Zhang Guorong – The Cinematic Aristocrat (The Revised Edition)
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http://www.leslietong.com/blog/more.asp?name=pfdr&id=974Translators:
resridaisuki (from Japanese to Chinese)
Daydreamer (from Chinese to English) on May 23, 2007NOTE: Zhang Guorong = Cheung Kwok Wing, Leslie Cheung, or張國榮
Translation of extracts from Jun Ishiko’s “Stars of the Chinese Movies – Zhu Xu, Jiang Wen, Zhang Yimou, Zhang Guorong (中國電影的明星－朱旭，姜文，張藝謀，張國榮)” (Published by Heibonsha Publishing Company (平凡社), April 23, 2003) – the Chapter on Zhang Guorong “Zhang Guorong – The Cinematic Aristocrat”, pages 241-320
About the Author: Jun Ishiko (石子順), Professor of Wako University, Japan, Vice-Chairman of Sino-Japanese Friendship Association. Born in Kyoto in 1935, he lived in northeast China until 1953. In 1961 he graduated from the Toyo University, Faculty of Literature, then engaged in movie critics and closed captions translations of Chinese movies. Later, after encountering with Tezuka Osamu (手治虫) [a Japanese mangaka artist and animator], he began to conduct researches on cartoons. He has known Tezuka Osamu for over twenty years. Jun Ishiko’s main works include “Roaming Through the Chinese Movies (漫步中國電影)”, “366 Days at Movie Hall (電影366日館)”, “Stories of the Chinese Movie Stars (中國明星故事)”, “The World of Tezuka Osamu (手治虫的世界)”, “Stars of Chinese Movies (中國電影的明星)”, “Stars of Chinese Movies – Female Stars (中國電影的明星-女優篇)”, etc.
Translation # 1, A Message of Mourning, pages 319-320When this book reached its final stage of production, Zhang Guorong’s obituary notice arrived.
“Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞)” reported it this way: Passed away at about 6:40 p.m. on April 1st (Hong Kong time). Originally, he was planning to be present at the Hong Kong Films Awards presentation ceremony on the 6th as he was nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in “Inner Senses”.
For more than one year, I have been continuously writing a story about Zhang Guorong as an actor. His existence was like anyone around me. About his passing away, I can only use the words “regrettable and unfortunate” to express my feeling.
Zhang Guorong, because of his good look and excellent acting skills, was a particularly dazzling star in the radiant Hong Kong movie industry. He did not merely lead the Hong Kong movies along, he also enthusiastically participated in the movies produced in Mainland China, thus was a big driving force making the Hong Kong movie industry grow broader and wider. Originally, he would have played in many more movies. Originally, he would also have accepted the challenge as a movie director.
Why did Zhang Guorang make this choice? I am not here to talk about it, nor am I trying to make any speculation. I can only silently accept this as a fact.
April 1st will become a major commemoration day for the Hong Kong movie industry. April 1st will become Zhang Guorong’s death anniversary, a permanent memory for all people. His works will be screened repeatedly and will forever be passed on to the next generations.
Zhang Guorong, goodbye and thank you!
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Translation # 2, Foreword, pages 241-243
Zhang Guorong, a name that comprises of three Chinese characters, is very common in Mainland China, but not so in Japan. Zhang Guorong, a superstar who was declared as Hong Kong’s cinematic aristocrat, is Leslie Cheung. In Hong Kong, he had an extremely high popularity, and in Japan he also had a large group of fans. He was especially popular among female fans. For example, when his new movies were screened or when he was holding concerts, his fans would go to Hong Kong in groups to support him.
In the Hong Kong movies, we saw actors such as Zhou Runfa (周潤發) in “A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色)”, Andy Lau TakWah in “
Kawashima Yoshiko (川島芳子)”, Tony Leung KaFai in “Ruan Lin-Yu (阮玲玉)”, Leon Lai Ming in “Comrades, Almost A Love Story (甜蜜蜜)”, Tony Leung ChiuWai in “Chungking Express (重慶森林)”, Jacky Chan in “Police Story (警察故事)”, and Takeshi Kaneshiro (金城武) in “Fallen Angels (墮落天使)”. All those good-looking male stars are just like shining stars in the sky making the Hong Kong movies very interesting, as well as expanding the Hong Kong movie fans groups in Japan.
