Wen 丨 Yellow Millet
Andy Lau just celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his debut with his fans in the form of live broadcasting, the scene was grand, the well-known host was invited to visit that night, and Hua Tsai's style was also meticulous, completely without the casualness of ordinary stars live broadcasting.
Also in July, another heavenly king, Jacky Cheung, celebrated his sixtieth birthday, and sixty artists sent a congratulatory video, and he himself appeared in the company's conference room in civilian clothes and made a simple celebration with his colleagues.
Born in 1961, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau have been awarded the "World Outstanding Youth", and their influence on generations of Chinese is beyond doubt. In the Chinese entertainment industry, they almost define what a pop idol is: in terms of business, they deserve to be both singer and film, have their own works in the song and film world, and have cherished the public image for many years, and every public appearance is cautious and courteous.
Jacky Cheung often attributes success to luck, and Andy Lau always forgets to mention diligence. In fact, in addition to being favored by fate and working hard, they first of all know very well what is most suitable for themselves, and they know what they want most early, and their evergreen star path is largely the result of years of sober choice.
Andy Lau said in the preview of the 40th anniversary of entering the industry that this is to celebrate a person who has worked hard for forty years. In the live broadcast, Andy Lau summed up that he was "not prominent in all aspects, but he is not inferior to others in all aspects". The host asked about Andy Lau's personality, but in fact, the narrative he has operated over the years could not be clearer: a hard-working "stupid child" has become the perfect idol.
Today's Andy Lau does not need to prove himself in any way, but he will still worry about his lack of traffic, last year in order to promote the movie "Bomb Disposal Expert 2" for the first time to participate in Via's live broadcast, the response is good before rest assured to enter The Vibrato.
In the live broadcast, he shared that his attitude in the face of criticism was "reflect on words, but don't refute everything", but he has always been refuting with progress. Let the people who say that he is not good at singing come back to listen to him sing, and once said after winning the Golden Horse Award for "Infernal Affairs 3": "I know that it is more difficult for everyone to think that I will act, but my performance will not embarrass you in the future", until "Sister Peach" won the award again, he felt that it was justified in acting.
Infernal Affairs 3: The Ultimate Infinity
Since years of exposure of his partner, Andy Lau has begun to be asked more about family life, and everyone is curious about why he still hides his marriage and love at his age, and he often politely refuses on the grounds that "family things are not said now". Even if he is rarely willing to share, answers such as "only two weeks a year when in love is used to spend with his girlfriend" confirm the speculation from the outside world: he sacrificed his private happiness because of maintaining his idol image.
As a result, "strong sense of victory and defeat" and "heavy idol baggage" have also become the impression of ordinary people on him.
In the context of Hong Kong film history or Hong Kong history, the 1980s were not just a rise of Andy Lau or a Jacky Cheung, but a group of superstars who could make a name for themselves in Hong Kong's film/entertainment industry, a group that was generally born in the second half of the 1950s to the first half of the 1960s. As a group that has personally experienced the economic take-off of Hong Kong from scratch after the Civil War and witnessed the most difficult life in the city, it is deeply imprinted in the hearts of Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung, which is actually the determination and perseverance of the so-called "under the Lion Rock" spirit of struggle.
In that generation of Hong Kong stars, before their debut, it is common to taste the hardships of the world, such as Mui Yanfang, who sold and sang in Liyuan at a very young age, such as Leung Chao-wai, who worked as a newspaper boy and an electrical salesman, etc. After they became famous, especially when they entered the golden period of performance, the audience often felt the true intuition of the world from their performances, and the characters they played seemed to have never been suspended in mid-air, but really mingled with the real world.
Mei Yanfang in childhood
Even for a nonsensical comedy like Stephen Chow, which seems to be more extreme, the spiritual core is still directly communicated with the daily life of Sheng Dou Xiaomin, which can still be clearly felt even in the works of the director since he no longer appeared in the film.
The King of Comedy
It can be said that this group of entertainment stars, born around the 1960s, has a very "Hong Kong" spirit of entertainment, and also embodies the "walking with Hong Kong", which is quite similar to the Greek mythological Hercules-style spirit of unremitting struggle, which is what shaped the rapid progress of Hong Kong's entertainment industry in the performance level in the 1970s and 90s.
Andy Lau spent his youth in Lam Tin Uk Estate in Kowloon, where he later named the rebuilt building. The story of the fame of the children of the cold door is actually rare in reality, which makes him a representative of the spirit of "under the Lion Rock". His so-called idol baggage is actually a strict standard for himself as a public figure, and his definition of an entertainment idol is a celebrity who can make a positive impact. His standards may be old-school, and it is still very unpleasant to meet the era of advocating rebellion and frankness, but his consistent positive and enterprising momentum finally coincides with today's era of "positive energy".
