On October 15, Mainland Chinese actress Zhou Xun won the “Best Actress Award” at the 31st Busan International Film Festival for her role as “Jiang Yue” in the film “Tasting Loneliness for the First Time.” She shared the honor with 16-year-old Japanese newcomer Himeko Hanaharu.
The movie “Tasting Loneliness for the First Time” is the final installment of director Gu You’s (Gu Xiaogang) “Mountains and Waters Trilogy” and the only Chinese-language feature film nominated in the main competition section of this year’s Busan International Film Festival. The film tells the story of three generations of women facing life and death, misunderstandings, regrets, and reconciliation from the perspective of intimate farewells.
Zhou Xun portrayed the middle-aged woman “Jiang Yue” who has experienced the ups and downs of life in the film. Her “restrained and introverted” performance skillfully layered the character’s profound emotions during separation, earning high recognition from the jury. On the day of the film’s premiere, Zhou Xun tearfully mentioned her portrayal of the character, noting that “everyone will experience the departure of loved ones” which moved her to tears on the spot.
At the award ceremony, Zhou Xun received the trophy from Cannes Best Actress Samal Yeslyamova and South Korean actor Jang Dong-gun. She thanked her parents, saying, “Thank you for giving me life and then giving me full freedom to become myself.” When she emotionally expressed, “Mom, Dad, I love you,” her voice choked up momentarily, and the audience encouraged her with warm applause.
Information shows that when Zhou Xun graduated from junior high school, her excellent academic performance led her to be accepted into a prestigious high school in the city, which was seen as the safest and most prestigious path by the elders at that time. Concurrently, she also passed the entrance exam for Zhejiang Art School. Although her parents initially hoped she would follow the conventional path and attend high school to become a writer, which caused some “family wars”, they eventually chose to respect her insistence on pursuing art and allowed her to attend Zhejiang Art School, marking the beginning of her acting career.
After graduating from art school, Zhou Xun was originally assigned to work in a local stable dance troupe. However, after director Xie Tielin invited her to act in the film “The Forsaken Graveyard,” her dormant dream of movies was awakened, and she decisively chose to give up her stable job and head to Beijing to pursue acting.
Despite being the only child in her family, Zhou Xun’s parents did not use the notions of “stability”, “security”, or “filial piety” to keep her in her hometown but instead granted her the freedom to pursue her dreams. While her peers were still in their parents’ care, Zhou Xun was already standing on her own and supporting herself.
In interviews after gaining fame, Zhou Xun revealed that when she was exploring the world alone, her parents, both worried and unwilling to restrict her freedom, secretly wrote letters to her relatives and colleagues, earnestly asking them to take care of and cherish their daughter. This kind of love, providing enough space while silently building a safety net in the background, gave Zhou Xun the strongest support to be herself.
During the award ceremony, Zhou Xun reflected on her over 30 years as an actress, acknowledging the significant changes in her life at this stage. She emphasized the importance of embracing courage when facing heavy changes, expressing that while some changes are acceptable and anticipated, some can be overwhelmingly sad, urging everyone to have faith that things will turn towards the positive.
The Busan International Film Festival has officially upgraded to an International A-class film festival starting this year. Zhou Xun not only became the first Best Actress after the upgrade but also clinched her first Best Actress award at an International A-class film festival in her career, completing the “Triple Crown” of Golden Horse Awards, Golden Statue Awards, and Golden Rooster Awards. Within the industry, her friends Chen Kun and Xin Zhilei were quick to congratulate Zhou Xun on her achievement.
As the award is gender-neutral and features a tie, Zhou Xun shared the “Best Actress Award” with Japanese actress Himeko Hanaharu from the film “Satoko Always”.