Ever since he made his debut, Zhang Guorong had been keeping his pace with those Hong Kong actors, acting in various movies as a solo or joint leading actor. However, Zhang Guorong was different from them.
It is because Zhang Guorong had acted in Mainland China’s movies. From “Farewell To My Concubine (霸王別姬)” in 1993 directed by Chen Kaige (陳凱歌), “Temptress Moon (風月)” in 1996 also directed by Chen Kaige, to “A Time To Remember (紅色戀人)” in 1998 directed by Ye Daying (葉大鷹), these three movies were all Chinese movies [Note: In this book, China refers to Mainland China]. Moreover, in the Hong Kong movies “The Phantom Lover (夜半歌聲)” and “Shanghai Grand (新上海灘)”, he played the role of a Chinese man living in the 1930’s.
This is the reason why I included Zhang Guorong, a Hong Kong superstar, in this book as a Chinese movie star.
Some people may say that as a professional movie actor, whenever there is a chance to act and as long as the actor likes the script, he will act in it no matter what type of movie it is. However, Zhang Guorong’s acting skill in the Chinese movies was different from the entertainment movies that he participated in the past in Hong Kong. He was not the kind of good-looking star who merely relied upon his handsome face and popularity, instead he had the sense of tension and the feeling of absolute strength. In action movies, he played the roles which required him to choose between life and death, but those roles were only confined to the life and death of a gangster in the Hong Kong movies. In the Chinese movies, we also saw Zhang Guorong playing the roles which required him to deduce life and death, however, it was the life that was stemmed from the long-standing history, politics, cultures, and traditional ancient customs or feudal physique of China that correlated closely with one another yet with no space to revolve; while death was the death of a hero. For someone who grew up and raised in Hong Kong movies, acting in Chinese movies was like gathering up your courage to participate in a competition with other sects.
Zhang Guorong, entering into competition with other sects, makes me feel that he did not do so as a Hongkongese but as one with Chinese blood flowing within himself, pouring out his acting skills to play a Chinese who was rooted in Mainland China.
There are many writings about Zhang Guorong. Most of them praise him and show their appreciation of him from the perspective of a fans, yet none of them have ever considered the significance and meaning of his participation in the Chinese movies.
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Translation # 3, Zhang Guorong, Standing in Tiananmen, pages 243-245Zhang Guorong was born in Hong Kong on September 12, 1956. He was the youngest of the ten children. His grandfather and father fled from Mainland China to Hong Kong. His father was a successful tailor making western suits. With exceptional craftsmanship, he had made suits for the famous master of thriller movies Alfred Hitchcock, as well as William Holden etc. He had his own big tailor shop and clothing factory.
In 1995, to commemorate the 100th year of motion pictures, the “Dictionary of Chinese Movies (中國電影大辭典)” was published (by Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House (上海辭書出版社)). It introduces Zhang Guorong as follows: “Movie actor, singer, of Guangdong nationality, born in Hong Kong. In 1976 competed in Rediffusion Television’s Asian Song Contest and won the Hong Kong championship (sic. Note that this was translated as was printed in the original article. In fact, Leslie was only the 1st runner-up). Then became a contract singer and actor of the Rediffusion Television. He appeared for the first time in the movie ‘The Exotic Dream of the Red Chamber’ in 1978. In 1980s, received favourable criticisms in ‘Nomad’, ‘A Better Tomorrow’, ‘Rouge’, and ‘A Chinese Ghost Story’ etc. In 1990, awarded the Hong Kong Film Awards’ Best Actor Award for his movie ‘Days of Being Wild’.” It also lists out all the seventeen movies that he had filmed up to the movie ‘The Farewell To My Concubine’ of 1993.
