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打破同是馮小剛執導的 < 不見不散 >
已創下中國電影票房超過 38,000,000 人民幣紀錄

哥倫比亞電影製作 ( 亞洲 )
聯同
中國最賣座電影導演馮小剛
演員 : 關芝琳 ★ 葛優 ★ 當奴修打蘭 ★ 保羅馬祖斯基
炮製
極盡商業 , 極度荒誕的喪禮派對

大腕
B!G SHOT ' s FUNERAL

3 月 21 日上映

賓客哭喪著臉，環境籠罩一片愁雲慘霧，這是一貫喪禮應有的場面。可有想過喪禮變派對，棺木變舞台，把悲哀化為歡樂，由各大商戶紛紛贊助而搞出一個空前盛大的喪禮 ?

「大腕」 - 講述國際大導演遠道來到中國莊嚴的紫禁城拍攝有關滿清末代皇帝影片，與時運不濟的中國攝影師結為好友，不料大導演意外昏迷不省人事，攝影師因受人之託，為守諾言而開始為這位巴閉大導籌辦起極富噱頭的喪禮。怎料愈搞愈大，簡直一發不可收拾，經費超出預算，一條所謂絕世好橋便隨之而生，喪禮的每個角落頓變成寸金尺土，招攬各大商品在喪禮中大賣廣告繼而在電視轉播，從而籌募拍攝喪禮的經費。豈料大導演又突然醒來無恙，這場錯綜複雜的荒誕遊戲最後會怎樣收科 ?

本片極盡諷刺廣告在中國社會日趨泛灠的現象，馮小剛善用自己豐富的幽默感去道出當中的嘲諷。全片拍攝於中國北京，於 2001 年 12 月已於全中國公映，而香港則會在 2002 年 3 月上映。

導演 馮小剛

本片由充滿幽默感的中國最賣座電影導演 馮小剛 執導。擅長自編自導的 馮小剛 出生於北京 , 他因在電視劇 < 北京人在紐約 > 中參與編劇及導演工作而聲名大噪。 1994 年 馮小剛 開始為電影執導。他最為人所認識的就是在 1997 年自編自導的票房大賣之作 < 甲方乙方 > ，自此之後，馮氏的電影 < 沒完沒了 > (1999) 、 < 不見不散 > (1999) ，在一片低迷的國產影片市場中都能與進口大片一決雌雄，連創每年國產片票房最高紀錄，開闢了國產賀歲電影的先河。而 馮小剛 的票房號召力就成為了電影市場價值的力證。在 2000 年上映的 < 一聲歎息 > 更榮獲 2000 年開羅國際電影節的最佳電影、最佳劇本、最佳男主角及最佳女主角四項大獎。

演員 葛優

葛優 飾演片中的中國攝影師。原藉北京的葛優，是中國極具才華的演員，能演活感性的角色，亦能扮演幽默的角色。他曾與國際知名的中國導演張藝謀 ( 活著 ) 及陳凱歌 ( 霸王別姬 ) 合作，而跟馮小剛，更是合作無間的好拍檔。在 < 甲方乙方 >(1997) 、 < 不見不散 > (1999) 、 < 沒完沒了 > (1999) 裏，不少中國的影評人都認為 葛優 跟馮小剛為中國平民建立了新形象。 葛優 曾成為多個電影節的大嬴家，獎項包括有中國金雞百花獎最佳男主角及最佳男配角。而憑主演張藝謀 " 活著 " 一片，更奪得 1994 年康城影帝榮銜。

演員 關芝琳

香港受歡迎女影星 關芝琳 飾演戲中當奴修打蘭的私人助理。關芝琳在 1982 年開始她的銀色旅途，演出超過 50 部電影 , 包括有成龍的 <A 計劃續集 > (1987) 、 < 說謊的女人 > (1988) 、 < 西楚霸王 > (1994) 、 < 錦繡前程 > (1994) 及 < 大冒險家 > (1995) 等。而她跟李連杰主演的 < 黃飛鴻 > 系列電影，當中飾演十三姨一角深入民心。 關芝琳 更是廣告界的寵兒，曾參與過愛立信手提電話、 SK-II 護膚品等廣告，最近更成為 Nokia 手提電話的代言人。亦是各大雜誌喜愛選用的封面女郎。

演員 當奴修打蘭

當奴修打蘭 飾演戲中的國際大導演。他是一位多產兼可塑性極高的電影演員，他在過百部電影中演繹不同角色的手法都有驚喜的怖署。他曾主演的電影有 < 征空救星 > 、 < 普通人 > 等。

