Dear Mrs. Yan,
这两天在网络上搜寻您的名字时才发现，原来您的不少作品是我相当熟悉的，《扶桑》甚至是我幼时相当喜爱的小说作品之一。然而很遗憾的是，我知道您的名字，却是由于您犯了这个非常严重的错误——抱歉我必须要用“非常严重”这个词。

您表示照片是由TV studio提供给您的，但是早在去年12月9日，《齐鲁晚报》就已经刊登了您的专访，http://www.qlwb.com.cn/display.asp?id=362674，点开“【查看PDF版】”可清晰地看到，文章所配的Leslie Cheung题图下，清晰地写着“黎明的扮相堪称经典”。这照片难道又是报纸编辑提供给您的？原谅我实在无法认同。

确实，“It is hard to recognize who is who under that theatrical makeup.”也由于这张照片没有宣传过，外界知道的人并不多。我想提供给你的这张照片的，应该是《梅兰芳》剧组吧？导演陈凯歌？还是监制陈红？作为拍摄剧组，难道连什么时候拍摄的照片都会不知？如此叵测的居心，令我冷战。

且不说Leslie是一位如此令人敬佩的艺术家，也不说《霸王别姬》是一部如此令华人骄傲的巅峰之作，仅仅是中国人对于逝者向来应当秉持的缅怀追思之心，就不能、不应做出如此举动！

我很高兴您表示“The error is regrettable”，我更希望看到，知错能改，希望能借由您告诉媒体，这是一个错误，这是一张16年前的照片，其中的人物是张国荣。

我恳切地希望能看到这样的结果，希望我今后想到您的名字时，仍是那些记忆力美好的故事，而不是这令我心寒心惊的“剧照门”事件。！

Dear Mrs Yan

Same as the visitor above who provides proofs of the origin of the movie still concerned, I have seen the photo myself many times in reportings on .

It is indeed regrettable that such an incident happened at a time when the movie is still being the talk of the town. To one extent or another, it did harm to the credibility of everyone involved in the movie promotional team and the making of the relevant TV show. Imaginably, Leon Lai would be the one who feels most disgraced by the mistake, on the fact that the promotion of this movie has been seen to have leaned on Leslie in another classic movie to boost the publicity desired. Certainly, it has also caused quite a big stir among Leslie Cheung’s fans on the internet and beyond.

Madam, may I possibly ask for advice from you, as a western-educated intellectual and a capable script writer, as to how to remedy the situation? Alternatively, please seriously consider a positive action from your goodself as guest host of the TV show with integrity. The TV station seems to be constantly deleting and/or avoiding requests to address the concerns as expressed on their forum. Should there be no proper remedial action taken soon, I am afraid the current disquieting squabble might be spiraled into a wider-scaled embarrassment. I hope the damage done to the image of all involved could be contained in an effective manner.

For your information, it is strongly felt that the promotion campaign of has been following a rather apparent trail in order to outshine . While I would remain non-judgemental about the relevant tactics used, I would kindly note that some, as in current case, also involves the misappropriation of Leslie’s movie still and the making of questionable commentary directed at Leslie Cheung personally.

Thank you for your attention.

Greetings to everyone. I am Lawrence Walker, Geling’s husband, and I occasionally take care of various matters for Geling to allow her concentrate on her writing. I have read the blog postings and looked into this matter. Since this involves an error in journalism, and part of my day job includes trying to improve professionalism in journalism in one part of the Chinese-speaking world (Taiwan), I am taking this matter very much to heart.

Thank you to Fondmemory Cheung who provided the exact reference for the offending picture, namely, minute 2:45 on the second segment of the TV interview, and to Raniell Qin, who pointed out a newspaper interview of Geling where the picture was also used – three times!

