Text/Pan Caixia
In 1999, the movie "Railroad Man" starring Japanese film star Ken Takakura brought countless viewers to tears.
The story is: a railroad officer, who regards his post as life, his daughter dies, his wife dies, and he is not around. Guilty, he expressed his anger by waving the flag and replacing tears with the sound of a flute. At the icy train station, he worked for 45 years and dedicated his life to his career.
In the film, there is such a picture, standing by the bedside of his deceased wife, Ken Takakura, who plays a railroad officer, silently sheds tears. There are tears of guilt, remorse, sorrow. At that moment, he played himself.
He remembered his wife, Emi Jiang Lizhi, who had been dead for 17 years.
Jiang Lizhi Huimei
That year, Ken Takakura was 25 years old, and after graduating from college, his job search was repeatedly frustrated, so that eating became a problem. Because of his tall and handsome appearance, when he was looking for a job, he was favored by Toei Film Company and accidentally hit and bumped into the show business circle.
In his hometown, the actor is inferior and is equated with "begging for food". Forced by livelihood, Ken Takakura had no choice. The first time he put on makeup, tears came out of his eyes, feeling that "I am a poor worm, too out of breath." ”
Soon, Toei was going to shoot a new film, and Ken Takakura was selected as a supporting actor. The actress who plays the heroine is the Japanese singer Etoshi Tomoemi. She was only 19 years old.
For Jiang Li, Takakura Ken has long admired. Jiang Li became famous at a young age, and a "Tennessee Waltz" was well known to women and children.
It was also Ken Takakura's favorite song, in the university dormitory, in the quarry of his hometown, in the days of wandering in Tokyo, it was Etoshi's song that soothed his confused and troubled soul.
The idol was close by, and when they first met, Ken Takakura blushed inexplicably.
As a newcomer, Ken Takakura "acts like a stick and won't do anything." Although ChangJiang Li was 6 years old, in front of her, he was shy, shy, and inferior, and when he played, he did not dare to look at her deep pool-like eyes.
Young Ken Takakura
Jiang Li is a lively girl, she takes the initiative to talk to the big boy, make him laugh, and sing him "Tennessee Waltz". Every time he sang "Baby, let's go on a date...", Jiang Li would look mischievously at Ken Takakura until he shyly lowered his head.
Gradually, Ken Takakura was no longer silent and melancholy, rigid and timid, and the conversation became more and more active. Her charm, he couldn't resist, and they really started dating.
In front of the beloved, no matter how boring the man will become romantic and amorous, Takakura Ken launched a vigorous love offensive.
Jiang Li likes table tennis, so he builds a table tennis table in her house and plays with her every day;
She likes imported cars, so he tries to get a Thunderbird sports car, take her for a ride, and race with her;
What is even more exaggerated is that in order to win the hearts of the beauties, he actually borrowed a private plane to fall from the sky, on the plane, is Jiang Li's favorite special food and exquisite and beautiful small gifts.
"I don't know what to do without you being with me." In the face of Ken Takakura's confession, Jiang Li's heart was touched, and she was immersed in her yearning for the future.
In 1958, at a concert, Jiang Li announced the news of the engagement and promised to become Ken Takakura's wife a year later, and has since withdrawn from the stage.
On February 16 of the following year, on Ken Takakura's 28th birthday, a couple of lovers finally became family members. The wedding was luxurious and spectacular, and was once talked about.
Wedding coverage
After marriage, Jiang Li fulfilled his promise and returned to the family.
She began to learn to cook, prepare bread in the morning, spread butter, put a fork on the side of the plate containing greens, and then lightly carry it to Takakura Ken's bedside;
In the afternoon, before he left work, he tied up his apron and busied himself in the kitchen, "I must let Ah Jian come home and see me in the kitchen."
Like all Japanese women, Jiang Li's love for her husband can be described as religious.
Ken Takakura is the same, newlywed Yan'er, like glue, even in the field of filming, after the end of work, he will rush back to Tokyo by night, see his beloved wife, the cold face will soften.
In their spare time, they went to Hokkaido to relax, sitting on a sleigh, and Jiang Li sang for him over and over again: "I still remember that night, and that Tennessee waltz..."
The name "Mandarin Duck Couple" comes from this.
Mr. and Mrs. Ken Takakura
Over time, the passion fades and the marriage flattens. At this time, Ken Takakura exposed the usual machismo of Japanese men, who was often busy with his acting career, and for several months he was not heard from, leaving Jiang Li alone to guard the empty house;
He no longer cared about Jiang Li's feelings, and during a trip, because of exhaustion, Jiang Li rested his head on his shoulder to take a rest, and he reflexively accused: "What are you doing!" ”
Another time, he asked Jiang Li to help him find a dark blue sweater, and among the dozens of deep and shallow sweaters, when Jiang Li finally found the one he wanted, he said coldly: "Just leave it there." ”
Life is dull, her husband is cold, and Jiang Li's heart is plunged into sorrow.
Just then, the turnaround came. After three years of marriage, Jiang Li finally became pregnant, and Ken Takakura had been longing for a child, and he was very excited. Looking forward to a new life, he put down his work and accompanied Jiang Li as much as possible, as if he had returned to the happy honeymoon period.
Yet this happiness, so short-lived, was that Jiang Li had to have an abortion because of pregnancy poisoning.
