Chen Kaige recalled Leslie Cheung： At first sight, Mandarin Hotel said that he was Cheng Dieyi.
1905 movie network news On November 20th, director Chen Kaige was invited to attend the film academic observation jointly organized by the Academic Affairs Office of Beijing Film Academy and the director department, and shared the film from scratch with the teachers and students present after the screening. More than 700 seats in the standard screening hall were packed, and the teachers and students in the school cherished the opportunity of face-to-face communication with director Chen Kaige.
In the post-screening exchange, Chen Kaige not only sincerely thanked the creative team of that year for "all their great contributions"; I also talked with you about the wonderful past that Leslie Cheung was Cheng Dieyi, and frankly said that "this experience is only this time"; He also expressed his concern and support for young creators, bluntly saying that "the film festival is not only a promised place for movies, but also an inspirational place representing youth and hope", and he hoped that the film festival could focus more on young creators.
Sincerely thank all the founders for sighing that Leslie Cheung has given us the only experience.
After the academic observation and screening of the film Farewell My Concubine, the film director Chen Kaige took the stage to share his feelings with all the teachers and students. Thanks to the hundreds of staff members who fought together in those years, especially Gu Changwei and Tao Jing, the alumni of the same session directed by Chen Kaige, "Photographers and sound recorders were very young at that time, but they created such magnificent images and powerful voices", as well as assistants and collaborators at that time, Zhang Jinzhan, Bai Yu, artist Zhanjia Yang and composer Zhao Jiping, "all made great contributions". ZhangFeng yi, one of the leading actors, is a leader in the performance department of Class 7 and Class 8 of Nortel. Director Chen Kaige highly praised his performance, saying that "his Duan Xiaolou is wonderful" and was moved by Mr. ZhangFeng yi’s dedication in filming.
Director Chen Kaige also talked with you in more detail about the origin of filming, from being invited twice by producer Feng Hsu at Cannes International Film Festival to having various exchanges with original author Li Bihua. He not only gave Feng Hsu the first credit for Farewell My Concubine, but also praised Li Bihua as "the mother of Farewell My Concubine, and her novels laid an excellent foundation for the film" and "man of great talent, fantastic ideas". Li Bihua, as one of the screenwriters, also traveled from Hongkong to Beijing during the script creation stage to participate in the exchange and discussion between director Chen Kaige and another screenwriter, Reed. One of director Chen Kaige’s creative habits is to communicate with the screenwriter for a long time in the script stage, give a big outline for the characters, plot and story direction, and then discuss with the screenwriter, and finally realize it.
Especially in Farewell My Concubine, the time has been extended to 50 years, and the script structure is very complicated. In about half a year, director Chen Kaige and two screenwriters, Li Bihua and Reed, went through the process of affirmation, negation and reaffirmation. There is no routine, only the understanding and confirmation of the characters. After the first draft of the script was written, Reed took a pen and asked Chen Kaige to draw a circle in the satisfied scenes. If he was not satisfied, he would revise it again. After reading it, Director Chen Kaige only drew a few circles in the first draft, and then took everyone into a new round of discussion and revision. This manuscript is still precious. The script has been polished over and over again, and it is constantly enriched and perfected. Especially at the end of the script, Chen Kaige emphasized that the ending of the two people meeting in the bathroom in Hong Kong has no power. Only letting Cheng Dieyi follow the pace of Yuji’s fate is the only reasonable treatment that conforms to the character’s character logic.
In the actor’s part, Chen Kaige naturally talked about Leslie Cheung along the role of Cheng Dieyi, and what Chen Kaige always remembers is his first meeting with Leslie Cheung — —
"The first time I met Leslie Cheung was when the first draft of the script was not finished. I have to tell him this story orally. Ms. Feng Hsu made arrangements for meeting in advance at the coffee shop of Mandarin Hotel. In the future, he jumped down from the same building. He is very gentle and quiet, and I speak in a hurry, for fear that we will have a language barrier. I speak Mandarin, and he is an actor who speaks Cantonese. I’m afraid what I said won’t impress him. I have also said on other occasions that he smokes a lot and his fingers are shaking all the time. In the process of speaking, I was skeptical and psychologically repulsive, so I asked myself, how do I know that he is the right person to play Cheng Dieyi? I don’t even know if he is a good actor. My story happened in China, and he is a Hong Kong person. Can he understand such characters and stories? And here I am, madly telling a story that may be rejected.
He never spoke, just listened, sometimes he looked up at me, and sometimes he didn’t look at me. But when I finished speaking, it suddenly dawned on me that he was Cheng Dieyi. Because I think he is like a person sitting in the bow of this story ship. After the ship moves, the lakes and mountains are changing all the time, and these light, shadow and water waves all reflect on his face. I don’t want to say that he is acting, but he is following Cheng Dieyi closely, approaching him, expressing him and loving him in a very subtle way. At this time, he stood up and shook hands with me and said,’ Thank you for telling me the story. I am Cheng Dieyi.’ This is a hair-raising moment. "This also made Chen Kaige identify with Leslie Cheung — — This is the only experience.
Looking back, I hope the film festival will pay attention to young people and create new possibilities.
After the film Farewell My Concubine was born, it won the Palme d ‘Or Award at the 46th Cannes International Film Festival in 1993, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the United States and two nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Photography at the Oscars the following year. It was rated as one of the 100 best films in the world by Time Magazine, which has produced great international influence.
From Farewell My Concubine, Chen Kaige, the director, fought in major film festivals with his works in his youth, and the film festivals did give him honor and support. In Chen Kaige’s view, a good film festival "is full of charm and becomes the hall that filmmakers all over the world yearn for because it is unknowable." "You don’t know what kind of movie form a new trend will run out, and the new possibilities that keep emerging surprise you." Therefore, the film festival "is not only the promised land of movies, but also an inspirational place representing youth and hope". Chen Kaige believes that film festivals and professional organizations such as China Film Directors Association should pay more attention to those "young people who are happy, confused, miserable and give up everything for movies" and let them stand on the podium.
Director Chen Kaige’s sharing touched the teachers and students of Nortel who were present. In the subsequent interactive session, Chen Kaige answered the questions raised by the students in the audience one by one, and his serious and professional attitude moved people.