By Peggy Chiao
電影百年紀念時，每個有電影文化的國家都忙著追溯自己電影文化的傳統。在眾多紀念影片中，以英國電影學會（BFI）策劃的一系列電影史最好看。這個系列著重于導演的個人筆觸，比如美國史可塞斯導演的美國電影史，日本大島渚的日本電影史等等，都以十分主觀的立場，去詮釋一個電影傳統。其中，有主觀情感的依戀，也有客觀歷史的分析，更有做為影迷的一份痴迷。大量夾雜的經典電影片段，先天就組成了令人無法抗拒的影像世界，電影人自己記述電影史，自然不可與一般紀錄片相比。
可幸的是中國電影並未缺席，百年的歷史建構工程，是落到了香港導演關錦鵬身上。他新近完成的《男生女相：中國導演之性別》，是一部神採飛揚的紀錄片，關錦鵬巧手編織，用性別的角度切入中國電影史，既個人又群體，既主觀又客觀，娓娓述來，有條不紊，鋪天蓋地的概觀了兩岸三地的電影，讓人看到中國電影是那麼迷人，難怪電影甫完成，便被威尼斯影展選入其“窗口”單元。
結構：家庭與性別身份
這部紀錄片共分六段進行。
第一章是“父親的缺席（一）”，這里關錦鵬由自己電影《阮玲玉》中男澡堂片段開始，追溯自己對父親的回憶，替這個集體回憶的紀錄片，畫下個人色彩的楔子。
第二章是“陰柔與陽剛之容顏與肉身”。這段是電影比重相當多的段落，只要是追憶香港電影中的男性與女性，從早期女性為主的電影，說到香港張徹、李小龍乃至吳宇森的陽剛世界，再回顧中國三零年代的一些男性情誼電影（如《大路》、《浪淘沙》），最後討論陳凱歌《霸王別姬》和《大閱兵》的男性、女性世界，以及謝晉、謝衍父子二代電影對女性的刻劃。這一段有相當多的訪問，關錦鵬並且促狹地要陳凱歌談謝晉，謝晉談陳凱歌，謝衍談謝晉，謝晉談謝衍，個中的迂迴及意在言外，都令人會心！
第三章是“父親的無所不在”，這里處理的幾乎是台灣電影的天下了，李安的《喜宴》、侯孝賢的《童年往事》、楊德昌的《牯嶺街少年殺人事件》、蔡明亮的《青少年哪吒》，都有非常出色的父親描繪，關錦鵬在這段里放了許多導演訪問，談他們自己的父親。這些對話與導演們自己的作品形成有趣的對比和張力，也是創作的最佳註腳。這個段落只囊括了香港方育平導演的《父子情》。是台灣特別重視父親、家庭、父權和傳統如“孝順”等觀念嗎？關錦鵬的處理令人好奇于其可能的答案。
第四章是“尋找父親，發現哥哥”，這里，關錦鵬比較坦然地討論中國導演的同性戀傾向，並置入了《愛情萬歲》，以及大陸地下電影代表張元的《廣場》、《搖滾青年》段落。
第五章是“陰柔與陽剛：Transvestites and Transsexuals”，關錦鵬集中火力談中國電影的性倒錯問題，《梁祝》的反串，徐克努力自《刀馬旦》、《東方不敗》、《梁祝》中將林青霞、李嘉欣這些靚女改為靚男。這是關錦鵬較具批判性的一段，他既質疑徐克之homophobia，即明知“梁祝”是個同性戀故事，卻在新版中將梁山伯改為早知祝英臺為女兒身，並在十八相送中就發生了肉體關系。在旁白中，關錦鵬毫不猶豫地批判徐克“破壞了同性戀集體的回憶和神話”，另外，他也讓曾在《霸王別姬》中男扮女裝的張國榮批評了林青霞女扮男裝的不可信。我嚇了一跳，九零年代，大家說話都這麼坦白直接！
最後一章“父親的缺席（二）”也是關錦鵬最個人的一段。這里，他再把回憶拉到童年，可是不是關于父親，而是母親。母親往年對任劍輝、白雪仙這著名粵劇女同性戀的痴迷，影響了關錦鵬的胎教。他說，從母親那兒，他認識了性別並非禁忌，而可以是“游戲”，關錦鵬最後直接問母親對他和威廉的關系怎麼看？這位開明的母親說，無所謂啦，現代社會有什麼事，將來一閉眼就什麼都不知道了，好簡單的嘛，我也不一定要什麼傳宗接代……。至此電影的回憶拉到個人，觀眾與銀幕的關係，電影與社會的關係，彼此錯綜交迭，無法厘清。
production info
Director: 关锦鹏(Stanley Kwan)
Script: Elmond Yeung
Cast
张国荣(Leslie Cheung) 陈凯歌(Kaige Chen) 焦雄屏(Peggy Chiao) 方育平(Allen Fong) Tony Rayns (narrator)
狄龙(Lung Ti) 吴宇森(John Woo) 李安(Ang Lee) 张彻(Cheh Chang) 徐克(Hark Tsui)
侯孝贤(Hsiao-hsien Hou) 蔡明亮(Ming-liang Tsai) 谢晋(Jin Xie) 杨德昌(Edward Yang)
Cinematographer 杜可风(Christopher Doyle)
Editing Maurice Li
Commissioned by the British Film Institute as part of the '100 Years of Cinema' celebrations in 1996, Stanley Kwan's documentary tackles the subject of sexuality in Chinese movies from its earliest output (Kwan uncovers homoerotic themes and imagery in films stretching back to the 1930's, long before such material became standard in martial chivalry movies of the 1960's and 70's), to the themes of 'male bonding' which form such an important thematic component of Hong Kong action cinema today.
Kwan interviews a number of major players in the Asian movie scene - directors, actors and commentators - and this is where his thesis hits an immovable brick wall. For example:
