Fan Bingbingwho was born in Qingdao, China, was one of the most famous actresses in the world. After years of trying to get her started in television, she received a lot of credit for her role in the television series My beautiful princess, and she became popular in East Asia as an actor in dramas. Years later she appeared in Mobile phone, which was a huge hit in China, ensuring her status as one of Asia’s top stars. Her popularity only continued to grow as she starred in period dramas and films, collaborated with China’s biggest directors and stars, and Fan would eventually work in English language films as well.
Before an unplanned fall from grace, Fan was the highest paid actor in China. Hair demise occurred in 2018, when she disappeared over an investigation into how she was carrying out tax fraud. She was billed for tax evasion and received a sizable fine, approximately $127 million, and her career took a huge blow as a result. Once one of the most popular drama and television actors in the country, she has now stopped appearing in new Chinese content. However, she has been active internationally, appearing in American films and a South Korean drama. Whatever happened, Fan had a prolific career and these are her best movies.
7 Mobile phone
In 2003 Mobile phoneFan portrays Wu Yue, a woman who has an affair with one of the protagonists, Yan Shouyi. Yan, who is a television host and has a wife he goes to every night, clearly doesn’t want any evidence of this to come to light as it could ruin not only his home life but his career as well. He meets a television producer who is also cheating on his wife, and when all the bad things come to light, they both find out about the affair because they weren’t careful enough to remove it all. Filmed at a time when mobile devices were just starting to take over the world, Mobile phone broods over the consequences of having one.
6 the 355
Spy Thriller the 355 features an all-star cast: Fan Bingbing, Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o. Together they form a ring of global spies trying to stop World War III from breaking out, which is a monumental task in itself. The title is a reference to women’s roles during the American Revolution, which can be seen as feminist, but critics were not a fan of The 355. However, the public quite liked it and rated it much higher than their professional counterparts.
5 Bodyguards and Killers
Fan is best known for her historical work, and Bodyguards and Killers, a film from Hong Kong, is one of her better-known historical films. Set in the era when Hong Kong was still considered a British colony, it follows Sun Yat-sen, the first leader of the Kuomintang political party in China, as he comes to Hong Kong to plan a revolution. overthrowing the doomed Qing dynasty. Many people want him gone, but it’s up to his bodyguards to protect him from outside threats in this movie.
4 Sacrifice
Chen Kaige, one of the most prolific directors in 90s Chinese cinema, returned in 2010 with the landmark film Sacrifice. Based on a Chinese play titled The orphan of Zhao, this epic is set in ancient China, during the Zhou dynasty. A chancellor has a feud with a high-ranking general because the general has done something immoral and put the blame on the chancellor’s family. What follows is a massacre that leads to a manhunt for the only survivor: the chancellor’s grandson. This child evades capture, leading to cycles of tragedy and despair wherever he goes.
3 buddha mountain
buddha mountain follows the lives of three young people in China who have no ambition in the eyes of society. They don’t want to take their exams, which means they don’t go to university, and they meet a Chinese opera singer who takes them in. Her son recently died in a disaster, and as these teens try to navigate their way through life, her grief swallows her alive. Fan was especially acclaimed for her role, as she embodied her character and took her to new heights.
2 Lost in Beijing
Lost in Beijing was a small movie when it came out, but it’s one of Fan’s best movies to date. She stars with Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Tong Dawei and Elaine Jin in a gripping story that didn’t make it to cinemas in China because it was banned. A wife (Fan) and husband (Tong) are migrant workers seeking a new life and opportunity in Beijing, which leads to the woman being raped in the massage parlor where she works. Lost in Beijing is cutting, emotional commentary on the state of contemporary China, especially with regard to rape, blackmail and sex work.
1 I am not Mrs Bovary
Released in 2016, the comedy film I am not Mrs Bovary is mandatory watching for Fan Bingbing fans as well as anyone interested in Chinese cinema. It is based on the novel I didn’t kill my husband, and this title makes the plot quite easy to understand. The female lead (Fan) and her husband try to avoid falling into the trap of a Chinese law that restricts a married couple to owning only one home, but the plan falls apart when her ex-husband marries someone else. Enraged, she decides the next step is to divorce again, despite already being divorced, and tries to take her husband completely out of the equation through death.