Maggie Cheung, it's a pity
The 76th Cannes Film Festival has finally come to an end.
The high-profile international film extravaganza lasted nearly half a month, with domestic media scrambling to report which Chinese actors walked the star-studded Cannes red carpet.
Fans are arguing about who is attending the scene with their works, who is "rubbing the red carpet", and whose dress style is really glamorous.
In fact, instead of dwelling on these irrelevant issues, it is far better to take home a trophy to get the real thing.
So far, only three actors in China have won the Cannes Film Festival actress crown.
On the track of the Cannes Film Festival, there is currently and only Maggie Cheung in China who has won this award.
It is somewhat regrettable that in the minds of the vast majority of young audiences, the name Maggie Cheung seems to have long been equated with the word "passed".
She almost never appears on the hot search list, and there are few gossip news leaks.
The last time she was widely reported was probably back almost a decade ago at the Strawberry Music Festival.
Singing "out of tune" and being ridiculed by the crowd.
Since then, Maggie Cheung has been like a legend that has disappeared for many years, only hearing its name, not seeing its person.
On some forum posts discussing "who is the most powerful Chinese actress", Maggie Cheung's name will be repeatedly mentioned.
People are accustomed to comparing her and Gong Li to two insurmountable mountains among Chinese actresses, and they are even crowned with the titles of "Man God" and "Gong Huang".
But realistically speaking, in terms of the honorary achievements in the work of an actor alone, Gong Li is not enough to compare with Maggie Cheung.
You know, Maggie Cheung is not only a film queen at the Cannes Film Festival, but also won another international A film festival, the Berlin Film Festival.
As for the Golden Horse Award and the Golden Image Award, which were the most valuable in China at that time, Maggie Cheung also had 5 queen trophys each, and these two records have not been broken so far.
It is said that she is the first Chinese actress, and she is not mixed with any moisture at all.
But even Maggie Cheung, who has such strong acting skills, has had a controversial "vase" experience...
01
During the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1964, Maggie Cheung was born in Hong Kong.
But before she finished primary school, she followed her family to live in the UK at the age of 8.
As the only daughter in the family, Maggie Cheung has never been pampered, and she has developed a very independent personality early on, with a strict tutor.
In the summer of 1982, 18-year-old Maggie Cheung flew back to Hong Kong from the UK.
The reason for returning to Hong Kong is interesting, Maggie Cheung wants to take advantage of the summer vacation to see her idol Wong Rihua, and it would be nice to get a autograph.
Yes, Maggie Cheung was also an out-and-out "star-chasing girl" when she was a teenager.
As a result, before she saw her idol Huang Rihua, Maggie Cheung herself was first seen by scouts.
With the encouragement of scouts, Maggie Cheung took some commercials and also had the idea of stepping into the entertainment industry.
The following year, Maggie Cheung participated in the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, which was unprecedented in influence at that time.
Maggie Cheung, who has a graceful figure and a sweet appearance, passed all the way and not only won the runner-up ranking, but also was named "the most photogenic miss".
Maggie Cheung is most afraid of competing with others, and the reason why she can summon up the courage to sign up for beauty pageants is only because she is "greedy for vanity".
In this way, Maggie Cheung, who is "greedy for vanity", successfully got a ticket to enter the entertainment industry, and soon signed a contract with the famous Hong Kong TVB.
In 1984, Maggie Cheung participated in the TVB series "Draw a Rainbow" with actors such as Liu Qingyun and Lan Jieying, who were also young at that time.
After the play was broadcast, it did not stir up too much splash, but it unexpectedly attracted the attention of director Wang Jing.
Wang Jing, who has a vicious eye, took a fancy to Maggie Cheung's lively and cute temperament, so she invited her to participate in the romantic comedy movie "The Frog Prince".
As we all know, although the reputation of Wang Jing's films is uneven, the box office rarely fails.
This "Frog Prince" is no exception, it was very popular after its release, and Maggie Cheung's big-screen "debut" can be regarded as a fairly good result.
In the following years, Maggie Cheung frequently shuttled between the big screen and the small screen, and as a leading actress or supporting actress, she launched many acclaimed and acclaimed works.
However, Maggie Cheung at this time did not really know how to act, and the characters she played were very single, basically some innocent and cute, silly female images.
