In the early 1980s, the great director Li Hanxiang was invited to the mainland to start filming the Qing Palace trilogy.
At that time, the film received strong support from the mainland, not only filming in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, becoming the first film to be filmed in the Imperial City of the Forbidden City, but also inviting a number of Qing history experts to participate in the creation of the script, and its production scale was unprecedented at that time.
Taking "Burning the Yuanmingyuan", which is the opening work of the Qing Palace trilogy, as an example, during the filming of the film, director Li Hanxiang actually spent 640,000 yuan to build a simulated Yuanmingyuan location, and burned it at the end of the shooting, which shows the film's big hand.
"Burning The Yuanmingyuan" and "Hanging curtains and listening to the government" were released in Hong Kong in 1983, and the two films ranked 4th and 9th in the Hong Kong domestic box office that year, with a total box office of more than 27 million, starring Leung Ka Fai won the Academy Award, and the film also won the Ministry of Culture Excellent Film Award, which is the limelight.
Li Hanxiang's Qing Palace trilogy, which went to the mainland to shoot, was a great success, which led to a boom in Qing Palace drama in Hong Kong and the mainland.
In the mid-to-late 1980s alone, there were countless film and television works about Cixi, Puyi and other people in power of the last imperial dynasty, including masterpieces of film history, such as "The Last Emperor", which won nine Oscars and directed by italian director Bertolucci.
The more the Qing palace drama was filmed, the story of Cixi, Puyi and even the Manchu Qing king was interpreted and told over and over again, and some directors targeted the eunuch group with more gimmicks. Such roles are common in various costume court dramas, but they can only be supporting roles, and because of their intimate and humble identity attributes, modern people are more curious and imaginative.
In 1987, Hong Kong released a biopic "China's Last Eunuch".
At first glance, the title of the film may make people think that it is just a curious work of eyeballs, but this film is a real-life and true-life adaptation, not only the stars are gathered, but also has received multiple nominations for the 8th Academy Awards, and many people think that it is an underrated masterpiece.
In this issue of "Forgotten Domestic Genre Films", let's revisit this old movie from 34 years ago.
The Last Eunuch in China
Last Eunuch in China
The director of the film is Zhang Zhiliang, and this film is also his directorial debut.
Although fledgling, Zhang Zhiliang has gained a firm foothold in the Hong Kong film industry with this film, and became the most important literary and art film director in the Hong Kong film industry in the 1990s, and his masterpiece "Caged People" has won many awards including the Academy Awards for Best Film and Director, and has been praised as "a model of Hong Kong realistic film".
In terms of screenwriting, there are both Fang Lingzheng, who is famous for literary and art films, and Ni Kuang, who is active in the commercial film market, to participate in the check.
The main actor in the film is Mo Shaocong, who is also played by Liang Kuan in Xu Ke's version of the "Huang Feihong" series. In 1980, Mo Shaocong was signed by Li's TV station, began to become an actor, and entered Shaw in 1982, because of his handsome appearance, sharp hands, quite popular with the audience and the film appointment, is a quite famous martial arts student in the later stage of Shaw.
As early as 1984, Mo Shaocong was nominated for the Best Newcomer award at the 3rd Academy Awards for "Wulin Sacred Fire Order", and then starred in martial arts films such as "Demon Soul" and "Water Warrior", and when he starred in "The Last Eunuch in China", Mo Shaocong was 26 years old, hoping to transform from a star to a professional actor through this film.
The big celebrities who participated in the film performance also included Wen Bixia, Hong Jinbao, Jiao Enjun, Lin Zhengying, Gui Yalei, Noon Ma, Chen You and other familiar faces in the film industry, it is worth mentioning that there is also Andy Lau who plays soy sauce in the film, playing the role of a revolutionary who does not play a small role, Andy Lau was invited to guest star because he and director Zhang Zhiliang were classmates in the wireless training class.
Baohe Company, a subsidiary of Hong Jinbao, undertook the production, Hong Jinbao supervised the production, and the planner was Wu Ma and Zeng Zhiwei, and the film achieved a box office success of 15 million after its release that year, and was the most successful Qing Palace theme film after Li Hanxiang's "Burning Yuanmingyuan".
The protagonist of the film does have its historical archetype, the story is adapted from a semi-autobiographical novel by the eunuch Sun Yaoting, who in 1916 became a eunuch and took care of The Princess Duankang, Empress Wanrong, and in his later years he published the autobiographical novel "The Last Eunuch in China", which also became the main source of inspiration for the film.
