Among the many versions of Journey to the West, the 86th edition is undoubtedly the most classic.
This version of "Journey to the West" not only made actors such as Six Little Children and Xu Shaohua famous, but also impressed by a number of supporting roles.
For example, Zuo Dayu, the actor of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the play, is one of them.
Zuo Dayu's portrayal of Guanyin Bodhisattva in "Journey to the West" is solemn and kind-eyed, so that many viewers who believed in Guanyin at that time had a figurative image of their idol after watching TV, and decided that Guanyin should be Zuo Dayue's appearance.
To this end, after the filming of "Journey to the West" for many years, Zuo Dayue was often regarded as a Guanyin apparition by the audience he met.
As an actor, being able to portray the character so deeply is undoubtedly a great success.
Despite this, Zuo Dayue is not a class actor, except for the halfway home shooting of "Journey to the West", Zuo Dayue has always been a Xiang opera actor.
In September 1943, Zuo Dayue was born into a family of eunuchs in Hunan.
His father, Zuo Zonglian, was a former major general of the patriotic general Cheng Qian, gao shan, who served as county magistrate in Xingyang and Ruzhou in Henan after leaving office.
His mother, Zheng Fuqiu, was a famous Xiang opera performance artist and one of the four famous Xiang opera artists at that time.
Genetic inheritance coupled with a long period of edification, Zuo Dayue naturally fell in love with Xiang opera.
Since she was a child, she has always dreamed that she can one day stand on the stage like her mother and perform for everyone.
At the age of 11, Zuo Dayue was admitted to the Hunan Provincial Xiang Opera Troupe Actors Training Class, where he studied Xiang opera under Kong Yanlan.
From singing, reading, doing, and playing (the four skills) to the hands, eyes, body, law, and steps (five methods), after mastering the basic skills necessary for opera performance, Zuo Dayue was personally taught by his mother.
Three points of talent + seven points of hard work.
In 1959, the 16-year-old Zuo Dayue began to perform on stage.
From "Life and Death Card" and "Broken Bridge" to "Gardener's Song", with an excellent singing voice and beautiful appearance, Zuo Dayu soon gained a certain popularity in the Xiang opera industry, and the Xiang opera "Gardener's Song" starring him was also made into a movie opera.
Everyone knows that the director of "Journey to the West" is Yang Jie, but the matter that prompted Zuo Dayue to play the "Guanyin Bodhisattva" is a long story.
In 1976, CCTV sent director Yang Jie to Changsha and recorded a Xiang opera to bring back to Beijing. It was also this time that the 33-year-old Zuo Dayue's role as Guan Shiyin in the Xiang opera "Chasing Fish" attracted the attention of director Yang Jie.
After watching "Chasing Fish", Yang Jie said to Zuo Dayue, "Dayu, the Guan Shiyin you play is really quite similar, if I want to shoot Guanyin in the future, I will definitely find you to perform." ”
Hearing the praise, Zuo Dayue thought that Yang Jie was just polite and didn't care, so he smiled and replied, "Is it?" Thanks. ”
Time flickered, and six years passed.
In 1982, "Journey to the West" began to be filmed.
At that time, Zuo Dayue also became a regular guest of various drama awards because of a series of excellent works such as "Guo Liang" and "Princess of Hundred Flowers", from a small actor who was not well known at the beginning.
Receiving a telephone invitation from director Yang Jie, Zuo Dayue has just returned from the national tour of "The Princess of Hundred Flowers".
Although she has many years of stage experience, Zuo Dayue was still very panicked at the beginning, because singing opera is not the same as acting after all, and she is afraid that she will smash her performance and ruin the classic.
Coming to Beijing, Zuo Dayue, who was nervous, found the "Journey to the West" preparation team and said that he would try the play.
As soon as people saw her, they asked, "Are you here to perform Guanyin?" ”
Zuo Da Yue nodded and said, "Yes."
The man waved his hand again: "Don't try." ”
In this way, Zuo Dayue smoothly entered the crew of "Journey to the West".
