Bright Sun Mansion
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Release Year:
2016
Story:
Fang Yulin is a 65-year-old Peking opera actor who now works in a nail salon in New York, helping people do nail pedicures. He has witnessed the rise and fall of Peking Opera, a classic Chinese stage performance art, in the past half-century: from the destruction during the Cultural Revolution to being excluded and marginalized in the social transformation of modern China, this great skill passed down from master to disciple has been Declining. Fang Yulin feels that his skills are declining with age, and there is no one to succeed, so he is worried. On June 24, 2012, he organized his crew to perform a Peking Opera performance. Although he knew that the actors in his crew had no intention of performing, he still used all his skills and charm to inspire the members to complete the performance with himself. Although rough, performing on stage allows him to find the feeling of a star on the stage. He couldn't help but devote himself to this performance. He knows that the time when he was a child learning Peking opera is gone, but he still fulfills his life's mission with his glory and dignity-to perform Peking opera in New York.
Fang Yulin is a 65-year-old Peking opera actor who now works in a nail salon in New York, helping people do nail pedicures. He has witnessed the rise and fall of Peking Opera, a classic Chinese stage performance art, in the past half-century: from the destruction during the Cultural Revolution to being excluded and marginalized in the social transformation of modern China, this great skill passed down from master to disciple has been Declining. Fang Yulin feels that his skills are declining with age, and there is no one to succeed, so he is worried. On June 24, 2012, he organized his crew to perform a Peking Opera performance. Although he knew that the actors in his crew had no intention of performing, he still used all his skills and charm to inspire the members to complete the performance with himself. Although rough, performing on stage allows him to find the feeling of a star on the stage. He couldn't help but devote himself to this performance. He knows that the time when he was a child learning Peking opera is gone, but he still fulfills his life's mission with his glory and dignity-to perform Peking opera in New York.
Casts & Crews:
Guo Haitao
Directors
Runtime:
58
minutes
Language:
Director‘s Statement:
In the winter of 2011, I went to New York to watch a Peking Opera performance. This was the first time I actually went into a theater to watch a play. I was shocked. Peking opera is very, very beautiful. When the huqin is pulled, the gongs and drums are sounded, they will be brought into a historical atmosphere and into a cultural context. From then on, I fell in love with Peking Opera, and slowly started to get to know many Peking Opera actors in New York. Later, I was surprised to learn that there are more than 200 professional Peking opera actors in New York, most of whom work in nail shops. They are glamorous on the stage, but when you actually walk into their lives, you will find that most of them are actually struggling very much, and they must run for a living and earn money through hard work. On the stage, they are princes and generals, there are flowers and applause, but when they step off the stage, they will disappear into the crowd, helping people to pedicure their eyebrows. For Peking opera actors, this psychological gap is very large. There is a lot of helplessness, I see a kind of desolation in them.
Most of these Peking opera actors stayed on the opportunity to perform abroad. The specific reasons for going abroad are different for everyone, but nothing more than a few factors, first, economic reasons. Peking opera is very sluggish in China. Not to mention local theater troupes, even provincial theater troupes do not have many performance opportunities in one year, and it is difficult to support the family. Second, the reasons for the system. Under the current system, it is not enough to have the ability and ability. To survive in a troupe, to get some opportunities, you must be able to go into the camp, and you must be exquisite. This is not what many actors do and do not want. Many were marginalized and squeezed out, and many came out in the end. If you understand these actors carefully, you will find that everyone has an unspeakable problem.
