Zhang Ziyi visibly uncomfortable after being touched at Venice Film Festival

Zhang Ziyi stunned many with her red carpet look from Gucci at the 81st Venice Film Festival closing ceremony on Saturday (Sept 7), but was also stunned onstage herself, and not in a good way.

The 45-year-old Chinese actress, who served as one of the jury members at the event, presented the Volpi Cup for Best Actor to French actor-filmmaker Vincent Lindon for his performance in the French film Jouer avec le feu (The Quiet Son).

After the 65-year-old received his award from Ziyi, shaking her hands at first, he also did a la bise (kisses on the cheek) with her and planted a deep kiss on her right cheek, which left Ziyi a little surprised and sticking her tongue out shyly.

After that, as the two of them posed for the camera, Vincent, who was holding his trophy on his right hand initially, transferred it to his left. Moving to stand closer to Ziyi, he placed his right arm around her waist.

The sudden intimacy left Ziyi shocked again as she took two small steps to the side with a wide-eyed expression. Despite that, she remained smiling all the way.

Netizens shared videos of the incident and noted that Ziyi looked visibly uncomfortable with Vincent’s gestures.

One wrote on Douyin: “When this man kissed Ziyi’s cheek, she visibly avoided it a little.”

“Ziyi’s expression doesn’t look good,” another wrote.

However, some netizens on TikTok commented that Vincent’s gesture is a “normal European greeting” and it’s a “custom”.

Ziyi made a Weibo post today, reflecting positively on her experience at the Venice Film Festival and thanking everyone for the “beautiful memories” she had of the city.