Just arrived at the crew, the plain-faced Zuo Dayu once again "frightened" everyone and said to her, "There is no need to wear makeup at all, you take this clean bottle, and the white veil is draped, which is the appearance of Guanyin Bodhisattva."
In the face of the praise of the crowd, Zuo Dayu still did not dare to slack off in the slightest, but frequently shuttled through various monasteries, carefully observing and pondering the gestures, demeanors and expressions of Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Three points of appearance, seven points of charm, this is why the Guanyin Bodhisattva played by Zuo Dayue can be so close to everyone's mind.
Not only that, zuo Dayue also mentioned some interesting coincidences during the filming of "Journey to the West" in a later interview.
Once, Zuo Dayue and they went to Sichuan to shoot a movie.
When the crew arrived in Chengdu, there had been no sun in the local area for more than a month.
On the day of the official shooting, the sky was still overcast, and there was still a little light rain from time to time.
In the scene of Guanyin Bodhisattva, zuo Dayu, who was thinly dressed, could only be hardened on his scalp.
Who knows, the sky that was still gloomy a second ago actually began to clear when Zuo Dayue appeared, and then the sun that had not appeared for a long time also drilled out of the clouds.
These magical experiences made the crew colleagues admire Zuo Dayue so much that they "threw themselves to the ground", and some people gave her offerings half-jokingly on the spot.
Because of his own experience and the long-term experience he received in and out of the monastery, zuo Dayuet converted to Buddhism and became a devout Buddhist shortly after the first part of "Journey to the West" was filmed.
In the following ten years, Zuo Dayue, who became famous with "Journey to the West", did not enter the show business circle while the iron was hot, but continued to return to the Xiang Theater in Hunan Province to engage in opera performance.
In the past ten years, "Journey to the West" has been replayed over and over again in the audience's thousands of calls, and the Guanyin Bodhisattva in the play has also been printed into photos by many ordinary people and enshrined in their homes because they have become more and more popular.
What about Zuo Da Yue?
Although guanyin bodhisattva became popular overnight, she returned to the drama stage and never lost in the dividend of "Journey to the West".
In 1988, zuo Da yue won the 6th Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award for "Feng Zhen Grievance", "Broken Bridge" and "Piercing Eyes", becoming the first opera performance artist in Hunan to win the Plum Blossom Award.
In 1997, Zuo Da Yue won the Hunan Tian Han Performance Award and the 8th Wenhua Performance Award (the highest level award in the theater industry) for his starring role in "Zi Blood".
On the road accompanied by flowers and applause, Zuo Dayue walked more and more smoothly.
In 1998, amid the clamor of the masses, director Yang Jie began to prepare for the sequel to "Journey to the West".
Before deciding to let Zuo Dayue continue to play Guanyin, director Yang Jie actually had hesitations and hesitations, ten years ago, Zuo Dayue was just in his early 40s, and it was appropriate to play the solemn and holy Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Ten years later, Zuo Dayue, who is fifty years away, is still suitable for the role of Guanyin in terms of appearance, figure, and appearance?
Until I saw Zuo Dayue again, director Yang Jie dispelled his concerns: "After ten years, you have not changed at all."
After ten years of accumulation and precipitation, Zuo Dayue, whose acting skills and experience have been pure, in the sequel to "Journey to the West", Guanyin Bodhisattva once again surprised all sentient beings without suspense.
After the sequel to "Journey to the West", Teacher Zuo Dayue gradually retreated to the background and lived a life of teaching and educating people and accompanying the Buddha.
From the style of Zhengmao to the age of ancient rarity, Zuo Dayue, who has sung Xiang opera all his life, was able to associate with the role of Guan Shiyin, and because of Guan Shiyin, he formed a good relationship with thousands of audiences.
Such a life, it is not easy to say whether it is a coincidence or fate.
In any case, I wish this "living bodhisattva" in the audience's heart a long life, health, peace and auspiciousness!
(Rotten Tomatoes Movie Editorial Department: No Woo Woo)