One of the interviewees is actor-singer Leslie Cheung, a long-standing gay icon whose sexuality was an open secret amongst fans and critics alike until his tragic death in 2003. But in Kwan's film, when asked about the rumors which had dogged him since playing a gay opera singer in FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (1993), Cheung ducks the issue by saying the audience pays to see his beautiful face on screen and doesn't care about his private life.
His evasion is typical of all the contributors to Kwan's disappointing film: Most seem embarrassed by the subject and are unwilling to reveal their personal reasons for the gay/sexually ambiguous/homophobic themes which run through much of their work. None of the relevant participants admit to being gay (except for Kwan himself), and no one else is willing to confess a heterosexual bias for altering their stories - even those sourced from *explicitly* gay material - to suit a predominantly straight audience.
This lack of honesty spoils what should have been a fascinating film, and it doesn't help that Christopher Doyle's photography is alarmingly amateurish, offering particularly unflattering closeups of directors Chang Cheh and 〈Of course, one can't blame the participants too much, given that Chinese society is no less bigoted than any other, especially in matters of sexuality. Cheung himself makes the salient point that mainstream audiences will accept a woman playing a man's role (it's considered 'sexy') whilst condemning a man playing a woman's role as 'effeminate' and 'unnatural', a peculiar brand of homophobic (and chauvinistic) prejudice which exists in every filmgoing tradition.
Kwan's use of film clips to illustrate his theories is both wide-ranging and exemplary, but judging from the shocking state of some of these snippets (particularly the older titles), HK is in desperate need of a policy on film preservation before much of their output is lost forever to the ravages of time.
Kwan began his career in exploitation movies - he was assistant director on Dennis Yu's THE BEASTS (1980), a harrowing Chinese conflation of DELIVERANCE (1972) and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) - before establishing himself as a director of so-called 'women's pictures', most notably the bittersweet ghost story ROUGE (1988), featuring Cantonese superstars Cheung and Anita Mui.
In the wake of "Yang ± Yin" - his first bona fide 'gay' movie - Kwan continued to explore the subject of same-sex relationships in non-fiction entries like HOLD YOU TIGHT (1998) and LAN YU (2001). He was also co-producer (with Daniel Wu, Cheung's successor as Asia's premier gay poster-boy) of Julian Lee's NIGHT CORRIDOR (2003), featuring Wu as a deeply conflicted young man whose investigation into his brother's horrific death reawakens sexual feelings for a childhood friend (hunky Allan Wu).
