Text/Si Qi
Today, when the glory of kung fu films is no longer brilliant, looking at "Shaolin Hero Fang Shiyu" and "New Shaolin Five Ancestors" again, I still feel endlessly reminiscent.
In the two films, Chen Songyong played "Thunder Tiger" and "Ma DaShanren" respectively, full of benevolence and morality, but in fact, he had a bad stomach.
In particular, the role of Lei Tiger has become a label that Chen Songyong cannot tear off.
The media and fans even jokingly called him "a person with virtue".
But on December 17, 2021, the old drama bone that had brought laughter to everyone passed away due to illness and left everyone forever.
Chen Songyong never married in his life, and on the occasion of his death, he generously left 2 million yuan to the Indonesian nanny to express his gratitude...
01
On the screen, Chen Songyong is obese, rough-looking, exaggerated in performance, and has a strong sense of comedy.
In life, he is also a "rough man", who loves to drink, lecture on morality, and has legends in the rivers and lakes.
In the showbiz circle where his appearance is dominant, how did he get involved with acting?
Chen Songyong was born in 1941 to a poor family in Taiwan Province.
After losing his mother at an early age, he grew up under the care of his father.
In the 1950s, the smoke cleared and the Renaissance.
At that time, Peking Opera and Song Zai Opera were popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and countless singers and Peking Opera celebrities emerged.
Catching up with this east wind, Chen Songyong also fell in love with watching drama and thought that he could support his family through acting in the future.
But this dream of his, in the face of the current situation of the poor family, became worthless.
When Chen Songyong was 15 years old, as his father fell seriously ill, the top pillar of the family suddenly collapsed.
Since then, Chen Songyong decided to shoulder the burden of supporting his family, and after dropping out of school, he began to mix with society.
Ignorant of the age, he joined the gang and followed his big brother every day to grab land and collect protection fees.
In the days when the knife was licking the blood, he was silent, but he also learned a body of righteousness.
Once in a scramble for territory, he and his gang brothers fell into the net laid by the police, and it was difficult to escape with their wings.
In order to escape, he panicked and accidentally broke into a crew that was filming.
In the days that followed, he hid in the group performance like a bird of fright, but fortunately defused the crisis.
It was during this short few days of his escape that he decided to take off his "battle robe" and wear a costume and strive to become a real actor.
02
Dreams shine into reality, and most of the time they are illusory.
Chen Songyong has no looks, no backstage, and three have no academic qualifications.
Such a "three no-ones" person, how to talk about success, how to say that it is very popular?
But none of this has stopped Chen Songyong's dream of becoming an actor.
In the following years, he always adhered to the concept of "diligence can make up for clumsiness", seriously studied performance knowledge, and grasped every opportunity to run the dragon set.
The dead body that others do not want to play, he has no words;
The more dangerous the stand-in, he carried it decisively on his shoulders.
Around the corner, Chen Songyong is 22 years old.
In the circle, he is still lonely, but he is the most qualified dragon set in the director's mind.
This year, he joined The Stage Television under the introduction of a friend and finally became a full actor.
It's just that he still can't escape the fate of the dragon set.
Most of the time, he didn't have dialogue, not even a straight face.
But even so, he still stuck to his original intention and believed that one day he would succeed.
If he had a few scenes, he would prepare for a few days in advance, eager to give the audience a great effect.
In an interview many years later, he grinned widely and smiled contentedly: "What is a dragon running set, it is better than being chased and slashed by others!" ”
In 1971, the 30-year-old Chen Songyong finally had a name in the Hokkien drama series "Agongdian", but it was only a flash in the pan and there was no wave.
After standing, he was still very poor, so poor that he didn't even dare to talk about his girlfriend.
What's more, no girl is willing to talk about marriage with him.
Since he could not start a family, Chen Songyong wanted to establish a career, that is, the acting career he never gave up.
Although he has a good heart, he has an "evil face", so he can only play some villain roles.
Such as the Japanese gendarmes in the 1976 anti-Japanese movie "Spring Cold", "Dou Yihu" in "Xue Dingshan Saves The Five Beauty", "Black Gong" in "Caiyun Tianya"...
