april-2012

DURING THE 1930S, which was widely
regarded as Shanghai’s golden age,
the Chinese city was dubbed the “The
Hollywood of the East.” Much of it had
to do with its robust homegrown fi lm
industry; the fact that one could see
premier Hollywood fi lms in opulent
movie houses shortly after their release
in America; and the city’s reputation as
exotic, glamorous and edgy — a world
inhabited by diplomats, mobsters and
dangerously beautiful women, like
Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong
MOVIE MAGIC IN CHINA
in the 1932 hit Shanghai Express.
The crowded streets of Shanghai,
packed with rickshaws, cars and neon
signs, juxtaposed with European-style
mansions and colonial buildings, made
it an arrestingly visual place on fi lm.
And yet it still remains one of the most
cinematically fascinating cities in the
world today — whether it’s become the
modern setting for the Transformers
to stomp through, or the sensuously
beautiful Old Shanghai in Ang Lee’s
Lust, Caution in 2007.
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On location at
Lujiazui, Pudong
The image of Tom Cruise coolly
standing on the ledge of the 53-storey
Bank of China Tower in Mission:
Impossible III may bring chills to those
afraid of heights — and those who
have a thing for stunning modern
skylines. Cruise makes the jump some
200 meters across to the adjacent
CPIC building (he actually did the stunt
himself on a bungee chord); then,
after grabbing the goods, descends
by parachute into the heart of Lujiazui
Ring Road, at the base of the famous
Oriental Pearl TV Tower. This is the
same spot that was trampled over
by alien robots in The Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen. Best viewing
spot: the pedestrian bridge that
connects The Oriental Pearl TV Tower
to Superbrand Mall. Also best viewed at
night, when the tower lights are on.