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We all called him “Cheng Dieyi” (Zhang Fengi 張豐毅, Chen Kaige 陳凱歌, Gao Jun 高軍)

2008.03.30 The Chongqing Daily

Translated by Daydreamer 20080425

Zhang Fengi: Think of him more each year

After five years, today when I mentioned the name Zhang Guorong to Zhang Fengi, who played the role of unparalleled overlord in “Farewell To My Concubine”, he still could not hold back his tears. On every April 1st, Zhang Fengi will quietly listen to “Bygone Love”, the theme song of “Farewell To My Concubine”. In his mind’s eyes, he could see “Yu Ji” Zhang Guorong’s eye expression which was as tender and soft as water. At that moment, he felt that Zhang Guorong was very close to him. He would fondly and earnestly remember the good old times they had spent together.

I was eleven days older than him

Zhang Fengi and Zhang Guorong were close, not merely because they bore the same surname, but because both of them were born in the same year and same month. Zhang Fengi was eleven days older than Zhang Guorong. Zhang Guorong’s Yu Ji look was dainty, with a charming temperament. Zhang Fengi said that “his eye expression was as tender and soft as water”, most suitable to play that role, while he himself was suitable to play the powerful and mighty “Overlord”. People said that Zhang Fengi and Zhang Guorong were the perfect match. That year, both of them spent the zodiacal year together. Zhang Fengi gave Zhang Guorong a red band to wear around his waist to scare away the evil spirits.

I called him “Cheng Dieyi”

All the recollection that Zhang Fengi had of Zhang Guorong came from the days and nights filming of “Farewell To My Concubine”. When the reporter interviewed him, Zhang Fengi was not used to calling Zhang Guorong “Gorgor”. On many occasions, he would accidentally call him “Dieyi”.

Zhang Fengi told the reporter, “Actually, many audience in Mainland China first learned of Zhang Guorong by his role as Cheng Dieyi. They therefore had the impression that Zhang Guorong was feminine, dainty and charming. In fact, Zhang Guorong from first to last had a heroic and masculine image, far from the image of Chengdieyi seen in the movie.

“In order to transform him into a Dan, the dramatic team and Zhang Guorong himself had put in a lot of efforts. In order to trim his eyebrows into a fine and elegant shape, he had to shave his eyebrows because they were too thick and straight. In order to maintain a slim body, Zhang Guorong who always worked out in a gym became so thin as seen in “Farewell To My Concubine” that he had shrunk down to a smaller size. Also, regarding his beard, Zhang Guorong’s beard was more voluminous than any average people. He had to shave twice a day because his beard grew over half of his face. Tony Leung Chiu Wai once said enviously, ‘Why Zhang Guorong may grow a full beard, while I may only grow a goatee’. In order to match the temperament of Dieyi, the make-up expert had to scrape Zhang Guorong’s face and then apply a thick layer of face powder on it in order to cover up the root of his beard, but from some shots we could still see patches of green (root of beard) on his face.”

“Later, when filming “Farewell To My Concubine”, Zhang Guorong even changed his walking and sitting posture. During that period of time, as you can see from the photos, he even sat with his legs tightly crossed. In fact, he was accustomed to sitting carelessly with his legs widely spread.”

He felt sorry when my buttocks were hit

Until now, Zhang Fengi still remembers well the beating scene of Duan Hsiaolou and Cheng Dieyi by their Master even they had become famous. “Originally, the film director said we could be beaten up with our pants on, but I thought it would be more meaningful if the Master beat us up on our buttocks, the way he did when we were small, so I suggested to have our pants taken off. Zhang Guorong at that time said unwillingly, ‘I don’t want to leave my buttocks uncovered’. I said, ‘I couldn’t care less. Let me do it.’ When it was finally filmed, it hurt so much when the plank hit on me that I became very pale. When it was Zhang Guorong’s turn, he got up right away after the beating scene was shot and people came up to comfort him. He suppressed the pain and said vigorously, “I am fine, I am fine.” Later, I heard someone said, “Why not go to the clinic to take a look and put on some ointment?” Only then that he could not stand the pain and became a bit anxious. He turned and shouted to the old man, “You beat me so hard that I am bleeding now!”

