Only In Eden Would You Know Spring [A sentence extracted from the aria of Peking opera “Peony Pavilion遊園驚夢”]

Author: Ashley Yao (author of “Leslie Cheung’s Movie Life” published in March 2006)

Date of submission: February 6, 2006, 14:11 hours

Translated into English from Chinese by Daydreamer on July 28, 2006

“Only in Eden Would You Know Spring”
--- A collection of thoughts after attending the "Farewell to My Concubine" Art Exhibition – Shanghai Stop

It turned out that for the costume of Yu Ji (虞姬) (the concubine in the opera), there was embroidery even along the inner part of the gown ……

It turned out that the scabbard of the treasured sword was covered with python skin and was set with gems ……

It turned out that the box of head ornaments that Yuan Siye (袁四爺) gave to Deiyi (蝶衣) as present was so exquisite and brilliant ……

It turned out that the two desk lamps we saw in the powder room were standard antique lamps and could hardly be found anywhere else nowadays. When the movie was made, the stage prop experts used old candlestick holders to transform into two lamps ……

It turned out that Thomson and Oriental Entertainment had well in advance made preparation to shoot the special edition of the making of the film; thus several boxes of news brief films were made ……

It turned out that Leslie Cheung not merely could enter into the role he played swiftly; he could also pull himself out of it as quickly ……

It turned out that the sad and pitiful scene of Chen Dieyi greeting Duan Xiaolou at the city tower after Xiaolou was released from prison was actually shot in a very merry mood. After Dieyi was spat on by Xiaolou, he was at a loss and puzzled, then the director who was satisfied with this scene shouted, “Cut!” Cheung Gorgor however continued to hold on to that despaired facial expression for another two seconds, then suddenly burst into a naughty laugh and called out to the direction where Xialou had departed, with an urgent and tight glottis: “Don’t go away as yet!” ……

It turned out that it was a very complicated shot for the scene in which he was wearing the ceremonial hat smoking, then heard the hawker shouting “candied gourd”. Director Chen spoke endlessly beside him: “…… you first hear it, then realize it, then think of it, then you suddenly cough……” Cheung Gorgor kept nodding, took a look at the front of his costume, continued to maintain the smoking posture, then said to someone, “Come and help me fix my costume here a little bit.” Then they began to shoot. He did exactly as was told by the director, “first hear it, then realize it, then think of it, then suddenly cough”, then the director shouted “cut”. Cheung Gorgor was pleased with himself and smiled, he jumped forward using the step of Cha-Cha and stretched out his hand making a “OK” sign, then probably realizing that the scene was not finished, he then jumped back on to the staircase right away ……

It turned out that before shooting the scene of his singing the opera arias “Peony Pavillon (牡丹亭)” for the Japanese soldiers, he was sitting on the movie set happily and relaxingly using a folding fan to cover up half of his face, looking at the camera playing “hide and seek” ……

It turned out that at the scene of Juxian going to the jail to visit Dieyi, he and Gong Li (鞏俐) had taken a nondescript working photo together: Gong Li maintained the look as in the movie, sitting on the chair with a very calm face, but he stood there beside her, with a face full of dirt and the whole body full of dust, leaned against Gong Li and smiled brightly ……

It turned out that at the scene where he was having a drink with Yuan Siye, he laughed so vigorously that he was in a complete mess, thus he had to put his hand on his mouth trying to stay calm, and then turned towards the director and asked in a drawn-out voice, “May I laugh, Kaige, may I laugh?” ……

It turned out that it took a long time to shoot the scene of his playing Peking opera with Yuan Siye. At the rehearsal, he and Ge You (葛優) [the actor playing the role of Yuan Siye] rushed out of the door hand in hand, stood at the foot of the stairs rocking back and forth, embracing together, then he flung off Ge You’s hand, grinningly using his fingers to poke at Ge You……

It turned out that when Ge You disguised as the overlord, Cheung Gorgor was by his side, with a quick and powerful movement, he had performed a complete version of the suicidal scene of Yu Ji: he whirled around twice on the same spot, both hands, with the fingers like orchid, pressed down firmly, turned around, drew out the sword from the waist of the overlord, ran a half circle, looked at the sword once, then with a sigh said, “It’s done with!” With an effort he cut his neck horizontally, then freeze-framed. Then what followed? Then he finished his part by moving the sword in an attractive way like dancing and then putting the sword at the back, walked away valiantly ……

It turned out that he learned his suicidal movement from Mei Lanfang (梅蘭芳) [the most famous opera actor who played female roles in Peking Opera]. If you have seen the original version, then you would know that Mr. Mei also looked at the sword the same way, then sighed softly and said, “It’s done with!”, then turned around and lift up the sword … He impersonated that so well that it was completely smooth. Imagine how much hard work he had put in to achieve this ……

