Gong Li · 鞏俐
Every tracked film starring the Queen of Chinese cinema.
Playing & upcoming
TOMORROW · APR 14
Ju Dou
Gong Li as a young bride sold to an impotent dye-mill owner who takes his nephew as her secret lover. Crimson silks, steam, forbidden desire — banned in China for years. The first Chinese film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
📍 Metrograph · Tue Apr 14 8:00pm, Mon Apr 20 7:00pm
TOMORROW · APR 14
Miami Vice
Mann's digital-noir reboot. Gong Li as Isabella — a Cuban-Chinese drug-cartel financier — has a cross-border affair with Colin Farrell's Sonny Crockett. The Havana shower/mojito sequence is one of the most unexpectedly erotic passages in 2000s American cinema. Part of Metrograph's Empress Li retrospective.
📍 Metrograph · Fri Apr 10 10:20pm, Sat Apr 11 10:35pm, Tue Apr 14 5:10pm
COMING · APR 18
The Emperor and the Assassin
Chen Kaige's lavish Qin-dynasty epic. Gong Li plays Lady Zhao, imperial lover sent on a seduction mission to recruit an assassin and trigger the conquest that would unify China. Court intrigue, doomed romance, sweeping battles. One of the largest productions ever mounted in China.
📍 Metrograph · Sat Apr 18 2:00pm — 35mm print
COMING · APR 19
The Hand
Wong Kar-wai's segment from the Eros anthology, later released as a standalone extended version. Gong Li as a high-end Hong Kong courtesan who teaches a young tailor (Chang Chen) about desire — and then, years later, lets him tend her as illness takes hold. Sensuality made literal: fingers, silk, the cut of cloth against skin. Arguably Wong's most nakedly erotic film.
📍 Metrograph · Fri Apr 10 6:15pm, Sun Apr 12 8:00pm, Sun Apr 19 4:30pm
FLC RETROSPECTIVE
2046
Tony Leung's Chow Mo-wan drifts through charged affairs — Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Faye Wong — while writing an erotic sci-fi novel. Gong Li appears as "Su Li-zhen", a black-gloved professional gambler with a past in Singapore; her scenes are some of the film's most magnetic. Dense with desire, smoke, and regret.
📍 Film at Lincoln Center · Tony Leung retrospective
Recently screened · Empress Li
PAST · APR 10 & 12
Shanghai Triad
Gong Li as a gangster's moll in glittering 1930s Shanghai — a cabaret singer trapped inside a brocade cage. A boy from the countryside watches her rage, her affairs, her doom. Zhang Yimou's last collaboration with Gong Li before their real-life breakup — a farewell wrapped in silk and sequins.
📍 Metrograph · Fri Apr 10 8:00pm, Sun Apr 12 9:30pm
PAST · APR 6
The Story of Qiu Ju
A visibly pregnant Gong Li as a peasant woman on a one-woman crusade up the Chinese bureaucratic ladder to get an apology after the village chief kicks her husband in the groin. Neorealist, funny, gentle, quietly radical — Zhang Yimou at his most unassuming. Shot partly with hidden cameras in real Shaanxi streets.
📍 Metrograph · Mon Apr 6 4:00pm
EMPRESS LI · PAST
Red Sorghum
Gong Li's screen debut, age 22. A young bride is sold by her family to a leprous winemaker — and in the rippling sorghum fields, she and his sedan-chair bearer find a love as feverish as it is doomed. Rapturous colors, folk songs, drunken wedding wine. Won the Golden Bear at Berlin and launched the Chinese Fifth Generation onto world screens.
📍 Metrograph · Empress Li series
EMPRESS LI · PAST
Raise the Red Lantern
A young university woman (Gong Li) becomes the fourth concubine of a wealthy provincial master. A red lantern hung outside her chamber each evening signals which wife the master has chosen — and with it comes food privileges, foot massages, and the slow poison of rivalry. Zhang Yimou's most formally perfect film: symmetrical courtyards, repressed longing, doom pressed behind every screen.