Although the protagonist of the film is a eunuch, the film reflects the turmoil of the great era in the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic through this humble little person, although the title of the film is somewhat curious, but after watching the whole film, people feel sorry and helpless.
In 1912, the last empress dowager Longyu issued Puyi's abdication edict, officially ending the fate of the Qing Dynasty.
However, the rise and fall of the dynasty is destined to make some people behind it fall victim to the times.
Eunuchs are a group of people who were forgotten and sacrificed in the last dynasty.
Having experienced the pain of purification, they can only enter the palace by giving up the words called "baby", in essence, they are also slaves around the royal family, and only those who are born poor will embark on this tragic road that cannot be turned over in order to make a living.
The protagonist of the film, Laixi, is the last eunuch in the last imperial dynasty.
The story begins in the third year of the late Qing Dynasty, in Jinghai County, Hebei Province.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was crumbling, and some powerful eunuchs saw that the general trend had gone, so they resigned their posts and went into hiding, including the powerful eunuch Xiao Dezhang.
Little Dezhang, who returned to his hometown, lived a life of fine clothes and food in the local area and became a famous local big figure, and in that era, ordinary people were hungry and hungry, and the rich and powerful Little Dezhang naturally became the envy of many hungry and cold children.
The protagonist Laixi was still young at the time, and often pretended to be a little Dezhang who was returning to his hometown with poor children nearby.
They did not understand the true meaning of eunuchs, but simply thought that if they became eunuchs, they would be able to live a good life.
Laixi's family is destitute, he is the eldest in the family, and he has two younger sisters, Lai's father (Lin Zhengying) is a farmer with little knowledge, his wife (Gui Yalei) is dissatisfied with her husband's idleness, the couple often quarrels, and the days are getting more and more difficult.
The young Laixi was very sensible, and he begged his father to help him cleanse himself into the palace, because in the eyes of the young Laixi——
As long as he entered the palace, he didn't have to starve anymore, and at this time he didn't know the price of purification.
On this day, when lai xi returned to her mother's house, lai xi asked her father to take a sickle to clean himself.
The father could not do it, but the son who did not understand things urged the father to do it directly,
With a click, blood flowed on the bed, and the curtain was drawn on the tragedy of Laixi.
Lai Xi purified himself, but he did not know that the outside world had already been turned upside down.
The fate of the Qing Dynasty was ended, and Laixi's dream of becoming a eunuch was stillborn.
Laixi became the laughing stock of the village, and Lai's father had to send his son to the drama class in the city and become a dramatist.
Fast forward more than ten years, the adult Lai Xiyin has been clean since childhood, has his own feminine temperament, and he sang Danjiao in the drama class under the guidance of the drama class master (Hong Jinbao).
With the careful teaching of the master, Laixi is very popular in singing on the stage that the noble concubines are drunk, especially Laixi's appearance is very feminine, and even overwhelms many female dramas.
Naturally, it has also aroused the covetousness of some good male bullies, including the lustful warlord Huang Dashuai.
Although the dynasty has changed, Laixi has always been worried about being able to enter the palace as a eunuch because he was cleansed since he was a child.
One night, the other disciples were very drunk, and those who did good deeds went to the Bada Hutong to find a secret prostitute, and Laixi did not dare to reveal his identity, could not withstand the pushing and shoving of others, and was forced into a rouge room.
The brothers paid for Laixi intimately, and Sister Su in the kiln began to take the initiative to stir up Laixi.
However, how could a eunuch visit the kiln, and Sister Su soon recognized Laixi's true body.
The inferior Laixi crouches in the corner like a child who has made a mistake, and he is afraid of being known his "secret".
Sister Su saw through Laixi's heart and knew that his brothers were listening to the room and watching the liveliness, so she deliberately performed a play in the room to help Laixi hide the unspeakable secret, which made Laixi very grateful.
The same is the fallen people of Tianya, Laixi and Sister Su are just some people who are struggling to make a living in the chaotic world.
At the same time, in the brothel, Laixi meets Zhao Di (Wen Bixia), a childhood friend of Qingmei Zhuma, who is sold into a kiln by his patriarchal parents because of his family poverty, but Zhao Di prefers to die, so he hides in Lai Xi's room.
