He..
The prosecutor claims Cheng performed obscene material.
That is ridiculous!
Cheng performed highlights
from Peony Pavilion that night.
Anyone with any common sense knows that..
Peony Pavilion is the quintessential Chinese opera.
How can that be obscene to the prosecutor's eye?
How dare they insult our tradition & culture like this!
Who's disparaging Chinese tradition
and disrespecting its culture?
We ask the accused, Cheng Dieyi:
Have the witnesses told the truth?
The court wishes to hear
what the accused has to say.
The accused may say now.
Cheng Dieyi!
I sang for the Japanese.
I hate the Japanese too.
But they didn't lay a hand on me.
Cheng Dieyi..
You have the right
and duty to clear your name.
Reconsider carefully
and tell us again.
If Aoki had lived
he'd have taken the Beijing opera to Japan.
Why don't you just kill me?
Master Yuan, Master Yuan!
Please, Master Yuan, don't leave.
What does it matter? He's as good as dead.
Master Yuan, you can't go. If you go, he's finished for sure.
The court has made its decision.
The case of the traitor Cheng Dieyi is suspended.
The accused is released under bond.
Court dismissed!
Dieyi, are you playing with me, goddamn it?
Mr. Cheng.
Goodbye,
This way, Mr. Cheng.
The commander has arrived.
Attention!
Chunxiang!
Miss!
How can one know spring's color
unless one visits the garden?
Ma, did you get my last letter?
Everything's fine here.
Don't worry about me.
Xiaolou looks after me.
We rehearse by day
and perform at night
just like before.
The world's not what it used to be,
but all we ask is a peaceful life.
We sing and get paid for it.
What more could you want?
How about this? Well done, right?
Dieyi, should I mail this to..?
The usual address.
All you classic consumptive heroines burn your letters.
Have you seen this?
Do you want it?
If you don't, I'll tear it up.
I'll tear it up.
I'll do it!
Xiao Si!
I gave Master Duan the sword returned to you by Master Yuan.
The river's course is twisted, but in the end, it flows to the sea.
But what problem lies between our concubine and our king?
Talked to each other already. The Han king enters the city!
1948 THE EVE OF THE NATIONALIST EVACUATION TO TAIWAN
THE COMMUNISTS HAVE SURROUNDED THE CITY.
For better or worse, we Manchus ruled for three centuries.
The Republic's only just begun, & already it's being overthrown.
But even the Communists need to have opera.
The empire may change hands, but rest assured..
We're just waiting to see what their money looks like.
Well, do you still want to fight their ragtag troops?
Of course, I'll fight them.. if they don't behave themselves.
Unless you had Master Yuan's class,
we are capable of fighting them.
Do you recognize me?
Cigarettes! Buy one!
Mr. Zhang,
don't you know us?
Buy a pack!
1949 THE COMMUNIST PEOPLES LIBERATION ARMY ENTERS BEIJING.
Song of sorrow & grief of my king
cause me to shed tears
to console my saddened heart by sadness..
I'd rather dance & sing a song
of good heart.
A dance for
my king.
Xiao Si, tell him to stay calm no matter what.
Honorable guests.. I'm very sorry.
Today my fellow actor is..
Move forward! Move forward!
Our army is marching for the sun.
Stepping on the great motherland
with hopes of the nation on our shoulders
no enemy can stop us from our course
Mr. Cheng, if you can't take it, have another smoke.
Xiao Si, go call Mr. Duan.
The counter-revolutionary Yuan Shiqing!
Yuan Shiqing is an enemy of the People, he must die!
Death to Yuan Shiqing!
Be alert!
Execute Yuan Shiqing!
Yuan Shiqing has always opposed..
He has harmed his community & is guilty of monstrous crimes.
Only execution can satisfy the People's anger!
Down with the counter-revolutionary Yuan Shiqing!
Destroy him!
Down with the tyrant of the opera world, Yuan Shiqing!
Satisfy the People's anger!
Death to Yuan Shiqing!
Execute Yuan Shiqing!
Take him away!
Let me go! I'll kill them all!
Stop carrying on! Listen carefully!
Keep your voice down. Let me go! Release me!
Fuck you!
Cut it out or I'll hit you!
How is he?
We may need to wean him from the opium slowly.
Don't go, Xiaolou.
If he really wants to overcome his addiction..
It feels like ice.
Mom!
The river may get frozen.
It feels like ice.
It's getting frozen.
Mom!
So cold.
The sky of the liberated are as clear and blue..
