The Asian stars were not out in force at this year’s 2017 Cannes Film Festival, though Bong Joon Ho‘s new Netflix movie Okja got plenty of press in the current debate over what films are eligible based on being released in theaters versus streaming. Two of China’s top actresses picked very similar soft blue color dresses, with Fan Bing Bing in old school glamour with a chiffon and cape drafted confection and Michelle Yeoh going for a lace patterned strapless A-line dress. J-actor Kimura Takuya looked handsome as ever with a well fitted suit and a fun modern pompadour. A D-list internet star from China stole thunder with a dress made from the PRC flag that hopefully doesn’t land her in hot water back home but was a fashion miss other than being a talk piece. I liked Fan Bing Bing dress, color and how high couture it was, but wished it showed off more skin and looked less heavy.
What the heck was the lady in the red dress and gold stars thinking!? Over representation of the Chinese flag or….not really…sure….??
Kimura Takuya looking good!!! :3
My god. Fan Bing Bing looks regal. And I like the Doraemon dress. So whimsical and young, hurr hurr.
I thought that doraemon dress was bed linen.
Michelle Yeoh ????
Michelle Yeoh!!!
I saw a new preview yesterday of a upcoming Star Trek Series on CBS in the USA with Michelle as the captain of the ship!!!!!!!! So cool!!!
TBH I was kind of disappointed in FBB outfit. Not because it looked bad but because liu shi shi wore sometime reallllly similar to it and FBB is known to be the queen of red carpet. I would have never expected FBB to wear sometime other people have worn before especially to such an important event
FBB dress is meh but what is the Western obsession with showing skin. Imagine if a man turned up in a shoulderless tux to “show skin”. SJElf it was disappointing but I am wondering if jury members tend not to wear the showy numbers.
Waiting for Kim Min-hee, her movie also has Isabelle Huppert who is pretty much one of the best actresses in the world.
????
SJElf, I meant FBB usually wears something dramatic but given she is on the jury this time she might not have. The jury usually tends to be a bit toned down.
Agree teacakes re KMH!
I loved Kim Min Hee’s dress at the Cannes premiere of The Handmaiden last year, she has unique taste and good red carpet instincts.
Yup I was a bit disappointed. But i think this time she’s not as dramatic as usual because she’s a jury this year. ): If she wore something dramatic, they would complain about her trying to steal the spotlight so what she’s wearing is definitely more suitable for her role this year.
Sorry I got it now
I’m more curious about what chompoo wore this year
That is hardly “Asian”. It’s just SEA. I guess, everyone in “hallyu would” just likes to give regal status to their starts by saying “Asian” pfft.
*stars
I don’t believe China is considered part of Southeast Asia. So Chinese or Japanese stars are Asians, from the continent Asia. Wasn’t aware the term Asian does not include people from Southeast Asia or China, or was considered a “higher” status. I guess education is different depending on where you come from.
No, China is not part of Southeast Asia (SEA), instead they were East Asia.
Still, China is part of Asia.
Aishwarya Rai slayed them all.
Ha ha ha
This blog has distorted meaning of Asian. Asia also comprises of Indian sub-continent and middle East.
In old historic accounts India was considered last edge of Asia and later it expanded to SEA, EA and Ocenia.
Oh your comment made me search for Aish. She wore really gorgeous clothes this year. Among other Indian actresses I wonder why Deepika Padukone wear such fugly clothes. She used to be well dressed lady few years back but since when she went international her fashion sense is stooping to low levels l. Shame for such pretty lady.
Ikr! Deepika should change stylists because her fashion is getting fuglier, no personality at all tbh, and she is such a beautiful actress…
Wow Aish wore really gorgeous clothes this year. But I don’t know what is happening to Deepika Padukone lately. She used to be well dressed woman but since when she became international her fashion choices are haunting me though she is still pretty.
Deepika is really pretty, but her fashion sense has always been pretty terrible. Only her Sabyasachi dresses have suited her and everything else seems to lack personality… as if her coordi is the one dictating her fashion and she kindly (and blindly) just accept their choice. Good thing is that she is beautiful, tall and proportionate that she still carries clothes well. But yeah, Aishwarya slayed everyone this year, not just the ’’Asian stars’’, especially that blue dress, matched perfectly with her eyes (Aish and Deepika are asian too btw, South-Asian).
Also I didn’t include Mallika Sherawat, because she did nothing meaningful in film except that one hit song ’’Jalebi bai’’ years ago, and the only reason she’s there is because her rich French businessman boyfriend owns hotels in Côte d’Azure…
I also loved Aish’s blue dress and my second favourite is green one. Deepika looks much much better in her regular clothes. I also hated her hair and make-up. She was styled by Elizabeth Saltzman and I was screaming Oh God! What did they do to those lovely eyes. She has gorgeous hair and typical Indian full features but she ended up looking gimmicky.
I consider Mallika Shehrawat a national disgrace. She is not a celebrity back home. Don’t know what’s she doing there. By the way her best song was ‘ Mayya’.
Oh my, the way Sonam Kapoor draped that sari must be ugliest one known to the human-being and I think sari is the sexiest outfit known to human-being.
