For a long time, Hong Kong's pop culture and customs have continued to appear in Hollywood blockbusters.
From Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's famous "Rush Hour 2" to the superhero masterpiece "Batman: The Dark Knight", Batman jumped freely from the international financial center.
It can be said that this city, which includes both Western and modern styles and oriental charm, has become a window for fans around the world to understand Chinese culture.
And when this "timeless" Hong Kong style mixes with the current hot women's topics, what kind of chemical reaction will it have?
The American drama "Foreigners", which was just launched this month, focuses on the group portrait stories of three foreign women living in Hong Kong.
Directed by Chinese-American director Wang Ziyi, "Foreigners" is the second time she has focused on Chinese culture and expatriate identity after 2019's Don't Tell Her.
Based on the novel of the same name by Asian-American writer Lee Lun-kyung, the film tells the story of three women of different races, identities and statuses, as a tragedy connects their lives.
The ups and downs of the trio's lives in Hong Kong reflect the intertwining of emotions in a foreign land.
Judging from the two episodes released so far, the narrative rhythm of "Foreigners" is slow, and the story focuses more on the inner lives of the protagonists.
However, as the first TV series directed by female director Wang Ziyi, the series still reflects the various plight of independent women from different angles.
For example, the heroine Margaret (Nicole Kidman) is a landscape architect who was forced to come to Hong Kong because of her husband's job change.
Here, her work is completely useless, and over time, Margaret slowly loses her purpose in life;
Moses (Yoo Ji-young), a Korean girl who struggles to get out of her original family, lives in poverty and has to work several jobs a day to make ends meet.
But in order to integrate into the circle of her peers, she can only wander among all kinds of upper-class parties, and her inner lack and emptiness are increasingly revealed;
And the last heroine, Hillary (Sarayu Rao), is a British immigrant who longs to have a child despite a not very happy married life.
Unwilling to settle for the status quo, she decided to follow the local customs and start a new life with a false identity......
If the former "Don't Tell Her" was to observe traditional Chinese culture as an Asian, then "Foreigner" uses three different story lines to capture the differentiated female issues under foreign identity.
As the story progresses, director Wang Ziyi also adds some philosophical issues on the basis of women's issues.
Among them, the intersection of the three story lines stems from the disappearance of Margaret's son Gus.
At a yacht party, Margaret befriended Moses and soon became good friends.
The two travel together and take the children to the flower and bird market, but because Moses is busy returning messages on his phone, Gus is lost.
Later, neighbor Hillary Clinton joined the search for the child, but nothing was found.
This incident has become a lingering shadow for the trio, and it also leads to the question asked the audience at the beginning of the episode:
What happens when the line between victim and offender becomes blurred?
I believe that in the follow-up stories, the breaking points in the story of "Foreigners" will be revealed one by one.
In addition to Hong Kong, where the plot and story take place, the biggest attraction of "Expatriates" is the joining of actress Nicole Kidman.
At the age of 57 this year, she is still radiant and beautiful in the play.
Whether Nicole Kidman can achieve a new breakthrough in her career as an actor with this literary and niche drama will not be known until all the episodes are released.
However, from her film debut "Jungle Christmas" in 1983 to today's "Foreigner", the discussion about Nicole Kidman's beauty and acting skills has never stopped.
For most viewers, Nicole Kidman's most out-of-the-circle photo has to be the intimate scene between her and Tom on the red carpet 25 years ago.
That year, the two starred together in director Kubrick's work "Eyes Wide Open", even if it is a "heartthrob" Tom, in front of Nicole Kidman's beauty, he looks so "mediocre".
It's a pity that the relationship between this fairy couple didn't last long.
In 2001, the two officially announced their divorce, ending their 11-year marriage.
At that time, Nicole Kidman could only get her hands on a few works such as "Thunder Ambition" and "Whatever it Takes", so she was often regarded as a "top vase" by the media.
But since the divorce, she has taken the initiative to adjust her mentality, determined to tear off the public's established label of her "vase".
Soon, Nicole Kidman took over the filming of the most important masterpiece of her film and television career, "Moulin Rouge".
In the film, Nicole Kidman plays the Red Dancer Satine, known as the "Shining Diamond".
With this role, she not only won the first Oscar nomination, but also proved her acting skills, instantly gaining global popularity.
Satin, who has red lips and white skin, can be called the most beautiful scenery in "Moulin Rouge".
Only a year later, Nicole Kidman achieved a qualitative leap in her career as an actor with the movie "All the Time".
In order to play the British novelist Virginia Woolf, Nicole Kidman read a lot of her diary, and even did not hesitate to "self-destruct" during the performance, wearing a fake nose throughout the whole process, just to present the most real Woolf.
And her efforts were finally recognized by the academic school.
At the 75th Academy Awards that year, Nicole Kidman beat Renee Zellweger ("Cold Mountain"), Julianne Moore ("Still Alice") and other powerful actresses to win the Oscar.
And Nicole Kidman's moment of honor is far from over.
In 2017, she swept the awards season with another "Big Little Lies" and won many awards including the 69th Emmy for Best Actress and the 75th American Film and Television Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
At this time, Nicole can finally proudly prove to the global audience that in addition to her amazing appearance, her acting skills are also superb.
What's more, off the screen, Nicole Kidman also met her beloved.
In 2006, Nicole Kidman remarried Australian country singer Keith Urban, who has two lovely daughters and often shows affection on social media.
Today's Nicole Kidman seems to have long since stopped caring about fame and fortune, and has begun to appear in niche and unpopular works like "Foreigners" and "Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer".
As "Vanity Fair" commented on her: "Nicole Kidman is the kind of superstar who can only appear in an era, and her existence itself will overshadow the entire Hollywood system." ”
I look forward to this "goddess of immortality" to bring us more surprises in the future.
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