It turned out that when Deiyi came out to answer the curtain call and accepted the banner of “Graceful talent throughout the generations”, that scene was longer than we saw. He did not merely come out from the side of the stage, lowering his body with a smile, he even walked to the other side of the stage, used both of his hands to draw an arc in a very graceful posture in front of his body, then raised his orchid fingers and waved to the audience gently ……

It turned out that the original version of “The Drunken Beauty (貴妃醉酒)” was much longer than the one we saw on the big screen. After he threw away the wine glass, he not merely slowly lowered his body to an almost lying position, he even managed to maintain the upper part of his body erect; and while the audience was applauding, he slowly raised himself up from the extremely difficult posture whereby both of his legs were folded ……

It turned out that he had performed many other segments of “The Drunken Beauty” that had not been shown on the big screen, for instance, flinging the long flowing silk sleeves ……

It turned out that in the Peking opera “The Drunken Beauty” scene where we saw him continuously spinning three times on the stage was cut from the same scene that we saw in the news brief. Even in the news brief, the scene of his movement was not complete either. At the beginning of the news brief, we already saw him spinning rapidly. He continued on and spun rapidly on the same spot twelve times, it was twelve times! His both feet remained at the same spot on the stage throughout the revolving movement, and then swiftly laid down like a fish resting, with his face accurately facing the audience! ……

It turned out that the concubine's head crown was much heavier than we thought. After he laid down on the stage and was required to change his position in order to make some special shots, he tried very hard to lift his head but failed, he therefore asked the staff: “Please give me a push ……”

It turned out that the saying of “Experts look at the details, while laymen only see the fun” is correct. Guo Rui (郭睿) of the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre, who was originally from the Mei Lanfang School, pointed at the screen and told us about Cheung Gorgor’s hand movements. He said he not merely had his hands shaped accurately, moreover, each movement he made was specially “round”. His ability to pay attention to all these tiny details showed that he was really very professional ……

It turned out that merely looking at the last stage pose of the Peking opera “Peony Pavilion”, one could tell that that pose required a lot of technique and skill: what Cheung Gorgor had achieved was the standard posture of “four credits and five laws” [Notes from translator: “four credits” refers to various dances, such as sword dance, knife dance and other forms of dances; “five laws refers to hands, eyes, body, footwork etc.”], i.e. the right foot had to lift up feebly, putting all the strength on the left foot, the lower part of the body had to stand sideway, the upper body had to turn 90 degrees, in order to show the gently beauty of the curve of a feminine body … his left hand was the posture of a orchid palm, and the right hand was holding the fan; his eyes has expressed the most essential element of a “dan’s [female role’s]” performance, that is “charming” ……

It turned out that Cheung Gorgor has been extremely modest from the beginning to the end: “Regarding Peking opera, I only have superficial knowledge about it. I have merely studied it for three months, which was an accelerated class. Everyone should not expect too much from me ……”

It turned out that in the shooting of each Peking opera scene, his Peking opera teacher Diao Li (刁麗) was sitting below the stage, and after each performance, he would look at Diao Li. If Diao Li shook her head, that meant he did not pass and the scene had to be re-shot ……

It turned out that his orchid fingers were not so very soft and curly at the beginning; they were the results of being pulled hardly by his Peking opera teacher ……

It turned out that Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi had also paid a visit once while the movie was being shot. Tsui Hark said amazingly that, “Cheung Kwok Wing’s look has changed completely!” ……

It turned out that his demand on himself was harsher than a director’s. We could see that several times when he was half way through the Peking opera, he would make a stop sign to the musicians beside him, and then shouted out loud saying: “Sorry, sorry!”

It turned out many versions have been shot on the scene of burning the costumes; this time we could eventually see him sitting on the stair of the entrance hugging a white cat, slightly turned his head towards the sky and murmured softly ……

It turned out that originally there was a version in which the fire was set from the back roll of the costumes, then he stared at the fire, and silently made a sigh ……

It turned out that in the movie, when they first met, Gong Li originally intended to cast a scornful look at him ……

It turned out that Zhang Feng (張豐毅) would make faces ……

It turned out that when they were having lunch boxes on the movie set, someone found a fully cooked centipede in his food ……

It turned out that when Cheung Gorgor watched “The Farewell To My Concubine” in Hong Kong for the first time at the premiere show, his tears started to pour down like rain after the movie was played for 15 minutes: “It was because I know how did Chen Kaige film my youth part in the movie, those little young actors were really being beaten up. Seeing that part of the movie reminded me of their miserable experience, that’s why I cried ……

It turned out that Li Chun (李春) who played the role of young Xiao Si (小四) [the role of the godson of Leslie in the movie] is now a lead opera actor, not a “dan (旦) [female role]”, but a “xiaosheng (小生) [male role]” …….