If you use current words to describe it, Maggie Cheung in the early days was a "silly white sweet" professional.
She did not "fall in love" with Tony Leung in "Senior Brother Xinza".
is to "fall in love" with Jackie Chan in "Police Story".
The evaluation of her by Hong Kong film critics is "more than lively, insufficient connotation", although Maggie Cheung has accumulated a certain fame, but it has never had much to do with acting.
In the nearly 5 years since entering the industry, Maggie Cheung has not been able to tear off the label of "vase".
At that time, the Hong Kong film industry could be described as a beautiful woman, and if she relied on her appearance alone, Maggie Cheung might not be able to escape the fate of being eliminated.
After realizing this, Maggie Cheung became extra hard, and took on 12 movies in a year, just to hone her acting skills.
She was extremely in awe of the profession of an actor, and when filming "Police Story", she was smashed with blood on her head and received eight stitches because she insisted on not using a stand-in.
Relying on this serious and desperate energy, Maggie Cheung's acting skills have advanced by leaps and bounds, and she only needs a role to prove herself to completely dispel the controversy against her from the outside world.
02
In 1988, newcomer director Wong Kar-wai saw the pearls and boldly used Maggie Cheung as the female number one with heavy roles, and played opposite Andy Lau in the movie "Carmen in Mong Kok".
Wong Kar-wai is a director who is good at capturing close-ups of characters' expressions, which gives Maggie Cheung ample space to show her acting skills.
Although she has not yet shed the "baby fat" on her face in "Carmen in Mong Kok", she obviously has more delicate and deep things in her expression and eyes.
1With her stunning performance in this film, Maggie Cheung was nominated for the Best Actress Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for the first time.
Maggie Cheung later said that she only "got the hang of acting" after meeting Wong Kar-wai, but from another angle, if she had not worked hard and precipitated before, how could she suddenly burst out such strong energy.
In any case, Maggie Cheung really opened up the second vein of Ren Du after "Carmen in Mong Kok", and the whole person's temperament and performance have undergone earth-shaking changes.
Literary film director Kwan Jinpeng was also moved by Maggie Cheung in "Carmen in Mong Kok", and invited her to star in "Three Women One Play" "People in New York".
This time, Maggie Cheung's role setting is more complicated, and even mixed with same-sex elements, which is completely different from the image she has created in the past.
Maggie Cheung almost perfectly interprets the shrewdness and ability and sensitivity and inferiority of the character, which won her the Golden Horse Award for actresses in one fell swoop.
Since then, no one dares to say that Maggie Cheung is a "vase" with no acting skills, and she has proved her strength to everyone.
In the following years, Maggie Cheung gradually compressed the output of her works, no longer crazy as in the past, but began to pursue the quality of her works.
She is sometimes the coquettish gold-worshipping girl "Xiaoyu" who is influenced by the torrent of the times in "The Man Who Doesn't Take Off His Socks".
Sometimes it is "Li Yu" who was destroyed by the bottom life to the point of personality split in "The Season of Love in Another Country".
Sometimes it is the spicy and courageous, delicate hostess "gold inlaid jade" in "New Dragon Gate Inn".
Literary films, action movies, comedy films, costume films, for the reborn Maggie Cheung, there seems to be no role that she can't control.
Awards and honors followed, and flowers and applause poured in.
But life often likes to make a surprise attack when you are extremely good, both to wake you up in an unrealistic dream and to test and grind you.
In 1991, Guan Jinpeng decided to put the story of the legendary actress Ruan Lingyu on the big screen, he originally wanted to find Anita Mui to play the role, but Anita Mui could not go to Shanghai to film at that time.
After careful consideration, Guan Jinpeng still found his "old partner" Maggie Cheung.
Maggie Cheung is very interested in Ruan Lingyu's story, because they have both experienced being regarded as "vases", and they are both easy to fight for love.
After wearing a cheongsam, shaving her eyebrows, learning to walk as a Republican woman, and doing all the preparations, Maggie Cheung officially entered the crew.
But on the eve of the filming, Maggie Cheung was "betrayed" by her ex-boyfriend Hank.
Hank sold the letters they dated to the Hong Kong entertainment press and threatened Maggie Cheung to reveal more information.
Her ex-boyfriend's sensational nonsense caused an uproar in Hong Kong, and Maggie Cheung was forced to stand in the center of public opinion, enduring the abuse and sarcasm of her from the outside world.
