Since the release of the Cantonese opera movie "The Legend of the White Snake", word of mouth has exploded, and the flexible ink painting style of Xian Xia and the amazing wonders of the water flooding Jinshan have been brought to the extreme through the innovative display form of the national essence of opera. Among the four protagonists who have been given a new look, "Fahai" is also one of the focal points of popular discussion among netizens: "The fight of the Fahai Zen Staff is very distinctive, and the fighting methods of Fahai and Bai Suzhen are really enjoyable" "It is the most powerful Fahai and the most humane Fahai that have seen all the film and television versions, with a majestic style and a powerful aura", and so on.
Wang Yanfei, an actor in the Guangdong Cantonese Theater Youth Troupe, brilliantly performed this version of Fahai, and the momentum "broke the circle". He not only performed the majesty and domineering of Fahai with his very imposing eyes, sonorous tone, and standing manners, but also carefully pondered in many small details, performing a more humane, more "understanding of love" and more accepted by the younger generation of audiences. Wang Yanfei, who came from a family of Cantonese opera, has a special love for the art of opera, and has accumulated profound skills from thirty years of art to have today's "leap to fame". In an exclusive interview with a Reporter from Nandu, Wang Yanfei sighed: "Once we felt inferior, when we went out, we did not dare to show our identity as 'singing opera', after the state vigorously supported the opera culture, we now feel very proud to go out, dare to say loudly: I am an opera actor." ”
Wang Yanfei, an actor in the Guangdong Cantonese Theater Youth Troupe, has made this version of the Fahai circle countless fans.
innovation
Buddhahood is great love, and this Dharma sea knows more about love
Nandu: Different from the "Fahai" in the hearts of the public, this time the film version of Fahai is younger and more humane, what do you think of this innovative Fahai?
Wang Yanfei: Our stage version is also these protagonists, and the original team shot the film version. The Cantonese opera version is also my play of "Fahai", which has continued. But the movie is more realistic. My performance on the stage is more exaggerated, in order to give the audience that sense of majesty, the film close-up shots more, if too exaggerated, it will appear vicious and fierce, can not show that sense of power and majesty.
Nandu: When reading the script, which plot moved you the most? What was the scene in which you were most emotionally invested during filming?
Wang Yanfei: There is not much difference between the movie script and the opera script, and the lines have been slightly changed. After reading the whole script, one of the lines that most touched me was: "The mountains have no words, the water has no heart, the heavens and the earth have no laws and regulations, each belongs to its own way and deeds, and the Buddha's sentient beings are great love." This is a sentence that Fahai said when he persuaded Bai Suzhen, and Fahai explained from his own standpoint: You are a snake (demon), Xu Xian is a human, you cannot be together, and the demons have their own way. These few sentences are all-encompassing, very suitable for the society of that period, and can also make people understand many things.
Because this Fahai is a Fahai who understands love and loves, he can be accepted by the public. His heart was not to break up Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian, but from his standpoint, he did not agree with them together. When he saw that Bai Suzhen could give up his life for Xu Xian, his little apprentice also felt the kind of love of Xu Xian and let Xu Xian go, as a senior monk, Fahai had more feelings, but under the laws and Buddhist rules, he could not indulge them together, in fact, he understood love, "Buddha crossing sentient beings is great love", this sentence contains philosophy.
Nandu: How do you interpret Fahai, who is also majestic and domineering, but who understands love and affection?
Wang Yanfei: There is a little difference between the stage and the Fahai in the movie, first of all, the visual effect has been changed, and the image of the old man with a big beard has been changed. The traditional image of The Fahai is not very good for young audiences, and we want to let the public know that it is not necessary for people who are very old to become enlightened monks, and that Shakyamuni Buddha was incarnated under the Bodhi tree in his thirties. After the director and I explained, I want to give the audience a more acceptable, love-loving Fahai.
Nandu: You performed the majesty and domineering of Fahai with very imposing eyes, sonorous tone, and standing manners. What kind of preparation homework did you do for your role?
Wang Yanfei: These are all things that we as opera actors must understand, and we learn the foundation and basic skills left behind from childhood. The audience sees that we do these movements very stylishly and beautifully, which is our figure on the opera stage and a skill that we have come to hand. Whether your figure is good-looking or not depends on how deeply you have studied in school and how much you have practiced on stage.
