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Eternal Love
(1966)
Director: Lee Tit
Cast: Connie Chan, Josephine Siao, Tam
Lan-hing, Nancy Sit
Publisher: Pearl City; Format:
VCD (sold only as part of Bao Dian Ming Zhu boxset), DVD (Region
0, PAL)
English subtitles: No
Full credits and synopsis from the HKFA online catalog
YouTube
clip
Originally
called Why Not Return?, this is a classic
Cantonese opera story first brought to the silver screen by Sit
Gok-sin in the 1940s. The theme music is well known by many, and the
story about love and filial piety has been retold many times. In an
attempt to liven up the show, director Lee Tit cast two of the hottest
rising stars of the time, young Connie Chan and Josephine Siao, as the
lovers in this fresh remake. Another teenager, Nancy Sit, plays the
sympathetic maid Cheun To. Neither Josephine nor Nancy had real opera backgrounds,
so this was a bold move to keep up with the rising youth movement in cinema.
For what they lacked in the art of opera, they made up with plenty of
youth and charm. Lee Tit also incorporated then popular huangmeidiao
(a form of Mandarin folk music from Anhui) and used rich colors to attain
a refreshing cinematic and operatic experience for the viewer.
Connie is the scholar Man Ping-sang who falls ill
on his journey home from the capital. He encounters a snowstorm
and collapses in the countryside. Retired official Chiu Mo and
his beautiful daughter, Chiu Pun-leung, played by Josephine, rescue
and nurse him back to health. Noticing Ping-sang’s and Pun-leung’s
mutual attraction, Mo gives his blessing to their marriage and is hastily
called to resume a post in the capital. So that Pun-leung would have
someone to look after her, Mo allows the two to return together to Ping-sang’s
home. However, Ping-sang’s widowed mother, played by Tam Lan-hing, finds
Pun-leung sickly and reproachful; henceforth the drama ensues as filial
duty precedes all. After much heartache, it is Pun-leung’s pious virtues
that ultimately lead to a happy ending. Although the plot is relatively
simple, it is the emotional performances that endear audiences.
For those who consider Cantonese opera to be
loud, tedious, and annoying, this version will be surprisingly
delightful; it mixes just the right amount of traditional opera
with an adequate amount of huangmeidiao to please the ear. The
important pieces from the original classic such as “Why Not Return?”
at the gravesite and “Consoling the Wife” at Pun-leung’s solitary
abode are retained, while some overtures and other segments are done
with the more soothing huangmeidiao. The enchanting celestial dreamscape
segment near the end is a good example of the smooth and seamless
blending of the two music genres. While deviating from the original
formula may not sit well with opera traditionalists, it was certainly
delightful for young Connie and Josephine fans in 1966.
Most captivating is Connie’s rendition of the
agonized and lovesick Man Ping-sang, exalting in huangmeidiao
his despair and conflict between filial duty and true love. Her
theme aria is also moving: “...on earth, I painfully ask what world
is this... that my wife dies for me... my tears have dried into blood
yet you won’t return to comfort me... to protect the flower I will
forever be spring dirt... to see my wife I will become a fierce ghost.”
As usual, Connie’s opera performance is impeccable, and Josephine manages
to match her in form. Nancy puts in an adequate performance as well.
This is remarkable because it is normally difficult to appear natural
and fluid in opera without having worn the red pants (i.e. having trained
exclusively from a young age). Done with western instrumentation, the
revised music arrangement is mellifluous and the new lyrics are sophisticated.
Unfortunately, the poor preservation of this film makes it somewhat
difficult to appreciate all of that to the full extent. There are
a quite a bit of skips and cuts so that continuity is lost much of
the time. Nevertheless this film remains a one of a kind gem.
Reviewed by Cindy Law |
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Connie plays the handsome scholar.
Josephine plays the faithful and filial
beauty.
Josephine is sent away by mother-in-law
Tam Lan-hing.
Connie is told that Josephine has died.
A happy ending for the lovers in Eternal
Love.
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