These small roles, which do not play much, are already the "highlight moments" in his early acting career.
03
Three cents, embarrassed hero.
A poor word, but never let Chen Songyong give in.
Because in his opinion, even if it is a breeze in both sleeves, he must live a reasonable and strong life.
In the continuous tempering, his acting skills have increased day by day, and he has gradually become the "king" in the eyes of directors, dragon sets and small supporting roles.
Even the big boss of the film company was impressed by this humble little actor.
Among them, there are Bao Xueli, Cai Yangming, Zhu Yanping, Hou Xiaoxian and others.
As a result, Chen Songyong's figure can be seen in many film and television dramas such as "Zombie Boy", "New Momotaro", "Report Warden", "Yerba Buena Bi Lian Tian" and so on.
In 1988, Chen Songyong was 37 years old.
Nearly confused, he still has no desire and no demand, only wants to run a good dragon set and be a good supporting role.
But his old friend Yang Dengkui did not do it, and "hard" wanted to recommend him as a protagonist.
Who is Yang Dengkui?
When he was young, he devoted himself to the underworld, killed chen shunfa, the leader of the "Keelung Theater Gang" in 1963, and was imprisoned in 1988, after which he ran a restaurant securities company, a recording film, a movie theater, etc., engaged in casinos, stock speculation, etc., a proper gangster-level figure.
It is precisely with that heroic spirit and the hard work of the officers to start a business that Chen Songyong has won the appreciation of Yang Dengkui.
In the movie "City of Sorrows" released in 1989, Chen Songyong first appeared in the starring seat, followed by the popular Xiaosheng Liang Chaowei.
In the film, the deaf-mute "Lin Wenqing" played by Liang Chaowei won the tears of countless fans, and everyone agreed that he was the male number one.
But few people will focus on the lin boss "Lin Wenxiong" played by Chen Songyong.
In fact, friends who have watched this movie "with their hearts" have deeply experienced that Chen Songyong's performance is flawless and has reached the realm of "human drama integration".
For the sake of the whole family, "Boss Lin" worked hard but never complained, and there was delicate tenderness hidden under his rough appearance.
04
The layman looks at the bustle, and the insider looks at the doorway.
For this role, Chen Songyong won the Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Actor, and the film was also shortlisted for the Venice Film Festival and won the Golden Lion Award.
20 years of dragon set no one knows, once famous the world knows!
Since then, Chen Songyong has finally been reborn in nirvana and broken through the cocoon into a butterfly.
Compared with the "small shine" in niche historical drama films, kung fu films were the kings of that time.
In 1992, Jet Li established the "True East Film Company" with the intention of realizing the dream of being a boss in Oriental Hollywood.
However, shortly after the establishment of the company, its agent Cai Ziming was shot dead, and the road to entrepreneurship was greatly hindered.
In order to continue to make movies, Jet Li had to go to Taiwan to ask Yang Dengkui for help.
With the help of the big guy, Jet Li not only raised funds, but also made extensive use of his company's actors.
But Yang Dengkui put forward a condition, that is, Chen Songyong must be reused.
How could the Kung Fu Emperor not have imagined that Boss Yang would not use a handsome man and a beautiful woman, but why should he use a rough man who could not even speak Mandarin?
But in any case, since it is helped by others, it has to sell this face.
This year, Zhengdong Film Company's first work "Fang Shiyu" came out, and it received an impressive box office of 30.67 million Hong Kong dollars.
In the film, in addition to the brilliant appearance of a number of protagonists, the "Thunder Tiger" played by Chen Songyong is a must, and even suspected of "stealing the limelight".
No matter when and where, Lei Laohu always flaunts himself as "subjugating people with virtue", in fact, he is very domineering, and he makes jokes when he does not agree.
Time has passed, and whenever I recall the picture of Lei Laohu and Fang Shiyu on the roof of the house, I still can't help but laugh.
This year, Chen Songyong was 51 years old, just past the year of knowing the Mandate of Heaven.