The public figure is a social role selected by Andy Lau very early, which is more suitable for him than a simple movie star and a singer. For him, there is no difference between the stage and the inside and outside of the camera, which has nothing to do with whether he is followed by the camera at any time. His reputation in the circle is unassailable, and Xiang Tai and Wu Siyuan, who had helped him in difficult times, both praised his Zhi En Tu. Younger filmmakers such as Chen Guo and Ning Hao have all been promoted by him, saying that he is the most non-interventionist investor in creation, and his contemporaries Zhang Weijian, Lin Jiadong and Li Keqin are grateful to him for sending charcoal in the snow.
He is the grandfather of the fans, and at a concert in 2007, he jumped off the stage to prevent the security guards from making rough moves against the fans who broke into the stage to offer flowers. The staff who have had a relationship with him often say that he is considerate and careful.
Outsiders see that his private space is squeezed by his career, in fact, the proportion of his private affairs has always been so small. When he was not sure that his other half was also ready for public scrutiny, he chose to avoid talking about it. A look at the British royal family may show that few people can accept everything that serves the public image. Andy Lau's best protection for his family may be to let them "live in the shadows". He doesn't think that being too ambitious is a sacrifice, "everything is his own choice." Eating salted fish to quench his thirst, he actually got what he wanted.
After Andy Lau became a box office guarantee with a series of films with director Du Qifeng, he had already relaxed a lot in an interview. He confessed that he was a person with baggage, "when he thought of himself and Andy Lau, he couldn't just get angry", and generously said that in order to repay the debt owed for the failure of investment films, "from 96 onwards" to shoot indiscriminately. When asked by Shen Dianxia why the big mainland directors did not come to him to cooperate, he said: "I am a commercial film actor." After that, of course, he cooperated with Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yimou. At the Golden Horse Awards, he won the film emperor again with "Sister Tao", and as one of the investors, he joked: "I spent money to buy the film emperor myself", and Chen Kexin and Er Dongsheng looked for him to act because "my efforts, not acting skills."
"Sister Peach"
Starting from "Infernal Affairs", the debate about the superiority of Andy Lau and Liang Chaowei's acting skills will appear from time to time. In 2003, Andy Lau said that in the past, he would not be convinced by others to say that he was not as good as Liang Chaowei, but now looking back at what he used to play, it was really not as natural as Liang Chaowei at that time. Now he said that he "chased almost", this time I believe that the second round will be launched after the release of Zhuang Wenqiang's "Goldfinger", and fans are blessed.
Infernal Affairs
After the accidental fall of his horse in 2017, Andy Lau, who has experienced a catastrophe, seems to be more willing to let people see his vulnerability. In this live broadcast, he confessed that he still has post-traumatic sequelae and sleep problems. In 2018, he cancelled the concert on the spot because of throat inflammation, and choked up tears on the stage, and the picture was unbearable to watch.
A similar story happened earlier to "Singer" Jacky Cheung, who lost his voice in 2005 due to a cold and interrupted the Taiwanese performance of the music festival "Snow Wolf Lake", and in the previous few years he was afraid that his singing career would end because of his voice. Fortunately, he found a way to cope with it, repeatedly creating a record for the number of concerts, and singing until now.
Snow Wolf Lake
Jacky Cheung completed a three-year world tour two years ago (incidentally to help catch fugitives), because he did not participate in variety shows, did not make new movies, in addition to being a concert guest for other singers, or singing for Disney movies and the epidemic, the news is really limited.
Director Chen Kexin has long helped Jacky Cheung publicize his principle of not leaving home for too long, and Tang Wei also mentioned that when he was filming in Hong Kong, he "disappeared as soon as he finished his work." After getting married and having children, Jacky Cheung's life priorities have also been decided, and when he leaves the stage, he only wants to be an ordinary person. He later joked that "after finding out that I am not an idol, I am not afraid to expose my relationship", but he did say many times that "housewife is the happiest job I have ever done."
The order of singing and acting is also obvious to him, and his favorite is always music. Jacky Cheung's influence in the music scene has penetrated into a generation of male singers. Many people have stages of imitating him, such as Lin (Junjie) Xueyou, Chen (Eason) Xueyou, and Wang (Lihong) Xueyou. Not to mention these well-known singers, in the era when KTV was still quite popular, almost every box will have a wild xueyou.
Jacky Cheung's songs are suitable for sublimating various situations in life: all kinds of loose guys can be wild "Blessing"; the imminent loss of love has "Coffee" and "If This Is Not Love"; the complete loss of love can play "Breakup Always in the Rain", "A Thousand Sad Reasons" and "Kiss Goodbye"; the wedding can choose "Your Name My Last Name" and "Your Most Precious"; if you have a happy life after marriage, it is "Love You More Every Day"; when you do sports, it is suitable for listening to "The Weather Is So Hot" and "Hair Is Messy". There are also several profound female biographies, "Distant Her", "She Came to My Concert" and "Love Letters", which are suitable for all ages to review the truth.
The forced suspension of "Snow Wolf Lake" was not the first time jacky Cheung's seemingly smooth singing career encountered a crisis. When he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Carmen in Mong Kok", he was at the trough of his career, with dismal record sales and no awards in music. For a while afterwards, he continued to make movies because he felt that it was not safe to only sing.