(English, Cantonese and Mandarin soundtrack)
電影百年紀念時，每個有電影文化的國家都忙著追溯自己電影文化的傳統。在眾多紀念影片中，以英國電影學會（BFI）策劃的一系列電影史最好看。這個系列著重于導演的個人筆觸，比如美國史可塞斯導演的美國電影史，日本大島渚的日本電影史等等，都以十分主觀的立場，去詮釋一個電影傳統。其中，有主觀情感的依戀，也有客觀歷史的分析，更有做為影迷的一份痴迷。大量夾雜的經典電影片段，先天就組成了令人無法抗拒的影像世界，電影人自己記述電影史，自然不可與一般紀錄片相比。
可幸的是中國電影並未缺席，百年的歷史建構工程，是落到了香港導演關錦鵬身上。他新近完成的《男生女相：中國導演之性別》，是一部神採飛揚的紀錄片，關錦鵬巧手編織，用性別的角度切入中國電影史，既個人又群體，既主觀又客觀，娓娓述來，有條不紊，鋪天蓋地的概觀了兩岸三地的電影，讓人看到中國電影是那麼迷人，難怪電影甫完成，便被威尼斯影展選入其“窗口”單元。
結構：家庭與性別身份
這部紀錄片共分六段進行。
第一章是“父親的缺席（一）”，這里關錦鵬由自己電影《阮玲玉》中男澡堂片段開始，追溯自己對父親的回憶，替這個集體回憶的紀錄片，畫下個人色彩的楔子。
第二章是“陰柔與陽剛之容顏與肉身”。這段是電影比重相當多的段落，只要是追憶香港電影中的男性與女性，從早期女性為主的電影，說到香港張徹、李小龍乃至吳宇森的陽剛世界，再回顧中國三零年代的一些男性情誼電影（如《大路》、《浪淘沙》），最後討論陳凱歌《霸王別姬》和《大閱兵》的男性、女性世界，以及謝晉、謝衍父子二代電影對女性的刻劃。這一段有相當多的訪問，關錦鵬並且促狹地要陳凱歌談謝晉，謝晉談陳凱歌，謝衍談謝晉，謝晉談謝衍，個中的迂迴及意在言外，都令人會心！
第三章是“父親的無所不在”，這里處理的幾乎是台灣電影的天下了，李安的《喜宴》、侯孝賢的《童年往事》、楊德昌的《牯嶺街少年殺人事件》、蔡明亮的《青少年哪吒》，都有非常出色的父親描繪，關錦鵬在這段里放了許多導演訪問，談他們自己的父親。這些對話與導演們自己的作品形成有趣的對比和張力，也是創作的最佳註腳。這個段落只囊括了香港方育平導演的《父子情》。是台灣特別重視父親、家庭、父權和傳統如“孝順”等觀念嗎？關錦鵬的處理令人好奇于其可能的答案。
第四章是“尋找父親，發現哥哥”，這里，關錦鵬比較坦然地討論中國導演的同性戀傾向，並置入了《愛情萬歲》，以及大陸地下電影代表張元的《廣場》、《搖滾青年》段落。
第五章是“陰柔與陽剛：Transvestites and Transsexuals”，關錦鵬集中火力談中國電影的性倒錯問題，《梁祝》的反串，徐克努力自《刀馬旦》、《東方不敗》、《梁祝》中將林青霞、李嘉欣這些靚女改為靚男。這是關錦鵬較具批判性的一段，他既質疑徐克之homophobia，即明知“梁祝”是個同性戀故事，卻在新版中將梁山伯改為早知祝英臺為女兒身，並在十八相送中就發生了肉體關系。在旁白中，關錦鵬毫不猶豫地批判徐克“破壞了同性戀集體的回憶和神話”，另外，他也讓曾在《霸王別姬》中男扮女裝的張國榮批評了林青霞女扮男裝的不可信。我嚇了一跳，九零年代，大家說話都這麼坦白直接！
最後一章“父親的缺席（二）”也是關錦鵬最個人的一段。這里，他再把回憶拉到童年，可是不是關于父親，而是母親。母親往年對任劍輝、白雪仙這著名粵劇女同性戀的痴迷，影響了關錦鵬的胎教。他說，從母親那兒，他認識了性別並非禁忌，而可以是“游戲”，關錦鵬最後直接問母親對他和威廉的關系怎麼看？這位開明的母親說，無所謂啦，現代社會有什麼事，將來一閉眼就什麼都不知道了，好簡單的嘛，我也不一定要什麼傳宗接代……。至此電影的回憶拉到個人，觀眾與銀幕的關係，電影與社會的關係，彼此錯綜交迭，無法厘清。
production info
Director: 关锦鹏(Stanley Kwan)
Script: Elmond Yeung
Cast
张国荣(Leslie Cheung) 陈凯歌(Kaige Chen) 焦雄屏(Peggy Chiao) 方育平(Allen Fong) Tony Rayns (narrator)
狄龙(Lung Ti) 吴宇森(John Woo) 李安(Ang Lee) 张彻(Cheh Chang) 徐克(Hark Tsui)
侯孝贤(Hsiao-hsien Hou) 蔡明亮(Ming-liang Tsai) 谢晋(Jin Xie) 杨德昌(Edward Yang)
Cinematographer 杜可风(Christopher Doyle)
Editing Maurice Li
Commissioned by the British Film Institute as part of the '100 Years of Cinema' celebrations in 1996, Stanley Kwan's documentary tackles the subject of sexuality in Chinese movies from its earliest output (Kwan uncovers homoerotic themes and imagery in films stretching back to the 1930's, long before such material became standard in martial chivalry movies of the 1960's and 70's), to the themes of 'male bonding' which form such an important thematic component of Hong Kong action cinema today.
Kwan interviews a number of major players in the Asian movie scene - directors, actors and commentators - and this is where his thesis hits an immovable brick wall. For example:
One of the interviewees is actor-singer Leslie Cheung, a long-standing gay icon whose sexuality was an open secret amongst fans and critics alike until his tragic death in 2003. But in Kwan's film, when asked about the rumors which had dogged him since playing a gay opera singer in FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (1993), Cheung ducks the issue by saying the audience pays to see his beautiful face on screen and doesn't care about his private life.
His evasion is typical of all the contributors to Kwan's disappointing film: Most seem embarrassed by the subject and are unwilling to reveal their personal reasons for the gay/sexually ambiguous/homophobic themes which run through much of their work. None of the relevant participants admit to being gay (except for Kwan himself), and no one else is willing to confess a heterosexual bias for altering their stories - even those sourced from *explicitly* gay material - to suit a predominantly straight audience.
This lack of honesty spoils what should have been a fascinating film, and it doesn't help that Christopher Doyle's photography is alarmingly amateurish, offering particularly unflattering closeups of directors Chang Cheh and 〈Of course, one can't blame the participants too much, given that Chinese society is no less bigoted than any other, especially in matters of sexuality. Cheung himself makes the salient point that mainstream audiences will accept a woman playing a man's role (it's considered 'sexy') whilst condemning a man playing a woman's role as 'effeminate' and 'unnatural', a peculiar brand of homophobic (and chauvinistic) prejudice which exists in every filmgoing tradition.
Kwan's use of film clips to illustrate his theories is both wide-ranging and exemplary, but judging from the shocking state of some of these snippets (particularly the older titles), HK is in desperate need of a policy on film preservation before much of their output is lost forever to the ravages of time.
Kwan began his career in exploitation movies - he was assistant director on Dennis Yu's THE BEASTS (1980), a harrowing Chinese conflation of DELIVERANCE (1972) and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) - before establishing himself as a director of so-called 'women's pictures', most notably the bittersweet ghost story ROUGE (1988), featuring Cantonese superstars Cheung and Anita Mui.
In the wake of "Yang ± Yin" - his first bona fide 'gay' movie - Kwan continued to explore the subject of same-sex relationships in non-fiction entries like HOLD YOU TIGHT (1998) and LAN YU (2001). He was also co-producer (with Daniel Wu, Cheung's successor as Asia's premier gay poster-boy) of Julian Lee's NIGHT CORRIDOR (2003), featuring Wu as a deeply conflicted young man whose investigation into his brother's horrific death reawakens sexual feelings for a childhood friend (hunky Allan Wu).
(English, Cantonese and Mandarin soundtrack)