When Zhang Guorong was ten years old, the cultural revolution broke out in Mainland China. It ended when he was twenty years old. The Cheung family was greatly affected by the cultural revolution. According to Zhang Guorong, after coming to Hong Kong from Mainland China, his father “was capable to make some money, however, probably due to his lack of faith in Hong Kong, he therefore took all the money he earned in Hong Kong back to China. However, all his belongings were gone at the cultural revolution.” (see “All About Leslie (張國榮的所有)”, published by Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd. (產業編集中心), Tokyo, Japan).
Because of his mother’s keen desire, Zhang Guorong continued his study in England at the age of 13. According to his father’s intention, he studied textiles at the university. However, he terminated his study and went back to Hong Kong after learning that his father suffered from a stroke as a result of his heavy drinking habit. If his father did not fall into illness, Zhang Guorong would probably be able to continue his study on textiles in England and would by now have become famous in that field. His father’s hemiplegia summonsed him back to Hong Kong and thus made him to take a completely different path in life. In England, he did a little bit of singing, so after returning to Hong Kong, he competed and won a prize in a song contest. In 1977 he entered the entertainment world. However, he did not gain his popularity until the song “Monica” came out in 1983. Even though he played in movies as well, he was still impoverished.
At that time, the ones who influenced Zhang Guorong most were not the popular singers in Hong Kong, but were Hideki Saijo (西城秀树)，Kenji Sawada (澤田研二) and Itsuwa Mayumi (五轮真弓) of Japan, especially his idol Momoe Yamaguchi (山口百惠). From the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s, Japan’s new music was widely promoted in Hong Kong. Many Hong Kong singers sang those Japanese songs by changing the Japanese lyrics into Cantonese and those songs became very popular. Zhang Guorong was also very successful after the Cantonese song “Wind Continues to Blow”, a song originally sung by Momoe Yamaguchi. Following that, his other song “Monica” was so well received that he became an idol singer. That also opened up a glamorous world of movie stardom.
In October of 2000, Zhang Guorong celebrated the National Day in Beijing. His world tour began in August in Hong Kong. For many years, he had been dreaming of holding concerts in various big cities in Mainland China. His dream finally became realized. The portrait album book “Leslie in China (慶)” which recorded his Passion Tour concerts being held in Mainland China has already been on the market (published by Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd. (產業編集中心), Tokyo, Japan)
This is the most touching one among all of his portrait album books. Zhang Guorong was very temperate, being embraced by the mother earth of China in a most natural way. Without any make-up on his face, he stood bare-footedly on the mother earth of China. “For many years, the dream to hold concerts in China has finally come true”, his joy quietly penetrated every page. In Xihu [West Lake], in the alleys, and in Tiananmen, Zhang Guorong was in high-spirit. His message to the populace in China was also boiling hot: “Piecing the red flags together, it’s a peaceful country with citizens living in harmony and happiness”.
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Translation # 4, Believes in "Myself", pages 245-246Before Zhang Guorong was a movie actor, he already believed in his own existence as a singer. Like “I (我)”, the theme song of the Passion Tour concerts in 1999-2000 that Zhang Guorong composed, it was a manifesto, saying out loud his will of life.
Here, the lyrics of Lam Chik’s (林夕) “I” was introduced (Translator’s note: the lyrics are spared here).
In Zhang Guorong’s 2000 Passion Tour concert in Hong Kong, when the song “I” was sung, he obtained cheering and applause from the audience. He entered the entertainment world as a singer, later he became an idol singer. At the peak of his singing career in 1989, he suddenly retired. Later, he concentrated on making movies, then afterwards he came back as a singer. In his world tour in 2000, he was very popular in China, the venue of one concert could hold some twenty thousand people. At the end of that year, he had also held several concerts in Japan.
Singing the song “I”, Zhang Guorong had deeply put into that song the belief and faith that he had formed through all those years of his performance as a singer and as a television and movie actor.
In the booklet designed for the concerts being held in Japan, it records the words that Zhang Guorong said to the Japanese music critic 小倉榮司 during their conversation: “The most important thing in one’s life is to have faith in oneself”, “All men should be treated fairly and equally”, “The most important thing that a man possesses is not materialistic things, but what is in his heart”.
We may say that Zhang Guorong had such faith because through his experience during the past twenty years as a singer and movie actor and through the collaboration with so many directors, actors and musicians, he obtained a kind of spiritual richness.