Peking opera is sluggish in China, and there is no market in the United States. Not many Chinese have seen it, let alone foreigners. Even if they are interested, they are just curious. How many do you really know? The box office situation in big cities like New York and Los Angeles is better, because the Chinese population is relatively large, and there are some elderly theater fans who are willing to listen to the theater, but this audience group is gradually decreasing. Therefore, every time a performance is performed, the Peking opera actors must pull the audience around and find the audience to watch the play. This is a very helpless thing. They aspire to have their own stage. If you ask them why they love acting so much, they will only say, "You can't lose this little stuff on you." Many actors have been learning drama since the age of four or five. They have been doing this all their lives, and they only know this. They really love this art very much and are intoxicated in it. I can earn some money by hitting restaurants and doing nails every day, but for an actor, he can't find a sense of value in this job. Only on stage can he find his value and dignity. This is my understanding of them. You will see many contradictions in these Peking Opera actors. The love of Peking opera is bound to embrace the traditional Chinese culture, but they chose to leave and leave their hometown; most of them applied for special talents. The USCIS also knows that they are talents with special performance skills, but there are a few Americans who can Do you really appreciate and understand their art? Before they came to the stage, they had to draw face makeup and act as a kind of life, but when they stepped down, they began to paint other people's nails in exchange for a few living expenses and live another life. Just think about these images, you will feel sad. In fact, if you carefully observe these individual lives, they are not isolated, they are a microcosm of this era. Their fate and the fate of Peking opera are closely related to the fate of our traditional culture. Their situation reflects the embarrassment of our traditional culture. If you understand history, you will find some clues. In the 1920s and 1930s, Peking Opera was the popular culture of the time. Whether it is a nobleman or a trafficker, he will go to the teahouse to listen to the show. There are audiences, there is a market, and therefore a series of masters was born! Many actors have their own clubs and toured all over the country. This is a very benign market mechanism. However, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Peking Opera became state-owned and the actors’ enthusiasm could not be brought into play, and the natural market mechanism was destroyed. Peking opera began to decline since the founding of the country. Then the anti-rightist movement, the Cultural Revolution, and a series of political movements ruined three generations; some of the older generations committed suicide, some shut the bullpen, and some went to jail; middle-aged actors lost their stage; younger generations Old dramas are not allowed to be learned. Three generations of old, middle, and young people have been affected, the audience group has also been greatly harmed, and the foundation of the entire culture has been destroyed. After the reform and opening up, Western culture, and popular culture impacted, our traditional culture, our traditional art can only be fading away. So in my documentary, I want to observe the fate of these Peking opera actors in this historical background. Through this film, let every one reflect on our history.
Most of these Peking opera actors stayed on the opportunity to perform abroad. The specific reasons for going abroad are different for everyone, but nothing more than a few factors, first, economic reasons. Peking opera is very sluggish in China. Not to mention local theater troupes, even provincial theater troupes do not have many performance opportunities in one year, and it is difficult to support the family. Second, the reasons for the system. Under the current system, it is not enough to have the ability and ability. To survive in a troupe, to get some opportunities, you must be able to go into the camp, and you must be exquisite. This is not what many actors do and do not want. Many were marginalized and squeezed out, and many came out in the end. If you understand these actors carefully, you will find that everyone has an unspeakable problem.
Peking opera is sluggish in China, and there is no market in the United States. Not many Chinese have seen it, let alone foreigners. Even if they are interested, they are just curious. How many do you really know? The box office situation in big cities like New York and Los Angeles is better, because the Chinese population is relatively large, and there are some elderly theater fans who are willing to listen to the theater, but this audience group is gradually decreasing. Therefore, every time a performance is performed, the Peking opera actors must pull the audience around and find the audience to watch the play. This is a very helpless thing. They aspire to have their own stage. If you ask them why they love acting so much, they will only say, "You can't lose this little stuff on you." Many actors have been learning drama since the age of four or five. They have been doing this all their lives, and they only know this. They really love this art very much and are intoxicated in it. I can earn some money by hitting restaurants and doing nails every day, but for an actor, he can't find a sense of value in this job. Only on stage can he find his value and dignity. This is my understanding of them. You will see many contradictions in these Peking Opera actors. The love of Peking opera is bound to embrace the traditional Chinese culture, but they chose to leave and leave their hometown; most of them applied for special talents. The USCIS also knows that they are talents with special performance skills, but there are a few Americans who can Do you really appreciate and understand their art? Before they came to the stage, they had to draw face makeup and act as a kind of life, but when they stepped down, they began to paint other people's nails in exchange for a few living expenses and live another life. Just think about these images, you will feel sad. In fact, if you carefully observe these individual lives, they are not isolated, they are a microcosm of this era. Their fate and the fate of Peking opera are closely related to the fate of our traditional culture. Their situation reflects the embarrassment of our traditional culture. If you understand history, you will find some clues. In the 1920s and 1930s, Peking Opera was the popular culture of the time. Whether it is a nobleman or a trafficker, he will go to the teahouse to listen to the show. There are audiences, there is a market, and therefore a series of masters was born! Many actors have their own clubs and toured all over the country. This is a very benign market mechanism. However, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Peking Opera became state-owned and the actors’ enthusiasm could not be brought into play, and the natural market mechanism was destroyed. Peking opera began to decline since the founding of the country. Then the anti-rightist movement, the Cultural Revolution, and a series of political movements ruined three generations; some of the older generations committed suicide, some shut the bullpen, and some went to jail; middle-aged actors lost their stage; younger generations Old dramas are not allowed to be learned. Three generations of old, middle, and young people have been affected, the audience group has also been greatly harmed, and the foundation of the entire culture has been destroyed. After the reform and opening up, Western culture, and popular culture impacted, our traditional culture, our traditional art can only be fading away. So in my documentary, I want to observe the fate of these Peking opera actors in this historical background. Through this film, let every one reflect on our history.
Casts & Crews
Guo Haitao
Director
