Gaki N Me If you love to talk about the world, love Asian idols, this is the place.

I can't believe this. CYF's 20 mins scenes have been reduced to 10 mins only in China. They took the opening scenes of CYF because of violence and the part of him reciting Li Bai's poem  "Guan Shan Yue" (The Moon Shining over the Mountain on the Border) tells of the lonely life of an expat. Hypocrites!  Have you seen the TV drama Shanghai Bund by Huang Xiao Ming. It has gangster violence!!! 

Hong Kong Star's 'Pirates' Scenes Slashed

Posted June 8, 2007:

It looks like the Chinese press likes the performance of Chow Yun Fat in the Pirates of the Carribean. They thought he looks cold blooded enough and that when he needs to be gentle with Elizabeth, he was gentle. The Chinese version to be released on June 15 has cut out the short few seconds of Chow Yun Fat reciting Li Bai's poem in Cantonese.  The press in general thought it was a pity that CYF's had only a few scenes in the movie.  But yo, that's better than nothing.  The press said that the interest is definitely on CYF for this movie at the moment. While some thought that the plot was too intricate especially since China has not released part 1 and 2, it was nevertheless a very good movie that only Hollywood could make with their humongous budget. You could see some pix here.

Posted June 1, 2007:

OMG, these two articles are just too good not to post excerpts of. If I don't post it, it would be gone.

Chow Yun-Fat loses hair for 'Pirates'
Chow Yun-Fat had to shave his head to join 'Pirates.' But boosting his career and acquiring more American fans was all worth it.


By Susan King, Times Staff Writer


Director Gore Verbinski asked iconic Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat to shave his head for his role as the powerful Singapore buccaneer Capt. Sao Feng in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

"He wanted to keep his hair for a while," recalls Verbinski. "But I said I think we should see this guy not having a head of hair. We have so many long-haired pirates."

The 52-year-old star of Ang Lee's Oscar-winning martial arts epic, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," agreed to go the bald pate route, but only if the filmmaker would shave him.

"I think as a director, he has a full vision of every single character in the movie," says Chow, a lanky charmer who is not above bussing a woman's hand.

"All the western pirates have the long hair, so I think it's a very wise idea. Sao Feng is more stunning with tattoos and scars."

In the third installment in the enormously successful franchise based on the Disneyland ride, Will (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) travel to Singapore to get charts and a ship to take them to world's end to rescue Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).

With his Fu Manchu mustache, macho swagger and talon-like fingernails, Chow seems to be channeling Toshiro Mifune and Yul Brynner.

"He's a praying mantis," Verbinski says of Sao Feng. "You are not quite sure if you love him or if you can trust him. He takes us through the entire journey."

"He's not an ordinary bad guy," echoes Chow. "He's not one straight line. He has so many faces. You can say he's a bad guy, but on the other hand he's a bad guy with a conscience."

For Verbinski, Chow was his only choice for the role.

"He is such an iconic character. So we called him, and I just knew he would dive into the part. He completely committed himself to his character."

Chow, who came to international fame in the 1980s in John Woo's acclaimed thrillers "Hard-Boiled," "A Better to Tomorrow" and "The Killer," brought a new and different vibe to the set.

He may be a superstar in Hong Kong, but he's happy being just one of the guys.

"If the grips were moving the dolly, he'd grab the dolly in his costume and move it," says Verbinski.

"It is like this socialistic filmmaking or something. He broke down all of those barriers [between the cast and the crew]. The crew loved him, just loved him. He came in late in the game but gave us a tremendous amount of energy."

"I am easy to everybody," Chow says, laughing. "I am not very poisoned. I am a very easy man to get along with."

Still, he is career savvy. Chow knows the extraordinary visibility "Pirates" will give him with American audiences — the films he previously made in English, such as "The Replacement Killers" and "Anna and the King," were not hits.

"Maybe you have to wait 20 years or so for the lucky stars to shine on you," he says. "It is an actor's dream to push to the galaxy."

When he wasn't in front of the cameras, Chow would be on the set taking photographs.

"He has a great eye," says Verbinski. "He sent me a picture — it's me in the chair [shot] from behind. All you see is my hat and the tips of my fingers."

Chow's interest in photography began while on location in China for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

"I had never seen such beautiful scenery in China even though I am Chinese," he says. "I picked up my camera and took some pictures in color."

Upon his return to Hong Kong, he began researching landscape photographers and fell in love with the black-and-white images of Ansel Adams.

"I was stunned by his work, so I brought a view camera that is the big format. When I was on set, I would bring my tiny camera."

Chow got a lot of negative press recently after he bowed out of Woo's latest film, the epic "Red Cliff," in April, stating he had received the script too late to prepare for his role.

The Hong Kong press said he was acting like a prima donna. Now, Chow has verbally committed to appear in the film in a cameo.

Chow is reluctant to talk about the controversy but noted, "When I make an appearance with John Woo in Beijing, it will be another story. When you see Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo walk together in Beijing, then it will be a true story." 

http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-fat25may25,0,2899358.story?coll=cl-movies