YANG ± YIN: GENDER IN CHINESE CINEMA
STANLEY KWAN's Yang ± Yin: Gender In Chinese Cinema, 1996 (transcription of the English subtitles; words within brackets are notes by Leslietango)
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: Around the time Shanghai fell to Japan, new forms and tones appeared in Chinese films. There were influences from Hollywood horror films like Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera. Where martial arts focus on the body, these films focus on the face. In 1995 there was a Hong Kong remake of Song at Midnight (by Maxu Weibang, 1937), The Phantom Lover. It starred Leslie Cheung. Leslie is a handsome man. In The Phantom Lover he plays a man whose face is tragically scarred. If he compares the new and old versions, which does he think better?
LESLIE CHEUNG: I feel the script missed some opportunities. Especially his feelings after his face is scarred. It's not deep enough. I think it all remains too superficial. Too much emphasis on the romance. I know that the original version has much more message.
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: Disfigurement, of course, is the flip-side of narcissism. Leslie Cheung has played many narcissistic characters. I asked him, is he narcissistic himself?
LESLIE CHEUNG: Absolutely! Certainly! (Laugh.)
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: Which came first, Leslie's own narcissism? Or the "femininity" of the characters?
LESLIE CHEUNG: I have some unique quality. The audience identifies with it. Maybe a kind of sensitivity. Especially in romance. Something soft.
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: The original novel (Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee) is about the passionate love/hate relationship between two Peking Opera actors. But the film tones down the gay elements and highlights the woman who comes between the men. Also, the actor's love for his "brother" is unrequited. I asked Chen Kaige, why he made the changes?
CHEN KAIGE: When I was making the film I didn't see it primarily as a gay story. I took only what I needed from the novel. In fact I made a selection. How did I choose? Why did I build up the Gong Li character? I had good reasons. One consideration was practical. Having cast Gong Li we had to give her more to do. But more importantly I needed a character to contrast with the Leslie Cheung character. I had to add to the film what most would consider a more orthodox relationship. To bring out the contrast. To highlight the emotion in the younger actor's feelings for the Zhang Fengyi character, the "elder brother".
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: Chen's ending also differs from the original. His film ends in a stylised way. The actors are playing the concubine's suicide scene. But the Leslie Cheung character really kills himself. The original ends with the actors reunited in old age in a gay bathhouse. Many people think Chen Kaige's changes to the story subconsciously reflect homophobic attitudes. How does he defend himself?
CHEN KAIGE: For me, ending with that death took the film to its zenith. I had other options. They might have parted forever. Tearful farewells... Waving hands... But that doesn't work for me. And it wouldn't work for Dieyi (the Leslie Cheung character) either. He would scream out in protest. I think the attitude behind Farewell My Concubine is basically modern. But that doesn't mean you can force modern attitudes on to the characters and their lives. It's two different things. As the drama unfolds, the audience eventually finds the core meaning. And that core is that Dieyi is a man. No matter how he presents himself, he is a man. It's the story of one man in love with another man.
(...)
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: Some say that Farewell My Concubine derives from Two Stage Sisters made by director Xie Jin before the Cultural Revolution. It's the story of two opera actresses. It focuses on their feelings and hints at a sexual relationship. But it stops short of anything explicit.
(...)
XIE JIN: Chen Kaige's early films neglected plot and characterisation. They weren't easy for audiences to enjoy. So not many saw them. Farewell My Concubine marked a big change for him. I found the treatment very delicate and detailed. We Chinese see this kind of relationship differently from Westerners. Between the two actors it's easy to accept. But the scenes with the homosexual opera-lover are hard to take.
(...)
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: In Farewell My Concubine Leslie Cheung played a "female" role. How did audiences react to him in the role?
LESLIE CHEUNG: In terms of Chinese morality it's much easier for a woman to play a man than vice versa. When a woman plays a man everyone is indulgent. If she seems 60% masculine she'll be appreciated. But if a man plays a woman and seems 80% feminine people will still be hostile. That's typical of Chinese morality. If you ask if Brigitte Lin is believable as a man, I think not. I'm sorry. Too bad. She is a very good friend of mine, but I have to say she's not convincing as a man. But she's pretty.
NARRATOR / STANLEY KWAN: Actresses in male drag are popular. Universally accepted. But when an actor dons female drag there's always "trouble". His sexuality and dignity come under question. Do these things bother Leslie Cheung?
LESLIE CHEUNG: Most of my parts project an image of delicacy. And so there've been many rumours about me from the very start. But times have changed. These things matter less now than they used to. Why should anyone care? They pay to see you look handsome on screen. And that's enough. But it should be more equitable. If they can accept a woman playing men, then a man playing women should be OK, too.