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Paul Fonoroff

Starring: Leon Lai Ming,  Zhang Ziyi,  Sun Honglei,  Chen Hong
Directed by: Chen Kaige
Category: IIA (Putonghua)
Although it falls short of arousing the sentiments promised in its title, this lavish screen biography of Peking opera legend Mei Lanfang  is a respectable effort. Its  greatest accomplishment may well be the introduction of the 20th century's greatest Chinese stage personality to 21st-century audiences.
Director Chen Kaige displays a depth of knowledge and affection for the milieu, which  he also used to good effect in Farewell My Concubine (1993), making this once mainstream theatrical form relatively accessible to viewers weaned on MTV.
The first third of the two-and-a-half hour epic is compelling, ranking high  among screen depictions of the opera world and certainly at or near the top of Chen's oeuvre. The final 100 minutes are considerably less effective but the film is a solid example of big budget storytelling with plenty for the eyes and ears.
A life as dramatic as Mei's, both on stage and off, must  be condensed for feature treatment. The choices made by screenwriters Yan Geling, Chen Kuo-fu and Zhang Jialu are alternately admirable and debatable.
This is particularly evident  in relation to the private life of Mei (Leon Lai Ming) and the soap opera-like rendering of wife Fu Zhifang (Chen Hong) and lover Meng Xiaodong (Zhang Ziyi).
As Mei specialised in female operatic roles, there was always  speculation about his  sexual orientation. Although a potentially fascinating subject, the movie glosses over it.
The issue is almost laughably articulated by mentor Qiu Rubai (Sun Honglei, who authoritatively anchors the film). Qiu, an  official who tremblingly swoons over young Mei (the opera-trained  Yu Shaoqun, above, in a most impressive screen debut), claims repeatedly that his feelings are 'pure'.
To quote Queen Gertrude, 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.'
This spirit of 'correctness', probably necessitated in part to gain approval from the mainland's censors and Mei's heirs, is also evident in the 'balanced' treatment of the enemy during the second world war.
The  savagery of a rabid Japanese military leader is complemented by the sensitivity of insipid opera-loving Major Tanaka (Masanobu Ando).
The film focuses primarily on three periods in Mei's life: his emergence as a superstar while still a teenager; the lead-up to his sensational 1930 debut on New York's Broadway; and the Sino-Japanese war  during which Mei, at great peril to himself, refused to perform.
It is during the first period that the production comes closest to enthralling. The conflict between Mei and master Shisan Yan (an ingenious interpretation by Wang Xueqi) is exhilaratingly portrayed, the latter representing the old guard and the former desiring to introduce new elements into Peking opera.
The scenes of them on stage are so skillfully accomplished that even viewers with little appreciation for the subtleties of jingju will find it absorbing. Chen Kaige did  a superb job of delineating the differences between 'traditional' and 'modern' in this highly stylised mode.
But the sparkle largely evaporates after the teenager  grows up.  Lai delivers a sincere impersonation but one devoid of inspiration.
One factor is that our familiarity with Lai's pop idol persona becomes a barrier to accepting his dubbed operatic stage routines.
But equally important is the script's loss of energy after its promising start.
Even the scenes between Mei and Meng, an opera star in her own right who was famous for playing male roles, lack the spark that made the original duo the talk of old Beijing.
Thankfully, Forever Enthralled has enough on offer to make Mei and his vanished realm  topics of conversation once again.
Forever Enthralled opens today



Forever Enthralled