Like Ruan Lingyu, who finally chose to commit suicide more than half a century ago because of her fearful words, Maggie Cheung was also bombed by rumors.
It's just that she was not crushed by these things, but projected her feelings of grievances and resentment into the play.
There is a providence in the underworld, and Maggie Cheung, who combines people and dramas, has contributed unparalleled explosive acting skills.
With this "Ruan Lingyu", 28-year-old Maggie Cheung directly swept the Best Actress Award at the Golden Horse Golden Statue, and even rushed out of Asia to take home the trophy of the Berlin Film Festival!
She became the first actor in the Chinese film industry to win acting awards at the three major European film festivals, which not only rewrote her resume career, but also opened a new chapter in the history of Chinese film.
03
In the 90s of last century, Maggie Cheung ushered in the most prosperous period of her acting career.
At that time, the Hong Kong film industry was still in its heyday, and Maggie Cheung, whose appearance and acting skills were also at their peak, naturally became the preferred female number one of major famous directors.
During this period, she successively launched a number of popular heavyweight works.
For example, in "Green Snake", she is a charming and charming "Xiaoqing" who does not know the world.
Or in "East Evil and West Poison", she is a "sister-in-law" who has experienced vicissitudes and is depressed and clear.
And in "Sweet Honey", she is the energetic, affectionate and bumpy "Li Qiao".
Maggie Cheung's performance is always so appropriate, flexible and free.
Smooth and delicate, but also explosive and infectious.
In 2000, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung starred together in the classic masterpiece "In the Mood for Love" that is enough to go down in world film history.
Maggie Cheung in the film is swaying and mournful, and she and Tony Leung stage an ambiguous relationship between men and women in the mottled and dreamy light and shadow.
This literary film directed by Wong Kar-wai was a great success after its release, Maggie Cheung once again won the Golden Horse Golden Statue double film, and Tony Leung stood on the winner's table at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2004, Maggie Cheung took out her last starring film "Clean".
The director and screenwriter of the film is Olivier Assayas, who has been married to Maggie Cheung for four years, in other words, this is a work tailored by her ex-husband for Maggie Cheung.
It is said that the two signed a divorce agreement at the filming site of the film, and then insisted on finishing the film with professionalism.
And Maggie Cheung showed a return to the basics of performance in "Clean", without deliberate costume styling, even the clothes she wore in the play were her own.
Even so, her acting skills are still pure, weightless, and successfully won the honor of actress at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
After acting in "Clean", 40-year-old Maggie Cheung has basically reaped all the world-class awards except the Oscars and Venice films, and has slowly faded out of the film industry and no longer takes on any film works.
There were occasional news of her "comeback" on the Internet, but in the end, it was also gone.
But no one expected that Maggie Cheung, who had been silent for ten years, would come out again as a rock singer.
In 2014, Maggie Cheung signed with Modern Sky and also stood on the stage of the Shanghai Strawberry Music Festival, performing a psychedelic rock style "Sweet Honey" with her characteristic bass smoke voice.
Perhaps because of his first appearance as a singer, or perhaps because of the non-standard pronunciation of Mandarin, in short, this performance was a great failure.
The overwhelming ridicule and boos surrounded Maggie Cheung again, and she did not flinch with a rock spirit, saying that she would still move forward on the road of music.
In private, Maggie Cheung was also sad to cry because of this failed performance, but she will never give up because of a few criticisms from others.
Stubborn and sincere, candid and strong, this is Maggie Cheung.
Now, 58-year-old Maggie Cheung is completely out of the public eye, living alone in a civilian area, and after experiencing several failed relationships, she confesses that the best thing is single.
She has been silent for 18 years, which is really a pity, but respects her choice.
In the entertainment industry of sound and color, Maggie Cheung is destined to be a different existence.
Feel free and eclectic.
She chose to retire at the peak, not bound by fame and fortune, and turned around to embrace her own free life.
Although she bluntly claims that she is "greedy for vanity", she has proved with practical actions that she only obeys the call of her heart and is never bound by the world.
In the first half of her life, Maggie Cheung completed a counterattack from the controversial "vase" to the unrivaled "Manshen".
In the second half of her life, she should stay away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy a more pure and peaceful happiness.
Bless her!
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