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Translation # 5, Performing Skill in “A Time To Remember”, pages 247-250The most touching one among all of Zhang Guorong’s movies is “A Time To Remember” which was shot in 1998 and screened in Japan in 2000.
The reason why the photo album book “Leslie in China (慶)” touched me so much was possibly because I was greatly moved by the movie “A Time To Remember”.
“A Time To Remember” is a love story. Its background is mid 1930’s, a dark era when under the crazy suppression of Kuomintang, those communist party members who were arrested could hardly survive. As an actor from Hong Kong, it was Zhang Guorong’s first time playing the role of a Chinese communist party member who was arrested and then later executed. This role had a very high degree of difficulty.
When Zhang Guorong stood in front of the huge map of China, proudly and enthusiastically narrating the revolution of the Chinese people and about his experience of the long march, he sparkled with radiance. Zhang Guorong played the role of Jin, an underground communist who was suffering from the effects of a war injury, some bomb fragments lodged inside his head and body. However, he had not given up his work. In order to sneak into Shanghai to have his illness treated, he and a girl called Qiu Qiu (played by Mei Ting (梅婷)) lived under false identities as husband and wife. (Note: Summary of the story will not repeat here).
Zhang Guorong with elegance played the role of a revolutionist who sacrificed his life for his ideal and dream. Here, it reminds us of the scenes of the Chinese movies “Song of the Youth (青春之歌)” and “Eternal Life in Raging Fire (烈火中永生)” etc. of the 1960s which are soul-stirring and full of tension. In particular, it reminds us of the good-looking actor Zhao Dan (趙丹) (Note: About Zhao Dan, see the author’s other book “Stories of the Chinese Movie Stars (中國明星故事)”, published by Social Idea Corporation (社會思想社) on February 28, 1995. In that book, there is a chapter on Zhao Dan “The Destiny of the Handsome Star Zhao Dan (美男子明星的命運趙丹)”. Zhang Guorong was just as powerful and dignified as Zhao Dan, who played the role of Xu Yunfeng in the movie “Eternal Life in Raging Fire”, when he went to the execution ground in the last scene. However, Zhang Guorong did not express any grievous and indignant upsurge of intense emotion, instead he made people feel his rationality in facing death calmly. One may tell the difference between the movies of the 90s and of the 60s by looking at the way the scene of execution was being handled, whereby death in this movie was being faced by Zhang Guorong with calmness and quietness, no shouting of slogans. The method of handling this scene on the contrary would make people feel sadder when seeing the moment approached and that life was going to come to an end.
Another scene that lingered in my mind is when Shanghai was just liberated and the troop of People’s Liberation Army matched into the city. We could see, among them, Jin and Qiu Qiu in their military uniform. Here, we see countless martyrs who fell fighting for their revolutionary ideal yet they did not get to see the moment of victory. Revealing a row of goodlooking white teeth and a sunny smile, dancing the Yangko Dance (秧歌舞) to celebrate the victory, the impression that Zhang Guorong gave us is exceptionally strong. When Zhang Guorong’s bright and pure face overlapped with the face of the orphan who stood in front of the urn that contained her parents’ ashes trying to restrain her feeling, audience could no longer hold back their sorrow and would want to cry. Much blood had been shed because of the revolution, as well there was sadness behind the victory. People could suddenly feel the pain and sorrow as if their whole body was electrified merely because of Zhang Guorong’s smile at that moment.
At this moment, it made people realize that Zhang Guorong was a very great actor, and not merely one with a handsome face. I was fortunate to look at the touching acting skills of Zhang Guorong in this scene of the movie, therefore, when I read the portrait album “Leslie in China” of 2000, I had a very strong sense of echo towards Leslie’s thinking when he stood on the mother earth of China.
Zhang Guorong, at the end of the 20th century, using his lifelike acting skills, had awakened the revolutionary image. The director of this movie was Ye Daying. Director Ye Daying did not use China’s actors, instead he used a Hong Kong actor, making this movie about revolutionary very noticeable. Ye Daying had his own reason of wanting to make “A Time To Remember”.
