Diary

December 7, 2015

Early this morning, I heard the news that my good friend, Ko Chun Hsiung, passed away…. I recently saw an interview of him at the Golden Horse Awards, and I noticed that he wasn’t well because he’d lost a lot of weight. I had never imagined that just a few days later, he passed away.

I remember during pre-production for Miracles, we were discussing who should play the boss of the Fujian Gang. Without a second thought, we immediately knew that there was no better person to play the part but him. His fluent Hokkienese was perfect for the role.

I’m currently working on the set of my new film and it’s freezing cold, but my mind is filled with flashbacks and memories of when we worked together, his friendly warm smile and hearty laughter. May you rest in peace my dear friend.

今天一早得知好友柯俊雄离开了….最近看到他是在金馬獎訪談中，因為在病中，人削瘦很多，哪知才過幾天就聽到他离开的消息。「奇蹟」籌拍時，那個福建幫老大的角色非他莫屬，他流利的閩南話在電影中一氣呵成。我現在寒冷的新片拍攝現場，脑袋里都是当年跟他在一起合作时的爽朗笑声。朋友，願你安息。

Text and Photos Copyright © 2015 The JC Group HK
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Several days ago, I was in Taiwan for the Golden Horse Awards Ceremony, and presented the 52nd Golden Horse Lifetime Achievement Award to an amazing lady I first called “mom” when I entered the entertainment industry, Ms. Lee Li Hua. She was the main actress in my first ever film, Liang Shan Bai Yu Zhu Ying Tai, that I starred in over 50 years ago. Afterwards, I worked with her again in the film Qin Xiang Lian, where I played her son. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been working in the film industry for over 50 years already, and I’m deeply touched that I still have the opportunity to present this award to my “God-Mother”. Words simply cannot describe the emotions that filled me. Ms. Lee Li Hua is the first Asian superstar to obtain international recognition for her work in the Asian film industry, and she will always be a goddess in our hearts.

在幾天前的金馬獎上，看到了我當年剛入行時的“母親”，第52屆金馬獎終身成就獎獲得者，李麗華女士。五十幾年前，我演的第一部電影就是她主演的《梁山伯與祝英台》，之後我又跟她一起出演了《秦香蓮》，在裡面我演她的兒子。沒想到電影工作一做就是五十多年，到今年還有這個緣分去給“母親”也是我的幹媽頒獎，很感動也很感慨。李麗華女士是最早為華語電影在國際贏得讚譽的巨星，也是我們心中永遠的女神。

Text and Photos Copyright © 2015 The JC Group HK
All Rights Reserved

Recently, I’ve been supporting a group of environmentally friendly artists in Shanghai. These creative teachers and students have come together and started the LOOP movement, using old recycled materials to build new things. Today, they gave me a very special gift ~ a portrait made from over 33,000 recycled buttons! They explained how the process of making this picture was actually quite complicated. If you look closely, there are so many layers, each overlapping each other, giving it a 3D effect. On average, it took them approximately 8 minutes to place one button on the picture, which adds up to over 4400 hours in total! I’m truly very happy to receive this special gift. I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big heartfelt thank you to the amazing LOOP team. Thank you.

我在上海支持的一班为环保艺术创作的老师和同学们(LOOP活动)，今天他们特别为我送上一幅用了33,000多粒回收的钮扣所制成的画。制作过程繁复，一层一层重叠，平均需要8分钟完成一粒钮扣，而且还是3D的，所以共花了4400多小时完成。真的很开心，谢谢他们的礼物！

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I’ve been very busy the past few days, attending events in different places around the world. The other night, I was at the closing ceremony for the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF). When I walked on the stage, Luc Besson welcomed me with a big hug, then lifted me up and spun me around a few times.

Soon after the BJIFF ceremony ended, I rushed to the airport and began my long flight from Beijing to Italy. After 11 hours on the plane, we finally arrived in Udine, Italy. Why am I here? To attend the Far East Film Festival (FEFF)! Actually, FEFF have invited me to attend this festival for 17 years already. But each time I’ve had to turn them down because of my busy schedule. This time, I finally made it. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Udine for your continual sincerity over the many years and your perseverance to invite me to your city.

Udine is such a beautiful little city and of course I wanted to go out and explore the streets. But as soon as I walked out of my hotel, I was surrounded by so many enthusiastic fans.

Dragon Blade was the opening film for the FEFF. When they started to play the film, I hid to one side and watched the viewers watching my film. I honestly think that movies are a universal language. Even though Dragon Blade was not in Italian, I noticed how all the viewers in the theatre watched in awe and with full attention.

Towards the end of the movie, I saw quite a few people in the crowd silently wiping tears from their faces. And when the film ended, applause filled the theatre filled that lasted for nearly 5 minutes. Director Daniel Lee Yan Kong was also with me and we both felt so touched by their reaction.

Organizers of FEFF also awarded me the Golden Mulberry Life Achievement Award. I think this award looks very special, don’t you think?

Text and Photos Copyright © 2015 The JC Group HK
All Rights Reserved