Heritage and Integration– A Study of Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Films Hong Kong Film Archive Heritage and Integration– A Study of Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Films Heritage and Integration– A Study of Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Films Content 4 Foreword May Ng Essays 12 Between Pre-war Cantonese Opera and Cinema: Law Kar Their Mutual Transformation and Aesthetic Issues in the Hong Kong Context 28 Clanging Gongs and Thundering Drums—The Dividing Po Fung Line Between Musicals and Cantonese Opera Films 38 Interactivity Between Film and Cantonese Opera: Stephanie Ng The Aesthetics of Linearity in Chan Pei’s Movies Featuring Tang Bik-wan 48 Stage-Screen Integration: Sam Ho Exploring the Art of Cantonese Opera Films 62 Pleasure Houses, Despotism, and Resistance: Grace Lau Yin-ping On Butterfly and Red Pear Blossom and The Legend of Purple Hairpin 72 Approaches in the Studies of Cantonese Opera Cinema Lo Wai-luk 82 Yam Kim-fai’s Cross-gender Acting as Both Yingtai and Shanbo: Yu Siu-wah A Study of Multiple Roles in Liang-Zhu Films 96 Wong Yuet-sang’s Modern-Costume Cantonese Film Songs: Lum Man-yee Exploring Further Possibilities for Cantonese Operatic Music 108 Queen of Diva on the Silver Screen: On Fong Yim-fun’s Films Lee Siu-yan 2 120 The Preservation of Cantonese Operatic Music and Stage Chan Sau-yan Movements in Films: The Dream of a Decade in Yangzhou 130 Successor of Foot-binding Techniques and the ‘Mui Vocal Winnie Chan Hiu-ting Style’: Yu Lai-zhen, ‘The Queen of the Art of Dan’ 140 The ‘Spring and Autumn’ of Peking and Cantonese Traditions: Milky Cheung Man-shan Fen Ju Hua and The Capture of the Evil Demons Oral History Interviews 152 Luo Pinchao: Join the 'Handsome Master' Collated by Daphne Chan Onscreen and Onstage 164 Hung Sin Nui: Favoured Daughter of the Opera World Collated by Janice Chow 178 Cecilia Lee Fung-sing: Forging a Path in Film as a Greenhorn Collated by Doris Chiu & May Ng 190 Lee Yuen-man: Half a Century of Life in Cantonese Music Collated by Simpson Choi & May Ng 200 Poon Cheuk: The Banging Days of Musical Films with Luogu Collated by Wong Ha-pak 214 Choo Heng Cheong: Between the Strings Collated by Wong Ha-pak 228 Yuen Siu-fai: On the Categorisation of Cantonese opera films Collated by Hui Pui-lam Appendix 242 Table of Paichang (Formulaic Scenes) and Gongjia (Feats) Collated by Yuen Tsz-ying & Milky Cheung Man-shan in Cantonese Opera Films 260 Acknowledgements 3 Foreword May Ng In an era lacking in material comforts and entertainment choices, Chinese opera had always been the most popular form of entertainment, one best-loved by the general populace. The art of opera had evolved gradually from ancient worship ceremonies. Through the actors’ singing, acting, reciting and fencing, scene after scene of tragedies, comedies, separations and reunions were played out atop the red woven carpet stage. This art form also crossed the boundaries of social class: whether on a rustic open stage in some rural village, a fenced- in indoor area or in a grand hall at a celebration banquet, everyone in the audience could receive some spiritual comfort. The legendary stories, performed countless times over, gave substance to the love, hatred and desires projected by the audience. Quite a few of the stories have survived adaptations over the years and have thus escaped obsolescence. Classics can be passed on through the generations not only because it has intrinsic cultural, literary and artistic value but also because of the myriad of famous roles brought to life by generations of actors, who interpret the essence of the works through the mastery of their craft, making the operas worthy of repeated viewings, the stuff of dreams and fantasies. With gradual and repeated exposure, the cultural messages and sense of value of the plots of these operas have been branded into the minds of the audience, becoming evidence of our common identities. However, with the importation of Western films over a hundred years ago, the status of opera, that once dominated the popular entertainment market, began to shake on its foundations. At the time, it can be said that the opera industry was hit from both inside and outside: not only must it defend against Western films that clearly had better production resources, it must also prevent the gradually burgeoning local film industry from stealing away its audience. At the time, the Cantonese opera industry in Southern China, specifically in the Guangdong and Hong Kong regions were facing the same issues. In the face of such competition for market share, the Cantonese opera industry decided to try to retain their audience by changing with the times, adding elements from Western films, plays and other media genres. In contrast, during the silent film era, the plots for many Hong Kong films were drawn from folk tales, some of which were similar to the Cantonese operas performed on stage. Because at