Teacher Chen

Many people had the misconception that actors of the older generation were bad at acting.

In fact, they weren't bad. They were simply limited by the narrow range of films and roles available to them: the great, glorious, and righteous were always great, glorious, and righteous; treacherous villains were always treacherous villains; and Japanese devils were always Japanese devils.

Given a chance to show what they could do, though-take Chen Qiang, for example. The old man had created two monumental villains all by himself: Huang Shiren and Nan Batian. By rights, his image should have been fixed by then, but later on, he made a series of comedies with Chen Peisi.

And there he was, a thoroughly lovable little old man, completely different from the impression he'd given before.

Then there was Feng Enhe. He used to play upright characters too, but later he played Station Chief Wu in "Lurk," and suddenly it was: "Mount Emei, and it's even fucking 'lit alone'-quite a romantic touch!"

To become a good actor, neither talent nor hard work could be lacking.

Gong Xue had no formal acting training. She'd played bit parts in a theater troupe and acted in only one film. Apart from her looks, she was lacking in every respect.

The moment Wang Haowei called out, she panicked and hurriedly asked, "Director, did I walk wrong?"

"It's not about how you walked. You're doing fine in high heels already, and you're very steady on your feet..."

Wang Haowei gathered her thoughts and said, "The feeling is wrong. You're like a girl from mainland China pretending to be an overseas Chinese, not someone who's really come back from the United States to see the sights. Think it over some more, and we'll try again in a bit."

"All right, all right!"

Gong Xue hurriedly pulled out the script, found a rock to sit on, and studied it by herself.

But acting wasn't something you could do just because you wanted to. The ability to grasp things was crucial, and not everyone was Zhou Xun.

After a while, they rehearsed the scene again.

"Three, two, one, action!"

"Cut!"

This time they lasted two minutes. Wang Haowei thought it was a little better, but she still wasn't satisfied. She walked over and said, "Come on, let's work through this."

Wang Haowei also sat down on the rock and patiently talked it through with her. "Didn't we discuss all sorts of things about the character at our meeting? You understood it very well then, so why is something missing when we start filming?

"The problem now is that you're trying too hard to act like an overseas Chinese. Your every gesture looks unnatural."

"I'm sorry, Director!"

"It's all right. This is only the first day of filming. You don't have much experience, so it's normal to have trouble getting into character. There's no need to rush. We'll give you time to work it out."

Wang Haowei was quite relaxed about it. Films were made slowly these days, polished bit by bit, and everyone was used to it.

They rehearsed it several more times after that, but it still didn't work, so they decided to shoot Tang Guoqiang's scenes instead.

Chen Qi was dumbfounded by what he saw.

They'd come out early in the morning, set everything up, rehearsed, fussed over it, rested, and rehearsed again. By the time they finally started filming for real, they shot only one take-Tang Guoqiang sitting on Pillow Stream Stone, reading a book.

At five in the afternoon, they wrapped for the day!

Why? Because more clouds had rolled in, blocking the sun, and the light had grown too dim to film. In those days, location shoots were heavily dependent on natural light.

Good grief!

In later years, only Wong Kar-wai and Hou Hsiao-hsien would dare do things this way!

Chen Qi helped carry the equipment again and saw that everyone was completely unfazed, as though this were nothing out of the ordinary.

They returned to the hotel and ate dinner, and then there was nothing left to do. Chen Qi really wasn't used to this kind of life on a film crew. In his previous life, he had put productions together as both a screenwriter and a producer, busy twenty-four hours a day, without even time to call an escort.

Still, having some leisure wasn't bad either.

He had time to write his own wuxia novel-oh, no, his martial arts novel...

Knock, knock, knock!

At around seven, Chen Qi was writing when he suddenly heard a knock. He went to open the door and found Wang Haowei standing outside with Gong Xue.

"Director Wang, did you need something?"

"You saw what happened today. I thought we could discuss it some more and help Little Gong find the right feeling as soon as possible."

"..."

Chen Qi looked at Gong Xue. She glanced at him, then edged back in embarrassment.

"Oh, sure. Come in, come in!"

Wang Haowei entered the room, glanced around, and smiled. "Little Chen, you do like to keep things clean."

"It's more comfortable this way. I can't just let it be dirty and messy, can I?"

He started to close the door, paused, and left it slightly ajar instead. There was only one chair in the room, and Wang Haowei understood the situation. She took a seat on the edge of the bed, leaving the chair for Gong Xue.

She was thirty-nine this year, a director, and married. She couldn't very well let people gossip.

"You saw what happened today. I discussed it with Little Gong earlier, but I still felt it wasn't quite right. You created the character. What do you think?"

"You mean about today's scene?"

"Yes, Little Gong's performance."

"Uh, you want the truth?"

"Isn't that obvious? Did you think I came here to joke around with you?"