Wang Yanfei and Zeng Xiaomin, who plays Bai Suzhen, are classmates.
Nandu: How many years have you been with opera?
Wang Yanfei: I have been studying opera for exactly 30 years this year. I am in the same class as Zeng Xiaomin, who plays Bai Suzhen. At the same time to study, at the same time to graduate, worked together in the same Cantonese theater, for 30 years, has been acting in the opposite role. We have a very tacit understanding, we have played husband and wife, and then in my art scene, she will play my wife; sometimes I play her "nemesis" because I play more villain roles.
Nandu: What kind of sparks collided in the process of working with her this time?
Wang Yanfei: In the movie, I have very few scenes with her opponents, only a few eye-to-eye looks, and in the second fold I went to her house to persuade her to leave Xu Xian, and in the section where the water flooded Jinshan. We have worked together for 30 years, we are very familiar with each other, she has a look, a gesture, how she wants to go, where to go, I can predict, and then go to accommodate her, so that the effect is more beautiful. This is also the reason why this movie makes people enjoy, the eyes and actions between the actors are very tacit, all in one go.
challenge
He has worked as a martial arts stand-in for Zhang Zhilin and Aaron Kwok
It is not difficult to play and hang Weah
Nandu: The public has a new impression of Fahai through this movie, and some people say: Not only do you not hate Fahai anymore, but also because your very good lines and handsome moves bring a "Sense of Su". Have you ever walked into a movie theater and felt the young people's acceptance and understanding of this story and Fahai?
Wang Yanfei: After making this movie, I circled a lot of fans, many people said "good type boy", "good will", "good power", and so on, and some people said that this is a "good humane" Fahai, which is the Fahai we want in our minds, and the deduction is not a vicious, ruthless and unrighteous person, he has thoughts and love in his inner world. Actors act from the heart, not all rely on facial expressions, acting should be close to nature, close to life. When I saw this script, I was not myself, I was not going to play Fahai, I was "Fahai". The characters who are performed in this way are the best.
Due to the busyness of work, I have not yet watched the cinema, and I would also like to feel it at the cinema. After the end of the shooting, I was always not very satisfied with one or two shots, one shot was shot in a ten-meter deep swimming, the plot said that suddenly the white snake's water covered, I conjured a pair of black wings in the water, under the reflection of the water, this shot appeared to me a little fat, plus I tied two heavy iron around my waist, the robe Zen staff on my body went into the water, the whole body was very heavy, shooting in the water was also very nervous, the lifeguards on both sides said, if you can't breathe, we will hold you up. Now re-watching this shot in the water, I feel very sorry, I am in the water is open eyes, but not very natural, not majestic enough, the eyes are not in place, as if a little scared feeling, if given a chance, I will choose to retake again, make this shot more beautiful, let the majesty of fahai reflected.
Nandu: What is the difference between Fahai's "fighting drama" and your usual Cantonese opera play? Is it difficult or challenging for you?
Wang Yanfei: No, it is not difficult at all, it is too simple for us opera actors. Because as soon as I graduated, I went to work as a stand-in, in Guangzhou, Guangdong in the 1990s, many Hong Kong films came here to shoot, there were many advertising shooting opportunities, and I stayed in the troupe to have the opportunity to engage in these film and television work. My skills are all trained in the Cantonese theater to perform martial arts, the martial arts skills are the most solid, I used to be a stand-in for many years, playing drama, hanging Weiya, some difficult coercive actions such as flying the wall, jumping off the building have been tried, so I have a very good foundation for shooting this movie.
Nandu: You have been a martial arts stand-in for many actors, and in these movies, even if you have a very good body and martial arts, you can't show your face, does "White Snake Legend" give you a chance to prove your worth?