Regarding Geling’s role in this, let me first point out that she wrote the script. That’s all. Other than talking about her script and the movie in general, her role in the film pretty much ends there. Anytime anyone interviews her, they go to the China Film Group or its publicists for photos. These photos have not passed through Geling’s hands at any point; I can attest to that because I also manage her photos. Indeed, the photos I manage are only of Geling herself: these other images are proprietary images and belong, presumably, to China Film Group. Jessica Li notes how Geling “marveled at and showed” the picture in question. This is an example of the wonderful illusions created by TV post-production. In fact, Geling was marveling at and speaking of her memory of having seen Leon Lai in full “dan” makeup. In post-production, the TV editors then inserted an image of what they thought was Leon Lai in full makeup. At the time that Geling was supposedly looking and marveling at this picture, Geling was actually looking at the TV host, the camera or the far wall of the studio, and no image was present.

Now that I’ve made this point regarding Geling’s lack of involvement in the use of this image, many of you point out that this is not right, and you ask that, as a participant in interviews where this image was used (or better said, misused), that we try to do something about it. That is certainly a fair request. The interview was used on Phoenix TV, a responsible journalistic entity. We are close friends with an executive of Phoenix, and I have just contacted him about this, shared your blog postings, and asked him to ask Phoenix to look into this and do something about it, such as publishing a retraction. I will let you know what I hear back by posting in this space. Second, we have written to the production assistant to Chen Kaige with whom we worked most closely on administrative matters regarding the scriptwriting process. She is much closer to the studio than we are, and I hope she can get this into the proper channels so that China Film Group stops sending this photo out as part of the publicity package.

Regarding Mayleen Han’s posting on statements that Chen Kaige, his wife Chen Hong, and even Mei Lanfang’s descendants have allegedly made on how they would not have chosen Leslie Cheung for the role even if he were alive today, this is the first we have heard of any such statements. I really have trouble believing that Chen Kaige, of all people, would actually say such a thing, and I would suggest carefully checking the sources. Some movie promoters in China make wild statements that the movie magazines repeat uncritically. I know from our experience that approximately 50% of what is written about Geling or Geling’s film projects in the movie press is not true. They constantly report “exclusive information” that this or that film is about to start filming and such and such a star is to be cast, long before the money is lined up or any star has been approached. Some film industry people do this in order to create publicity for a project that they are trying to get funded, and some film journalists simply write it all up and report it without trying to corroborate it with other sources.

Finally, on the subject of Leslie Cheung, I would like to note that we are fans of his as well. We loved his performance in “Farewell my Concubine” and were terribly upset at the news of his death. Geling, who herself is diagnosed with manic depression, occasionally has spoken on the subject of psychiatric illnesses to Chinese-American mental health awareness groups, urging people to get diagnosed and treated. This is difficult and painful to talk about in public, and she was about to stop this activity a few years ago. But when news of Leslie Cheung’s death came, we mourned that such a wonderful, brilliant human being should feel himself in such torment that he decided suddenly to end his own life. Geling started speaking again on the issue of depression in hopes that others might reach out for and receive diagnosis and treatment and find a way to continue with their lives. We mourn the loss of Leslie Cheung and hope that others can be saved from the same inner turmoil that caused him to end his life.

I will post what I hear back regarding the misuse of this image. Meanwhile, I recommend that Leslie Cheung’s fans make their views known on websites related to the film “Forever Enthralled,” to the China Film Group, and to any media outlet that has, probably in good faith, used this picture to promote the movie. I do not believe anyone is distributing an erroneous photo deliberately, but the error should be corrected and the dignity and accomplishments of both artists, the late Leslie Cheung and the actor Leon Lai, should be respected.

Sincerely, Lawrence Walker

如果Lawrence Walker先生和严女士能本着公正客观的态度看待和处理这件事，我们作为张国荣的Fans会感到十分欣慰。然而这个错用照片的事件显然不是孤立和偶然的。荣迷收集的证据表明从2008年初错用张国荣先生的剧照作为梅兰芳电影的各种宣传评论文章的事件就屡见不鲜，而且没有任何人出面指正及更改。而这次凤凰台节目中的错误也不是偶然的，因为凤凰网梅兰芳电影的版面的版头居然也是用的张国荣先生的这张白娘子的剧照。这简直让人无法忍受。http://ent.ifeng.com/movie/zhuanti/meilanfang/

