The Perils of Social Media: Interview with Caught in the Web director Chen Kaige

Chen Kaige’s cyber thriller Caught in the Web, starring Gao Yuanyuan, Yao Chen, Wang Xueqi and Mark Chao, opens in Los Angeles on December 6.

by Ada Tseng

Over Thanksgiving weekend, the internet was set ablaze by a passive-aggressive airline feud between Bachelor producer Elane Gale and “Diane” in seat 7A, an “annoying passenger” who seemed to think her own need to make her family’s Thanksgiving dinner was more important than everyone else’s — and was making trouble for the flight attendants. Elane Gale sent her some sarcastic notes, which he tweeted publicly for the entertainment of others. The dispute ended with him getting slapped in the face, and he was heralded as a hero by some and called a bully by others. A few days later, another note spread like wildfire when someone purporting to be Diane’s cousin explained that Diane had just learned she was terminally ill, and her actions were not indicative of her normally kind-hearted personality. On December 3, Elane Gale revealed that it was all a hoax.

During the fiasco, American readers may have been puzzled about what was true and what was not. Chinese film fans may have had a different reaction: namely, this sounds a lot like the premise of the 2012 Chen Kaige film Caught in the Web.

Caught in the Web first opened in China in July 2012, and the film, which was selected as China’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, makes its way to North American theaters this month.

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