After many years of reunion, Zhao Di mistakenly believed that Laixi was a revolutionary party.
In her opinion, it is the great hero in the play, so she prays for joy to save herself from the sea of suffering and elope together.
Lai Xi goes back to say goodbye to his master, but unexpectedly meets the warlord's aide-de-camp (Jiao Enjun), who has to bring Xi to the Grand Marshal's Mansion.
Laixi couldn't decide his own fate and had to succumb to Huang Dashuai, but Huang Dashuai wanted Na Laixi to be a concubine.
Fortunately, Laixi's master was quite bold, and he was determined to protect Laixi, so he let Laixi escape with his brother.
Tragically, at this time, Zhao Di learned that Lai Xi was a eunuch and regarded him as a monster.
Disappointed Zhao Di left xi alone, lai xi realized——
There is no way to live like a normal person.
Laixi offended the warlord and was cornered, but in order to protect Laixi, the master agreed to let Laixi enter the palace as a eunuch.
Before leaving, the master left Laixi with a piece of advice:
Even if you are a eunuch, you must be a dignified and backbone eunuch chief.
The words were divided into two ends, but he said that Zhao Di left the theater and planned to return to the Bada Hutong to make a living.
Unexpectedly, he met a wounded man, Han Min (Andy Lau), who was holding a gun and was a genuine revolutionary party.
Han Min was being hunted down and killed by the gendarmerie, and Zhao Di hurriedly picked him up and helped him evade the hunt.
On the other hand, Laixi was introduced by the master and finally entered the palace as a eunuch.
At that time, although the Qing Dynasty had fallen, it was still allowed to live in the Forbidden City, so there were still many eunuchs left.
Lai Xi meets his superior, Duke Ding (Wu Ma), in the palace, and officially begins his court life.
As a newcomer, Laixi remembered the master's teachings and wanted to be innocent, and when he first entered the court, he found that there were eunuchs who privately took the treasures of the palace to be sold outside the palace, and Laixi refused to go along with the flow, so he reported the matter to Duke Ding.
Ironically, the other eunuchs in the palace were complicit in their efforts to reveal that they could not succeed, but instead they were framed and tragically punished.
This setback did not dispel Laixi's enthusiasm, and he and Duke Ding also hoped to be able to advise Emperor Puyi.
Unexpectedly, not long after, a fire suddenly broke out in Jianfu Palace.
Apparently, someone was afraid of exposing the crime of stealing and selling palace treasures, so they set fire to destroy all the evidence of the crime.
After the incident, the emperor ordered all eunuchs to be expelled from the palace, and overnight, all the eunuchs suddenly lost their jobs.
The lonely Laixi walked out of the Forbidden City and returned to the drama class, but it was already empty.
The gendarmes on the street searched everywhere for the revolutionary party, and when LaiXi was hesitating and did not know where to go, he accidentally reunited with zhao brother,
At this time, Zhao Di was married to a human wife, and pregnant, and was hiding from the search, which made Lai Xi guess that her husband might be a revolutionary party, and the kind Lai Xi took Zhao Brother with him and escaped the search.
Zhao Di gave birth to a child, and Lai Xi carefully took care of the orphan and widow mother.
After a long time, LaiXi and Zhao Di will live like a family, partnering up to live.
In the chaotic world, Laixi always kept his duty, and the family lived by selling sour plum soup, although poor, but also stable,
Now Laixi only wants to live a down-to-earth life, but unexpectedly, the former boss Ding Gonggong came to the door.
It turned out that Puyi was now driven out of the Forbidden City and imprisoned in the Japanese consulate, with no one to serve him, so Ding Gonggong came to find Laixi, hoping to move him to continue to serve the emperor, in Ding Gonggong's view, serving the royal family is the duty and mission of the eunuch.
Lai Xiben was reluctant to agree to Duke Ding, but he also knew that he could not become the real husband of Zhao Di.
He took out his former eunuch clothes, left all his belongings to his brother Zhao, and said goodbye:
What you need is a husband, and what the emperor needs is a eunuch.
In this way, Laixi followed Ding Gonggong, changed into a eunuch's uniform, and came to the consulate, wanting to ask to see Puyi.
But the arrogant Japanese wanted to drive away the two, and between pushing and shoving, Ding Gonggong's carry-on "treasure" accidentally fell and was eaten by the dogs of the Japanese gendarmes.
