English Title: Vermilion Door
Starring:
Li Li-Hua, Ivy Ling Po, Kwan Shan
Rating:
1/2
|
Plot Summary
 Beautiful actress Xiangyi (Li Li-Hua) and stage partner Qiu Hai-Tang (Kwan Shan) are engaged and soon to be wedded. Things suddenly fall apart when Xiangyi's beauty caught the eyes of a military official. Abusing his power, General Ruan frames Qui and imprisons him for no reason. In order to save her financee, Xiangyi forcefully agrees to the general's term and stays with him.
Ten days later, Ruan leaves for Beijing to resolve some business matters. During his two month of absentee, Xiangyi reunites with Qian. Time passes by and she is a little over a month pregnant. Taking a friend's advice, the two postpone their plan on running away in order for Xiangyi to properly deliver the baby in a hospital environment.
After Xiangyi gives birth to Mei Bao (Ling Po), they make a switch and bring the baby to Qui. Shortly after, Ruan finds out that Xiangyi is still seeing Qui in private. On his rage he orders to have Qui's face destroy. The war breaks out not long after and Ruan dies in battle.
Because of his distorted image, Qui hides from Xiangyi. He takes Mei Bao and moves to the countryside. For 17 years, he raises and loves this child dearly. When Japan invades China, the father and daughter leave Beijing for Shanghai. Yet, Qui still does not want to face the past. Thus, he lies to Mei Bao and said that he had accidentally lost her mother's address.
Knowing that they are running out of money and that her father's health is getting worse by day, Mei Bao becomes a singer. Qui works as a stage fighter and the hard labor only deteriorates his health. When Mei Bao and Xiangyi finally reunited after 17 long years, it is also the time when Qui offers the last farewell to his beloved daughter and wife. His blood will all be gone and his sweat will all be dried, with that he gives his final goodbye.
Review
Written by: Bobby Chan
I have seen Vermillion Door last night and it was particularly interesting to observe Ling Bo as "the kid" in the limelight. I'm still in the discovery stage of all these 50-60-70's movies, and now I see Guan Shan and Li Lihua as
the generation of performers preceding Ling Bo.
I find Vermillion Door truly grand in its cinematography, and its story bold and daring in depicting the sickness of characters in position of power and authority that has so much ravaged the conscience and society. Don't
you just DESPISE that bastard Ji Tiaoxiong? With that being said, I would have to applaud Jing Miao for his seemingly flawless portrayal of the kind of person I would hate to admire and love to kill. I don't recall watching any Li Lihua films in my adult years, but she surely is a classy actress and this movie certainly has made me interested in seeing more of her
performances. I was clueless as to what was going on with Ling Bo's character in this film, as she didn't appear until much later, as the manifestation of the child prodigy of the two tragic main characters. And this was first time I have heard her do Peking Opera, as opposed to Huangmei Opera.
However, I will have to admit that Guan Shan's character bothered me more than he enlightened me. I don't know whether or not it was because the movies director, but like the character in 'Too Late For Love', Qiu Hantang was an
indecisive and passive character. I felt that after his first 'arrest', when he taken down to some dungeon and being whipped, he should have told Lo Xiangqi not give into to the trickery warlord Ran Baofan as she watched in horror. And after he got his face slashed, I can't believe it took him 17 years to figure out that he could have painted it and continue on with what he does best for a living.
 Seventeen years not being able to face Xiangqi, the absolutely incredible love and companion of his life. that real cool guy "Er Ge" (brother 2), took 17 years to tell Hantang that Xiangqi loves him because of his heart and not his
face? Maybe as an American, who's into rock'n'roll culture, my feelings about Guan Shan's "scarface" is different. Qiu Hantang said someting in the hospital after his face healed: "zhe shi ren de lian ma?" (is this the face of a man?). I thought he can be more man than ever; being the 'Scarface General' of Peking Opera. But I'm led to believe that this is a story of true life
events, and that was just the way the real-life Qiu Hantang was. Perhaps the general attitude back then of a scarfaced individual was frequently prejudiced.
But a couple of really great things about this movie: although Qiu Hantang limits himself and his daughter Meibao and tries to control so many things in their lives; obviously to the hidden opposition of his daughter, he continuously admits to being selfish, and that is a sign of progress and continued growth and knowledge, for Meibao and himself. Also, when
Meibao goes against her dad's wishes to "maichang" (singing for sale), she winds up in a predicament not really unlike that of what her mother went through with that dastardly warlord generations back then. The scene where Meibao is being compelled by a patron to drink may as well be 1960's Hong Kong. Their is much moral that can be accessed in this movie. Lucky for her, Lo
shao-ye was there to interdict in Meibao's predicament.
So much can be discussed about one story. but before I stop. I want to point out that the producer of this movie (Runme Shaw?) messed up during a wonderfully sweet scene where Hantang was going to express his devotion, and sing to Xiangqi her favorite song: "Locheng Jiao Guan", the scene fades to the next one just as he prepares the first lines to the song. I suppose there was a dearth of male talent when scores of well-to-do people fled the mainland into HK-Taiwan in 1949
and prior (leaving behind most poor artists/musicians?), couldn't they have found at least one guy to dub in the voice for that song? Damn! It would've been a real defining scene of LOVE! But I guess there were enough hits in this movie to help me overlook the misses.
Yen's comment: Wow! Now this is what I called a 'movie review'. Great job Bobby and thank you for allowing me to share this with the readers. I should hide in shame for doing all of these lame, short reviews. Perhaps Bobby would be willing to take over the "authorship" of this section?
Written by: Yen Ly
This, without a doubt, is a tear-jerking film. Five minutes into the movie and all characters are drowned in sorrows. However, the storyline is well-developed without leaving the audience a feeling of tiresome. This is also my first time seeing Li Li-Hua's performance and she impressed me. She clearly lived up to her reputation as a veteran actress.
The only complaint I have is that Ling Po didn't appear until the last half of the movie. Yet, once she did, it was worth the wait. All interactions between her and Kwan Shan are incredible. Their scenes are very pitiful and sad.
VCD Information
This movie had been re-released by Celestial Pictures Limited on January 23, 2003 and is available for purchase online. Refer to the "Resources" section for more information on retailers.
Picture: Good - Excellent
Sound: Good - Excellent
VCD Code: Codefree...playable in all regions
Running Time: 122 minutes
|
|