In 1973, a Tianjin girl came to Beijing with a movie dream, her name was Li Xiuming, and she was only 19 years old at the time. Facing the bustling sea of people, Li Xiuming was full of hope and anxiety.
She hit a wall in Beijing Film Studio first, and she could have played the heroine in the new film "Haixia", but she fell short at the last moment, and the director was replaced by a younger and more beautiful newcomer.
Li Xiuming was so depressed that he cried all night in the dormitory. "I'm still a little younger, and my performance still needs to be tempered. She thought to herself, rubbing her red eyes.
At the same time, 24-year-old Wang Fuli also came to Beijing and ran into a wall in many movie theaters. finally waited for an opportunity to play the role of Jiangnan girl in Bayi Film Studio's new work "Water Guerrilla".
Wang Fuli was very happy, and finally looked forward to a good opportunity to make a name for herself. However, on the eve of the start-up, the investor suddenly withdrew, and the film went yellow. This is a huge blow to Wang Fuli, who is looking forward to the screen.
"I'm obviously outstanding enough in acting, but I'm unlucky!" She thought indignantly.
Although the beginning was not smooth, the experience of going north this time made both of them feel cruel and hard. As actors, they have to withstand more failures and blows in order to gain a foothold in this circle.
"As long as you truly love acting, you will usher in a broader stage. Li Xiuming and Wang Fuli both believed so. Sure enough, the follow-up works opened the door of light for this pair of talented girls, allowing them to emerge and shine.
Failure is just the mother of success, and their acting career has just begun.
In 1981, almost simultaneously, the two major film production agencies focused on the best-selling novel "Xu Mao and His Daughters" by Sichuan writer Zhou Keqin, and decided to adapt it to the screen.
In order to gain an advantage in the competition, they set up two "luxury lineups": Beijing Film Studio gathered old drama bones such as "Beiying Sanhua"; Bayi Film Studio has gathered many popular idols such as Tian Hua, one of the "22 stars".
However, what really attracts the attention of the outside world is the candidate who plays the heroine Xu Xiuyun.
In the Beijing Film Studio version, the director chose the popular and powerful Hua Dan Li Xiuming to play the role of "Four Girls". Bayi Factory invited Wang Fuli, who shined in the TV series "Green Sea Tianya", to play this role.
The two actors then "competed" in the same play, in the same year, and in the same role. One of them is known for crying blood affectionately, and the other is known for being restrained and subtle.
Will it be possible to leave its mark on this ill-fated woman through different interpretations?
After the filming was completed, the two versions of the film were released one after another, which was a sensation. People compared, judged, and debated about who was the best of the two actors.
This is not only a wonderful showdown of acting, but also a long-awaited visual feast for fans. You sing, I will appear, and the big PK battle of the "four girls" on the screen has officially kicked off.
Among the many praises, Xu Xiuyun played by Li Xiuming is known for her delicate and tactful, and she whispered the woman's sad journey with a pair of talking eyes. When facing her loved ones, the sorrow in her eyes makes people want to cry when they see it - it is a silent complaint of family misfortune, an endless hidden pain.
When getting along with her cold-blooded and ruthless husband, the resentment in her eyes almost turned into a knife and stripped him of shameless cruelty. Li Xiuming's speech speed is very slow, her voice is soft, and her movements are dull and slow, but this is more like the posture of a middle-aged rural woman who has experienced vicissitudes for a long time.
This sense of incongruity only reinforces the verisimilitude of identity.
This superb "reduction and deduction method" is even more incisive in the scene where Xu Xiuyun is preparing to jump into the river. Through the subtle changes in the direction and pace of her toes, Li Xiuming perfectly interprets the mental journey of this decisive woman to death, and there is almost no too fierce expression on her face.
Through the passage of the later shots and the gradual progression of the soundtrack, the audience seems to have followed the heroine and the camera to the end of the road. Li Xiuming's "trinity" of high and deep integration with his acting skills can be described as a well-deserved artistic realm.
If Li Xiuming captures people's hearts through his eyes and emotions, Wang Fuli's Xu Xiuyun is more like the wild begonia that stands in the wind and rain in the original book - soft on the outside but tough on the inside, able to withstand the test of fate.
She is tough in the face of her father, passionate in the face of her rivals, and calm and calm when she confronts vicious attackers. Wang Fuli frequently conveys her spirit through the changes in her voice, and her tone is sometimes gentle like water, sometimes firm and powerful, and the alternating contrasts are impressive.
This kind of "two-faced person" character who is soft on the outside and strong on the inside is vividly presented by her superb interpretation.
In addition, Wang Fuli is also very good at playing motherhood. Her gentle gaze and gentle tone perfectly interpret the image of a loving mother. When she gets along with the two children in the play, she reveals a loving and tenacious maternal aura all over her body.
The only small flaw is the bun on the back of her head, which is not very harmonious with the background of the era at the time, and it is slightly "old-fashioned". But this does not detract from the classic female image she has successfully created that is soft on the outside and rigid on the inside, full of maternal halo.
When we revisit these two versions of the classics after 42 years, it makes no sense to judge their artistic merits. Li Xiuming and Wang Fuli take their own strengths, you have me, I have you, they are as dazzling as twin stars.
Li Xiuming controls the audience with detailed and subtle emotional changes, while Wang Fuli shocks people through the layered rendering of voices and expressions. Both of them are the ultimate play of acting skills, and the pattern is so high that it is impossible to judge.
Nowadays, it is even more difficult to find the profound and thorough interpretation of these two masters. At present, actresses are either too "foreign" and have lost the softness of oriental women; Either the desire for self-performance is too strong, but it destroys the atmosphere of the work.
We sincerely hope that the film industry can reproduce the outstanding actors of the Lee Wong system, and hope that young audiences can also appreciate, inherit and carry forward these immortal classics.
Only when the new soul resonates with these old works will they be truly eternal.