Mrs. Duan!
Where were you?
A meeting.
A meeting?
Xiaolou, the whole troupe's come.
Ah, a costume change!
Thank you all for coming to see me. I'm fine now.
Sounds easy now. You didn't see him suffer!
Dieyi, get out of bed.
All of Beijing is waiting
for the next appearance of the King and His Concubine!
It'll be the goddamn golden hit of a golden era.
You've asked me to say a few words. I'm not sure how to put it.
I think these modern operas are interesting..
but the costumes aren't very attractive.
The backdrops are too realistic.
Yet Beijing opera puts great value on ambiance.
Song recital, movement and acrobatics are part of this ambiance.
But with these costumes on, performance won't look good.
I know, it really concerns me.
What do all of you think?
Are you saying that modern operas aren't Beijing operas?
No sound is but a song,
no movement is but a dance.
It must have beauty. For instance
Teacher, I don't get it.
Practice. When you've sweated enough to fill buckets, you'll get it.
I still don't understand.
Xiao Si!
I just don't get it. What can I do!
Why is it Beijing opera when ancient heroes and beauties take the stage..
but not when the laboring masses do?
You're talking apples and oranges, upstart!
What kind of attitude is that?
I'd like to hear from Teacher Duan.
Xiaolou!
It's going to rain.
I've brought your umbrella.
Yes, yes, run along home now.
Questions like these give me a headache.
I say if it uses the traditional forms,
then it's Beijing opera.
Am I right?
I'd like to say something.
I've been part of the New Society since giving my theater to the state.
Comrade Cheng, I believe you're wrong.
Modern opera is a new venture.
It deserves our support.
Opera requires practice, don't think you know it well!
Opera requires practice, skill and talent.
No easy way.
You're breaking the law.
You'll always be third-rate.
And when did you ever seriously want me to succeed?
All you've ever wanted to be was a coolie, a stagehand..
a follower, a bit player!
How dare you!
How can you say such rubbish!
Kneel down!
Master Cheng.
You won't live to see the day!
Xiao Si!
Go, then! Be a bit player your whole life!
Mr. Cheng..
Your saying belongs to the past.
Doesn't it?
It's a death in the present day. If I end up being the third-rate,
you won't keep your face.
So, you know?
Uh, I just learned myself.
That's not true, Teacher Duan.
You were there at the meeting last night.
You said you'd notify Dieyi that you were replacing him.
I had second thoughts. I decided you should tell him.
Don't you agree?
If you couldn't tell him, who could?
Take it off!
Don't. Don't be like that!
I won't fucking sing anymore!
Let whoever wants to perform do so.
Xiaolou, you mustn't go.
Comrade Duan..
That audience is made up of the laboring masses.
You decide whether you'll sing for them or not.
Xiaolou, the concubine is on stage.
You'd better hurry.
I've followed my king on his military campaigns
Enduring the wind and frost and hard toil
Year after year
I hate only the lawless tyrant
Who has plunged our people into an abyss of misery
The people have suffered untold hardship and pain
The king has returned to camp!
I'm here.
Your highness.
Thank you very much, Miss Juxian.
Dieyi!
Dieyi, open the door! Open up!
Won't you accept my apology?
That little snake
you rescued..
He has turned into a veritable dragon!
You have to go along with it! What else can you do?
No matter what, as you told me, you have to keep on singing!
And see what's playing in the theater of life these days.
Douzi, listen to your stage brother.
Go with the times! I'll still be the king & you my concubine!
Why does the concubine have to die?
Dieyi,
why are you so impossible?
That's the play, for heaven's sake!
1966 THE EVE OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Central People's Radio will now broadcast
the decision of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee
regarding the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
passed on August 8, 1966,
The bill for Cultural Revolution has passed.
Cultural Revolution will reconstruct
people's minds.
How can you drink at a time like this?
I feel like it.
Anyway, jade cups were part of the old Society.
We can't keep them, so we might as well use them one last time.
It still won't break!
I'm so afraid!
I dreamed I was on top of a tall
building alone amongst the clouds.
I wanted to jump.
Jump! I'd catch you.
You
weren't there.
Xiaolou, don't leave me.
Where did this sword come from?
Cheng Dieyi gave it to me.
How many times did he give it to you?
Twice.
When was the second time?
Shortly before the liberation of Beijing.
Where?
On.. on the street in front of the theater
What did you say to each other?
It was quite chaotic.
I don't remember.
Try.
We didn't say anything!
Keep thinking.
If we did, I can't recall.
