Farewell My Concubine behind the scenes gags

Leslie Cheung did not have any extra requirements in life on the set. Occasionally, he would invite the crew and the actors to have coffee together if the work ended early. 

Chen Kaige said that Leslie Cheung is an extremely hardworking man. Before the filming of "Farewell My Concubine", he lived in Beijing for six months and concentrated on studying drama. 

In the film, Leslie Cheung plays a Peking Opera actress who is disguised as a woman. Leslie Cheung was so involved in the play that Chen Kaige prepared a stand-in for a Peking opera actor that didn't come in handy in the end. 

Several guest roles in "Farewell My Concubine": One of Huamanlou's prostitute is Huang Lei , the head of the Red Guard is David Wu , the follower of the butterfly clothes and the umbrella is Xiaochuan Song , and the judge of the trial is Zhang Jinzhan . 

Judging from the "Farewell My Concubine" novel, only two groups of actors are needed-juvenile and adult, but Chen Kaige felt that it was not enough, so he chose another group of juvenile actors, and the kids were all from the theater school. 

Leslie Cheung at the scene of "Farewell My Concubine" twisted her horns, talked sweetly, smiled sourly, and acted like a well-trained old actor. People on the crew admired his acting skills, and jokingly said in private: "You are such a fairy." 

In the Dieyi quit smoking section, Chen Kaige said it was OK after the first filming of Chen Kaige. Leslie Cheung was dissatisfied and wanted to shoot again. After several consecutive shots, he smashed the glass too hard and cut off a piece of meat from his fingers. Everyone was nervous. He smiled and said it was okay. This time, the shot was finally done. 

Leslie Cheung is also very easy-going. He is the actor who arrives most on time for filming, and never delays everyone's time. If he catches up with the shots of footsteps, arms, legs, etc., and insists on not asking for a substitute, he believes that every part of the body is connected to the heart and has feelings, and the partial shots are also certain emotions. 

Gong Li came to the crew just after filming "Qiuju's Lawsuit", so for the first few days, I couldn't find it. From the modern rural women to the prostitute of the old society, they couldn't turn their heads for a while. She talked a lot about her understanding of the character Juxian, saying that she had found a book or something when she was in Shaanxi. Do a lot of homework. 

After filming the scene where Juxian jumped off the building, Chen Kaige took two goblets and poured two glasses of white wine. Sit down at the table with Gong Li and have a drink with her. Probably the photographer was very close to them against the machine. Gong Li was very embarrassed and wanted to decline. Chen Kaige did not smile and bent his arm over, insisting to drink. The last two drank it. 

During the filming process, Gong Li read a lot of information about prostitute. Gong Li’s classmates are very good. She gave Gong Li some books, which is to write some prostitute books during and before the Cultural Revolution. 

In reality, Leslie Cheung has always been a heroic image of a niche, which is far from the Cheng Dieyi in the play. However, in order to transform him into the male star in the film, the crew and himself have done a lot of work: shave him Because his eyebrows were too thick and straight; he was asked to maintain a thin body shape. As a result, Leslie Cheung, who has been working out all the year round, became thinner in "Farewell My Concubine". 

Leslie Cheung’s beard is heavier than the average person, half of his cheek is full, and he has to shave twice a day. This time, in order to meet the temperament of the butterfly clothes, the makeup artist shaved him not enough, and he had to apply powder to cover it. But some lenses can still see a cyan fibrous root. 

Leslie Cheung even changed his walking and sitting posture during the filming of "Farewell My Concubine". During that time, he sat down tightly with his legs in the photo, and his usual habit was to sit with his legs wide open. That was the case, and it was restored after the filming of "Farewell My Concubine". 

Zhang Manling and her husband Shi Yansheng are Leslie Cheung's Peking Opera instructors. When they arrived on the set on the first day, they found Leslie Cheung blushed and was still practicing leg presses. Later, they learned that he had a high fever at the time, but he was still practicing. Zhang Manling said that Leslie Cheung had never been exposed to Peking opera before, but his savvy was beyond imagination and he was a wizard.

When filming, Leslie Cheung always pays for the staff to eat. "Farewell My Concubine" is no exception. It was in the middle of summer. He also arranged fruit and cold drinks for the crew. When he was not in his role, he also took a watermelon to the set to show condolences. 

