On the red carpet: Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) – 2014 Asian Film Awards

In a surprising appearance and an equally surprising choice of gown – a structured, conservative Armani Prive Spring 2014 number that hid her figure – Zhang Ziyi appeared at the 2014 Asian Film Awards alongside her director in “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-Wai.

However, there were no surprises in the Best Actress category once the ceremony began, particularly when actress Carina Lau – the wife of Zhang’s co-star in “The Grandmaster,” Tony Leung Chiu Wai – was tapped to co-present the award.  That said, without directly addressing him by name, Zhang referred to one of the film’s missing crew members, Ju Kun, who was aboard the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 plane.  The full transcript from Zhang’s speech, originally delivered in Mandarin, follows below:

“First of all, I’d like to give my thanks to AFA and also my director, Wong Kar-Wai.  And also the best actor in my heart forever, Tony Leung Chiu Wai.

“I think today there are a lot of outstanding actors and actresses.  You all share the same feeling. Every time when we act different characters, we would just try to really feel their happiness and their sadness.  There’s no mask for the characters, although they actually appear in the screen, but they are lives.  They have temperature. They have strength. That’s why the audience always remember them.”

[long pause]

“For the recent [Malaysia Airlines] tragedy, they are all — they used to be living lives.  They used to be our family members, our friends. They once were next to us.  I think tonight, apart from celebrating the awards, we should all send our respect to all those tragic lives.”

Video: Carina Lau and Zhang Guoli present the Best Actress Award to Zhang Ziyi (“The Grandmaster”) – 2014 Asian Film Awards
video by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine