"The shoes are broken, the hat is broken, the robes on the body are broken; you laugh at me, he laughs at me, a fan is broken..." No one should be able to read this text normally, but it was sung very smoothly.
There are many versions of "Jigong" in film and television drama works, but the most classic and impressive is You Benchang's version of "Jigong".
When You Benchang played Ji Gong, he was actually 52 years old, which was the 80th role in his life, but the first protagonist in his life. Since he has been practicing acting for more than 20 years, he has run dragon sets for more than 20 years.
After more than twenty years of grinding a sword, He finally let You Benchang "grind" to a Jigong, and the image of Ji Yi that he created of "wine and meat through the intestines, left in the heart of the Buddha" is still unforgettable.
01
In 1933, You Benchang was born in an ordinary family in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province. When he was three or four years old, he already loved to follow his parents to the tea house to listen to the play, although he didn't understand it, he also liked to watch it while babbling and following the comparison.
When You Benchang grew up to be five or six years old, he had reached the age when he should go to school, but he left school every day, and he had to listen to a play on the road before he was willing to go home, and when he returned home, he had to pestered his parents to accompany him through the drama.
It can be seen that when You Benchang was young, he already loved the art of drama very much, and it can even be said that he was addicted to the point of being unable to extricate himself. Because he was too obsessed with drama, You Benchang joined the literary troupe in high school and was admitted to the Shanghai Theater Academy after graduation.
At that time, after graduating from college, the work was assigned by the state. You Benchang originally thought that after graduating from the theater, he would be able to shine on the stage. He also does not seek great popularity, at least he is a person who performs on stage and officially performs on stage.
Acting is the ideal ambition of You Benchang, and he is ready to meet the realization of his dreams. Unexpectedly, You Benchang was assigned to a troupe, ran a dragon set for several years, and before he could show his skills, a turbulent special period arrived.
In the first year of his career, this is the most precious and luminous time in an actor's acting career, and You Benchang was sent to the factory to smelt steel, work as a pot fitter, and go to the countryside to build houses and cut wheat.
This labor, You Benchang worked for a full decade. After the end of the labor, You Benchang returned to the troupe, and he was already in his forties, still running dragon sets on the stage.
You Benchang is reluctant to become inflamed and sneaky, so he basically plays small supporting roles. Although he plays small roles, You Benchang treats each role very seriously, and he will pick the lights and fight all night long, just to study the script and figure out the role.
Some people complained about him, and some people advised him to find another way out, but You Benchang was at ease: "There are no small roles, they are all living people." ”
In his eyes, he doesn't feel like he's running a dragon suit, he's an actor, and his job is to act. There is no distinction between the characters they play, and they have their own place in each play.
It is this seriousness and love for performance that You Benchang finally encountered a moment of light. In addition to thinking about the role he wants to play, he also studies pantomime performances, and sometimes goes to charity performances.
Once, during a charity performance, a director happened to come. His pantomime performance made the director's eyes glaze over, and he immediately decided to invite him to the 1984 Spring Festival Gala. On the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, You Benchang entered the vision of the national audience with the pantomime "Shower".
Because of the opportunity of the Spring Festival Gala performance, You Benchang finally got the opportunity to let himself explode at the age of knowing the destiny of heaven.
02
Director Zhang Ge noticed that You Benchang, who performed vividly on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, was preparing to shoot the TV series "Jigong", and You Benchang caught his eye at once.
So a year later, You Benchang received an invitation letter from director Zhang Ge, who became a candidate for "Jigong", when he was 52 years old.
You Benchang, who is full of performances, finally has the first protagonist in his life, and he is both excited and anxious. In order to play this role well, he did his best, because he knew that this was a very precious opportunity for him, and he must firmly grasp it.
Every day on the set, in addition to filming, You Benchang is thinking about the script, thinking about how to act in this scene, thinking about what kind of image the character of Jigong should be.
He studied his performances very carefully, sleeping only 3 or 4 hours a day, so that he was too tight and performed poorly. Until one day, he really couldn't stay up and took a nap on the set to take advantage of the gap in filming.
Just as the director called him to discuss the next shooting, he kicked his shoes in confusion and passed. When the director saw his frivolous footsteps and sleepy eyes, he suddenly felt it and said, "That's it!" By chance, a Jigong image of "the wind swings the lotus leaves, and the feet step on the cotton" comes out.
You Benchang is not only very serious about the form of performance, but even his attitude towards performance is admirable. Because Ji Gong is a wine and meat monk, many scenes have scenes where he eats meat and drinks wine, and the crew has to prepare these props.
However, it was the hot summer when the shooting was made, and the meat bought the night before was already smelly by the time of shooting the next day. The prop teacher does not know, the assistant does not know, the director does not know, only You Benchang, who bites this piece of stinky meat, knows. But he didn't shout, and took a big bite one by one, until the director shouted to stop him before he threw up.
It was such a performance of eating stinky meat that really showed You Benchang's perfect acting skills, and this scene was so wonderful that it was even later compiled into the textbook by the Beijing Film Academy.
There is another scene where Ji Gong is beaten with a big board, and the actors who hit the board do not dare to use force, but You Benchang, in order to pursue realistic effects, let them feel at ease to hit hard.
Despite this, some people were still very worried, so they weighed it lightly, and You Benchang was still not satisfied, letting them fight over and over again. In the end, this scene was filmed a full 12 times, and You Benchang could not get up after filming this scene.