📍 Metrograph · Empress Li series · one screening only
Iconic looks · Poster wall
Two eras · Muse & after
The Zhang Yimou years
The muse
1987 — 1995 · six films · one affair
Discovered by Zhang Yimou at the Central Academy of Drama, Gong Li became the face of Fifth Generation Chinese cinema. Their off-screen affair began on Red Sorghum and ended by Shanghai Triad. Every film in this period was an international sensation — Cannes, Venice, Oscar nominations. Banned, censored, then world-famous.
- 1987Red SorghumBerlin Golden Bear
- 1990Ju DouOscar nom
- 1991Raise the Red LanternVenice Silver Lion
- 1992The Story of Qiu JuVenice Golden Lion
- 1994To LiveCannes Grand Prix
- 1995Shanghai Triadthe break-up film
After the muse
The auteurs
1996 — present · open marriage with world cinema
After the Zhang split she refused to be pinned down. Works with Chen Kaige, Wong Kar-wai, Lou Ye, Michael Mann, Rob Marshall, Peter Webber — and then reunited with Zhang in 2006, and again more recently. Fewer films per year, each one a deliberate choice. The Empress, not the muse.
- 1996Temptress MoonChen Kaige
- 1998The Emperor and the AssassinChen Kaige
- 20042046 / The HandWong Kar-wai
- 2005Memoirs of a GeishaRob Marshall
- 2006Miami ViceMichael Mann
- 2006Curse of the Golden FlowerZhang Yimou · reunion
- 2019Saturday FictionLou Ye
Cannes · Venice · Berlin — festival moments
1988
Berlin · Golden Bear
Red Sorghum
Her debut, and Zhang Yimou's. A 22-year-old drama student, suddenly the face of a film that wins the top prize in Berlin and announces Fifth Generation Chinese cinema to the world.
1991
Venice · Silver Lion
Raise the Red Lantern
Gong Li in silk robes, 25 years old, walking the Lido while the film becomes the defining image of arthouse China for a generation of Western cinephiles.
1992
Venice · Golden Lion + Volpi Cup
The Story of Qiu Ju
Top prize for the film AND Best Actress for Gong Li — a peasant-woman role, no makeup, hidden-camera shoots. The year she proved she wasn't just Zhang's muse but one of the best actresses alive.
1993
Cannes · Palme d'Or
Farewell My Concubine
Chen Kaige directs her opposite Leslie Cheung. Palme d'Or winner, first Chinese-language film to take the top prize. Gong Li as Juxian, the opera star's prostitute-wife — volcanic, operatic, unforgettable.
1997
Cannes · Jury member
On the jury with Isabelle Adjani
Her first Cannes jury seat, two years after breaking from Zhang. Adjani presides. Gong Li arrives alone in couture — the beginning of her second act as international star, not muse.
2000
Berlin · Jury President
Youngest jury president in Berlin history
At 34, Gong Li presides over the Berlinale jury — the youngest ever. She awards the Golden Bear to Magnolia. Global cultural ambassador status confirmed.
2002
Venice · Jury President
Returns to the Lido, now the judge
Eleven years after walking the Lido for Raise the Red Lantern, she's back as head of the Venice jury. Awards the Golden Lion to Aleksandr Sokurov's The Sun. Full-circle.
2019
Venice · In Competition
Saturday Fiction
Lou Ye's B&W noir set in 1941 occupied Shanghai. Gong Li as a spy-actress whose stage role and life collapse into each other. The walk down the Lido is the closest anyone in the 21st century has come to a Garbo entrance.
2024
Cannes · Guest of honor
The return
Back on the Croisette for the 77th edition — now one of the last living stars who crosses from 1980s arthouse China to contemporary world cinema. Still draws the biggest flash-wall of any Chinese actress alive.
