| First rumored in: August 2004
Status: In development. Starts shooting in 2005.
Who's making it:
Director: Joan Chen
Written by:
Producers:
Budget:
Genre: Drama
Language:
Based on: The Lost Daughter of Happiness by Geling
Yan
Cast:
Synopsis:
 From
Publishers Weekly:
Yan, who fled her native China after the Tiananmen Square massacre,
counts herself part of the "fifth wave" of Chinese immigrants
to California. In this potentially intriguing but flatly told
novel, she tells the story of a "first wave" forebear,
Chinese prostitute Fusang, who became a celebrity in 1870s San
Francisco. Kidnapped from her village in China to be sold as a
prostitute in "Gold Mountain," as the Chinese immigrants
dubbed San Francisco, Fusang distinguishes herself through her
extraordinary serenity, which many take for slow-wittedness. Once
in the U. S., she runs afoul of her madams by refusing to hawk
herself aggressively to potential customers. Despite Fusang's
reserve, she attracts a slew of devoted lovers, including Chris,
a "little white devil" who is only 12 when he first
purchases Fusang's services. Chris tails Fusang around San Francisco's
Chinatown and follows her adventures over the next four decades.
After prompting a bloody battle between two suitors, nearly dying
of tuberculosis and being healed by the Christian ladies of the
Rescue society, Fusang is stolen by the charismatic Chinese gangster
Ah Ding, who changes his name to Da Yong to elude his enemies.
The fugitive pair encounter the sordid splendor of Chinatown,
witnessing slave auctions and mob riots and enduring attacks by
threatened whites. Fusang is a real historical figure about whom
little is known; Yan's account does little to clarify Fusang's
motives. Such opacity creates an intriguing mystery, but lack
of resolution frustrates the reader. Yan's detached, dispassionate
tone contributes to the sense of unreality pervading her narrative.
(Apr.)China in 1985, wrote the script for the movie Xiu Xiu: The
Sent-Down Girl.
Source: Amazon.com
Book Review:
In the late 1860s, a young woman named Fusang is kidnapped from
China and sold into prostitution in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Chris, her first customer, is twelve years old. For weeks, he
has spied on her; now, he meets the object of his obsession and
can only gaze at her, stunned by her beauty.
The Lost Daughter of Happiness is an epic and moving love story
of individuals intoxicated with one another and yet repeatedly
separated by prejudice and mistrust. The relationships are full
of passion and rage, and the novel chronicles the lives of the
main characters over decades against a back-drop of social turmoil
-- the anti-Chinese hysteria that plagued San Francisco.
Fusang is an extraordinary character, both powerful and resigned;
Chris finds himself torn between the security of his staid, white
world and the sensual allure of hers. And then there is the gangster
Da Yong, who is rumored to carry daggers dipped in ancient poison,
who wears a ring on every finger, and who sells his naked photograph,
which is used as a talisman -- evil to ward off evil. He enters
Fusang's life with brutal force, but when his world and Chris's
eventually collide, both men turn out to be far different than
they seemed.
Geling Yan, one of China's most acclaimed novelists, plays with
familiar "exotic" imagery, such as bound feet and incense
smoke and opium dens, in startling and ironic ways. She creates
scenes of intense eroticism that will remind readers of Marguerite
Duras's The Lover. She tells a riveting story that is both inevitable
and surprising. And she employs a modern narrator who actually
speaks to the characters about what has changed in the world --
and how much hasn't.
Written in a haunting voice that explores the present's bitter
truths through the prism of the past, The Lost Daughter of Happiness
is a mesmerizing and provocative work of fiction.
About the Author
Geling Yan was born in Shanghai and joined the People's Liberation
Army as a dancer at age twelve. In the late 1970s she began writing
as a war correspondent and published her first novel (of five
to date) in China in 1985. In 1989 she left China for the United
States and earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia College
Chicago. Two of her works have been made into films, including
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl, directed by Joan Chen. A collection
of her short fiction has been published in English translation.
The Lost Daughter of Happiness is her first novel to be published
in English and in other languages worldwide.
Review courtesy of Girlposse.com
Latest Development:
- 31 August 2004 :
JOAN CHEN AND "FUSANG"
Morning Post: Joan Chen has prepared to
shoot the movie "Fusang",
based on Geling Yan's novel, for about 6 years, and the shooting
will start next spring or summer in Shanghai. Ms. Li, who
is one of the producers of "Fusang", explained that
the shooting has been postponed because they lacked funds
and had some problems, but recently they got investors from
China and the US.
She said Chen expected CYF to play the male leading role
in the movie.
The reporter asked her whether the script would be changed
for CYF.
She smiled and said if it would change but it was only one
of the
reasons, they would make the movie into the international
market.
And Ms. Li said, though CYF had already read the script but
he didn't show his intention yet, so they are negotiating
with him at
present.
They are negotiating with Hsu Chi and Zhang Ziyi for the
female leading role on the movie.
Thanks Nana!
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