It turned out that Li Chun has not changed much over these ten plus years. It seems that everyone who has contact with Cheung Gorgor manages to stay young forever … …

It turned out that at that time, Li Chun was extremely nervous before he met with Cheung Gorgor knowing well that he was a superstar. He even took the trouble of figuring out how to address him. But after they met, Cheung Gorgor asked him friendly of his age and where he went for his school, and even touched Li Chun’s head and said “Good boy…” From then on Li Chun called him “Brother Kwok Wing” ……

It turned out that the copper water basin that was being put on top of Xiao Si’s head did contain real water and a heavy plank. It therefore was very tough to lift it up. Every time when the director shouted “Cut”, Cheung Gorgor would personally help him to take the basin down immediately ……

It turned out that after three years, Li Chun participated in the filming of Cheung Gorgor’s other movie “The Phantom Lover” playing the role of an audience in the theatre …… After the movie was made, six female schoolmates of his made him to go to Cheung Gorgor for autographs, but he was so worried that Cheung Gorgor did not recognize him any more that he merely asked the staff for help. As a result, Cheung Gorgor came out and received him personally and said: “Xiaochun! When did you arrive? Why didn’t you ask for me in the first place … …”

It turned out that before the concerts in 1997, Cheung Gorgor came to Beijing to choose the young Peking opera actors to be his dancers. He also especially invited Li Chun and a group of old friends to dinner ……

It turned out that after the concerts in 1997, Cheung Gorgor made a special trip to Beijing to express his thanks to the principal of the Peking opera school. Knowing that the principal did not know Li Chun, he enthusiastically introduced him to the principal right away ……

It turned out that there were two versions for the ending of the movie “Farewell To My Concubine”, because when the movie was screened in Mainland China, the higher authority felt that since Dieyi managed to endure the hardship laid on him by the Kuomintang and later by the Japanese, she therefore should not have committed suicide when China was in a time of peace and prosperity. It therefore requested the Overlord shout out “the imperial concubine” rather than “Dieyi” in order to enhance the theatrical effect ……

It turned out that the movie “Farewell To My Concubine” that we saw in this art exhibition was a “combination of the two versions” copy: The overlord shouted “Dieyi”, that was the old version; then the song of Sandy Lam’s "Bygone Love" started to play, that was the new edition; but Sandy Lam only had time to finish off the first sentence of the song, then it changed back to the old version with gongs and drums ...... for me, I really could not tell the difference at all ……

It turned out that Cheung Gorgor has once said explicitly that, “I am not Cheng Dieyi. I also do not want to be Cheng Dieyi. To be honest, I am far more fortunate than him.” The smiling face of him on the screen could not be concealed ……

It turned out that he was very happy in making movies: “Many people treat making movies as a job, but for me, making movies is an entertainment. Of course, it was very painful to entertain other people, but I am entertaining myself ……”

It turned out that the Peking master Zhang Man Ling (張曼玲) [the teacher of Leslie in Peking Opera] was full of reservation before she first met Leslie: “Although he is a super star in Hong Kong, I am also a senior artist in Mainland China, I cannot lose my dignity.” Eventually, when her car almost approached the hotel, she could see from afar that this super star was already there waiting for her at the entrance of the hotel. On seeing the approach of the car, Leslie hurriedly climbed down the stairs, helping and supporting the senior artist to alight the car, and said, “Master Zhang, how are you? My name is Cheung Kwok Wing.” – he said “My name is Cheung Kwok Wing” and not “I am Cheung Kwok Wing”, the difference between these two is by far a big one ……

It turned out that during the shooting of the movie, he and Diao Li [one of his opera teachers] became close friends. He even praised her, as well as praised himself, by saying: “Teacher Diao, you are an artist, so am I!” ……

It turned out that he felt lost and disorientated after the movie was filmed, but still said to the reporters in a poetic way that: “I have carried with me the sorrow of parting, as well as the silk underwear given to me by the crew members and the antique knickknacks, in addition, I am going to bring to Canada the flu bacterium germinated in Beijing!” ……

It turned out that his sentiment towards the drama team of the “Farewell to My Concubine” was far deeper than we could imagine, thus causing him to get drunk and cry at the wrap-up dinner and later to go to Europe to relieve his weariness after the whole crew was disbanded. Without knowing the reasons behind the whole cause, I even quoted what was written by the media in my articles that he was unable to pull himself out of the role of Deiyi, therefore he had to go away for a vacation. I was really talking nonsense, and should be chopped into pieces ……