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The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will present "Hsia Moon - Princess of an Era" from August 23 to September 20, with 13 selected films starring or produced by Hsia Moon. The retrospective celebrates not only Hsia's iconic beauty but also the cinematic glamour and charm befitting her screen name, "summer dream".
To complement the screenings, a seminar entitled "Hsia Moon's Images on the Silver Screen" will be held at 5pm on August 23 in the HKFA Cinema, with Law Kar and May Ng as speakers. A post-screening talk will be held on September 19 with Po Fung as speaker. The seminar and post-screening talk will be conducted in Cantonese. Admission is free.
In addition, the exhibition "The Legend of Elegance: Hsia Moon the All-Time Princess" will run from August 21 to November 2 at the 1/F foyer of the HKFA. It will showcase Hsia Moon's film stills and personal photos, as well as an interview with Hsia taken in her early life and excerpts of relevant films.
Born Yang Meng, Hsia started her acting career at the age of 17. A talented dancer with tremendous flair in costume roles, Hsia took after her Peking opera-loving parents and developed a passion for xiqu. To prepare for her roles in the Yue opera films "The Princess Falls in Love" (1962) and "My Darling Princess" (1964), she received dramatic training in postures, poses and other stage manoeuvres at the Shanghai Yue Opera Theatre. The former is a dramatic and intriguing love story between female warrior Liu Jinding and the son of the minister of revenue, Feng Jia-jin. Hsia plays Liu Jinding, who subdues sea brigands with her father. Her chivalry and ethereal beauty roll into one, appearing regal in the period costumes. Director Li Pingqian's rendition of Yue opera in crisp and fluid cinematography offers a unique blending of the original theatrical format and cinematic sensibilities. The sets, costumes, props and lighting are minimalist and subtly coloured to create exquisite aesthetics in an understated style. In "My Darling Princess", Hsia plays the spoiled Princess Sheng Ping, who airs grievances about her consort Guo Ai with her father, Emperor Daizong of Tang. The emperor pampers his daughter by pretending to sentence Ai to death, but eventually helps the couple to reconcile. Hsia's commanding stage presence and theatrics, alongside the accomplished Ting Sai-chun (dubbed the Yam Kim-fai of Yue opera) are a match made in heaven, deftly fusing Yue operatic artistry with mise-en-scene to propel the action and lend an entertaining streak to the plot.
Dressed in period costumes, Hsia channels her sensuality into a historic belle in "The Peerless Beauty" (1953). The script was custom-written for her by Jin Yong, earning the leading lady a title synonymous with the film's name. The story follows the gorgeous Yu Ji (Hsia Moon) who is exiled from her defeated state Zhao to Wei and tries to save her mother state using her sagacity and charm. Hsia takes on the role of a complex and intense character. Her beauty lies in her selfless and fervent patriotism and dedication to a love that goes much more than skin deep. In "A Torn Lily" (1953), Hsia plays Guiying, who is reduced to working in a brothel after her father is murdered by a corrupt minister when she is still young. Guiying later bails herself out and marries an impoverished scholar. She empties her savings to fund her husband's trip to the capital to sit the imperial exams. But the newly crowned Number One Scholar reneges on his promises to avenge her father's death and honour his wife.
Whether playing an ancient beauty or a modern city girl, Hsia Moon imbues her characters with a beguiling blend of cool assurance and stately sophistication. In "Those Bewitching Eyes" (1958), she plays Yan Ermei, whose parents try to force her into an arranged marriage. She tries every means to fob them off and even concocts a fake engagement to her godfather. Hsia's alluring and magnetic personality makes the film a comic treat. "Nyonyah" (1952) relates the story of how a newly-wed couple fight against an archaic marriage arrangement that was still in practice in southern China at the time. Young and beautiful at the age of 19, Hsia plays Yang Yong-fen, who follows her husband home from southeast Asia and discovers that her in-laws had already arranged for their son to marry his cousin (Luo Lan).
