"Color Me Love" To Include Cameo By Yue, As Well As Piece Made Exclusively For The Film By Qi#
On October 28, works by two of China's top contemporary artists, Yue Minjun and Qi Zhilong, will get major nationwide exposure, appearing in several scenes in the romantic drama "Color Me Love" (爱出色). Directed by Alexi Tan (Blood Brothers, Double Blade) and starring Liu Ye (not to be confused with the artist Liu Ye), Yao Chen and Joan Chen, "Color Me Love" tells the love story of a fashion editor, Wang Xiaofei (played by Yao) and her hot-shot artist boyfriend, Luan Yihong (Liu), as the two do their best to stay together amid the challenges of navigating Beijing's art and fashion circles. Joan Chen, in a role fashioned after Meryl Streep's character in "The Devil Wears Prada," plays Wang's overbearing boss.
As Artron (Chinese) points out this week, rather than using artwork as glorified set dressing, director Alexi Tan said he hopes to actually work the paintings into the film's narrative. From Artron (translation by Jing Daily team):
Yue Minjun skillfully blends the simple painting style of commercial advertising with popular colors, repeatedly depicting a range of often silly movements and cheekily grinning characters. Self-deprecating humor is one of the greatest characteristics of Yue's art. Director Alexi Tan, by turning an eye to the behavior of Yao Chen and Liu Ye's characters when they visit a Yue Minjun exhibition, also hopes to convey this essence of self-deprecation. Also, Yue Minjun himself makes a special guest appearance in the movie. Apparently the scene in which Yue appears will show the audience an unexpectedly funny side of the artist.
Another contemporary artist, Qi Zhilong, created a special large-scale portrait of actress Yao Chen that appears in an important scene in the movie, adding a dose of deep emotion to the love story. When asked by reporters about the market price of the painting he created for the film, Qi Zhilong, laughing, replied, "It's not for sale."
It's also worth noting that the self portrait of Liu Ye's character Luan Yihong used in the movie was based on a photo taken by Liu's photographer wife Anais Martane. Somewhat inadvertently, the large portrait of Liu became one of the most impressive works of art in the entire movie.
In addition to scenes in which the characters Wang Xiaofei and Luan Yihong visit Yue Minjun's personal studio, other scenes are set in Beijing art hotspots like the Songzhuang art district.
"Color Me Love" hits theatres in China on October 28.
