Ogawa, you are my confidant
In 1992, in the costume room of the Beijing factory, as soon as Guo Rong entered the house, he said that you were Song Xiaochuan (the famous Ye Pai Xiaosheng, played by Wan Xiaoju in the TV series "The Gate of the Great Mansion"), I had long heard of you, you were the best Peking Opera makeup artist, and I still needed your help to shoot "Bawang Bijie". It was Li Bihua who introduced Guo Rong to me, and she said to Guo Rong, I have seen Song Xiaochuan's play, which is very sensational in Hong Kong, and he will give you a lot of help when you play the role of Cheng Dieyi.
To be honest, I was a little nervous before seeing Guorong, and I admired him a lot, when he was very popular in Hong Kong, I wondered if he would be very proud. Li Bihua said to me, you can rest assured, Zhang Guorong is very good and very good to people. It was indeed a very polite person, and very personable, and everyone talked about it very speculatively that day.
Guorong was very interested in Peking Opera. Two months before the start of "Farewell to the Overlord", he came to Beijing to learn Peking Opera. His understanding is too good, a certain body, professional actors have to learn for half a year, he can master in ten days, sometimes Guorong also said to me, Xiaochuan, I sang opera in my last life.
Guo Rong is very dedicated, the Peking Opera patch is very heavy, wear seven or eight hours on the head every day, professional actors are difficult to resist, Director Chen asked him whether to take it off, he said it was difficult to resist, during the break Director Chen asked him if he wanted to take it off, he said no.
At that time, we were living in the Shangri-La Presidential Suite, Guorong was in the back room, I was in the outhouse, and all his phone letters were transferred by me, which was his assistant. At that time, he stayed up late, went to bed at three or four in the morning, we often chatted, he told me a lot about his background, his experience in show business, I quite understood him, he was not easy.
Guorong is a person with a blood type, a temperament, great joy and compassion, but also more stubborn, looking for one thing, he will listen to the opinions you express, but he will still do it according to his own ideas, easy to be extreme. I have blood type B and am also more emotional. Once because of the different views on a thing, and he argued, the day ended, no one paid attention to anyone, I felt very uncomfortable, later, calm down to think, at that time I may have misunderstood him, Guorong acting special investment, filming tragic drama, the day before into the role, "Overlord Farewell" filmed for more than a month, he also said, Xiaochuan, my state has been slowing down. Think about it, some of his emotions were not directed at me at that time, and after that time I understood, when he was not happy, I would not speak. When Guorong was in a bad mood, the more the people next to him talked there, the more annoyed he became. At that time, others will follow him, and when the knot in their hearts is unraveled, it will be fine.
On the day of the play, the celebration banquet was held, and everyone was very happy. GuoRong came over to toast me with a glass full of wine, and he said, Ogawa, you are my confidant.
I am a man of love
The following year, "Farewell to the King" won the Palme d'Or For Best Picture at the Gorna Film Festival in France. On the day of the award, Guorong called me and said, Ogawa, you are my benefactor, I would not be so beautiful without your makeup. I said, no, Guorong, your bottom plate is good, without your looks, I would not have drawn so well, now that I think about it...
After returning to Hong Kong from France, Guo Rong invited me, Teacher Zhang Manling and his lover Shi Yansheng (the physical guide of Cheng Dieyi and the peking opera director of "Farewell to the King" respectively) to Hong Kong. To be honest, I never thought there would be such a day, the crew is not all finished with the scene and then break up?
When I arrived in Hong Kong, GuoRong said to me, Xiaochuan, I am a person who talks about love and righteousness, and I want to repay you. That time in Hong Kong, Lin Qingxia also said to me, Xiaochuan, you remember Zhang Guorong, there are not many people in the Hong Kong showbiz circle who are as serious as he is. I was particularly impressed by this sentence.
On Guorong's 39th birthday, he invited us to play in Hong Kong, when Guorong was so happy, that was his most brilliant time, the whole atmosphere was full, very confident.
In those years, Guorong came to the mainland more frequently, and once, Guorong and many friends came to my house to play. Everyone sat on the floor, lit candles, and listened to his records. Guorong asked me which one was my favorite? I said "lonely nights" and he asked if you've heard Chinese version? I said no, and he sang it to us.
GuoRong's voice was hoarse and low, but he was really singing with love. He said that every time he sang a song he would think of one thing. On a tour of the mainland last year, I have been following GuoRong, and at the end of each performance, he asked me how I felt? I said, GuoRong, I am not flattering you, you are an artist, you have expressions in every action, and there is a story in your eyes.
Guo Rong loved to watch Peking Opera, and once came to Beijing to see my performance, and what was particularly sensational about that time was that half of the fans went to him. At the end of the performance, Guorong said to me, Ogawa, you must not change your career, you are very popular on stage, you are eating this bowl of rice. Guorong can say this, I am very touched.
Although Guorong is sometimes emotional, he is very understanding of others, he feels that he once lacked love, so he always hopes to bring warmth to others, and every time he calls, he will ask, Ogawa, how are you? How are Mom and Dad? Is Teacher Zhang Shi good?