Wang Yanfei: It can be said that it is very rare. I have worked as a stand-in many times, and I have cooperated with Zhang Zhilin, Aaron Kwok, Su Youpeng, etc., all of which are doubles, and occasionally have a few words of dialogue with the protagonist. "The Legend of the White Snake" gave me this opportunity to play Fahai, and I only appeared in the movie, and I also wanted to reflect my own value after working hard for many years. The value of our opera actors is reflected in the stage, it is rare that this Cantonese opera can be made into an opera film, when I interpret, I will try my best to play out my many years of stage practice and performance experience, do my own "Fahai", and deduce my own characteristics.
Nandu: Does this innovative version of Fahai have similarities and fits with you?
Wang Yanfei: There should be no similarities. I am a cheerful, humorous, optimistic, moralistic person, and my temper may be a little impatient. I know a lot of Hong Kong actors, and when they are in Guangzhou, they will also get together with me, meet with each other, eat and chat, sing, drink some wine, and relax. Everyone sees that my aura is two meters and eight meters, which is actually the foundation of our practice of acting in stage plays for many years.
original intention
"Beat the opera out",
"Pulling in" young audiences
Nandu: Do you think that traditional Cantonese opera culture can be seen, discovered, and passed on by the public through all innovative methods and forms?
Wang Yanfei: I very much agree with a sentence said by our dean Zeng (Zeng Xiaomin): "Opera must be innovative, it cannot be stagnant, if this road of innovation is not right, we will find another way." "Society is developing, our opera can not stagnate, tradition is the root, our development and innovation is the leaf, whether you can open the leaf depends on whether you find the right path, can you attract more young audiences." If you are always a "three-plate axe", the lighting, sets, costumes are all the same, and now there are so many new things to watch, why watch your opera? Opera is a high art, but it also needs to develop in order to continue to move upwards.
From the time I graduated to the present, there have always been young people who have joined us as fans and like Cantonese opera. Every year, we go to the campus to perform to attract young audiences and let them understand Cantonese opera. If they don't understand, why do they like it? How to appreciate this art? I saw the online message, saying that this film is too few, this is not our actor can dominate, but I hope that after the netizens leave more messages, the organizers and movie theaters will see that they will give more scheduling, more points for the public to know and recognize our Cantonese opera, and a little more to understand and accept our traditional culture.
Nandu: After this performance of Fahai, will it bring you new opportunities? If given the opportunity to make this innovative film again, what kind of role would you like to challenge?
Wang Yanfei: As an opera actor, if a director appreciates my acting skills, I will go out and contact other performance methods outside without affecting my own work, but I still focus on the work of opera actors. I have also played a lot of roles on the stage, wenwu ugly, martial arts, short fight martial arts have done, and now I often reverse the string, playing a matchmaker role, and "Fahai" has a huge contrast. I think actors have to try different roles to be a good actor. I dare not say what role I want to interpret in the future, but what kind of role the director gives me, if you give me a chance, I hope to have a very contrasting role for me to play, and then try to break through myself.
Nandu: What is your original intention in pursuing the art of Cantonese opera? After acting in the movie "White Snake Legend and Love", will your personal artistic development path change?
Wang Yanfei: I will not change my original intention and focus on being a good opera actor. I was born in a Cantonese opera family, my parents are engaged in Cantonese opera-related work, my father is a musician, playing gongs and drums, my mother is a singer, they were in the Maoming Opera Troupe at that time, from childhood I followed them to the countryside, from childhood to contact this line, grew up also engaged in this industry, has a special fondness for Cantonese drama. 30 years have come this way, especially with feelings, for the "one acre and three points of land" on the stage, there will always be a kind of attachment, a kind of love. When the show ended with applause and everyone in the audience shouting "yes," it was a feeling that could not be felt on TV or in movie theaters.
The original intention of making the film "The Legend of the White Snake" is to "fight out" the opera, "pull in" the young audience into the theater, and come to see the opera on our traditional stage, hoping to let more people understand Cantonese opera and understand our traditional culture with the help of this film, so that they can enter the theater and feel the atmosphere of the scene. Opera is our national essence, a top-notch, elegant art, and we feel very proud to be opera actors. In the past, we used to feel inferior, when we went out, we did not dare to show our identity as "singing opera", after the state vigorously supported the opera culture, we now feel very proud to go out, dare to say loudly: I am an opera actor.
Written by: Nandu reporter Cai Liyi intern Li Qianyan