Filmography · The full scroll
YearTitleDirectorRoleNote
1987
Red Sorghum
Zhang Yimou
Lead
The debut. Berlin Golden Bear. Announces both star and director to the world at once.
1988
The Empress Dowager
Li Han-hsiang
Lead
Hong Kong-China co-production. A rare early Shaw-tinged costume drama.
1988
A Terra-Cotta Warrior
Ching Siu-tung
Dual lead
Produced by Tsui Hark. Fantasy romance where she plays a concubine reincarnated as a 1930s actress.
1990
Ju Dou
Zhang Yimou
Lead
First Chinese Oscar nom for Best Foreign Film. Banned in China for years. Dye-mill crimson.
1991
Raise the Red Lantern
Zhang Yimou
Lead
Venice Silver Lion. Fourth Mistress Songlian. The film that made her a global art-house icon.
1992
The Story of Qiu Ju
Zhang Yimou
Lead
Venice Golden Lion + Volpi Cup (Best Actress). Peasant headscarf, padded jacket — total transformation.
1993
Farewell My Concubine
Chen Kaige
Juxian
Cannes Palme d'Or. The only time she played second fiddle to Leslie Cheung — and still steals scenes.
1993
Flirting Scholar
Lee Lik-chi
Lead
Stephen Chow mo lei tau comedy. Proves she can do screwball — and look good doing it.
1993
The Great Conqueror's Concubine
Stephen Shin
Yu Ji
Two-part Hong Kong historical epic. The Qin dynasty year.
1994
To Live
Zhang Yimou
Lead
Cannes Grand Prix. Forty years of Chinese history through one family. Banned in China. Many call it her best.
1995
Shanghai Triad
Zhang Yimou
Bijou
The farewell. Last Zhang Yimou film before the split. Gangster moll in art-deco emerald.
1996
Temptress Moon
Chen Kaige
Lead
Opium den Shanghai with Leslie Cheung. Dreamy, doomed, Christopher Doyle shooting lamps.
1998
The Emperor and the Assassin
Chen Kaige
Lady Zhao
$20M historical epic. The strategist behind the throne — quiet, lethal, hair pulled back.
1999
Breaking the Silence
Sun Zhou
Lead
Single mother of a deaf son. Her most contemporary Chinese role of the 90s.
2000
The Emperor's Shadow
Zhou Xiaowen
Yue Yang
Qin court drama. Another version of the First Emperor story, this time from a musician's eye.
2000
Zhou Yu's Train
Sun Zhou
Dual role
A porcelain-painter chasing a poet by rail. Dual role, twin ribbons, contemporary.
2004
2046
Wong Kar-wai
Su Li-zhen (Black)
The gambler with the glove she'll never remove. Her only Wong Kar-wai feature — wears cheongsam like armor.
2004
Eros — "The Hand"
Wong Kar-wai
Miss Hua
40-minute masterwork. The courtesan who teaches a young tailor his trade with one hand.
2005
Memoirs of a Geisha
Rob Marshall
Hatsumomo
Hollywood debut. Learned English for it. The rival geisha — burning with jealousy, in golden kimono.
2006
Miami Vice
Michael Mann
Isabella
Cuban-Chinese cartel financier opposite Colin Farrell. Havana, yachts, night blues.
2006
Curse of the Golden Flower
Zhang Yimou
Empress Phoenix
Reunion with Zhang after 11 years. Imperial robes, chrysanthemum rebellion, blood on silk.
2007
Hannibal Rising
Peter Webber
Lady Murasaki
The aunt who teaches young Hannibal kendo. The less said the better — but Gong Li is the one good thing in it.
2009
Shanghai
Mikael Håfström
Anna Lan-ting
1941 Shanghai noir with John Cusack. Troubled production, but her wartime beauty is the movie's draw.
2011
What Women Want
Daming Chen
Lead
Mel Gibson's film, remade for China. Romantic comedy lead — lightest she'd been on screen in years.