Once, I told him that Teacher Shi was sick and had cholangiocarcinoma, and he said I had to see him. On the day Guorong went, Teacher Shi sang a person who sang Wusheng, very strong, never shed tears, and cried that day...
GuoRong and Mr. Tang have a deep affection
Guo Rong was 4 years older than me, and he always told me to be kind and tolerant, and when I thought about these words, I couldn't imagine that he would commit suicide.
Some media analysis is because of the change of feelings, I think not, Guorong and Mr. Tang have a deep feeling, otherwise he would not have mentioned thanking Mr. Tang in the suicide note.
The first time I met Mr. Tang was when I was filming "Farewell to the Overlord". At that time, Mr. Tang came to visit the class, very introverted, did not like to talk, Guorong hurt him very much, because he was older than Mr. Tang, and he took good care of him in life.
Before the Spring Festival this year, GuoRong came to Beijing with Mr. Tang, just like ten years ago, he was very concerned about Mr. Tang, asking you if you were tired, whether you wanted to rest, and you couldn't see the way the media rumors broke up, and that kind of natural intimacy and that kind of feeling could not be pretended.
Guo Rong is very direct to life, never talks about his private life in front of others, and never cares about other people's discussions, but he has always had a headache for the Hong Kong paparazzi, and once in order to avoid the paparazzi, he almost had a car accident. I think these things will definitely affect the mood of the two people, but they are not enough to break up their 18-year relationship.
Ogawa, I'm not happy
When it comes to causes, I think it started with "Stealing Hearts".
Last spring, Guorong called me, Xiaochuan, I am in Beijing, very busy, I plan to direct a movie "Stealing Hearts", and now I am picking actors in the country. A few days later, Guorong asked us to go to dinner, talking about "Stealing Hearts" Guorong was very excited, it was really a feeling that merit must be gained, everyone played games together, and they were very happy.
Soon, I received a phone call from GuoRong saying, Ogawa, I am in a bad mood, I am not in Hong Kong, I will not talk too much. Later, a good friend of Guorong Hong Kong came to Beijing, and I learned that "Stealing Hearts" was off the horse, and Guorong was very sad, and called me that time he was distracted abroad.
I know GuoRong, he is very strong, very face-saving people. At that time, the media had already publicized it, and many people knew that Zhang Guorong wanted to direct a movie, come to Beijing to choose actors, and see hundreds of people a day, and at that time he had already fixed several actors - Shen Dianxia, Tranquility, Hu Jun, suddenly changed his mind, how did he explain to others.
Guo Rong once said to me, Ogawa, what I have put on my heart the most in my life is to direct a good film. "Stealing Hearts" is my first movie, I want to shoot it very well, I can see that GuoRong cares about this matter very much, he is a career-oriented person, he has a plan for his life, what to do this year and what to do next year has a goal. He once mentioned to me that when he was older, he wanted to go behind the scenes to become a director, and it could be seen from the contrast between Guorong's emotions before and after the incident, which was a very big blow to him.
Last fall, when I saw Guorong in Shanghai, I obviously changed a person, and every time I saw him in the past few years, he was very happy, loved to sing karaoke, and often laughed. That time we met, I didn't like to talk, everyone talked about some new things, he didn't comment, he felt that the whole person was very heavy, and I found that he had a very serious hair loss, during that time I read the newspaper that he had depression, and I was not good enough to ask him directly.
Before the Spring Festival this year, GuoRong came to Beijing, called me out to dinner, that day Mr. Tang was also there, and Na Ying, Na Ying's sister a group of friends, Guo Rong saw that I was still very enthusiastic, said XiaoChuan, come and sit next to me, let's talk, but because there are many men and women, some words are not convenient to elaborate, before I was with Guo Rong, I said anything, told jokes, amused. That day, later I felt that I could not let go, the chat became a kind of measured conversation, and before 12 o'clock, Guorong said that I had to go back to my room to rest.
A few days later, in the afternoon, Guorong called me twice, when I was rehearsing, the Peking Opera gong and drum rang, the mobile phone body could not hear at all, when I called, the mobile phone was no longer in the service area, the residence phone was not answered, and then I thought, he must have something to say that day, if we can have a good chat, maybe we can alleviate the bitterness in his heart. But now, it's too late to say it's all...
I'm afraid of being deserted
Guo Rong is a very strong person, he used to be so difficult to carry over, how did he come to this step today?
Once, Guorong said to me, Ogawa, I am afraid of being cold, when I am lonely, I will think of many things, I know Guorong, he is easy to touch the scene and hurt, the obstruction of "Stealing Hearts" must have made him fall into the low tide of emotions, thus thinking of the career in recent years, old age, thinking of the feelings forced by the paparazzi every day.
Guo Rong has a fear of heights, and I think that if it were not for the uncontrollable emotions of the moment, he would not have walked so desperately...
Before his death, Guorong often said that he must have the strength to love others. Guorong needs to communicate, he longs for warmth, he hopes that everyone around him can be with him, but he left us alone, and it was so painful to go. I don't know if in another world, Guorong will feel cold. I hope that the people we leave behind, our love and nostalgia can make Guorong feel warm.