演員 保羅馬祖斯基

< 偽情半生 > 的 保羅馬祖斯基 飾演國際大導演生意上的好朋友。多才多藝的 保羅馬祖斯基 是極受尊重的美國電影工作者，他貢獻了超過三十年投身於編劇、導演、演員及監製工作上。他的電影對於人物性格的描寫非常獨特、細膩及富有幽默的觀察。他對電影的熱誠和努力亦曾在各大電影節的提名及獎項得到回報。

大腕
B!G SHOT ' s FUNERAL

主演 :		< 活著 > 葛優
		< 西楚霸王 > 關芝琳
		< 殺戮時刻 > 當奴修打蘭
		英達
		< 愛情狂想曲 > 保羅馬祖斯基
導演 :		馮小剛
編劇 :		李曉明　石康　馮小剛
策劃監製 :		陸國強
聯合監製 :		韓三平　王一　付佳
執行監製 :		童剛　王中磊　何平
監製 :		楊步亭　王中軍
音樂 :		三寶
音響 :		王丹榮
美術 :		劉心剛
剪接 :		周穎
攝影 :		張黎

BIG SHOT'S FUNERAL

Starring
Ge You
Rosamund Kwan
Donald Sutherland
Paul Mazursky
Ying Da

Directed by Feng Xiaogang
Written by Feng Xiaogang, Li Xiaoming, Shi Kang
Produced by Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Huayi Brothers &
Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd., the Beijing Film Studio, China
Film Co-Production Corp.

Cast

YoYo		Ge You
Lucy		Rosamund Kwan
Don Tyler		Donald Sutherland
Tony		Paul Mazursky
Louis King		Ying Da

Filmmakers

Director		Feng Xiaogang
Writers		Feng Xiaogang, Li Xiaoming, Shi Kang
Executive Producers		Wang Zhonglei, He Ping, Tong Gang
Producers		Wang Zhongjun, Yang Buting
Associate Producers		Paul Duke, Du Yang, Shi Dongming
Line Producer		Lu Guoqiang
Editor		Zhou Ying
Production Designer		Liu Xingang
Director of Photography		Zhang Li
Costume Designer		Duan Xiaoli
Music Composed by		San Bao

INTRODUCTION

World famous film director Don Tyler (Donald Sutherland) is surrounded by hundreds of costumed extras in China's fantastic Forbidden City - for centuries home to the most powerful emperors in the world - when creative drought hits and he doesn't even have any idea where to put the camera. Tossed off the picture by his studio boss (Paul Mazursky), his depression is relieved only by an unlikely friendship with a down-on-his-luck Chinese cameraman, YoYo (Ge You). The director's melancholia turns darkly serious when he falls into a coma, and it turns out his last wish was that YoYo give him a wacky "comedy funeral" to prepare him for Buddhist reincarnation. When the costs of the spectacular event spin wildly out of control, can YoYo hold it all together by selling prime ad space at this unique funeral to be televised around the world? And more importantly for YoYo, can he convince Tyler's lovely assistant Lucy (Rosamund Kwan) that he isn't just selling out Tyler to the highest bidder?

That's the world of Big Shot's Funeral - a zany, satiric comedy capturing the dizzy excitement and whirlwind change of modern-day China. For 15 years, Chinese period films such as "Raise the Red Lantern" and last year's multiple-Oscar winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have been wowing Western audiences and grabbing countless awards at top film festivals. Now Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia (which co-produced Crouching Tiger) brings you an entirely new kind of Chinese film - hip, urban, contemporary, and very, very funny.

The picture brings together China's top box-office director, Feng Xiaogang - famous on the mainland for his smash-hit comedies - with American screen legends Donald Sutherland and Paul Mazursky and two of Asia's biggest screen actors, Ge You (winner of the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for "To Live") and Hong Kong sensation Rosamund Kwan (co-star with Jet Li of the "Once Upon A Time In China" series). Co-starring is Ying Da, known across China as the writer and director of China's first TV situation comedies, "I Love My Family" and "Chinese Restaurant."

The picture gives international audiences an intriguing sample of the Chinese viewpoint on the interaction of east and west - Sutherland's Don Tyler is of course reminiscent of the great director Bernardo Bertolucci and his "The Last Emperor." The film - with dialogue in English and in Mandarin Chinese - also offers a sharp and outrageous satire of the way advertising has permeated so many corners of Chinese society.

