Related readings:  Kitty Zhang Yuqi covers magazine OK Jingcai  Zhang Xinyi covers Modern Bride magazine

Writer Chen Zhongshi says the film adaptation of his epic novel White Deer Plain was "moving and remarkable".

In a documentary on how the film was shot, Chen sings praises of leading actors such as Zhang Fengyi, Duan Yihong and Zhang Yuqi, whom he thinks are "faithful to the book, yet projected personal appeals".

The 1993 novel depicts three generations of two clans in Hanzhong Plain and is considered one of the greatest contemporary Chinese novels. Director Wang Quan'an remakes it into a three-hour film, to be released on Sept 13.