The birth of “A Time To Remember”, pages 250-252 (Note: this part is spared here)
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Translation # 6, A Thorough Impact, pages 252-254(Note: The first half of this chapter continues with the preceding, therefore, it is spared here.)
Zhang Guorong who accepted the challenge of playing this role said, “Jin was not only a hero, he was also a human being who had his own agonies and emotion. He died for his own ideal. It’s fortunate that during his life time, he experienced the love of two women. Jin lived in an era that’s almost forgotten by people. I felt the shocking power of this story. It uses the 1930’s old Shanghai as its platform, an era that should forever be remained in people’s memory.”
The Shanghai in the 20’s and 30’s was an absolute different world for those men who gambled their lives for the sake of revolutionary activities. Zhang Guorong did not conceal his shocking feeling after learning about those matters. His words seemed to transmit that he was trying to resolve the shock on the one hand and to interpret Jin’s change of innermost feelings on the other.
The scene of Jin at the execution ground was the climax of this movie, however, in that scene, Zhang Guorong did not say a word. He merely dragged the chains along and stood upright in front of the row of firing team, as if letting people think that Fang Zhimin (方志敏) and Qu Qiubai (瞿秋白) etc. were all alike. His performing skill which was full of faith deeply touched me.
When the guns were fired, life suddenly snapped and broke, the impact was a very big one. What Ye Daying had done here was making the audience feel the body pain as if they were suffering and being shot themselves, thus addicted to the moral courage interpreted by Zhang Guorong.
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Translation # 7, The Birth of Lifelike Acting Skills, pages 254-256“A Time To Remember” may be regarded as a successful movie only because Zhang Guorong played in it. The preparation time was long before the camera started to roll because a fair amount of time was spent waiting for Leslie’s availability after he consented to play in it. In the four years between 1995, the year when Director Ye started to prepare for the shooting of “A Time To Remember” until 1998, Zhang Guorong had made eleven movies, including “The Chinese Feast (金玉滿堂)” (directed by Tsui Hark (徐克)) and “The Phantom Lover (夜半歌聲)” (directed by Ronny Yu); two to four movies each year. Naturally and freely, he played the role of a chef, an actor, a film director, a homosexual, etc. Director Ye Daying who had waited all these times for Zhang Guorong’s availability amidst his very busy and tight schedule, directed this “A Time To Remember”. In this movie, Zhang Guorong completely changed the roles he had created in the past. Director Ye Daying did previously consider using other Chinese actors, however, the impression that Jiang Wen (姜文) established in “Red Sorghum (紅高粱)” was too deep and strong, and Zhang Fengi did not look like a metropolis person. The image that Director Ye Daying required was of someone who had studied abroad, was highly skilled in foreign language, had a clear mind, possessed a magnificent physique yet with tenacity, rational yet with shadow, loved his deceased wife deeply, and did not look like a revolutionary fighter nor a underground worker.
Zhang Guorong’s image as a revolutionary was very much different from the revolutionary image appeared in previous Chinese movies. In Mainland China, the impression he created as a result of playing in the movies directed by Wong Kar Wai (王家衛), such as “Happy Together (春光乍泄)”, had led people to view him as a Hong Kong movie star with a dangerous taste of homosexuality. Therefore, using Zhang Guorong to play the role of a revolutionary was a big decision. As well, it was the conceptual result of smashing the conventional practice of Chinese movies.
I had asked Director Ye Daying about the evaluation of this movie in China. Director Ye Daying’s mother An Qi (安祺) was an actress of the Changchun Motion Picture Studio (長春電影制片廠), and had once been very active in the early years of the national Chinese motion pictures with Yu Lan (於藍) etc. The movie people of cadre level all said that this movie was “not good”, “counter-revolutionary”; did not like Zhang Guorong to be chosen to play the role, did not feel the tension of an underground worker at the crucial motion of life and death; a party member would not expose his identity and surrender to Kuomintang because of his personal feeling; did not describe the organization of the party; why used foreigners to play the important role, etc. etc. Negative comments emerged one after the other incessantly.