Big Shot's Funeral marks director Feng Xiaogang's return to the comedy genre which has made his name a household word in China. His comedies "Party A, Party B," "Be There or Be Square," and "Sorry, Baby," have set box office records on the mainland. But comedy is hardly the only genre in which Feng has worked; last year he showed his range and versatility with an intense drama of marital infidelity, "Sigh," which took top awards for best film, best actor and best actress at the 2000 Cairo International Film Festival.

For Donald Sutherland, Big Shot's Funeral marks a return as well - to China, where nearly fifteen years ago he starred in the title role of "Bethune" as a heroic Canadian wartime surgeon working on the mainland during World War II. Sutherland was most recently seen in theaters in the film "Space Cowboys," starring with Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones and James Garner.

Mainland star Ge You, playing YoYo, extends his remarkable comedy partnership with Feng Xiaogang in Big Shot's Funeral. Ge You also starred in "Party A, Party B," "Be There or Be Square," and "Sorry, Baby." The film also gives Hong Kong actress Rosamund Kwan - well known for her roles in period action films - her first chance to play in a contemporary film set on the mainland.

Also starring is Paul Mazursky, who plays Tyler's studio boss and long-time friend Tony. Mazursky is best known as the writer and director of such classic Hollywood films as "An Unmarried Woman," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Moscow on the Hudson."

Big Shot's Funeral was shot over two months, entirely in Beijing, China, from April through June 2001. The film is written by Feng Xiaogang, Li Xiaoming and Shi Kang.

Big Shot's Funeral is produced by Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia along with the Huayi Brothers & Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd., the Beijing Film Studio, and the China Film Co-Production Corporation.

In addition to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, which was established under the leadership of Barbara Robinson in April of 1998, has also launched such successful and high-profile films as famed director Zhang Yimou's Not One Less (winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival), and The Road Home (winner of the Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin Film Festival). The Road Home stars Zhang Ziyi, who played the young heroine Jen in Crouching Tiger and was released earlier this year in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics. CPFPA also produced Tsui Hark's internationally renowned Time and Tide, which was released throughout Asia last year and opened in the U.S. in May 2001.

In addition to Big Shot's Funeral, a wide variety of films are upcoming next year from the division. Director Chen Kuo-Fu's supernatural thriller Double Vision stars Hong Kong's Tony Leung Ka Fai (Jean-Jacques Annaud's "The Lover") and US actor David Morse ("Dancer In The Dark," "Proof of Life," "The Green Mile") along with award-winning Taiwanese actress Rene Liu ("Hsiao Yu," "The Personals," "Murmur of Youth").

Also coming is Heroes of Heaven & Earth, an epic period adventure set in Western China, directed by He Ping ("Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker") and starring Jiang Wen ("Red Sorghum," star and director of "Devils on the Doorstep") and Kiichi Nakai ("Burmese Harp," "Princess From The Moon," "47 Ronin").

Hong Kong action is on the slate as well, with Virtual Twilight, from acclaimed director Cory Yuen, who helmed such Hong Kong classics as "Fong Sai Yuk" and has gained international reknown as action choreographer on Hollywood films "Romeo Must Die," "X-Men" and "Kiss of the Dragon." The high-tech thriller stars a trio of Asia's most exciting young actresses - Karen Mok, Zhao Wei, and Shu Qi.

SYNOPSIS

A comedic fable about culture clash and finding your way amidst the dizzying change of the modern world, Big Shot's Funeral spins the story of two men who find that their friendship and spiritual connection transcends the language barrier - most of the time.

Don Tyler (Donald Sutherland) is a world-renowned film director whose work has brought him a lifetime of accolades. Now he's in Beijing shooting an epic about the last emperor of China's Qing dynasty. In the midst of shooting an intense scene portraying one of the emperor's concubines giving birth, he suddenly realizes he can't go on with the film. His self-confidence has deserted him and he hasn't the slightest idea what his picture is about.

YoYo (Ge You) is a down-on-his-luck Chinese cameraman who's been hired by Tyler's longtime assistant, the Chinese-born and Western-educated Lucy (Rosamund Kwan), to shoot footage of Tyler directing his film. YoYo is divorced and work has been tough to come by, but Tyler senses reserves of potential underneath YoYo's cynical exterior.

With Lucy acting as a go-between, the two begin a wildly off-kilter dialogue about Buddhism and reincarnation as Tyler searches for a concept to guide his new film - and, in the autumn of his life, begins to brood over his own possible end. A bit of translation error creeps into the cultural miscommunication, and Tyler becomes obsessed with the idea that the Chinese mark a person's death with a "comedy funeral" as a joyful celebration of a life well-lived.

