Vicki Zhao, So Close and other trips down memory lane
So here I am, sick at home due to acute food poisoning. Feels like shit, lemme tell ya, but at least 3 days of bed rest has given me motivation to update. What? So I was lazy the last coupla months, years, whatever…
Anyway, last night I saw Part 1 of Red Cliff. It was an excellent movie, but above that it starred Vicki Zhao in the role of the tomboy princess Sun. I was quite surprised. Vicki hadn’t crossed my mind for ages. I first saw her in So Close, that Hong Kong flick by Cory Yuen starring Shu Qi and Karen Mok. It wasn’t a very good movie, but Vicki captivated me then with her performance as a sort of tomboyish adolescent hacker-turned-assassin with crush on the cop hunting her down.
After that, I saw Shaolin Soccer, and while I didn’t recognize her as first I finally realized who it was by the end of the movie, and that was yet another big surprise. Since then, Vicki Zhao has sat on my fascination list, not just because I really like her unconventional cute looks, but also because she exudes a charisma that is subtle yet addictive.
There’s just something about how she can pull off depth in her characters. I just watched about half of So Close again, and I found myself impressed beyond my memories. Even in Cantonese, dubbed, Vicki’s portrayal stands out. In a genre where most film roles tend to be one-dimensional, Vicki alternates so realistically between playful and driven that she outshines even Karen Mok, definitely an excellent veteran actress. What a wonderful find, that Vicki has, probably of her own initiative, created a character far more interesting than what the original writers intended. (God knows, this movie was not an exercise in depth.)
In Red Cliff, she is once again a spunky tomboyish girl, and when I first saw her, I thought she was rather narrow in her roles. But after going back to So Close, I realize that it’s two very different characters and very different portrayals.
Well, when all is said and done, after my spontaneous Vicki revival, I dunno if I would actually go back and watch any of her other movies. I just like her character in So Close waaaay too much :P But then again, in respect of her skills, maybe I should.
This post had no point except to non-fangirlishly squeal about how freakin’ awesome Vicki Zhao was in So Close. So there.
EDIT: I just reached the car park fight scene with Shu Qi and Karen Mok. I had forgotten how ridiculously awesome this movie this.











