And it worked as promotion, she says, generating a lot of Internet buzz before the film's release.

"Of course, I still want audiences to take a glimpse of the film's dazzling pictures and vibrant colors, so a colored version of the trailer was made later," Xu says.

Xu says she will no longer both direct and perform as the lead actress, as she has in her five films.

"As a director, I was satisfied by the fact that I could handle different genres - not by the critical and commercial acclaim my works earned," Xu says.

Xu says that although her three previous films could be regarded as art films, they differed from one another.

A poster for Dear Enemy features Xu Jinglei (center).

Her directorial debut, My Father and I (2003), is a family melodrama. A Letter from an Unknown Woman (2004) adapts Stefan Zweig's eponymous novella. And Dreams May Come (2006) is an experimental film shot entirely in one setting.

"But every time I want to make a breakthrough and try something new, it requires more energy and time," Xu says.

"Under those circumstances, it was so difficult and exhausting to serve as the director and the female lead. In the future, I may play a minor role or make a cameo appearance in films I helm. It's impossible to see my (future) films featuring myself."

Xu prefers directing to acting. She explains she has been a thespian for more than a decade and is tired of following others' orders. "But as a director, I can make decisions and be creative," she says.

She says she doesn't worry about Dear Enemy hitting the silver screen at the same time as Zhang Yimou's epic The Flowers of War and Tsui Hark's kungfu fantasy Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.

"The three movies are of different categories," she says. "I think mine combines thrills, romance and amusement. It offers a different taste in the New Year season and has its own allure."

The film, starring Xu, Taiwan idol Stanley Huang and Hong Kong singer Gigi Leung, will premiere on Dec 23.