Meanwhile, Tyler comes under intense pressure to complete the film from his studio boss and longtime friend, Tony (Paul Mazursky). Tony arrives in Beijing from LA with bad news: with the film way behind schedule, Tony has sold the picture to a Japanese media company, and the Japanese want to replace Tyler with a young hotshot music video director.

Tyler takes the news hard; his health declines and he slips into a coma, but not before he makes his last request - that YoYo shoot him one last time and give him a grand "comedy funeral."

Touched by his friendship with Tyler, YoYo takes on the task with enthusiasm, enlisting the help of his friend Louis (Ying Da), a concert promoter a taste for the cheesy. Louis thinks big, planning an entertainment extravaganza to galvanize the world's attention. But Louis's plans are too cheesy for even YoYo to handle. He nixes the plan, but he and Louis are trapped: with contracts signed and the Forbidden City lined up as the venue, they're on the line for millions in costs.

YoYo brainstorms with Lucy, who he is falling for. With media attention for the funeral already assured, he and Louis decide to auction off advertising and sponsorships for the funeral to big companies all over the world. The plan is successful beyond anything they could have imagined, with advertisers anxious to get their brand names all over the televised funeral. Everything looks great until…

Tyler miraculously recovers - meaning there's no funeral. And no funeral means scores of angry advertisers and creditors wanting their money back. Now YoYo's really on the firing line.

Can YoYo get out of his predicament without losing Lucy? Can Tyler help him? What will Tyler do about his unfinished film? The two of them still have some tricks up their sleeve in the surprising conclusion.

Production Notes

Feng Xiaogang recalls that the idea for Big Shot's Funeral first came to him when he was chatting with the director Chen Kaige ("Farewell My Concubine") over a meal. "He mentioned Akira Kurosawa's funeral," Feng says. "He said his funeral was a huge media event in Japan. I kidded Kaige: 'If you want, I can produce your funeral. I know we could make a lot of money for your wife and children.'

"I was really interested in this," Feng continues. "I talked about it with my friends and they thought it was really funny. We kept adding details to the idea and I realized it was a fun way to satirize advertising."

The idea was Feng's hook into his latest comedy - following his Chinese hits "Party A, Party B" (1998), "Be There or Be Square" (1999), and "Sorry, Baby" (2000). With those films, Feng has established himself as the top box office director on the mainland. He's a figure much beloved by the Chinese people as one of the few directors trying to make mainstream entertainment while also holding up a mirror to fast-changing contemporary Chinese society.

Feng wanted to comment on the way advertising has permeated so many areas of Chinese society with amazing speed - but his first goal was to entertain the audience.

"Everyday we're influenced by advertising," Feng says. "It's a result of a commercial society and it's perfectly normal. But advertising can sometimes go too far. That's what I'm satirizing, that and people's lust for money. But the most important thing is that the movie has to be fun. It has to make the audience happy."

Says actor Ge You, Feng stands out in China because he's a director who actively puts the audience first when he makes a film. "He's looking from the audience point of view. He studies what the audience wants to see, not just what he likes."

Says Feng, "In China, 95% of the directors want to reach the international art film market. There are only a few of us who want to try to reach a broad audience inside China. So even though I want to make mainstream films, I'm an unusual director here in China." But Big Shot's Funeral - made in partnership with Columbia Pictures - gives Feng Xiaogang his first chance to reach a worldwide audience, and also gives the worldwide audience its first real chance to see the work of this remarkable director.

At first, Feng thought the character of the director in his film would be a Chinese filmmaker. But as the idea evolved he decided to make the character a Westerner in China directing a film about the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, in a nod, of course, to Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winner for best picture, "The Last Emperor," shot on location in China in the mid 1980s.

The Western angle to the story made the project a natural to become Feng's first collaboration with a studio outside China. He linked up with Columbia Pictures' Asian production arm - Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, headed by managing director Barbara Robinson. Columbia helped him cast Donald Sutherland in the role of Don Tyler, the world famous art-film director who's come to China to make "The Last Dynasty." Columbia also led Feng to Paul Mazursky, who plays Tony, Don Tyler's studio overseer. The role of Lucy, Tyler's bilingual assistant, went to Hong Kong star Rosamund Kwan, and Feng shaped the lead role of YoYo for his good friend and frequent collaborator Ge You, who starred as well in Feng's three previous comedies.

Production began in Beijing in April 2001. Feng particularly wanted the film to give audiences outside of China a new look at modern and urban Beijing, and he and production designer Liu Xingang scoured the city for distinctive and offbeat sites audiences familiar with Chinese period films haven't seen. YoYo's apartment, for instance, was created in an unused building in a plastics factory in industrial east Beijing. The exterior of the apartment was shot just off of Beijing's biggest and newest shopping street, Wangfujing.

