Superstar classical pianist Lang Lang has earned just about every accolade there is in his profession. This year, the Chinese virtuoso joined the ranks of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin in receiving the biopic treatment — and even they didn’t get it in their lifetime.
But it nearly didn’t happen. In fall 2020, fresh off his documentary on Luciano Pavarotti, classical music aficionado Ron Howard announced that he would direct a film based on Lang’s 2008 memoir Journey of a Thousand Miles, in which the Shenyang-born maestro details his struggles on the way to the top. In a joint statement to THR at the time, Howard and producer Brian Grazer said, “Lang Lang’s story is one of determination, passion, sacrifice and finding the inner strength to beat the odds.”
Well, the same couldn’t be said of their biopic project, which fell through during the pandemic. But Lang soon found another taker in Chinese director-actor Jiang Wen, who in June released his own adaptation of the memoir in China. Titled You Are the Best, the movie stars Jiang as the young pianist’s domineering father and features music recorded by Lang himself.
“The pieces in the film” — including Beethoven’s “Pathétique” sonata — “were all repertoire I was actually practicing and performing at that time,” Lang tells THR.
Based on the trailer, it appears to be a manic, absurdist romp, including what look like wire-fu sequences — a far cry from what would likely have been Howard’s approach. Lang says the film earned $14 million at the Chinese box office, “and we are now working hard to get it out in the West, hopefully soon.”
Lang is an avowed cinephile, having recorded tracks from films including Amélie and Cinema Paradiso on his new album, Piano Book 2, alongside classical pieces and compositions for video games like Final Fantasy. No word on when a Lang Lang video game might come out. Wolfgang, eat your heart out.
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Also in Rambling Reporter: Why Hollywood is Flocking to “The Hamptons of Europe.” Nicole Kidman, Scarlett Johansson, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender — they’ve all scooped up property in Portugal, land of cinematic sunsets, low property taxes, and no Trump.
Plus: Does Your Script Suck? Let Shane Black Decide. The veteran scribe is launching a new competition — Gauntlet — designed to help promising spec scripts find their way to the screen.
This story appeared in the Oct. 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