I also asked Director Ye Daying some other questions. In the past, there was “Red Cherry (紅櫻桃)”, and now “A Time To Remember”, why he chose to use foreigners to play in the movie. Also, majority of the dialogues were in foreign language, why he made those arrangements.
Unexpectedly, Director Ye Daying confessed that actually he was not very good in foreign language. He also added that no matter how hard one was trying to praise his products, no one would believe him. Same thing applied when describing the Chinese revolution. No matter how hard the Chinese people praised it, it would not be persuasive. Therefore, using foreigners, and looking at the matter from other countries’ and third parties’ perspective, a new story would therefore be born and re-examined. The impact would therefore be bigger.
That was also the reason why Director Ye Daying appointed Zhang Guorong to play the role of a revolutionary. In China, documentary type of revolution movies about the youth of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaping are being made every year. Those touching movies recall and transmit the historical facts of the revolution. However, since Director Ye Daying wanted to let the foreigners link up the historical scene, a new story therefore was born which was different from any previous ones using a new angle to explore the historical truth. This fantasy was realized and proved to be successful. Both “Red Cherry” and “A Time To Remember” received very good preview. The cinemas were packed with young audience.
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Translation # 8, Test of Actor’s Natural Disposition and Temperament, pages 257-259The fact that Zhang Guorong’s grandfather could not stay in China anymore and his father’s money was all confiscated during the cultural revolution would make it difficult for Zhang Guorong to play the role of a communist party underground worker. Perhaps there might be some kind of contradiction deep in his heart.
Even though his point of view was different from his father’s and grandfather’s, however, the family was in predicament, his father consistently got drunk, his parents’ relationship was problematic, and his study in English had to be suspended, all these problems were caused mainly by economics. If they were victims of the cultural revolution, then perhaps a sense of detestation, antagonism and discomfort would develop towards the ruling by the Chinese Communist Party.
However, the Jin that Zhang Guorong played did not show any vacillation, he was as resolute as ever. Director Ye Daying praised the acting skill of Zhang Guorong by saying, “As I requested, Zhang Guorong acted wonderfully the protagonist who purely pursued the communism ideal. More correctly put, he has surmounted my request.” Zhang Guorong’s performance was extremely splendid. For him, he had made a big leap in his rigid lifelike performing skills from his other Hong Kong movies. Audience in Japan praised him constantly, and the evaluation of him was getting higher. “How will Zhang Guorong’s acting skill be further developed? I am concerned about him.” “There is a new recognition and understanding towards Zhang Guorong.” “Using such an excellent acting skill to play a revolutionary image, the flame in him with the natural disposition as a professional actor is burning.”
“Once understood, one may discard his life to pursue his ideal”, this is the American doctor’s line. He took care of Jin, the revolutionary, all the time. Although he loved Qiu Qiu, yet he still helped them. This his comprehension happened in a flash. In May of 1945, Shanghai was liberated, the People’s Liberation Army troop matched into the city, he fell into a kind of illusion, as if seeing Jin and Qiu Qiu in military uniform among the young soldiers.
In order to rescue his most beloved woman who was pregnant with his child, Jin used his own life in exchange. He bravely stepped forward and was eventually executed. From the viewpoint of the organization, ignoring a revolutionary’s discipline to fight to the very last minute, Jin had violated the regulatory rules. However, Jin still did so. He died for love and this love was written all over his face. Nothing could have been more appropriate than letting Zhang Guorong play such a role.
The charisma and allure that attracted Zhang Guorong to play the role of Jin, an underground worker, was that although Jin was a revolutionary, he could still abandon his own life for love and for the product of love. Although he was dead, yet using his own life in exchange for the birth of a new life and reposing the revolutionary idea into the new life, one would echo with this kind of existence. Moreover, due to a piece of shrapnel embedded in his head, he would have seizures and when attacked, he would have hallucinations and could not distinguish between his dead wife and Qiu Qiu. That was a state of huge complexity. For an actor to play a character who had chaotic consciousness and recurring behaviour, while at the same time a revolutionary who possessed a normal sense of rationality, it was a role really worth playing.