Even locations familiar to foreign audiences get a new look in the picture. The Forbidden City, home for centuries to all-powerful emperors, is seen early on as the home to Don Tyler - because Tyler has parked his trailer there and refuses to leave because he's "getting close to his characters." The Forbidden City gets a more surprising - even shocking - transformation later in the film, as YoYo and Louis prepare the "comedy funeral."

The production filmed for four days outside the main entrance to the Forbidden City, the Meridian Gate, where the headquarters of Don Tyler's movie production "The Last Dynasty" was created. The home-like trailers used by film productions in America for crew and cast simply don't exist in China, so Tyler's trailer was created inside a large tour bus. The production design team tore out the seats and filled the bus with the Chinese traditional furniture, complete with a large bed and desk, that Tyler has been collecting while shooting his film in China. Several key scenes take place inside this "trailer" - Paul Mazursky's Tony goes there to check on Tyler and let him know he may be taken off the picture, and later, the ailing Tyler shoots his filmed "will" there.

Western actors Sutherland and Mazursky arrived in Beijing in early May and filming stopped for three days for them to meet with the director and crew, prepare their costumes, and begin a cultural dialogue that continued through the production. Working through translators, Feng was anxious to draw on the experiences of both actors to make their characters more real and believable, and he gave both actors much freedom to improvise and rework their lines.

"Feng is a great guy," says Mazursky, who has been nominated four times for the Oscar for best screenplay and won the New York Film Critics award for directing for "Enemies, A Love Story." "He was very open to our suggestions. When I first read the script I thought it was wonderful, very dark and very original. There were a few moments in it I thought were exaggerated - for instance, the script had my character Tony put out a cigar in his assistant's pocket at one point. I discussed it with Feng and I explained that modern executives aren't like that. They're much smoother. We even found a Chinese phrase that describes how I see my character: He's a 'smiling-faced Tiger.'"

Donald Sutherland was happy to return to the country where he fondly remembers playing the lead role in "Bethune" in the late 1980s. "The country has changed so much," he says. "It's very modern now. I love working here because the people are so kind, so soulful." Neither Sutherland nor Mazursky had seen any of Feng Xiaogang's films before they were asked to work with him. In China, they had the chance to see his comedies as well as his intense drama of marital infidelity, "Sigh," which won best film at the 2000 Cairo Film Festival.

"I'm very impressed with Feng Xiaogang," says Sutherland. "He's got tremendous range. The comedies had my wife laughing so hard I had to pause the tape so that we could follow the story. And 'Sigh' is so true, so honest. He's an amazing director. When I read the script of 'Big Shot's Funeral' I thought it was the funniest thing I'd read in many years. I said yes to it immediately."

Sutherland recalls that during production he was asked by a Chinese journalist what it was like working on a Chinese film with a Chinese crew and director. "An image just popped into my mind," Sutherland says. "I told him it was like filling a tub with warm water, slipping into the tub so that the water covers your head, and then discovering you can breathe underwater. It's a unique and exciting experience."

Of course, China didn't offer many of the creature comforts that Sutherland and Mazursky typically enjoy working on bigger budget films. On Chinese films, even top stars share the same makeup and dressing rooms and no one has a private trailer. "It's very democratic," says Mazursky. "One day when we were shooting in the Forbidden City I changed my pants in front of 5,000 tourists."

Hong Kong star Rosamund Kwan has shot many Hong Kong-backed period action films on the mainland, such as the martial arts classic "Once Upon A Time In China" series. For her, this was her first chance to shoot a contemporary comedy there. "I'm thrilled to be in a film that will give audiences around the world a chance to see how much China has changed," Kwan says.

Because leading actor Ge You and Feng Xiaogang have so much experience working together, the role of YoYo was shaped for Ge from the inception of the project. "We know each other well and hang out together a lot," Ge says of Feng. "When he writes the script, he knows that the character suits me and knows how far I can take it. And I know the kinds of lines he writes, and the plots. So when I'm acting in his movies it's very easy and smooth for me."

The role of Louis is a supporting part, but many Chinese viewers find it one of the most memorable and striking aspects of the film - not least because of the delicious performance by Ying Da, who is better known to Chinese audiences as the "Norman Lear of China" (Ying was the producer and director of the country's first TV sitcoms). Ying Da has worked with Feng Xiaogang before (in "Party A, Party B") and he feels they work well together because they both grew up in Beijing and share Beijing's earthy style of humor.