More fatal blows followed, and Jiang Li could no longer have children! Grief-stricken, Ken Takakura built a tomb for his dying fetus, "Mizuko Jizo", along with which he buried his once fiery feelings.
He began to desperately take over the drama, anesthetized himself with his work, and created one chivalrous image after another on the screen; he danced with knives and tattooed, becoming more and more withdrawn, indifferent, and unkind. The Japanese media commented on him: "Clumsy, silent, abstinent... With a somber face, he single-mindedly buried his head in shaping a sentient and righteous tough guy. ”
Stills from The Hunt
The gentle and infatuated Ken Takakura is gone, and Jiang Li breaks the promise he made when he got married and decides to make a comeback.
However, wishes and reality are two completely different things. After a few years of retreat, new people, her records were slow to sell, and the TV host was out of touch with her, and it was at this time that real life was hit hard: an unexpected fire burned down their houses.
After that, the two began to live apart, and the relationship between husband and wife survived in name only.
Jiang Li was gradually snubbed and forgotten, on the contrary, Takakura Ken's career was thriving, winning awards one after another, not only the focus of media attention, but also the dream lover of women. They sent him courtship letters, sent him pictures, and waited day and night at the door of the house to meet him.
Jiang Li was even more frustrated, and one day, she saw a photo in the newspaper of Ken Takakura drinking tea with an actress. At that moment, she was on the verge of collapse.
Loneliness, boredom, despair all hit, and finally, at a concert, she cried silently, tearfully announcing: "I am going to divorce Ken Takakura, please forgive me..."
The words were negative, and Jiang Li immediately regretted it. She asks her friends to go to Ken Takakura in the hope of saving her marriage. However, the water was difficult to harvest, and Takakura responded coldly: "Just like that, the reporters are coming." ”
In September 1971, the 12-year marriage ended with the sighs of the crowd.
After the divorce, Jiang Li's life and career fell into a trough, and since then he has been depressed and isolated, and she sang in the song "I am a woman, I want to live like a decent..." and finally became a beautiful fairy tale.
Ken Takakura also blamed himself, he became the lone ranger in the film, but whenever he heard "Tennessee Waltz", he would remember those sweet times. The past can not be forgotten, he has always carried a small rabbit amulet on his body, which was given to him by Jiang Li.
For the sake of so-called self-esteem, none of them bowed their heads.
On February 13, 1982, a message came. Due to vomiting caused by alcoholism, resulting in suffocation, Jiang Li died alone in his apartment.
When people found out, in the empty room, an old-fashioned record player was still singing, which was Jiang Li's voice many years ago: "I still remember that night, yes, that night, I lost my lover..."
She was only 45 years old.
The funeral was held 3 days later, coincidentally, on that day, it was Ken Takakura's birthday and their wedding anniversary.
Once a "Mandarin Duck Couple"
At the funeral, Ken Takakura did not appear, and he did not make any reply to the question of "absolute widowhood". A few days later, a man came to Jiang Li's tomb, dressed in black, holding a white chrysanthemum, silent and miserable.
In the photo, Jiang Liqiao's smile is still the same as what they first saw. "There is no one in the world who is more precious than her", Ken Takakura finally understood.
In the years since, Takakura Ken rarely participates in social activities, and he has politely declined Hollywood's performance invitations, and even refused to act in movies again, leaving fans with puzzlement and regret.
In 1999, a few years after the film, Ken Takakura returned to shoot "Railroad Man", and his only request was to make "Tennessee Waltz" the theme song of the film.
In this regard, he explains: "When I proposed to sing this song, I didn't think it through, but I just felt that after a day's work, I should sing to relax. I thought of my wife, and I inadvertently thought of The Waltz of Tennessee. ”
"Tennessee Waltz" is Jiang Li's famous song, and he still calls her wife, not his ex-wife.
He had never forgotten her, even though, she had been dead for nearly 20 years. Between the filming of "The Railroad Man", Ken Takakura often stood in front of Jiang Li's portrait for a long time, bursting into tears. Those loves, which had never been scattered on the earth, had always been, carefully treasured.
After the advent of "RailroadMan", it caused a sensation. In the film, Ken Takakura is driving an old-fashioned motorcycle while humming "Tennessee Waltz", and what he pays tribute to is actually the only love in this life, "In the past, we had discord, but that brief moment, a constantly new song, a familiar scenery, made me feel a lot of emotions." ”
Stills from "The RailroadMan"
In "The Railroad", Ken Takakura invested too much deep and sincere emotion, and for this reason, he won many awards such as the Outstanding Actor Award at the 23rd Montreal World Film Festival and the 44th Asia Pacific Film Festival Male Lead Award.
Despite being sought after, Ken Takakura said: "I'm really not very good at acting, so far there are more than 100 of the more than 200 plays, all of which are played by myself." ”
After more than 40 years of divorce, Ken Takakura was alone, and on November 10, 2014, he passed away peacefully with a smile on his face. His last words were: "Growing all the way, and ending with no regrets." ”
Perhaps, like a cow and a sheep ruminating, he spent the entire second half of his life chewing and deeply repenting, and time finally proved love. Regret, it can not be called regret.
Love has always been a thing that has been turned a thousand times, have you ever known that your name explains my life?
Ken Takakura