Drama, Romance
“He belongs to neither you nor me; he belongs to his audience.”
That has been said of world-renowned master of Peking Opera, Mei Lanfang.
Mei Lanfang (played by Leon Lai), beautiful and feminine onstage while handsome and manly offstage, became a household name in his youth when he defeated famous Peking Opera master Shisan in a popularity challenge. Later, his affair with vibrant and direct Peking Opera diva Meng Xiaodong (played by Ziyi Zhang) saddened his wife Fu Zhifang (played by Chen Hong) and mentor-cum-companion Qiu Rubai (played by Sun Honglei). They tried desperately to stop it because they knew that with Meng, Mei no longer felt lonely. But without that loneliness, Mei’s career would be destroyed. In the end, Mei gained universal fame as he performed all over the world, lifting the traditionally lowly status of actors in China. But in the process, he has paid perhaps too great a price.
Trailer