"Louis is a great character," says Ying. "I myself have never met anyone exactly like this, but his behavior and his language is very interesting. He's an exaggerated version of the type of businessman that exists in China nowadays, very pompous and very ambitious. I think people will see a lot of truth in this character."

For many on the production, the highlight of shooting came during five days at the Tai Temple, a palace directly adjacent to the Forbidden City. In Big Shot's Funeral, the Tai Temple is not only a shooting location for Don Tyler's film, but also the site where YoYo and his friend Louis plan to stage Tyler's "comedy funeral." The location is familiar to audiences who've seen films shot in China as it often doubles for the interior of the Forbidden City itself. Many scenes in Bertolucci's "Last Emperor" take place there, and well known Chinese director Zhang Yimou staged the opera "Turandot" there a few years back. It's an important site in China - the funerals of emperors were held there, as was the funeral of Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976.

Visitors to the set who saw this sacred site dressed up with gaudy advertising were surprised, amazed, and amused - just as director Feng hopes viewers of the film will be. Even Donald Sutherland's wife found it an impressive sight. "She told me I better enjoy this funeral, because it's going to be a lot better than my next one," Sutherland says.

Other scenes shot at the Tai Temple include the early scene in which Tyler is shooting his film - but can't figure out exactly what he should be doing with his film, and calls it quits for the day. That scene called for 1000 extras, Chinese army recruits, who endured a long day in the hot sun in late May.

Other locations included the new Sony "Exploratorium," a science exhibition museum, in downtown Beijing (which doubled as the site of the advertising auction), and the Zhengxie Performance Hall, an important Chinese Communist Party meeting spot (which has the role of Louis's grand office). A calming change of pace came in two days of shooting at the Sleeping Buddha Temple, a 17th century temple nestled in the low mountains an hour's drive northwest of Beijing. It is here that Tyler comes to meditate and ponder his future after he's learned he's been fired from his picture by his old friend and nemesis Tony.

Production wrapped in early June and initial post-production on the film was done in Beijing.

All involved in the project feel that the film can give international audiences a new perspective on Chinese life. "We in the west have seen films like 'Raise the Red Lantern' and 'Farewell My Concubine' and they are fantastic," says Mazursky. "But this is completely new. No one's tried anything like this before."

Says Sutherland, "I hope that people will see this film to get an introduction to the Chinese sense of humor." Feng Xiaogang agrees. "I hope the foreign audiences can accept and understand the Chinese sense of humor. We're all human beings so I don't think the distance between us can be too great."

About the Filmmakers

FENG XIAOGANG (Director)

Born in Beijing, director and co-screenwriter Feng Xiaogang spent several years working as a scenic painter in a People's Liberation Army theater troupe before breaking into television as a writer and director.

He first gained fame across China a decade ago as co-writer of the 25-part hit TV series "Stories of the Editorial Department." Subsequently, he was co-writer and co-director of another successful TV series, "A Native of Beijing in New York." In addition, he directed the 10-part TV series "Chicken Feathers" in 1994. Shortly afterwards he made his film debut as director of "Love Forever Lost."

In 1995 and 1996, he returned to TV, directing the series "Early Death of Love," and "The Other Side of the Moon."

Feng Xiaogang is best known in China for the series of comedies he has made in recent years, which have set box office records throughout the country. In 1997, he wrote and directed "Party A, Party B."

In 1998, Feng released the smash hit "Be There or Be Square," the first film from the PRC to be shot entirely on location in the U.S. 1999 saw the release of "Sorry, Baby."

In 2000, Feng once more proved his versatility and range with the release of "Sigh," a drama of marital infidelity with a script by the well-known novelist Wang Shuo. "Sigh" won honors for best film, best script, best actor and best actress at the 2000 Cairo International Film Festival.

WANG ZHONGJUN and WANG ZHONGLEI (Producer, Executive Producer)

Wang Zhongjun (producer) is Chairman of the Board and President of the Huayi Brothers & Taihe Film Investment Co., Ltd. His younger brother Wang Zhonglei (executive producer) is Director and Vice-President of the company. Over the past few years, the Wang brothers have established themselves and their company as one of the leading film producers in China.

Among the films they have produced are Feng Xiaogang's "Sorry, Baby" and "Sigh," as well as Huang Jianzhong's "My 1919." They also produced Zheng Xiaolong's debut feature film "The Gua Sha Treatment." In addition to Big Shot's Funeral, they have two other films this year which are co-productions with Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia. "The Missing Gun" a modern day mystery tale, was filmed earlier this year. Currently in production in western China is "Heroes of Heaven and Earth," a period adventure epic written and directed by He Ping ("Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker"). The star of both those films is Jiang Wen, one of China's top stars and a renowned director in his own right ("In the Heat of the Sun," "Devils on the Doorstep").