"..."

Chen Qi glanced at Gong Xue and coldly, mercilessly spat out the words: "Stiff! Unnatural! Nothing like real life! You don't capture the heroine's spirit and temperament at all!"

With every word he uttered, Gong Xue's face grew a shade paler. She wrung her fingers and silently lowered her head.

"Tell us more," Wang Haowei said.

"You spent a week at a hotel for foreign guests, observing how overseas Chinese spoke and acted, and then imitating them... But personally, I think imitation is only preliminary preparation. It's best not to carry it into the scene.

"If you imitate an overseas Chinese person, are the audience watching you, or the person you're imitating?

"An actor's own qualities are important. Make what you observed a part of yourself. It's enough to seize on one thing, like confidence."

"Confidence?"

Gong Xue looked up, blinking. Having been criticized, she looked a little pitiful.

"Look at those overseas Chinese. Don't they all hold their heads high and stick out their chests, full of a sense of superiority? It's because we're poor and they're wealthy. Of course they feel superior. But you can't show that superiority-it would make people dislike you. You can show confidence instead.

"Think about it. Your father is a Kuomintang officer. You live a comfortable life in the United States and have had a higher education. You came up the mountain in a car, and you're staying in a deluxe suite at the Mount Lu Hotel, with so many staff waiting on you alone!

"How could you not be confident?

"You have almost no gloomy feelings. Everything is looking up. Show that, and you'll have the right spirit and temperament."

"Go on! Keep going!"

Wang Haowei urged him on.

Chen Qi wouldn't have offered any of this on his own. Only with Wang Haowei's approval would he speak. He went on, "To show that, you don't need to puzzle over anything too complicated. First, you must hold your head high, stick out your chest, and smile often. Second, take bigger steps when you walk."

"Steps?"

Gong Xue was taken aback.

"Like this..."

As he spoke, Chen Qi stood up, walked to the middle of the room, and pointed at his trousers. "You're wearing bell-bottoms. The legs are wide, so if your steps are too small, they'll get tangled together. It looks terrible.

"Take bigger steps, and put some force into those heels.

"Like this: tap! Tap! Tap!

"That's how firmly your heels should strike the ground.

"And the bag..."

Chen Qi picked up his canvas bag and slung it over one shoulder as though it were an LV. Wearing two pairs of shabby slippers as though they were Hermès, he held his head high, stuck out his chest, swayed his waist and hips coquettishly, and strode forward, slap-slap-slap~

Objectively speaking, his experience carrying women's handbags far exceeded that of most women at the time.

Women nowadays didn't even know how to carry a foreign-brand bag so it looked good.

"Walk like this, get onto the bridge, and then you see Pillow Stream Stone. Wow, look amazed! Give a brilliant smile, and better yet, let out a laugh like silver bells, giggle giggle giggle..."

Pfft!

Gong Xue couldn't hold it in. She covered her mouth and laughed nonstop.

Wang Haowei burst out laughing even louder.

"Aren't you going to take a photo? Remember, you're holding an instant camera." (Instant cameras had been around for a long time and had also been bought in Hong Kong.)

"Who in this country has ever seen one of those? But you're a rich family's young lady, so it's just a toy to you. You need to look completely practiced and not too bothered by it..."

Chen Qi looked at her and encouraged her. "The script is only the foundation. Your own interpretation adds the bricks and tiles. Once you're standing in front of the camera, you're the one in control of the character. Don't let it control you."

"Who is Zhou Yun?"

"The role has been given to you, so you are Zhou Yun. Starting tomorrow, you'll wear pretty clothes and a little Western-style hat, carry a camera, and go sightseeing everywhere, without having to worry about a thing... What does it mean to find the feeling? That's the feeling!"

Hiss!

Wang Haowei remained surprised for several seconds, as though savoring that long string of words. Unlike what they usually said at meetings about delving deeply into a character and all sorts of theoretical analysis, his words were something else.

They were extremely easy to understand, yet every detail fit perfectly and built on the last, breaking the scene down with perfect clarity!

"Little Chen! Where did you learn all that? I've worked in film for more than ten years, and even I couldn't have put it the way you did!"

"Not at all, you're too kind. I just like watching movies-if I haven't seen ten thousand, I've seen eight thousand. I also like reading all sorts of books and letting my mind wander. I worked it all out myself."

"Ten thousand? Why don't you just fly up to heaven?"

Wang Haowei clicked her tongue in amazement. Before you met a genius, you didn't know what one was like. If someone like him joined the Beijing Film Studio-hiss!

"..."

Gong Xue, meanwhile, stared at him without blinking, her emotions surging.

He was so young, yet he knew so much. Most importantly, she could understand him. It was as though he were teaching her how to act by guiding her hand. What she feared most was being at a loss, not knowing how to perform...

He's so amazing!

(End of chapter)