Something about what you'd do to the Communists?
No! Certainly not!
I'd stake my life on it.
But what if we've got a witness?
Who? Bring out the bastard!
Na Kun!
What did I say?
I'll give you a hint.
Something about ragtag troops.
Na Kun! This is pure slander!
You reactionary old theater boss! You only want to protect yourself!
You said you'd take on their ragtag troops.
No! I never said that!
What I meant was..
No, I said nothing at all!
Mr. Na, help me. Mr. Na!
You've been smashing bricks since you were a boy, haven't you?
Do it for us.
Do it!
Come on!
Duan Xiaolou, aren't you the King?
No, I'm not.
But you've always been the King, haven't you?
That's just an opera.
It's not real life.
Did you go to brothels in the old Society?
Yes.
Don't you think that's shameful?
Yes.
When you married Juxian, what was she?
A prostitute.
Good.
Now tell us what we need to know about Cheng Dieyi.
Of course, you don't have to tell us anything.
You saw what happened to Yuan Shiqing.
Make your own decision.
Sweep away all Cow Demons and Snake Spirits!
We will destroy him!
Cut off the Black Hands!
Uncover the Black Gangs!
Seize the Black Hands that have infiltrated the cultural world!
Sweep away all Cow Demons and Snake Spirits!
Xiaolou!
Duan Xiaolou is the reactionary king!
Duan Xiaolou & Cheng Dieyi are anti-Party elements!
Down with Duan Xiaolou!
Down with Cheng Dieyi!
Talk! Talk!
Talk!
All right, I'll tell you. He's totally mad about opera.
Who? Make yourself clear.
Cheng Dieyi! All he cares about is opera.
No matter who was in the audience, which class they belonged to..
he'd still give it his all.
You're not being straight with us!
If you don't give in, we will annihilate you.
At the start of the War of Resistance
he sang for the Japanese.
He was a.. a.. a traitor!
Down with Cheng Dieyi!
He sang for wounded Nationalist soldiers
He sang for capitalists, landlords, the idle rich
He sang for the tyrant of the opera world, Yuan Shiqing!
Down with Cheng Dieyi!
What else? Tell us.
He smoked opium like there was no tomorrow.
He smoked away the blood, sweat of the laboring masses.
Keep going. Get to the point.
Speak!
Down with Cheng Dieyi!
In order to get on Yuan Shiqing's good side
he.. Did..you or did you not?
He became Yuan Shiqing's his..
Didn't you? Didn't you?
You were were..his
Right!
Sweep away all Cow Demons and Snake Spirits!
Scholars & Beauties, Kings and Ministers,
You've all betrayed me! Betrayed me!
I've got something to unmask as well!
I'll reveal everything.
Why do you think you sang for the Japanese?
You're a shell of a man.
Xiaolou, you've no conscience.
You are as greedy as a wolf,
From the moment you got involved with this woman
I knew you were fiinished.
You think disaster just falls from the sky?
No. No way.
We have come step by step towards this fate.
It's retribution.
I'm despicable, & I have been so, for a long time.
But now even the King of Chu is on his knees begging for mercy!
Can Beijing opera survive? It's doomed, is it not?
This is what's called retribution!
Karmic retribution!
And I have something else to unmask.
See that woman?
Who is she? I'll tell you.
Slut!
Top whore at the House of Blossoms! Panjinlian!
Whore! Fight against her!
Fight against her to the death!
Duan Xiaolou, is it true she was a prostitute?
Well, was she?
Tell us!
Yes.
Do you love her?
Do you?
No. No, I don't love her!
Is this the truth?
Really! I really don't love her.
I'll never have anything to do with her again.
Nothing at all.
From now on, we got no relation.
Juxian!
Listen to Grandma & talk of revolution.
If spirit gets excited, body gets tensed
Han's troops take our land
Chu's on on all the sides.
My king, quickly give me your precious sword.
No!
You mustn't take your life!
My king, quickly give me your precious sword.
No, you must not do this!
Too hard.
I'm old.
Catching my breath
I'm a nun.
My hair is shorn at youth's prime.
I am by nature a boy
not a girl.
Wrong!
I am by nature a boy
Not a girl.
Let's do it again.
My king give your sword to your concunbine.
No way!
I can't let you die.
Your sword.
Nonsense!
I won't.
Han's troops are entering the city.
Where?
Dieyi!
Douzi..
SubText: NoRMITA.326
In Beijing 1990
An opera performance was held to commemorate
200 years of Beijing opera.