Yess ’’Mayya” is the best song she’s danced to tbh (well, A.R Rahman is the nation’s oscar winning composer so it’s expected), but that ’’Jalebi Bai’’ is her most played item song. Sonam is there because she’s L’Oreal’s face, just like Deepika Padukone, as she replaced Katrina Kaif (oh the irony… but Katrina seemed to hate being in Cannes anyway..). Sonam Kapoor’s fashion is almost always on point, but whenever she goes to Cannes, she puts on the most hideous sari available. Unbelievable!
Yes Sonam is all about her fashion sense(and her daddy and his connections) because I think she is neither ‘beauty’ nor ‘talent’. Sari itself is quiet intresting but the way she chose to wear it is pathetic.
I really never understand high-end fashion and probably I never will. Let me keep lementing over undoing of Deepika and keep wondering how gorgeous she could look even in a plain Kasavu sari.
Do you remember the recent disaster called met gala? There everybody was competing for the title of most repulsive look ever. But I enjoyed Indian netizen’s comments over Priyanka Chopra’s dress.
Sonam got really far with her actually talented dad’s connections and her saving grace was those proportions and impeccable fashion sense, but why is it alway in Cannes when she is basically representing India that she chooses to wear UGLY saris… why can’t she wear just a plain sari or Anarkali..? It’s quite funny that in filmfare awards and whatnot Indian awards showa, she seems to wear high-end western luxury brands and actually nice Sabyasachis/ManishMalhotras but in Cannes she flops… Met gala is on a whole different level and neither Priyanka nor Deepika caught major attention. Fan Bing Bing, Rihanna and Beyoncé usually slay the Met galas so I didn’t expect them to shine.. besides Deepika was representing Tommy Hilfiger (like Gigi Hadid did too), so she was wearing TH clothes anyway
I too think Sonam’s sari at international events is worse than the saris worn by Hollywood celebrities in Indian events.I think it’s partly due to the fact that Indian people still love their ethnic wear and their idea of fashion is quiet different from western one. So when they are in India they are at ease but when going international they try to do a lot of things at the same time and it generally misfires.
I too didn’t expect them to shine at met gala but I loved the funny memes created by netizens on Priyanka’s dress.
LMAO to the actress who look like she has a dead crow on her head.
This is not Asia, koala. It’s absolutely wrong to focus on East Asia while proclamating this is Asian representation. Get your facts right first.
Your blog focuses on East Asia – China , Taiwan, Japan, S Korea- so better be specific. Its gross when you just broadly categorise this as Asia.
Proclaiming. Typo
Wow! I am from Southeast Asia but I am also Asian. Asia is a continent, so people from the Asian continent are called Asians! Doesn’t matter if it’s east, north, south, west. So Koala using Asian stars in the title is not wrong, not sure why people are upset over this. When stars from Europe are mentioned, they are called European, not Eastern European. So not sure why you would want to make a distinction between Asians and East Asian or Southeast Asian. If you are from Asia, you are Asian. Last time I checked East Asia or Southeast Asia are not a separate continent. Like North America and South America.
So true. All this SEA, EA terms is just geographical setting for countries in Asia. When it comes to terms of people, everyone from this continent is ASIAN.
Nopes. In this respect here in this article, it says that this was the Asian representation at Cannes. Which is incorrect. Other Asian countries also participated, I think India and there is an indonesian film well. The write here focuses on only one part n calls it the whole which is wrong.
But… Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian! How is she one of China’s top actresses lol.
Malaysian erasure basically..
Michelle Yeoh has appeared in Chinese movies and she is Chinese born in Malaysia. If your question is why she is considered “one of China’s TOP actress” that maybe a more reasonable question… She is certainly not “one of TOP China’s actresses” imho… Don’t get me wrong, I like Michelle Yeoh. I just don’t like you picking on Mz Koala’s blog the way it is written. Everyone who likes Michelle Yeoh knows she is Chinese-Malaysian, you don’t need to clarify
Wth? That was my exact question. LOOK, I wrote “How is she one of China’s top actresses”. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. How am I picking on how it was written? It’s not as if I’m one of those making a big deal about Koala categorising the stars under the broad category of Asians when that’s obviously valid. That’s nitpicking. I’m just highlighting a mistake.
Okay, I get what you mean but your argument is clearly invalid. She’s ethnic Chinese, but she’s not of Chinese nationality so she’s NOT an actress from China. As I mentioned, if it’s wrong it’s wrong. Also, disregarding whether she qualifies as an actress from “China”, she’s an international star and so she’s clearly a TOP Asian actress (which would encompass China). For the record, I’m not a fan of Michelle Yeoh. I doubt anyone from my generation is actually.
@kitai – you should say MY is a top EAST Asian actress ? what a joke in what we are discussing here ? ?
@kitai
I guess it is where you work and promote and what you identify with. Girls Generation Jessica was born in San Francisco and is American, but she is considered a South Korean star, not an “American” star. Michelle Yeoh was born in Malaysia but is a Chinese actress. Nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of celebrities born elsewhere representing other countries or their ethnic countries.
