Muzikland

周采芹女士 Tsai Chin 的這幾句話, 道盡了幾許海外華裔演藝人之辛酸!

.......回首我的演艺生涯，《苏丝黄的世界》可以称得上是我的大突破。尽管我在其后的几年里很难摆脱“苏丝黄”的影子，老得扮演类似的角色........

........Her acting career was launched in England when she played the title role of "The World of Susie Wong" in the West End.

由《苏丝黄的世界》 (The World of Susie Wong) 那令我想起過去曾提到的外國電影“55 days at Peking”, 而回了的一個關於"辱華片" 的帖子:

........agi 朋友, 您提到這出被我們老輩人稱之為 "辱華片" 的 “55 days at Peking”, 真教我不知從何說起了! 東西文化的差異, 与及一小撮別有用心的人, 老是用自己的標準, 強加諸別人的身上. 而這些歪曲及歧視, 在過去久遠的日子中, 的確是借著不少電影及音樂, 影響著一代又一代保留而封閉的普通外國人! 許久以前的陳查禮, 賽珍珠的"大地", 甚至英格烈褒曼主演的"六福客棧" ( 周信芳的小女兒是其中一福), 關南施主演的"蘇絲黃的世界"..........數之不盡, 里面的白人男主角, 都是英偉不凡, 臨危不亂, 決斷英明,而黃皮膚的, 不是愚眛, 就是殘暴不堪的. 不說了, 都是千篇一律, 以獵奇觀點來借題發揮的.

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在外國人眼中，殖民時代的香港, 一直是既神秘又充滿異國情調。一些例如石板街, 人力車, 高叉旗袍等物象，曾經無數次出現於電影之中。早期的《蘇絲黃的世界》The World of Suzie Wong，後來的《大班》 Noble House，以至一些《艾曼妞》Emmanuel 情慾系列片中，都將華人女性塑造成外國男性情色之附庸，極滿足了外國人男性中心的渴求. 請參看下面這個「關南施：荷李活的香港名珠」, Nancy Kwan 關南施是憑著 1960 年這部 "THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG" 《苏丝黄的世界》片子, 踏上所謂國際電影舞台的.

........從難忘的代表作「蘇絲黃的世界」到歌舞劇「花鼓歌」的精彩演出﹐關南施成為首位在西方電影界成名的亞洲女演員。從六十年代到今天﹐關南施主演及參演的電影超過四十多部。現在請你們通過這聯絡網去更加認識這位才貌雙存的一代女星。
http://www.nancy-kwan.com/gallery.cp.html

片子的故事如下:

Robert Lomax(William Holden) is a struggling American artist, who has moved to Hong Kong to learn if he can really paint. He meets Mee Ling(Nancy Kwan), a beautiful tycoon's daughter, in a fateful encounter onboard Hong Kong's Star Ferry. Departing and expecting never to find each other again, Robert checks into a local Wan Chai hotel. To his great surprise, he learns that the hotel is actually a brothel, and Mee Ling is actually Suzie Wong, the most popular prostitute in the place. What unfolds is the classic "East-meets-West" romance that made Nancy Kwan an international star. Suzie learns how to really love for the first time, and Robert learns something about himself. Robert must overcome the prejudice of the local British colonials and his own conventional morality to realize his love for Suzie, a woman who despite suffering life's desperate circumstances has kept her pride and her good heart. The film captures the colorful teeming streets of a long-vanished Hong Kong, before it became the gleaming commercial capital it is today. The film also popularized the cheongsam, the high-collared form-fitting Chinese silk dress which afterwards became known as the Suzie Wong dress in America. William Holden, one of the most popular romantic leads of the fifties and sixties, delivers a strong, understated portrayal as Robert. There are good supporting roles by Sylvia Sims, as the respectible British girl who competes with Suzie for Robert's attention, and Michael Wilding, as the besotted businessman who takes an interest in Suzie. However, it is Nancy Kwan's wonderful portrayal of Suzie Wong, her very first screen role, that really makes this film. Combining genuine sex appeal with girlish innocence and courage in the face of adversity, her performance was widely acclaimed and she was awarded a Golden Globe.

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From : "THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG" 《苏丝黄的世界》
http://www.geocities.com/georgeseng/poem_worldofsuzie.htm

原著 : Richard Mason
導演 : Richard Quine
演員 : William Holden (威廉荷頓) Nancy Kwan (關家情)


我來自貧窮
我所失去的
是我最珍惜的
我嘗試假裝我沒有失去
所以我是一個淑女
來自富有的家庭
而重要的是
我還是處女之身
我最希望的
是我不能得到的
南閣酒店我工作的地點
金錢在那裏是最重要的
而尊嚴衹是虛假的首飾
獨立和自主是我的面具
溫暖的家才是我所渴望的
我所失去的
是我的最愛
我的孩子
是我生命的全部
他是我的希望和未來
我生下了他
而我為他而活
當他離去時
也是我內心的死去
至於男人
那其實並不重要

Dear Seefired,

我對這很有同感﹐事實上很多外國電影都是把他們的想像加諸在華人身上。所以我對這一批有關香港的電影﹐很感興趣。
至於周采芹﹐我很喜歡她﹐我覺得一名中國女子在外地掙扎求存是不容易﹐當我閱讀她的自傳“上海的女兒”。其中有這形容﹐那是她在英國當紅時﹐卻不曉得父親這時在中國正渡過最艱難的日子﹐甚至是死亡﹐這一個對比使她事後發覺時非常難過﹐這一節令我印象非常深刻。

To Muzikland:
Great you could meet Nancy Kwan in person and got her autograph. It is a shame that she only did a couple of movies for Hollywood in 50's and 60's. In that era, Chinese actors were only considered as something exotic and their actings were totally ignored.

I watched 'Flower Drum Song' about 15 years ago; it was a movie adopted from a Broadway musical. The movie is too Westernized and a bit off the taste to most non-American audience. And it is hard to get to the international market.

Dear pashwawa,

對啊﹐那天就是令我歡喜了整個晚上﹐我很少有這種粉絲心態的。

花鼓歌 (Flower Drum Song) 我最近也看了﹐感覺只是一般﹐太老外式的中國。不過劇本原來是華人創作的﹐然而製作卻是 Roger & Hammerstein﹐今年剛發了DVD。Nancy Kwan 在這電影中等角色﹐沒有Suzie Wong 特出﹐也沒有很討好的感覺。不過在那年代﹐華裔演員能發揮的角色實在有限﹐周采芹也是同一命運呢。