the time films were still silent, opera actors were not yet part of the system and therefore seldom appeared on screen. But during the 1930s when sound film technology was imported into China, quite a few of those actors naturally became darlings of the silver screen. The iconic Sit Kok-sin was a prime example. In 1926, he led the trend by establishing Feifei Film Company in Shanghai and producing silent film Long Dip (aka The Shameless Girl). In 1933, he cooperated with Shanghai’s Unique Film Productions, producing a film version of his signature opera of the same name, The White Gold Dragon. The film was an international box office success and became a catalyst for the hot trend of opera stars appearing on the 4 silver screen. From then on, the ‘treasure chest’ of Cantonese opera was yanked open and its contents poured out: the voices, appearances and artistry of opera stars glistened like jewels, no longer limited to the confines of the stage. Through the film medium, the art of opera was broadcast and exported overseas and preserved for the generations that follow, so that people may continue to appreciate the art form forever. From the 1930s to 60s, different kinds of Cantonese opera films evolved in order to adapt to market demands and audience tastes. Because these films were so well-received by overseas Chinese populations, in a short 30 years Hong Kong produced about a thousand Cantonese opera films. These hold an important place in Hong Kong film history. It must first be mentioned that the understanding of the term ‘Cantonese opera films’ in this book are in general based on the definitions and categorisations as set out by Hong Kong film scholar and former Research Coordinator at the Hong Kong Film Archive, Mr Yu Mo-wan in his essay ‘Anecdotes of Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Films’ written for Cantonese Opera Film Retrospective, published in 1987 for the 11th Hong Kong International Film Festival. Yu had defined ‘Cantonese Opera Films’ as ‘films whose content is related to Cantonese opera’. There are six categories of such films: ‘Cantonese Opera Documentaries’ that record the realities of the art form; ‘Cantonese Operatic Films’ that blend the genres of Cantonese opera and film using film techniques; ‘Cantonese Opera Musical Films’ or ‘Cantonese Opera Sing-song Films’1 that do not include traditional actings or paichang (formulaic scenes) but features actors in Cantonese opera costumes and singing passages; ‘Cantonese Opera Films in Modern Costumes’ that feature actors in contemporary wardrobe singing Cantonese opera tunes in Cantonese opera stories; ‘films with Cantonese Opera Highlight(s)’ that feature highlight scenes from Cantonese operas within contemporary films and ‘Cantonese Opera Collage Films’ that are compilations of scenes from other Cantonese opera films. At first, ‘Cantonese opera films’ attracted audiences with opera stars in leading roles. They took original characters from Cantonese opera classics (whether in Western wardrobe or Cantonese opera costume), select part of the plot and expand upon it, adding some of the signature famous tunes. Thus, most of them are categorised as ‘Cantonese opera musical films’ and ‘Cantonese opera films (in modern costume)’. However, as most of the film footage has been lost, we are unable to determine how much of those films featured opera stars and how much gongjia (feats) were included. It was also popular at the time to insert ‘play-within- a-film’, incorporating scenes of opera stars performing highlights from Cantonese opera into contemporary films to satisfy opera fans. It is equally difficult to determine how complete those highlight scenes were. Although those Cantonese opera films only showed off the opera stars plying their craft in some scenes, it was enough to make those films very popular. The opera stars’ performances were appreciated internationally via distribution of the films, comforting the souls of Chinese people roving overseas. 1 For this category, some authors prefer to translate the term as ‘Cantonese opera sing-song films’ while others prefer ‘Cantonese opera musical films’. Out of respect for the authors, we are offering two different translations for the same category. 5 After the war, Hong Kong’s opera industry developed robustly, creating opportunities for numerous excellent Cantonese opera writers. Among them, Tong Tik-sang was the most accomplished. They garnered inspiration from classical literature, writing according to current human values and aesthetics, creating new Cantonese operas. Most of those works were suited for both the past and present. The producers, being astute businessmen, found quick-witted scriptwriters to change various elements in the stories: setting ancient stories in a modern urban environment, featuring opera stars out of their period costumes, in contemporary wardrobe and singing new tunes as they performed love and familial conflicts for the current generation.