At this time, Puyi happened to pass by, looking at the courtiers who were still loyal to him, but he just walked away indifferently.
In the end, Ding Gonggong died sadly in the endless regrets, and Laixi buried Ding Gonggong and buried his treasure with Ding Gonggong to accompany the funeral, so as to satisfy Ding Gonggong's wish that he could have a whole corpse after death.
Laixi returns home, and in order to ask for forgiveness from his brother, Laixi cuts off his braids to prove that he will abandon the past and become a new person.
Zhao Di finally accepted Laixi, and the two were so happy that they lived for several years.
The good times did not last long, one day Lai Xi went out to go home, but found that there was more than one man in the family, it was Zhao Di's former husband Han Min.
The two husbands were not embarrassed to meet, and HanMin thought that he owed too much to zhao di's mother and son and was not qualified to be zhao di's husband again, but Lai Xi solemnly handed over the child in his arms to his biological father.
Laixi took the initiative to let go, planning to send the three members of the Zhao brother's family to the south.
At night, HanMin took his brother and children to the train station, but he never waited for the joy.
There were many gendarmes in the station to search and arrest, and Han Min was worried about exposure, so he had to take his brother with him to follow the flow of people on the train.
Unexpectedly, it still attracted the attention of the gendarmerie.
At the moment of crisis, someone at the entrance of the railway station suddenly shouted that the Qing Dynasty should be restored.
This man was None other than Laixi, who was shouting in the crowd in a eunuch suit in order to attract the attention of the gendarmes and cover his brother's escape.
However, the gendarmes only think that Laixi is crazy, and sees that the gendarmes are going to get on the train to search for them.
Lai Xi turned his heart sideways, actually took off his pants, and publicly showed his "sore spots" that he had hidden for many years.
Laixi wants to exchange the greatest shame in his life for the peace of his beloved.
He succeeded in attracting the attention of the gendarmerie, who beat up the troublesome Laixi, who was just looking up at the train leaving the platform.
The gendarmes saw the train leaving, and when they were tired, they threw it down and left.
LaiXi stared in the direction of the train leaving, smiling very sadly, just laughing and laughing but shedding tears.
However, he suddenly found a familiar figure not far from the platform, and Zhao Di was holding the child and looking at him.
Watching Zhao Di walk toward him, Laixi threw down the eunuch hat, he finally bid farewell to the identity of the eunuch and waited for his own happiness.
The wheels of the times are rolling forward, and no one knows what Laixi has experienced in this life...
This concludes the story of the film.
This "China's Last Eunuch" as a historical theme of the drama, the film with a big era of change as the background to describe a small person's humble and miserable life, the whole film is full of humanistic care and reflection on history, the eunuch Laixi's bumpy encounter reflects the chaos of that era and the ignorance of the people, so that the audience can sigh infinitely after watching it.
The success of the film lies in the creation of the protagonist Laixi such a vivid little character, born at the bottom, physically mutilated but did not let Laixi lose his conscience and nature, in Laixi's life path, Zhao Di is her yearning for beautiful love, the drama master and Ding Gonggong let him know how to be brave and responsible.
Although he is a little ignorant, he has always treated the pain of life with his own kindness. He also had his own code of integrity and morality, and he found that someone in the palace was smuggling antiques instead of writing off the man's account, and finally he was framed and beaten, but unfortunately in those days, that loyalty also became foolishness.
For a person like Laixi, his physical disability creates a spiritual inferiority complex.
However, the screenwriter completed the sublimation of this role through a dramatic ending.
When Laixi witnessed the danger of the beloved in his heart, he did not hesitate to take off his pants and reveal the scars that he had hidden all his life and did not dare to recognize people, regardless of the ridicule of everyone around him, just to protect the most important person in his life. It was also at this moment that this person, who had been discriminated against as the least man, became very manly and grandfatherly.
The movie is a tragic song of a small person, it does not have a magnificent scene, nor an overly curious exploitation plot, through a simple plot and the superb interpretation of many excellent actors, the protagonist laixi as a eunuch sad, pitiful and helpless to the fullest.
It is worth mentioning that due to the success of the film in that year, a few years later, the film launched a sequel "Farewell to the Forbidden City", although it was starred by the original team, but in fact, it was just the remaining shots in the previous work plus some reshoot scenes, and the re-production of the dog-tailed sequel was not as good as the previous work.