"Action!"
Yin Fenghua, dressed in an ornate costume of a Hua Dan[2] and wearing dazzling accessories, plays the historically famous beauty Xiao Qiao[3]. Probably because everybody here today are professional Beijing Opera performers from NATA, he isn't as lax as he had been a few days ago and takes himself a little more seriously at least in his outer appearance. At first glance, he seems quite beautiful, prompting Chow Mingrun to keep praising him in front of Yuan Ge, "See! I told you! There is a reason why Ah Hua has remained so popular over the years. Look at how exquisite he looks in his opera costume! You can't even tell if he's a man or a woman. Yuan Ge, you should be content. I don't think you'll find a better Qingqing anywhere else."
Unfortunately, his praise didn't last long before things go awry. Yin Fenghua's voice, which he prides himself on as a singer, somehow sounds hoarse. He can't even sing a few simple opera lyrics coherently, but cough repeatedly.
"Cut!"
Yuan Ge frowns and calls a time out.
After some water treatment and throat spraying, they did two more takes but there was no noticeable improvement.
Professor Wang shakes her head and comments regrettably, "His current condition cannot be fixed in a hurry. A professional opera singer can immediately see that this condition is the result of spending too much time in bars, and is a clear case of smoker's throat. Nowadays, pop singers don't pay much attention to this, but traditional opera singers can't afford to be sloppy when it comes to looking after their voices."
Beijing Opera is about "song, speech, dance-acting and combat", Comic Dialogue[4] is about "speaking, imitating, teasing and singing", while acting is about "voice, stage and form". Vocals and lines are the basic training for any performing art. Yuan Ge knows that professional training and strict discipline are essential, no matter what form of art it is. For film actors, it is undoubtedly a pity to casually give up using original voices when the vocal conditions meet the requirements of the role. Looking at Yin Fenghua's state today, coupled with Professor Wang's professional assessment, he knows there is no point in persisting any longer, so he says reluctantly, "Let's dub this part later. One more take!"
As soon as Yin Fenghua hears Yuan Ge say that he could dub his voice afterwards, he acts like a prisoner being pardoned and becomes even more reckless. Since the voice can be re-recorded afterwards, the singing and lines are irrelevant and there is no need to practise. It doesn't matter what words are sung, as long as one can do the movements as the director wants. He poses and sings a few lines casually,
"If you make peace, he will say you are afraid of the enemy,
if you want to fight, he will say you are doing it for a woman.
I would rather die than put you, my husband, in a dilemma."
Then he picks up the poisoned wine on the table and is about to drink it.
"Cut!"
"What's the problem now? How is there anything wrong with my action of drinking this glass of wine?" Hearing Yuan Ge shouting to cut again, Yin Fenghua's face is full of displeasure.
Yuan Ge also feels a little irritated at this point, and says, "Of course there is. if you hadn't gone clubbing last night and instead read the script carefully, you would have seen the lines I highlighted for you."
Yin Fenghua looks utterly discomfited after being exposed.
Yuan Ge tries his best to suppress the anger and patiently explains, "The Battle of Red Cliff is like a Chinese Trojan War, and Xiao Qiao is seen as Helen of Troy. But she knows the important principles of right and wrong, loves her country and her family, and does not want to make things difficult for her husband, which is why she intends to drink the poisoned wine and let Cao Cao's plot fall through. So here, her actions must be gentle but determined. Your performance lacks the inner emotion of the character and comes across as somewhat contrived. Another point to note is that Xiao Qiao is a classical, traditional beauty; what she has should be the noble and gentle nature of a woman from the south of the Yangtze River, not the flirtatiousness of a courtesan, so her posture when drinking should not be that of someone used to drinking, but should show the grace and poignancy of a woman of the scholarly family."
Yuan Ge demonstrates the move as he speaks, and then asks Professor Wang, who is playing the Empress Dowager Cian, "Auntie Wang, does my analysis match your understanding?"
"Director Yuan is right, and the performance was spot on." Professor Wang smiles, "Mr. Yin, your expression when you tilted your head up should have revealed more of your inner sorrow. You were sacrificed for the greater good of Eastern Wu, so your actions should have been more decisive. It would be more perfect if you could show some more reluctance when facing your beloved husband. Also, you are playing a famous Beijing Opera actor. As a traditional art, Beijing Opera does not have modern sound and light effects to help create the atmosphere, so the movements and expressions of opera actors are inherently more exaggerated than modern performances, and you have to highlight your inner thoughts and have more characteristic hand-eye expressions …"
Professor Wang explains very patiently and even personally demonstrates what the expressions of the hands and eyes should look like, but Yin Fenghua does not appreciate it at all. As he makes his way back to the stage, he mutters under his breath, "It's just a declining craft. Who watches Beijing Opera nowadays?! So many rules and requirements! Who the fuck can put determination and reluctance together to act? What a fusspot!"
Seeing Professor Wang's face change, Yuan Ge knew that she has heard Yin Fenghua's words, which pretty much knocks over a boatload of people with one single stroke, so he holds back his own anger and hurriedly apologises to Professor Wang for the actor's rude remark. Chow Mingrun also pulls Yin Fenghua aside to whisper a few words before he finally curbs his attitude and shuts up. But after a few more takes, his performance still looks lifeless and distracted. It is just a simple act of drinking poisoned wine, and he cannot do it as well as Professor Wang has demonstrated.
Fortunately, Zhou Yu, who comes on the stage later to save Xiao Qiao, is played by a top student of Professor Wang. With his graceful and moving vocals and his heroic and tender spirit, he saved Yin Fenghua's Xiao Qiao, who has the look but lack the spirit. This, coupled with Yuan Ge's excellent intuition in camera selection and Du Jinghai's skilful camerawork, captured the emotion of the moment and made the couple's duet the highlight of the stage act. Eventually, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang and Lu Su were so moved by what they overheard that they decided to form an alliance to fight against Cao Cao.
After the performance, ministers and celebrities in the audience toss flowers onto the stage to vote for their favourite opera singers, and the two Empress Dowagers also throw flowers for Qiuchen. In no time, flowers are piled up under the banner of the Jinyu Troupe, far outnumbering the other troupes.
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[1] The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty. The battle was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei against the numerically-superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, laid the foundation for the later creation of the two southern states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu.
[2] A Hua Dan, also called "flowery role", is a type of Dan role in Beijing Opera, a lively, vivacious young female character.
[3] The "Two Qiaos of Jiangdong" are two legendary beauties from the Qiao family who lived in China during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Xiao Qiao was the younger sister who married Zhou Yu, a general under Sun Ce and later under Sun Quan, the head of Eastern Wu.
[4] Comic Dialogue, also known as Xiangsheng or crosstalk, is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy, and one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture. The Xiangsheng language, rich in puns and allusions, is delivered in a rapid, bantering style, typically in the Beijing dialect. The acts would sometimes include singing, Chinese rapping, and musical instruments.