The Second Time Around

Finally things came to a head. Chinese movie star 范冰冰 (Fàn Bīngbīng) gave an exclusive interview to Steven Lee Myers, 北京 (Běijīng) correspondent of The New York Times, in which, for the first time, she humbly talked of the possibility of a comeback, provided the Chinese audience and society forgive her for her tax scandal — which is not granted at all. As often happens with Chinese fiction, the invisible and the untold may be even more significant than any spoken words, so many questions remained unasked (and unanswered). No one will ever know, for instance, whether “牟某 (Móu Mǒu)” is still her agent or not. “There are regrets, pain and fragility”, she told the interviewer. “But I still feel that I need to keep on living”. Photo: 丛妍 (Cóng Yán) for The New York Times.