《赤壁》收官大战 佟大为赵薇生离死别
Sina Entertainment/ Southern Metropolitan Weekly
28 Nov 2007
Picture 1: Tong Dawei’s smoked-filled face
Picture 2: Tong Dawei being ‘hit’ by arrows
Picture 3: Tong Dawei reunites with Zhao Wei in the midst of battle
Picture 4: Tong Dawei leans against Zhao Wei’s shoulder
Recently, the television broadcast a media report of the massive war scene in epic war movie [Red Cliff], where Tony Leung, Chang Chen and Hu Jun joined forces to wipe out the forces at the Cao camp. However, this grand scene was not the production finale; instead, another similar war scene was being filmed three days later. Tong Dawei, whose role in the movie is a senior captain of the Cao camp, ‘died’ in the arms of his lover Zhao Wei. Director John Woo used this sad scene to end the filming on a nostalgic note.
We learnt from the production crew that the scene shown on television a few days ago was on the filming of how the combined forces from Sun and Liu camp attacked the Cao camp. Although this was a massive scene that involved almost all the main leads, we understood that it was not the final war scene to be filmed. That scene was filmed three days later, and the main focus was Zhao Wei and Tong Dawei. As the filming was almost completed, all the cast was gathered at the filming site to complete whatever scenes needed to be re-filmed. It is anticipated that filming will officially cease in end November. The final war scene had centered on the love relationship between Zhao Wei and Tong Dawei’s characters, and that Tong Dawei ‘died’ in Zhao Wei’s arms.
On the day of the filming, we braved the long distance to reach the filming site, set in Yi Province. When we reached in the afternoon, the sky was choked with huge billows of smoke, and war cries filled the highly charged atmosphere. Through the smog, we managed to glimpse some extras dressed in ancient war robes, running around and ‘fighting’ one another.
We managed to sneak past the security and ventured near the filming site. Amongst the extras, we saw a handsome and tall man, decked in thick armour and wearing a green overcoat. Although his face was smeared with smoke, we could recognize at first glance to be Tong Dawei. Most of the casts’ screen personas have been disclosed in various media reports, except for Tong Dawei and another artiste. This is Tong’s first foray into ancient period movies. Tong’s character in the movie is fictional, called Sun Shucai. He was originally a lowly soldier who was promoted to senior captain because Cao Cao was impressed with him. Tong’s period image is both handsome with an aura of elegance, and we eagerly anticipate his appearance in the movie when it is launched next year.
As we looked closely, we discovered that Tong’s armour had two arrows ‘stuck’ on it. It is apparent that his character was injured, but he continued fighting despite his injuries. A while later, Zhao Wei, with her hair bundled up and wearing a beige overcoat rushed to Tong’s side. When he saw her, Tong finally succumbed to his injuries and kneeled in front of Zhao Wei. Zhao Wei got down to her knees as well, and hugged Tong. Tong slowly placed his head onto Zhao We’s shoulders, before his eyes closed, ‘dying’ in his lover’s arms. In this scene, Tong’s acting was natural and full of sincerity.
It was reported that Tong Dawei and Zhao Wei shared a special relationship in [Red Cliff]. He was Cao’s captain, whilst Zhao Wei’s character is Sun Quan’s sister. It was evident that it was some sort of “Romeo and Juliet” romance. As a big scale commercial firm, love will definitely be a part of the movie. With love and war intermixing, it is clear director John Woo is using the human emotion to close the epic [Battle of Red Cliff].
Translated by 小妹子
