IF at first you don't succeed . . . try other means. This is something this year's best actor Andy Lau Tak-wah probably learnt pretty quickly.
Ad-lib readers might remember that Lau's earlier attempt to become a disciple of Sichuan bian lian (face-changing) master Peng Denghuai was shot down by mainland authorities who claimed the art should not be handed down to 'outsiders'. The art is particular to Sichuanese opera where performers change their face masks - hence the term 'face change' - so quickly it is undiscernable by the audience. In a rapid about face themselves, it seems mainland authorities have now decided it will be OK for Lau to learn the art - but only through the proper channels. So instead of being a direct 'disciple' of Peng (whom the authorities have rebuked for his quest for personal glory), Lau will have to enrol in the Sichuan School of Opera as a student.
The end result is the same, however, because he will be learning from Peng (who holds the world record for changing 14 'faces' in 25 seconds). The reason for the turnaround by the authorities has been put down to a television commercial for Hong Kong Internet service provider HKNet, which starred both Lau and Peng. They felt the ad - sanctioned by Xinhua - was a way of propagating the art. After the hoo-ha, more people in Hong Kong certainly know about it! The trouble with success Not so happy with mainland authorities is director-actor Jiang Wen, according to news from Beijing. Jiang could be facing a ban from making films in Beijing for up to seven years because he has incurred the wrath of the Film Bureau for not getting its approval before he entered his second and latest film, Devils At The Doorstep, into competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
The movie, set against World War II and the Japanese invasion, won the Critics' Prize for best film. Ironically enough, Jiang appeared to have been the last to hear (isn't this always the case?) that he's in the authorities' bad books because no one contacted him directly; the news appeared in the daily Ming Re Bao instead. When contacted by reporters a day later, Jiang appeared nonplussed but said that he hoped to set up a meeting with the film chiefs.
No end to good story THE War Of The Genders has ended but talk about going out with a bang! The TVB series starring Carol 'Dodo' Cheng Yu-ling and comedian Dayo Wong Chi-wah set new records with its concluding episode last Friday when A C Nielsen ratings reached 44 points, meaning more than three million people in Hong Kong tuned in.
Now that is over, viewers are tuning into a love story involving 40-year-old Wong: his girlfriend of three years, 25-year-old Sharis Lau Yuen-kuan, has been photographed having a good time at game arcades and pubs with a young, good-looking fireman. Shown pictures of the young man, Wong would only say he had never seen him before. But it may all turn out to be much ado about nothing. It has since been revealed the fireman is a childhood friend of Lau's and the two were an item - before Wong came along and won her heart.