After the baptism of years, his acting skills are more old and spicy, and he can play any role with ease.
In his subsequent acting career, he dedicated many impressive screen images.
There are "Mage" in "Dharma Ancestor Biography", "Ma Jiu" in "SWAT Vanguard", "Abu's Father" in "Glass Bottle" and so on.
By the turn of the millennium, when Liu Zhenwei re-attacked the screen with "The Winner of Ancient Puzzle Boy 6 is King", in fact, the Ancient Puzzle Boy series has gradually declined.
In the film, Chen Songyong played the godfather of the Taiwanese gangster "Zhongyong Bo", a proper king-level acting skill.
As a former tyrant who is tired of the strife between the rivers and lakes, "Zhongyong Bo" has flesh and blood, and will never be exaggerated.
When his family was killed, he thunderously clamored for revenge;
After seeing the situation clearly, he explained to the younger generation the true meaning of "peace is precious" to the younger generation.
Life is like a play, drama is like life!
Is the role played by Chen Songyong in the movie not his real life portrayal?
05
Everyone around Chen Songyong knows that he likes to drink, and he likes to drink spicy sorghum wine.
People who drink well are nothing more than the following reasons: one is that they are indeed addicted to alcohol, the second is forced by helplessness, and the third is to borrow wine to pour sorrow.
In the early years, when Chen Songyong was at the peak of his career, his father was taken away by the disease and failed to share happiness with his son.
The departure of his father made him extremely sad, and the regret of "the son wants to be raised but does not wait" haunts his heart all the time.
After the age of 50, he prefers to drink alcohol and is extremely addicted to alcohol.
In his words: "I drink once a hour, as much as I want to drink!" ”
Borrowing wine to pour sorrow is more sorrowful, and the knife cuts off the water more!
Chen Songyong's words sound heroic and uninhibited, but in fact they are heart-wrenching.
If there is a person who knows cold and knows heat and cold around him, how can he be accompanied by wine?
When asked why he didn't fall in love and didn't get married, his explanation was even more heart-wrenching.
He explained it this way: I can't tell girls that I love you, poor and lowly couples Pepsi lament, responsible is not with the mouth to say, you have to have strength...
It is said that Chen Songyong also met the girl he liked when he was young, but because of the precarious situation, he gave up the relationship.
When you have strong economic strength, you have long missed the person you love the most.
Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why he did not marry in this life.
In the face of the media, Chen Songyong ridiculed himself like this: I am an "old man living alone".
It is difficult to be old, and it is pitiful to be alone.
In his later years, the "tough guy" Chen Songyong could not escape the ravages of the disease.
Alcoholics, coupled with irregular work and rest, he first suffered an accidental stroke and paralysis, and then suffered from 7 diseases such as stomach ulcer, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, cardiac calcification, and depression.
In desperation, he hired an Indonesian maid named Yule, who was mainly responsible for her daily life.
Yule's work attitude is very serious, she treats the old man as a biological father, and she is considerate.
One is a poor girl who makes a living in a foreign country, and the other is a lonely old man who has been in the wind and candles, they are not father and daughter, but like father and daughter.
Chen Songyong regarded Yule as his daughter, and Yule affectionately called Chen Songyong "Abba".
For this hard-won father-daughter relationship, Chen Songyong not only sent Yule gold, but also promised to give her NT$2 million after his death.
In 2021, Chen Songyong died of illness in Taiwan at the age of 80.
According to his friend, if he had insisted on dialysis and intubation, he would not have died so early.
But "sober", he decided to leave with dignity and not to live in front of the disease.
Zang Kejia wrote in his article: Some people are alive, he is already dead; some people are dead, he is still alive.
Looking back on Chen Songyong's legendary and ordinary life:
From a small person to a golden horse film emperor, it can be called an inspirational model.
In the minds of fans, although he is only a supporting role, he has left too many screen classics.
In the hustle and bustle of the world, he came and went.
Not taking away a cloud, it is as if something is taken away.
On the other hand, you and I, who are fighting for ourselves and our families, are not this also the case?