That year, the reporter from “Ming Pao” described the scene as follows: Before this scene was shot, I heard Chen Kaige said, “Now, hit on Zhang Fengi’s buttocks”. I thought it was a job. Zhang Guorong immediately clapped his hands happily in response. The actor who played the role of the old master thus lifted the “torture instrument”, gently hit on Zhang Fengi’s buttocks. The people present all laughed thinking that it did not look like a punishment at all. This was done again and again until Chen Kaige found that the beating was to his satisfaction. At that time, Zhang Guorong quickly pulled down “Brother Hsiaolou’s” long gown, with a face showing a lot of concern he said, “You can’t beat him anymore, it starts to bleed!” From this, we could tell how deep their friendship was and there was a mutual understanding between them.

Chen Kaige: In my dream, he said goodbye to me

Chen Kaige said that Zhang Guorong has given him a reply, death is the final curtain of the legend. With no applause, yet there were flowers that he knocked down accompanying him to fall down, he was all shattered but his face was not touched. Chen Kaige said in the past he had looked at many of Zhang Guorong’s pictures, in one of them, his eyes drooped down, so was his head, with a smile lurking round the corner of his mouth, sarcastically, as if knowing well in advance the denouement.

He put himself into the role too deeply

Chen Kaige recollects, “The first time I met Zhang Guorong was in Hong Kong. We sat opposite each other. Smoking a cigarette, he listened to me explaining the story of “Farewell To My Concubine”. I noticed that his fingers that held the cigarette shivered slightly, he was sitting there gracefully with his legs crossed and his face was very tranquil and calm. I said I was happy to have him play the role of Cheng Dieyi but I was not sure if he could play that role well. He said he could because he was one who could not divide acting from real life, that he possessed both femininity and masculinity, and he was Chengdieyi. At that time, I merely responded with a smile.

“After several months, we finished filming the scene of Duan Hsialou pledging to marry Ju Xian, thus causing Chengdieyi a great deal of woes and sadness. We then shot the next scene at the square outside Wumen at the Forbidden City. It was a night scene. We were to film the scene that after Chengdieyi accidentally found the sword that he promised to give to Duan Hsiaolou as a gift when they were small at Master Yuan’s house, he snatched the sword and went to see Duan Hsiaolou, however, he ran into the Japanese soldier who just happened to enter the city. For this scene, there was only one shot of Zhang Guorong. After all the lights were set up, we let him sit inside the rickshaw. When the camera started to roll, the Japanese soldier lifted the curtain of the rickshaw up with a saber. Zhang Guorong sat in the rickshaw, on his face beside the sword that he was holding, there was some messy rouge, especially near his month, there was a brush that resembled bloodstain. The despair and sad feeling expressed in his eyes made people shivered. After the camera stopped rolling, Zhang Guorong still sat there motionlessly, with tears falling down abundantly. I did not comfort him. I merely signaled to have the lights switched off letting him to stay in the dark.”

“Only at that very moment, I understood Zhang Guorong must have injected his complete personal sentiment and feeling into that character, thus allowing his performance to reach that boundary. It was precisely from that look of his that told us in full the issues of infatuation and betrayal that we wanted to tell in “Farewell To My Concubine”.

In my dream, he said goodbye to me

Chen Kaige confessed that “Farewell To My Concubine” which was filmed in 1993 was a movie that he had made with his utmost sentiment. For a long time after the movie was finished filming, he did not know how to withdraw from that story.