These were either boring or a swing and a miss. Now you all have me curious about what Indian actresses wore! Off to google…
The projection of BJH’s movie was stopped !!! One of my fav’s on the red capet was Charlotte Gainsbourgh at the opening ceremony . Google it ! And she ‘s 45 years old !
Wow Koala! Looks like you have readers who consider Chinese or Japanese stars not good enough to be called Asians! I’ve been reading this blog for a while and this is definitely a blog that focuses on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese drama and stars, ie. Asian drama and stars. I am not sure why people are coming to this blog expecting to read about Indian stars?! I don’t remember you covering Indian or Malaysian dramas…wonder why they posted here then…maybe this is the only blog that covered Asian stars at the Cannes Festival?!
I’m completely aware that this blog is not the place looking for Indian stars and there are umpteen number of blogs covering them. I was just bugged with use of the term ‘ Asian’ in this blog and then came across a person who mentioned Indian actress and I strike up a conversation with her/him.
@Ti, I don’t think there was anything wrong in discussing Indian stars in this comment section, I was mainly referring to @s and @a’s posts, but now I’m curious, please enlighten me as to why you were “bugged” by the use of “Asian” in this blog which mainly covers Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean (I guess I should say South Korean to be more correct), Japanese dramas and stars. (I guess we should reprimand anyone who says they watch Korean dramas as really they should say South Korean dramas!). I am baffled as to why using “Asian” in this blog seems to be an issue.
@Just passing it should probably be East Asian. Its not about being touchy just that the term Asian like European or American is not restricted to a few countries. Given that other countries are at Cannes you would reasonably expect a Araya Hargate or Aishwarya who are covered by many of the major outlets. No matter if the blog is only about East Asian dramas. It is really more about if the title accurately conveys the content. A small quibble but a valid one.
@Nodame
Yes the term Asian is not restricted to these countries but this site primarily is, as far as I can tell. So it is unreasonable to expect Koala to do an all-Asian inclusive post when it is not what this site is about. But using the term Asian here does apply to the article and is totally correct for THIS blog. There are plenty of other sites that use the word Asia or Asian in their site name but…don’t cover all of Asia! Does that mean they should change their name to South Asian?! East Asia?! No, they have the right to use Asia or Asian, even if it is not an all-Asia inclusive blog. If I want to read about Kdrama stars I don’t know, I go to a Kdrama site whether it’s about the Cannes Festival or other, I guess I don’t go to a Bollywood site even though it may say Asian in it (maybe I should?!) So while valid, it is not appropriate here. And comments like @S’s are offensive to some of us other “Asians”.
Bit of an overreaction there @just passing, nothing in this to warrant it. Not everyone is going to come to this blog for K-dramas. Its the internet type Asian and Cannes and you may end up here. IMO there has to be greater clarity for the term. I am Asian lived in SE Asia for a long time and I know that there is occasional irritation at the Americanism of Asian = C/K/J. PS: Usually blogs do specify South Asia/SE Asia or the country itself. Koala is not obliged to include any other parts but it makes sense to say the blog covers a part of Asia and not all of it.
This. People nowadays love to complain about little things and expect others to cater to their whims. This is Koala’s personal blog, she’s free to post on whatever she likes and as a netizen, you can simply stop coming to her blog if her content isn’t to your liking. Quit whining like a child who didn’t get their favourite ice cream flavour.
PC society. If people are so desperate to find coverage of all the stars at Cannes this year go to RCFA blog.
@nodame Thanks for being reasonable person. You got to the depth of issue. But other people don’t seem to be aware of the reason why some commentators being sensitive to the title of the article. I think I should write a new comment to prove my point.
what’s wrong with the title? Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian are Asians. If you want to nitpick about why there is no Indian coverage, go start your own Blog! I totally enjoy reading Mz Koala’s blog just the way it is.
Yo got it wrong. Nobody told koala to cover stars of another nationality except the usual ones. There are numerous blogs to read about them. I too love koala’s blog.
@Ti – “a” says the title is wrong. I think I read that comment clearly.
So the main problem is that Koala did not mention all the Asian attendance? Well, at least there were more!
She has the right to talk about anything she wants and using ‘Asian Stars’ expression is also correct.
Anyway, It’s so good to see Seo-Hyun Ahn again, she became such a beautiful young lady!
@a, @Nodame, @Ti
I see where the misunderstanding is. Where does it say this article is full Asian representation at Cannes? Maybe what would have been more correct in the title is Some Asian stars, as other Chinese or Japanese actresses/actors were also there but Koala didn’t include them. It’s like saying Korean stars attended whatever event and people get mad because not ALL the Korean stars are included. The term Asian here is used to identify the stars included in this article, yes they are Asian. I don’t believe that here there needs to be a distinction between East, South, Central etc…the stars mentioned are Asian, only SOME of the Asian stars attending Cannes this year. Anyways, to each their own. Unlike @S, to me, the term Asian does not signify “regal status” over SEA or EA stars, hence the need for distinction. SEA or EA or CA are Asians. One term/label does not designate a different “class” although some people believe so. We are all Asians. This is my last post on this issue regarding this article. To each their own.