Carmen Mongkok
Perhaps out of the same insecurity, Jacky Cheung's stage performance has gradually become another of his killer skills. His concerts are not only beautiful, but also beautiful. Although he often jokes that Aaron Kwok learns to dance much faster than himself and that he is not naturally beautiful enough, the attraction he exudes on stage can rival that of Western pop idols, and it is also a source of confidence that he later wants to make original musicals. Of course, the styling is also very different from the delivery man in the early years (Zhang Xiaoyan's evaluation).
It is worth mentioning that Jacky Cheung is the concentrated representative of the stage style of his generation of singers. Since the early 1980s, the Hong Kong music scene has been surging forward, with the comprehensive modernization of the singer's personal stage style and stage art design, the audience in the city has gone crazy, even if it has an imitation of the Occidental pop music performance style, but the 50s and 60s singers including Tam Wing Lin, Cheung Kwok Wing, Chen Baiqiang, Jacky Cheung, Li Keqin, etc., have shown their freedom on the stage, and from the external form, they have first opened up the distance from the previous generation of era singers.
Since the 1980s, Tam Wing Lin's incitement to the atmosphere, Aaron Kwok's dance, and Jacky Cheung's extreme devotion have all become the topic of conversation among Chinese pop music fans, which is not only passed on by word of mouth, but directly reflected in the number of performances and box office figures of idol concerts in these eras.
Aaron Kwok
Jacky Cheung went from becoming popular to entering the hall level, fortunately in the most prosperous era of the Chinese record industry, and the indicators of success were the big sales of records, the difficulty of obtaining a ticket for concerts, the highest radio playback rate, and the championship at the end of the year.
In today's music scene, powerful singers must obtain traffic by participating in variety shows. Jacky Cheung has publicly stated that the reason why he declined the invitation of "I Am a Singer" is because he has lived very comfortably in these years, does not want to go to the competition, and is judged by others.
Jacky Cheung is most often talked about by fans about a series of funny characters: the hilarious "Ah Fei and Aki", the affectionate and silly Hong Qigong, and of course, the black fly.
"Ah Fei and Aki" "Ah Fei and Aki"
Because of the black fly emoji who knows Jacky Cheung, I can only say that you missed a lot.
Carmen Mong Kok
Jacky Cheung's charm lies in the mix and matching of conflict elements: joy and sexiness (yes) are together, and unrestrained and shy coexist.
The best capture of his complex temperament is Kishi's two sketch-style films, Forty Men and Full Moon Hennessy. In "Man Forty", the Chinese language teacher in the classroom is to cater to the students' hard and funny Chinese teacher, the good mr. who has no opinion at home, the loser with strong self-esteem among his peers, and the fawn bumps like a young man when facing the active female students.
"Man Forty"
Jacky Cheung in "Full Moon Hennessy" is a bit like the comedian Steve Carell in "Forty-Year-Old Virgin", playing the role of a pure middle-aged man who is not easy to believe.
"Full Moon Hennessy" 《Moon Full Hennessy》
In recent years, he and Lin Jiaxin have cooperated again in "Dark Heaven", which also has a more breakthrough performance, which makes people look forward to the day when he can try a stage play.
Dark Heaven
Andy Lau said in Lu Yu's program two years ago that he wanted to summon the Four Heavenly Kings to be mentors for a program that encouraged Cantonese pop songs. It's exciting to think about because they haven't fit together in a long time. In 2003, the four kings sang "Love of the Year" together before the "Golden Statue" award ceremony that year, in honor of the recently deceased Zhang Guorong.
At the end of that year, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau were guests at Mui Yanfang's farewell concert, and later attended her funeral. Chen Baiqiang, Luo Wen, Zhang Guorong, Mei Yanfang, these idols who were once like thunder, have not lived to the year of "ear shun", and not every idol can accompany us through every spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Sixty-one jiazi, people who have the honor of witnessing Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau are all honored. Whether they are fans or not, both have become the signpost of the times, leaving two golden signs in the collective memories of generations.
This golden signboard, not only belongs to the two of them, but belongs to their generation, they may have entered the process of being remembered, but still with continuous efforts to show the world the respect of Hong Kong entertainment industry for the Bank.
In this process, many names that have been contemporaries of these superstars have been washed away by the torrent of time, such as Lin Li and Hu Weikang, members of the Hong Kong Tigers who co-launched the "Heart Debt" album with Mui Yanfang, such as Ruan Zhaoxiang, the third runner-up player after the champion Li Keqin in the 2nd District Amateur Singing Competition.
To some extent, they and countless other behind-the-scenes workers are the protagonists who contributed to the "Golden Age", in the ever-fluctuating entertainment industry ecology and life journey, they are the growing and mature side-by-side partners of Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung, and the direct soil that makes up Hong Kong's entertainment industry. When we remember the times that touched our hearts, we should not forget them.