies, this role is simply too interesting, it would be a pity not to aim for awards."

• Bingbing Fan will play the foot massage parlor employee "Liu Apple". Director Yu Li said that Bingbing Fan had already gone to the foot massage parlor to experience life. Recently, she not only worked with the foot masseuses but also sang "The Song of the Foot Massage Parlor" with everyone every morning.

• Japanese actress Masako Miyake plays a Beijing girl in this film. The petite and quiet actress introduced herself very fluently in standard Chinese saying "I like eating Beijing Roast Duck" when she appeared on screen.