There is something called an actor’s natural disposition or temperament. If it is a role that he wants to play, even if he has to seize it from someone else, he still has to play it, and that’s an actor’s nature. Moreover, because of his nature and temperament, he will thoroughly blend in and devote himself wholeheartedly to the role. Zhang Guorong in the Hong Kong movies has played many challengeable roles and received very high acclaims. In the Chinese cinema stage, playing as a Communist party member who was very close to his own age, a role that he had never played before greatly stimulated his nature as an actor.
Having such a charismatic role in hand, the obstacles and constraint of the past all vanished. That was the role of Jin. It was a role with a very high degree of difficulty, so if one did not allow the things happened in the past vanished, then it would be very difficulty for him to play that role well. Probably when the role was being created, the struggle of the innermost feelings was just as hard.
Zhang Guorong ran into Director Ye Daying, ran into the role of a Chinese communist party member which his grandfather and father did not have a favourable impression, this was a challenge to a man, it was also a challenge to an actor. An actor’s nature thus was being tested. Perhaps at some point Zhang Guorong had had the vacillation in his heart, and his body had had shivered. Then, Jin was born. As Zhang Guorong becoming more versatile in his roles, his self-confidence grew much stronger. “A Time To Remember”, for Zhang Guorong, should be a movie worth commemorating.
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Translation # 9, Becoming a True Movie Star after Playing the Role of a Police Officer, pages 259-262Zhang Guorong began to act in movies when he was an idol singer. He had never received any fundamental training on acting. By playing in various movies, he gradually learned the skill of acting. However, his existence as a movie star and not as an idol singer became significant only after he played the role of a police officer in 1986 and 1987 in the movies “A Better Tomorrow” and “A Better Tomorrow II”. The director was John Woo (吳宇森) who later became very successful in Hollywood. In 1995, he produced “Nanjing 1937” directed by Wu ZiNiu (吳子牛). Director John Woo played a very important role in bringing out completely the realistic sense of acting skill of Zhang Guorong who was a popular singer. Because of this film, John Woo’s dream to go to Hollywood was realized; Zhang Guorong, however, worked earnestly hard to become a movie actor.
(Note of Translator: The story of “A Better Tomorrow” is spared here.)
The movie “A Better Tomorrow” not merely let people know of Zhang Guorong, it also made Zhou Runfa (周潤發) popular. The role that Zhang Guorong played was one who spoke little but worked hard, hated the evils, ignored his lover for work, and placed himself in dangerous situation. Zhang Guorong’s performance in preceding movies was a little frivolous. He was always posed as trying to show off his beauty and smartness. However, in this movie, he was different. He was of a tough and strong character full of a man’s vigor and spirit trying to fulfil his task. The role that Zhou Runfa played was one who was estranged by the organization. Although his leg was badly injured, he still stubbornly retaliated and eventually lost his life. In Zhou Runfa, there was a sense of ease and humorous. Zhang Guorong and his elder brother Di Long were in confronting positions, however, there still maintained the brotherly love. The friendship between Zhang Guorong and Zhou Runfa was established through intense fights and confrontation. This movie of the 1980s which describes the Hong Kong organized crimes was a realistic one, and it was more intense and stronger than any other bandit movies preceding it.
(Note of Translator: The story of “A Better Tomorrow II” is spared here.)
One may say that through these two movies, the type of movies describing Hong Kong organized crimes was established. These two movies were vivid, intense, strong, sad, violent and furious. When Zhang Guorong and Zhou Runfa surmounted the high fence trying to sneak into the opponent’s factory, a shooting star streaked through the sky. Zhang Guorong who saw the shooting star sighed and said that “something bad was going to happen”. As he predicted, he was gunned down. However, after thirteen years, in the movie “The Kid”, Zhang Guorong studied shooting stars. On the roof, when he saw the shooting star, he said “Because its life is short, therefore it is more beautiful”. The scriptwriter who wrote this scene probably realized and wanted to echo with Zhang Guorong’s “A Better Tomorrow II”.
Returning to the main topic. Zhang Guorong established his status as a movie actor in “A Better Tomorrow” in which with his lips tightly closed, he carried out his duty as a police officer. “A Better Tomorrow” is a movie that could not be made in Mainland China. In it, it was full of the characteristics of Hong Kong movies. Zhang Guorong was like a fish in water, fully satisfied and pleased, swimming freely in the river of the Hong Kong movies.