When Chen Kaige was frustrated about that, he unexpectedly dreamed of Zhang Guorong one night. “He was wearing a plain long gown that Chengdieyi used to wear in the movie. Still with that pair of eyes he smiled at me and said calmly, ‘Henceforth I bid you farewell’. At that precise moment, I suddenly woke up and discovered that my eyes were swelling with tears. I could not distinguish clearly whether it was Zhang Guorong or Chengdieyi that I dreamed of.”
And that farewell seemed to verify the cause and effect of life and death ten years later. Indeed, Zhang Guorang is Chengdieyi. All along, Zhang Guorong gives us an impression that he belongs to a bygone era, that is because only in ostentatiously prosperous old dreams that we will be able to find a pair of eyes like his.

Gao Jun: Zhang Guorong was most loyal

Gao Jun who was responsible for the promotion of “Farewell To My Concubine” then is now the Vice President of the New Film Association in Beijing. The Gorgor that he knew was forever a loyal person.

“To a certain extent, Zhang Guorong had to thank Raymond Wong Bak-Ming for being able to film “Farewell To My Concubine” because at that time, Zhang Guorong had a contract with Mandarin Film Pte. Ltd. According to the contract, he could not work with any other filming companies. However, Raymond Wong, the boss of Mandarin Film did not impose any restrictions on Zhang Guorong. On the contrary, he vigorously encouraged him to accept that movie saying that the script was really good and it would become Zhang Guorong’s masterpiece. This kind of thoughtfulness and broadmindedness was rare in a commercial world like this. To show his gratitude, from then on, Zhang Guorong filmed a Chinese New Year movie for Raymond Wong every year at a discounted remuneration. Even after his contract with Mandarin Film was over, Zhang Guorong kept on doing so.”

He was nervous at the beginning

Gao Jun said that during the filming of “Farewell To My Concubine”, Zhang Guorong had made everyone very happy. “Once he arrived in Beijing, he was like an arrow on string, ready to explode. On the one hand, he had to learn the skills of Peking operas, such as hands, eyes, gesture and walking; on the other hand, he had to learn how to speak the real Beijing dialect. For Zhang Guorong who did not even speak Mandarin well, it was difficult enough for him. Besides, filming was a non-stop mission. Every day, he had to arrive at the set at 10:30 a.m., and stayed there until 11 to 12 at night.”

To film “Farewell To My Concubine”, it was Zhang Guorong’s first time ever to go up north to Mainland China. His friends in Hong Kong were concerned about him, worrying that he would live a miserable life in Beijing. Zhang Guorong himself was nervous too. He brought with him a big box of medicinal supply which eventually became the crew’s first aid centre during the filming of the movie. He got sick at last as he was unaccustomed to the climate. He had high fever, bleeding nose and diarrhea and lost a lot of weights rapidly. He said it was good because that way he could conform to the image of the role.

When Zhang Guorong was not required to take part in the filming, Chen Kaige would allow him to take a vacation and go back to Hong Kong to rest. However, he did not do so saying that he wanted to maintain the mood in the movie, fearing that if he took times off, his attention would be diverted. At that time, the entire crew knew that he had a “long time girlfriend” in Hong Kong. They spoke on the phone at least once a day and he paid for all the charges himself. Never a cent was paid by the dramatic team.

He was very sad afterwards

Gao Jun said that Zhang Guorong had a very deep affection for the dramatic team of “Farewell To My Concubine”. He got along extremely well and frequently played noisily with all the team members. The whole crew said that he was a near-to-perfection person. His working attitude was first-class. He was diligent and willing to cooperate, and never showed any air. No one has ever met a super star like him who cared so much about other people.

“When the filming of the movie came to an end, he was reluctant to part. He once again treated the whole crew to dinner, at which he was so sad that he burst into tears. He toasted everyone present, one by one. He drank three bottles of Maotai [Note from Daydreamer: A very famous Chinese liquor with a 53% alcohol content] and twelve glasses of white wine. Since he was not used to drinking that much, he threw up in his room for four hours and could not get up. Zhang Fengi and Gong Li tried to comfort him by saying that there would be opportunities in future to gather together, but Zhang Guorong said, “It won’t be the same; even if we meet again in future, the mood will be different.”