The Chinese Mirror

Maggie Cheung in Beijing: No Movie Plans

          Although she will soon appear on the big screen in "Ashes of Time Redux," the director's cut of Wong Kar Wai's 1994 classic, Maggie Cheung has not made a movie in four years.  During this hiatus, Cheung has stated in interviews her plans were to do no more than one film every two years, but she hasn't held to that schedule and appears increasingly reluctant to do so.  She prefers living a quieter life out of cinema's public glare, allowing her to pursue other interests.  (And away from the Hong Kong paparazzi, of whom she has been harshly critical in the past.) , and referred to somewhat bitterly in this interview.
          In spite of her recent inactivity, Cheung can still be regarded as one of the reigning Chinese movie queens, and on the evening of June 30th she was the guest on Phoenix TV's popular talk show "A Date With Luyu."  [The title refers to the show's hostess, Chen Luyu.]  During the wide-ranging interview, Cheung talked of many subjects, past, present and future.  Speaking of love, she described herself as being very romantic; of life, she said she has learned to be thrifty; about not working, she said that music has become her major interest; as for movies, the actress indicated she has no plans to make any in the next year or two.

[right, Maggie Cheung with hostess Chen Luyu; click on picture for larger image]

          She discussed the "life mentoring" program she is involved with, in which 10 young women from different universities, selected because of their outstanding achievements as students, are mentored by Cheung and 4 other older women who have major accomplishments in their own lives and careers.  The idea for this campaign originated with Cheung herself, and it reflects her public image of someone who wants to give back to life in a more meaningful way.
          Helping these 20-something young women is the fulfillment of a dream for Cheung and something that pleases her greatly.  Her own aspirations at age 20?  "Find someone, marry and have children," she said.  "But I found out I was not too suited for that, so I married, then divorced."
          In spite of that, she still considers herself a traditional woman, capable at such mundane household matters as sewing, cooking and housekeeping.  At the same time, she admits to being a total romantic:  "The romantic aura is just too important to me, and I approach everything I do from that angle."  So at home she cooks for her sweetheart, preparing such homey dishes as steamed meat dumplings and scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and they often dine by candlelight.

You Min (1936 – 1996)

    In following the lives and careers of Chinese filmmakers, particularly Hong Kong's, two things stand out as near-certainties:  one, a young woman finishing among the top contenders in the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant will have movie or TV opportunities; and two, when a Hong Kong film actress marries, she will give up her career.  I've never come across an explanation for this, but it seems traditional that Hong Kong actresses, regardless of career status, always retire from movies after marriage.  Over the decades, a succession of Hong Kong's most popular and successful actresses  have disappeared from public view, often with their careers at a peak or even still on the rise:  Cherie Chung, Chingmy Yau, Joey Wang, Veronica Yip, Anita Yuen ... One could assemble an all-star cast just from those who called it a career early, much too early for this fan, anyway.  One prominent exception to the rule was Maggie Cheung.  (The fact she married a foreigner may be the reason.)  It appears to be more specifically a Hong Kong phenomenon than a generally Chinese one, as many mainland, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese actresses have carried on with their careers.  This early retirement phenomenon goes back for several decades, at least to the 1950s.  One who left very early, at a time she was one of Asia's top stars, was You Min 尤敏.                                                                                                        [right, Lucilla You Min]

1930s Censorship of Western Films

    Besides producing a film and getting it into the distribution and exhibition market, an important  phase in the process was the review of films before release, a function performed jointly by the Chinese government working with the studios, sometimes post-release in reaction to public opinion.  After the Nationalist Party unified China in 1927, the central government established a board of review similar to the later Hays Office in the U.S.  Unlike the Hays Production Code, however, the Chinese review board’s mandate covered foreign films, which still dominated the Chinese market.
    It is interesting to note which foreign movies were banned by the board during its existence, which lasted right up until the outbreak of war with Japan in 1937.  One of the criteria by which a foreign movie could be banned for distribution in China was whether it looked down upon or was hostile to the Chinese people or portrayed them in a negative manner.  Sometimes the films were banned after they had been released in Chinese theaters, in reaction to public outcry.  Perhaps the most famous incidence of this occurred around 1930, when Shanghai audiences' reaction to Harold Lloyd’s “Welcome Danger” threatened to result in violence.  “Thief of Baghdad” (1924) was banned retroactively, although when it had been released a few years earlier, public opinion was fairly evenly mixed regarding its Asian characters.  Some other 1930s Western imports banned for their portrayals of China or the Chinese included:  “Shanghai Express,” “Tod über Shanghai” ("Death Over Shanghai"); “The Bitter Tea of General Yan” “The Cat’s Paw” (another Harold Lloyd), and the joint German-Japanese production “Atarashiki tsuchi/Die Tochter des Samurai” ("The New Earth").  Examples of American films banned  during this era for reasons other than their portrayal of the Chinese image were 1931’s “Frankenstein,” and 1932’s “Forgotten Commandments” and “High Society.”  The grounds given for blocking distribution of the first two was they carried an aura of “superstition,” and the third for having “pornographic content.”