“What is Hong Kong Movies? pages 262-266” (Note of Translator: This part is spared here.)
“Hong Kong and Chinese Movies, pages 266-268” (Note of Translator: This part is spared here.)
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Translation # 10, More on Zhang Guorong, pages 268-269There is a term in Chinese called “delicate brows and pretty eyes” which is used to describe someone who has a beautiful face. Pick any pictures of Zhang Guorong and those words may be used to describe him. If one associates Zhang Guorong with Jacky Chan and Bruce Lee in thinking, very naturally, you will notice that Zhang Guorong is completely different from those stars who play in martial art kung fu police movies using their bodies as a weapon to demonstrate the wrestling technology as well using martial art to overthrow the opponents.
Of course, Jacky Chan and Bruce Lee are good men too: strong, masculine, stylish, with hostilities and frantic strength writing all over their face. Their eyes are sharp, just like an eagle searching for its prey, possessing swiftness to attack the opponents in a flash. With an aggressive vision, once discovers the opponent’s weakness, he would make a strategic move. Action will be taken before pondering the matter over, without revealing any slit, and using his four limbs which move instinctively and reflectively as if he is using a weapon.
We may use beautiful to describe Zhang Guorong’s face. His face, not only was of beautiful contour, it only possessed wisdom. It also showed the power to think and to judge as well. There, it seemed to be quietly holding a flame of pursuing the ideal. It looked very young yet extremely calm. It had a kind of charm and magic to attract people. It had the power to transmit the thought and idea to you once you looked at it. Peaceful and at the same time energetic. For a lot of handsome men, they may have a goodlooking face yet some times they are too common and vulgar. However, Zhang Guorong had good personal taste and status. Looking at him into his eyes would have a feeling of being electrified. When you looked at this pair of eyes in close-up on big screen, especially for female audience, you would immediately be captured and become his slaves. Very clearly, volition and ambition were written on Zhang Guorong’s face. What naturally revealed in his face was that he made his own consideration and judgment himself of whatever he did, and he had the judgment to choice his own path. We may say that Zhang Guorong was a star who pondered and thought. From his body, we might see his sincere attitude and sense of responsibility that a professional actor should possess in accepting his challenge. Zhang Guorong grew from a handsome male actor to a handsome male actor who pondered and deliberated.
(Translator’s after notes, Translations # 1 to #10 are all completed. To this point, the selected parts have all been duly translated.)
Some people may say that as a professional movie actor, whenever there is a chance to act and as long as the actor likes the script, he will act in it no matter what type of movie it is. However, Zhang Guorong’s acting skill in the Chinese movies was different from the entertainment movies that he participated in the past in Hong Kong. He was not the kind of good-looking star who merely relied upon his handsome face and popularity, instead he had the sense of tension and the feeling of absolute strength. In action movies, he played the roles which required him to choose between life and death, but those roles were only confined to the life and death of a gangster in the Hong Kong movies. In the Chinese movies, we also saw Zhang Guorong playing the roles which required him to deduce life and death, however, it was the life that was stemmed from the long-standing history, politics, cultures, and traditional ancient customs or feudal physique of China that correlated closely with one another yet with no space to revolve; while death was the death of a hero. For someone who grew up and raised in Hong Kong movies, acting in Chinese movies was like gathering up your courage to participate in a competition with other sects.
I had asked Director Ye Daying about the evaluation of this movie in China. Director Ye Daying’s mother An Qi (安祺) was an actress of the Changchun Motion Picture Studio (長春電影制片廠), and had once been very active in the early years of the national Chinese motion pictures with Yu Lan (於藍) etc. The movie people of cadre level all said that this movie was “not good”, “counter-revolutionary”; did not like Zhang Guorong to be chosen to play the role, did not feel the tension of an underground worker at the crucial motion of life and death; a party member would not expose his identity and surrender to Kuomintang because of his personal feeling; did not describe the organization of the party; why used foreigners to play the important role, etc. etc. Negative comments emerged one after the other incessantly.