In addition to their film production business, the Wang brothers also own an advertising company, a talent agency, and the Green Equestrian Club, all located in Beijing.

LI SHAOMING (Co-writer)

Li Shaoming is a writer affiliated with the Beijing Central Television Arts Group. He is known for such TV series as "A Native of Beijing in New York," "Desires," "Had Fun," and "Beijing Story."

SHI KANG (Co-writer)

Shi Kang is an up-and-coming young writer whose work includes the novels "Unstable" and "Broken into Pieces."

ZHANG LI (Director of Photography)

Zhang Li is a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy and one of the best known cinematographers in China. He has worked on such films as "Red Cherry," and "Red Lovers." Big Shot's Funeral is his second collaboration with Feng Xiaogang. He also served as the director of photography on Feng's "Sigh."

LIU XINGANG (Production Designer)

Liu Xingang is a professor of production design at Beijing's famous Central Academy of Theater and worked as the production designer on Feng Xiaogang's "A Sigh."

ZHOU YING (Editor)

Zhou Ying is affiliated with the Beijing Film Studio and is a longtime colleague of director Feng Xiaogang. She has edited three Feng Xiaogang comedies, including "Party A, Party B," "Be There or Be Square," and "Sorry, Baby," as well as last year's drama, "Sigh."

PAUL DUKE (Associate Producer)

Paul Duke has worked on several films in China. He was co-producer and second-unit director on "Restless," a contemporary comedy filmed in Beijing in 1997 and released in the US by Arrow Releasing. Duke is a graduate of Harvard, and studied film at the University of Southern California and Chinese language at UCLA. On Big Shot's Funeral he served as the liaison between director Feng Xiaogang and western actors Donald Sutherland and Paul Mazursky.

About the Cast

GE YOU (YoYo)

Ge You, a native of Beijing, is one of the most celebrated actors in China, known for his sensitive and often humorous portrayals. He has worked with such internationally renowned Chinese directors as Zhang Yimou ("To Live") and Chen Kaige ("Farewell My Concubine").

Director Feng Xiaogang has collaborated with Ge You on several films and TV series. The pair are especially noted for their work on Feng's recent comedies, including "Party A, Party B," "Be There or Be Square," and "Sorry, Baby." Many mainland critics have noted that in these films Feng and Ge have established a new image of China's ordinary man.

Ge You has won many top Chinese film awards including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Rooster Awards. In addition, he won Best Actor at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival for his work in "To Live."

ROSAMUND KWAN (Lucy)

Hong Kong native Rosamund Kwan is a graduate of Maryknoll Sister Convent School. She began her acting career in 1982 and has acted in over 50 movies. She is best known for her role as the 13th Aunt in the popular series "Once Upon A Time in China" starring opposite Jet Li.

Kwan has also appeared in many commercials, representing such companies as Ericsson Mobile Phone and Swiss jeweler Ellie Chatila S.A. In 1999, she was appointed as the spokesperson for all promotional activity, including television and print advertisements in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, for the American skincare product SK-II. In the same year, she was voted as one of the 10 most glamorous ladies of Hong Kong. In her last film, she co-starred with Andy Lau.

DONALD SUTHERLAND (Don Tyler)

Donald Sutherland is one of the most prolific and versatile motion picture actors, and his offbeat elegance is evident in an astonishing array of more than one hundred films. These films range from the biting political satire of Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" to the intimate drama of Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" to the subtle intricacy of Alan Pakula's "Klute' to the eccentric romanticism of Fellini's "Casanova."

Born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada on July 17th, 1935, Sutherland had his first taste of theater as an undergraduate studying engineering at the University of Toronto. His performance in "The Tempest" received a wonderful review from Herbert Whitaker, then the theater critic of the Toronto Globe and Mail, and gave Sutherland the confidence to pursue a career as an actor. He switched majors and graduated with a degree in English before going to London, England for training and work in English Repertory Theatres. His London stage debut was in Nigel Dennis' "August for the People" with Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts. In 1964, producer Paul Maslansky saw Sutherland in a London West End production of "Spoon River Anthology" and signed him for his first film "The Castle of the Living Dead," filmed in Italy by the late Warren Kiefer. His tiny role in Robert Aldrich's "The Dirty Dozen" brought him to the attention of film producer Ingo Preminger who asked him to come to America to play 'Hawkeye Pierce' in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H. His work in that film brought him international recognition.