Ji Gong's character image is also a little crazy, seemingly carefree, but how can a person who is more than half a hundred years old still be as innocent as a child. So when he was on the set, he often mingled with the children and learned from them how to be happy and how to be happy.
What is even more incredible than the fact that "Journey to the West" only has 25 episodes is that the original 1985 version of "Jigong" only has 6 episodes. After the fire of "Jigong", a sequel was filmed in 1988, only the first two episodes were still starred by You Benchang, and the last four episodes were played by Lu Liang.
In 1989, director Yang Jie planned to shoot "Living Buddha Jigong", but after only two episodes, he faced the embarrassment of insufficient funds, and he had no choice but to be forced to cut his waist.
However, You Benchang could not bear to interrupt the shooting, so he raised funds and became a director himself, but the funds were still limited, so he only continued to shoot two episodes.
Many people say that You Benchang played Jigong, but for You Benchang, it was Jigong who made him. He once said: "My relationship with JiGong is not a simple actor and role, because I met this role, this role has made me, and he has made me understand what life really is." ”
You Benchang became popular all over the country because of "Jigong", and the film contract gradually increased, and You Benchang's acting career finally rushed to his long-awaited peak. But in the face of one script after another, he did not accept all the orders, but rejected a lot.
You Benchang mentioned that when "Jigong" was broadcast in Singapore, it also set off a wave of wind, he represented Chinese actors to visit the new visit, and an overseas Chinese once said to him: "Mr. You, we thank you so much!" Our children have been educated in English since they were young, and since they saw your Jigong, they have become interested in traditional Chinese culture! ”
This makes You Benchang feel the responsibility he shoulders, he is an actor, he is responsible for his own performance, for the values that the performance brings to the audience. Therefore, no matter how high the salary is, he also adheres to the original intention, not shoddy, but worthy of the audience.
03
In fact, in 1991, You Benchang was already in a state of half-shadow, because his wife was unfortunately diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he decided to push off all the film contracts and take care of his wife wholeheartedly.
This care is four years, You Benchang originally offended many people because he refused many invitations, and the script he took over not long ago is now facing the termination of the contract. It can be said that the fame and commercial value accumulated by "Jigong" have almost been consumed in the past four years.
However, You Benchang felt that it was worth it, in his heart, nothing was more important than his family, and the drama was actually only in second place. You Benchang later came back, still adhering to the original idea, the work is not more important than the family, but it must be more important than money. He decided to make his own film for his own theatrical ideals.
You Benchang took out his entire wealth and prepared two pantomime works, one is "Mr. You Is Dumb and Smiling" and the other is "Duan Fan". Unfortunately, these two TV series are not in line with the audience's appetite, although the word of mouth is very high, but it does not make money. That is to say, in order to shoot these two works, You Benchang lost all his family property.
In this regard, You Benchang never regretted it, because he was to realize his ideals and pay for his love for drama and pantomime. If you don't have any money, you can earn it again.
When there is no drama, You Benchang will go to the school to take drama classes. From elementary school students to college students.
It is best to cultivate students' love of drama, but some students have found their own pursuit of drama ideals, and even some students have overcome their autism because of drama.
Sometimes, You Benchang will also take in the role of supporting roles, just like when he was young in the troupe to run dragon sets. However, his dragon suit is not unforgettable, although it is a very small role, he has captured the hearts of the audience with his acting skills.
In "The Adventures of Li Xianji", one of his eyes and a smile have become the most brilliant places in the whole film.
When he was in his 70s, he starred in "Knife Seeing Laughter", one of the scenes, You Benchang walked back and forth in the smoke and flames, and he could hardly recognize that he was the spirited Jigong of that year. And such an old man can also meticulously play in dangerous dramatic scenes and win the admiration of the audience.
Now You Benchang, most of his energy has been put into drama performances. He quipped, "TV dramas need tens of millions of investment, TV movies 1.8 million, dramas 3.5 million can be." ”
In fact, everyone knows that You Benchang really went to the drama because of "cheap", because he can present more conscientious literary and artistic works to the audience with less money. Not to mention, he has his own infinite love for dialogue scripts, otherwise why would he sell his house and make a drama.
The 80-year-old You Benchang gave everything he could to choreograph a drama "Master Hongyi: The Final Victory". In order to experience the role, he also went to the temple to "become a monk".
At the beginning, the performance of "Master Hongyi" was very cold, spending millions of only 3 shows, and the tickets were not sold, almost sent out. Some people say that You Benchang is going to "lose his family" again this time, but he still insisted.
In the third year, "Master Hongyi" finally ushered in success, not only to Hong Kong and Taiwan, but also overseas, and performed hundreds of charity performances.
At the age of 83, You Benchang accidentally broke his bones during rehearsals, and the doctor advised him to slowly recover from his injuries, but You Benchang asked the doctor to operate on him, because the drama was about to be performed. Less than a month after the operation, You Benchang wrapped his bandages on the stage.
Everyone said that he really became the Duke of Ji, and You Benchang was "crazy". He's really crazy, he's a drama madman. His stubbornness and stupidity, all the tenacity and pride in him, are all because of his love of theater.
You Benchang, who is now 88 years old, still carries the spirit of Jigong, faces the world optimistically, and bravely greets every tomorrow. He was born for drama, indifferent to fame and fortune, and always maintained a pure heart for drama, he did not play Jigong, he spread the spirit of Jigong throughout China.
* Author: Flower Spray, unknown Internet celebrity after 90, find interesting with pen and ink, talk about sensibility with reason, do not catch horses or chicken soup.