"Romance in the Boudoir" (1960) offers a nuanced look at the troubled, melancholic woman Su Xuan (Hsia Moon), who is consumed with conflicting emotions towards two men. Hsia's role as a subtle, virtuous wife marks a stark contrast with her tyrannical and distrustful husband, while her otherworldly grace casts an illuminating light on the selfish and cynical ways of her artist lover. Originally written by Cao Yu, Hsia proves her versatility in "Sunrise" (1956) with an expanding character range in her role as a courtesan Chen Bai-lu. Behind the façade; of glamourous clothes and makeup, Lu insinuates herself into the confidence of a bank tai-pan, a rich matriarch, a kept man and a mob boss, while inadvertently coming to the rescue of an orphaned girl, a sober reflection of her young self. Despite reuniting with her childhood sweetheart and attempting to leave behind her decadent life, Lu fails to return from the shadowy and murky world.
Hsia Moon vividly portrays the characters of wife and mother in family ethics films directed by Zhu Shi-lin, giving a strong exposure to the familial and cultural clashes between the old and new Chinese worlds. "The Eternal Love" (1960) begins auspiciously with the newly crowned Number One Scholar (Fu Che) returning home to marry a lady (Hsia Moon) from a respectable family, while his widowed mother (Kung Chiu-hsia) is honoured with a chastity arch, but ends in tragedy within just a few days as the mother commits suicide, the wife being accused of poisoning her father and the trio are driven to end their lives. Hsia plays the modest and graceful wife with a subtlety of nuance and delicacy. Another of Zhu's films, "A Widow's Tears" (1956) explores the identity and social status of women at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. Hsia plays young wife Fang Mei (Hsia Moon), who is branded a jinx by her mother-in-law after the untimely death of her husband. Emotionally strained, Fang finally plucks up the courage to leave the family for good. Hsia delivers a stirring and deeply felt performance in the heart-rending scene of a tear-streaked woman in mourning. "Garden of Repose" (1964) juxtaposes two middle-class families and the same tragic end for their profligate sons. With measured precision and depth, Hsia captures the emotional turmoil of a refined, cultured wife and stepmother coming to terms with her estranged stepson.
Hsia Moon later emerged from retirement to establish Bluebird Movie Enterprises Ltd and became a producer. Believing that a script is the soul of a film, Hsia generously afforded her screenwriters and director seven months to create "Boat People" (1982) and spent three years completing the film, which became a box office sensation, winning multiple awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards and a Cannes official selection. Set in Vietnam in 1978, the film portrays the adventures of a Japanese photojournalist, Akutagawa Shiomi, who wants to capture a poignant exposé of life in post-war Vietnam away from the prying eyes of its oppressive regime. "Homecoming" (1984) is another production spearheaded by Hsia. The story follows a woman, Shan Shan (Josephine Koo), who returns to her Guangdong village from Hong Kong to escape life in the pressure cooker, rekindling friendships and reigniting long-extinguished romantic feelings in the peaceful, pastoral air. Renowned late singer Anita Mui sang the film's same-titled theme song, which also became a classic. The film won six awards at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film Award.
"The Princess Falls in Love" and "My Darling Princess" are Yue opera films. "Boat People" and "Homecoming" are in Cantonese; "The Peerless Beauty", "Sunrise", "A Widow's Tears" and "Those Bewitching Eyes" are dubbed in Cantonese, while all the other films are in Mandarin. "The Princess Falls in Love" has Chinese subtitles; "A Torn Lily" and "The Peerless Beauty" have English subtitles in part; "My Darling Princess", "Garden of Repose", "Boat People" and "Homecoming" have both Chinese and English subtitles. The other films are without subtitles.
Tickets are priced at $40. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Credit card bookings can be made at 2111 5999 or on the Internet at www.urbtix.hk. For enquiries, please call 2734 2900 or 2739 2139. Detailed programme information can be found in "ProFolio 78" distributed at all performance venues of the LCSD, or by browsing the website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/en_US/web/fpo/programmes/hsia/index.html.
Ends/Thursday, July 23, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:08
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