2019
Saturday Fiction
Lou Ye
Jean Yu
Black-and-white 1940s Shanghai espionage. Venice competition. Wet streets, smoke, fedora.
2020
Mulan
Niki Caro
Xian Lang
Disney. The shape-shifting witch. A controversial film but her only English-language blockbuster.
2023
Leave Me Alone
Peter Chan
Lead
Peter Chan's romantic drama. Late-career Cantonese reunion.
Her directors · Who shot her best
01 · The origin
Zhang Yimou
1987 — 1995, 2006, 2014
Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, Qiu Ju, To Live, Shanghai Triad, Curse of the Golden Flower.
"He invented her the way he invented Fifth Generation cinema. Saturated reds, slow dissolves, a face that holds a whole century."
02 · The operatic
Chen Kaige
1993, 1996, 1998
Farewell My Concubine, Temptress Moon, The Emperor and the Assassin.
"Where Zhang makes her a peasant queen, Chen makes her a courtesan-strategist. Opium, thrones, the logic of betrayal."
03 · The elegist
Wong Kar-wai
2004
2046, Eros — "The Hand".
"Only one year, two films — but he gave her the one thing the Fifth Generation never asked her to do. Hold still in close-up and let the smoke move for her."
04 · The noir
Lou Ye
2019
Saturday Fiction.
"Pushes her into handheld black-and-white. Rain, fedora, cigarette, a double agent reading her own script. Late-career rebirth."
05 · The romantic
Peter Chan
2023
Leave Me Alone.
"The Hong Kong romantic's late-career gift to her. Softer, lit from the side, Cantonese on the tongue again."
06 · The American
Michael Mann
2006
Miami Vice.
"The only Western director who understood she was a 1940s movie star trapped in the 2000s. Digital night, Havana rum, a woman who ends phone calls."
Carpet timeline · 1998 — 2016
All photos via Wikimedia Commons — Category:Gong Li · 7 frames, 1988–2016
Portrait studies · Five frames, no carpet
In frame · Stills from the films where she leads
The brand book · Commercials, campaigns, maison faces
Editorial · The magazine years
The talking years · Interviews, junkets, TV
Fit check · The fashion archive
Scraped across the fashion archives — Cartier press, Piaget campaigns, Vogue China, Harper's Bazaar, Cannes step-and-repeats.
The shelf · Every major prize, every jury seat
Competitive wins
- 1992Volpi Cup (Best Actress)Venice · The Story of Qiu Ju
- 1992NYFCC Best SupportingNew York Film Critics Circle · Farewell My Concubine
- 1993LAFCA Best SupportingLos Angeles Film Critics · Farewell My Concubine
- 1993NBR Best SupportingNational Board of Review · Farewell
- 2005NBR Best SupportingNational Board of Review · Memoirs of a Geisha
- 2008Golden Rooster · Best ActressChina's national awards · Curse of the Golden Flower
Jury duty
- 1997Cannes Jury MemberUnder Isabelle Adjani · 50th edition
- 2000Berlin Jury PresidentYoungest-ever Berlinale jury president
- 2002Venice Jury PresidentAwarded Sokurov's Russian Ark era classics
- 2006Tokyo Jury PresidentTokyo International Film Festival
- 2012Rome Jury MemberFesta del Cinema di Roma
- 2014Shanghai Jury PresidentSIFF · home-soil duty
- 2019Venice Jury MemberUnder Lucrecia Martel
Honors & orders
- 1997Chevalier des Arts et des LettresFrance · first order
- 2000UNESCO Goodwill AmbassadorFor the preservation of cultural heritage
- 2010Commandeur des Arts et des LettresFrance · top civilian arts honor
- 2010Légion d'honneur (Chevalier)Awarded by Nicolas Sarkozy
- 2019Asian Film Award for ExcellenceLifetime achievement, Hong Kong
- 2021Ordre national du MériteFrance · second national order