In his remarkable career, Sutherland has worked with an extraordinary number of distinguished directors from many countries, including Bernardo Bertolucci ("1900"), Alan Pakula ("Klute"), Nicholas Roeg ("Don't Look Now"), John Schlesinger ("The Day of the Locust"), Robert Redford ("Ordinary People"), Louis Malle ("Crackers"), Ron Howard ("Backdraft"), Oliver Stone ("JFK"), Robert Towne ("Without Limits"), Jon Avnet ("Uprising"), Dalton Trumbo ("Johnny Got His Gun"), Barry Levinson ("Disclosure"), Federico Fellini ("Casanova"), Claude Chabrol ("Blood Relatives"), Christian Duguay ("The Assignment"), Richard Marquand ("The Eye of The Needle") and Brian Hutton ("Kelly's Heroes").

He's made two films with Paul Mazursky: "Alex in Wonderland" directed by Mazursky in 1969; and "A Very Big Withdrawal" in which the two co-starred for director Noel Black.

This is the second film Sutherland has filmed in China. In late 1986, he played the title role in "Bethune," the epic Canadian screen tribute to the country's legendary battlefield surgeon, Norman Bethune (who died of septicemia in China while creating mobile hospitals for the Eighth Route Army). The film also starred Guo Da and Helen Mirren and was directed by the late Philip Borsos.

Sutherland has spent the last two years acting in theatres in Toronto, New York, London and Los Angeles in plays by Eric Emmanuel Schmitt and Jon Robin Baitz. His most recent film release is "Space Cowboys," directed by the inimitable Clint Eastwood.

PAUL MAZURSKY (Tony)

Writer-director-actor-producer Paul Mazursky has created a body of work over the past thirty years that has established him as one of America's most respected filmmakers. His films are often personal, intimate and humorous observations of the human condition.

Mazursky was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in 1930. He started his performing in school, continuing at Brooklyn College, where in his senior year, he landed the leading role of an off-Broadway production of "He Who Gets Slapped." Shortly thereafter, he was cast in Stanley Kubrick's first film "Fear and Desire," and two years later in "The Blackboard Jungle." During this period, he appeared on TV and performed as a stand-up comic in Greenwich Village clubs.

In 1959, he moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the L.A. company of Second City. Increasingly, his focus shifted to writing for other comics, including Danny Kaye. In due course, he teamed up with like-minded humorist Larry Tucker and together they wrote the screenplays for three feature films, "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas," "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and "Alex in Wonderland." Knowing that he wanted to direct, Mazursky used his success to gain Columbia Pictures' confidence, and he made his directorial debut with "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice." Now considered a classic, the film opened the 1969 New York Film Festival. His screenplay collaboration with Tucker received an Academy Award nomination. As director and co-writer, Mazursky followed "Bob & Carol" with "Alex in Wonderland" (starring Donald Sutherland), "Harry & Tonto" (Oscar nomination for best screenplay, written with Josh Greenfield), and "Next Stop, Greenwich Village."

1978 saw the triumphant release of Mazursky's "An Unmarried Woman." Star Jill Clayburgh was named best actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Mazursky was nominated again for an Oscar for best screenplay.

Mazursky continued with "Willie and Phil," "Tempest," and "Moscow on the Hudson," which established Robin Williams as an actor of formidable range.

Mazursky then directed the smash hit comedy "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," starring Bette Midler and Nick Nolte.

Mazursky's other films include "Moon Over Parador," "Enemies: A Love Story" (which garnered three Oscar nominations and earned the New York Film Critics Award for best director), "Scenes from a Mall" (starring Woody Allen and Bette Midler), "The Pickle" (with Danny Aiello), and "Faithful," starring Chazz Palminteri, Cher and Ryan O'Neal. His latest film is the HBO movie "Winchell," with Stanley Tucci, Glenne Headly and Paul Giamatti.

YING DA (Louis)

A multi-talented writer-actor-director, Ying Da is the best known television director in China. Five years ago he wrote and directed China's first situation comedy, "I Love My Family." His other series include "Chinese Restaurant," "The Lobby," "Start and Stop," and "No. 100 Broadway." His success in television has led many observers to call him the Norman Lear of China.

Ying Da is a native of Beijing and a graduate of Beijing University, where he studied psychology. He also earned a master's degree in theater from the University of Missouri in the United States.

As an actor, Ying Da has appeared in such films as Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" and Feng Xiaogang's "Party A, Party B." He also performed in "City Surrounded," from the well-known novel by Qian Zhongshu.

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