The reason why Li Hanxiang has been obsessed with filming "The Words of the Golden Vase Plum" for many years
In the early 60s of the 20th century, when Li Hanxiang and Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu both rose in the Asian film industry, they thought deeply about the collision of Chinese and Japanese cultures. Wakamatsu Koji's 1968 adaptation of The Words of the Plum in the Golden Vase grossly distorted the original work, which undoubtedly touched Li Hanxiang's insistence on the essence of Chinese literature.
He believes that this is a desecration of a treasure of Chinese literature, and that this mistake must be corrected by means of a film.
As a result, Li Hanxiang came up with the idea of directing "The Words of the Golden Vase Plum" himself. But he also knew that there was a gap between the fictional theatrical stage and the site of the monument, and that he had to be cautious.
In 1974, he tried to shoot "Double Glory in a Golden Vase" with traditional sets, but the reviews were mediocre. Li Hanxiang groaned and decided to change the strategy of segmented performance, and first filmed "Wu Song" with "Pan Jinlian" as the core.
In the mid-80s, when he finally had the opportunity to enter Chinese mainland to investigate the real scene, Li Hanxiang saw the opportunity and fulfilled his long-term wish.
In 1990, Li Hanxiang carefully organized a filming team to shoot historical sites in Chinese mainland. In the selection of actors, he found a newcomer who is very suitable for the complex role of "Ximen Qing" - Shan Liwen.
Li Hanxiang immediately contacted Shan Liwen and asked him to join the crew. This time, the script of "The Wind and Moon in the Golden Bottle" adopts the perspective of the chapter "Li Bei'er Secret Appointment on the Wall" in "The Words of the Golden Bottle", which mainly tells the story of Li Bei'er's married life after marrying into Ximen Mansion, as well as the story of the entanglement between her, Ximenqing and Pan Jinlian.
Li Hanxiang also mobilized the whole family to participate in the production of this film, with his wife Zhang Cuiying as the producer, and his daughter Li Dianlang in charge of the overall work.
The image of Ximen Qing in "The Golden Vase of Wind and Moon".
In this "Golden Vase Wind and Moon", Shan Liwen fully enriches and expands the image of Ximenqing, a negative man in the classical context, through his delicate and nuanced performance.
The Ximenqing he portrayed is a person who completely indulges materialism and is not bound by any ethics and morality. As long as it is a woman he is interested in, he will not hesitate to start a chase; In order to obtain wealth, he will also do whatever it takes; Even if his own son was killed, he could not be saved.
It can be said that through this wonderful interpretation, Shan Liwen infinitely magnified the negative characteristics of Ximenqing and presented an image of a villain.
This not only established his status as an actor in the role of "Ximen Qing" for many years, but also pushed his career to a new peak.
The historical influence of "The Wind and Moon in the Golden Vase".
This live-action version of "The Golden Vase of Wind and Moon" not only successfully fulfilled the wish of director Li Hanxiang for many years, but also became the last peak work in the Fengyue film series directed by him.
At the same time, it is also an attempt by the Hong Kong film industry to pay deep tribute to Chinese literary allusions on the eve of the handover. The real-life shooting technique of mainland monuments adopted in this film provided inspiration for the later remake of "The Words of the Golden Vase of Plums" by mainland filmmakers, leading to a new style of returning to the standard of language and writing and being faithful to the original work.
From this point of view, the influence of "The Wind and Moon in the Golden Bottle" has gone far beyond the movie itself. It not only fulfills the obsession of a generation of Hong Kong film masters, but also inherits the spirit of Chinese literary adaptation of films, and has a far-reaching positive impact on film and television creation across the Taiwan Strait, and can definitely be called a successful literary and artistic re-creation.