Leslie Cheung and ZhangFeng yi were born in the same year and the same month, and ZhangFeng yi was only twelve days older than Leslie Cheung, and both of them were surnamed Zhang, ZhangFeng yi became a natural brother. ZhangFeng yi wears a red cloth around his waist. It is said that he wears a red cloth in his birth year to ward off evil spirits. After Leslie Cheung arrived in Beijing, Zhang Feng yi fascinated him to promote the power of the red cloth, and personally gave a piece of red cloth for Leslie Cheung to tie around his waist. This was a joke among the film crew. 

Leslie Cheung missed the Cannes actor by one vote. There are two main reasons: one is that "Farewell My Concubine" has won the Palme d'Or, the highest honor of the Cannes International Film Festival that year, and the jury hopes to award other important awards (the) to another outstanding film; the other is An Italian judge named Claudia Cardinal deliberately voted for Leslie Cheung for the best actress. 

Although Leslie Cheung missed the Cannes actor by one vote, his performance in "Farewell My Concubine" was still highly recognized by the judges. The movie star Gary Auman, who served as the judge of the Cannes International Film Festival that year, grabbed a handshake when he saw Leslie Cheung. Gary said that he was really wonderful. When Louis Mahler saw Leslie Cheung, he always used "Wonderful" to evaluate him. 

At domestic film festivals, Leslie Cheung was not nominated due to political factors: in mainland China, "Farewell My Concubine" was banned due to the Cultural Revolution plot, and was only allowed to be screened after the Cannes award. However, it was not allowed to participate in the selection of awards such as Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers. In Taiwan, "Farewell My Concubine" is listed as a mainland movie and cannot participate in the selection of the Golden Horse Awards. In Hong Kong, "Farewell My Concubine" is not banned, but it is not a Hong Kong film, nor can it participate in the Academy Awards. 

It was a misunderstanding that "Farewell My Concubine" did not win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film: Chen Kaige later asked the Oscar judges why "Farewell My Concubine" was not selected? The Oscar judges said that they did not think the film was bad, but the lack of communication. They thought "Farewell My Concubine" had already won the Palme d'Or and Golden Globe Awards, and they did not see Chen Kaige's personal and promotional activities about the film, so they thought "Farewell My Concubine" no longer needed this Oscar.

In the film, Cheng Dieyi was dubbed by Yang Lixin . Although Leslie Cheung went to Beijing to practice Putonghua 3 months in advance , she was able to communicate with everyone with her fluent Putonghua during the shooting, but in post-production, she still found that the Cantonese flavor was too strong.

In order for Chen Kaige to make Leslie Cheung’s efforts to be reflected in the play, there are still two scenes that retain Leslie Cheung’s original sound: one is Cheng Dieyi's delirious smoker, and the other is he and Ge You play Yuan Si Ye sang when he was drunk while dancing his sword in the back garden.

Jiang Wen did have longing for this play at the beginning, but after reading the script, he expressed his desire to play Cheng Dieyi. 

In addition to Zun Long, there was also a Peking opera actor Hu Wenge as possible candidates for Cheng Dieyi, but he did not make further consideration due to insufficient international popularity . 

In order to play the role of Cheng Dieyi, Leslie Cheung not only carefully read the arrangement of Mei Zhai, but also bought the book "Forty Years of Mei Lanfang's Stage Life" to study carefully and delve into the formal terminology of Peking Opera performance. During the time he was studying opera, he went to Beijing Film Studio to practice for four hours every morning, and then went back to the hotel to practice again. Even when everyone was eating together, he was thinking about actions. He even had a fever of 38 degrees and nine, still insisting on pressing his legs.

"Drunken Concubine" is a discount, because the workmanship is extremely heavy, and it is usually done by the swordsman who has the martial arts foundation. The dance of lying fish was performed by Leslie Cheung himself in one go, without post-editing and splicing.

Although Duan Xiaolou, played by ZhangFeng yi, is already an adult, he still obediently lay on the bench as he did when he was a child, and let the master pump his buttocks. Before taking this shot, after hearing Chen Kaige's "ZhangFeng yi's ass", Leslie Cheung immediately clapped his hands and applauded. Zhang Feng yi stated that women under the age of 40 can only leave the scene to start filming. Chen Kaige only asked people present not to take pictures, which caused a lot of laughter.