Back on Track?

Fans of Chinese film rejoice: Gong Li is back. Star of the mainland-Chinese classic Raise the Red Lantern , Gong Li took a break from acting to live as a housewife in Singapore for the past few years. But with the contemporary drama Zhou Yu's Train , she returns to the screen in a familiar role: the dreamy, ethereal beauty drowning in doomed love. Gong Li's sculpted cheekbones and anguished eyes are up to the task, but the self-conscious Zhou Yu's Train never quite manages to pull out of the station.

Gong Li plays Zhou Yu, a young artist. On...