张国荣先生不在了，然而他所创造的艺术形象是不朽的。《霸王别姬》里的程蝶衣只是张先生创造的众多经典的电影形象中的一个。没有《霸王别姬》张国荣还是一个伟大的艺术家（不用说他的歌艺，人品都是一流），然而没有《霸王别姬》的陈凯歌恐怕到不了这个高度吧。《梅兰芳》就是他的另一次尝试。他想要怎样尝试，诠释梅兰芳都可以，为什么要把张国荣拉出来呢。出于一种什么心理呢。

看来不是张国荣的“阴魂不散”，而是他所放射出的光芒过于耀眼，他所创造的形象过于经典，企图效仿者根本难以望其项背。就正如这张白娘子的照片，我们除了看到绝美的旦角妆容以外，张先生眼神中的从容，大气给了这个人物的灵魂，这其实是一个巨星的气场，梅兰芳先生也是这种拥有气场的艺术大家。找一个人模仿梅先生的外形容易，然而复制他的气质，太难了。所以某些人纠缠什么阳刚，阴柔的实在是可笑。梅兰芳和张国荣都是伟大的艺术家，无人可以复制，替代。至于《梅兰芳》的电影，娱乐大众而已，陈凯歌也企图再拍一部媲美《霸王别姬》的经典，可是他一直都不能正视的是张国荣给了程蝶衣这个人物，和《霸王别姬》这部电影了灵魂。开拍这部戏以后，陈大导演和梅家的后人不惜说出不负责任的话，一直拼命地撇清张国荣的影响，其实这部戏跟张国荣本来就半点关系也没有。不幸的是，即使混在几百张《梅兰芳》的剧照中，知情或者不知情的人还是会选出这张照片来，它太出众了，他是张国荣。
我对陈凯歌已经不生气了，他是假霸王。张国荣才是真虞姬。

本来我希望Lawrence Walker先生和严女士能联络有关方面能澄清此事，还张国荣和黎明先生一个公道。现在想起来这些对张国荣先生已经不重要了，对一个艺术家来讲，有什么褒奖胜过“不朽”。张先生做到了，历史会证明他的价值的，虽然今天还是有人拼命地无视他。

Dear Mr walker and Mrs Yan,

According to Mr walker's statement we are deeply grateful for your prompt response,and looking forward to getting an explanation from China Film Group and Phoenix TV.

We believe Mr walker and Mrs Yan are both conscientious persons,you could help us to find out the truth.

Thanks

Dear (fellow) Leslie Cheung fans, Good news! Our friend at Phoenix informs me that Phoenix TV issued an apology on the evening of January 20. He was out to dinner and did not see it, but his colleagues tell him it was an unusually long and substantial apology. He promises to send us the link when he gets it. As of the evening of 21 January, it apparently has not yet been posted to Phoenix' website. Phoenix did, however, repost this article from the "Yangzi Evening News" 扬子晚报:

http://ent.ifeng.com/movie/news/mainland/200901/0121_1845_979518.shtml

It reports the error and runs the picture of Leslie Cheung in “dan” makeup -- this time properly credited to Leslie Cheung -- but appears to have been filed before Phoenix issued its apology. It does note that this controversy has added two new phrases to the Chinese language: 劇照門, which roughly translates as "photogate," and a wonderful new chengyu (literary allusion set phrase), 张冠黎戴 -- "Lai wears Cheung's crown." I'll post the apology from Phoenix when I receive it. But if any of you sees it first, please post it to this blog thread.

 Meantime, I don't know whether the China Film Group Corporation, which presumably sent the wrong photo around in the first place, has realized its error. I have not heard back from the person I wrote concerning this matter, who I believe is not an employee of China Film Group in any case. I attempted to write them an email, but all the email addresses they give on their site ended up bouncing my message back. I will attempt to fax them tomorrow and, if that fails, write them a letter. Those who feel strongly about this may wish to do the same. Here is the contact address they provide on their website:

中国电影集团公司

北京市海淀区

新街口外大街25号

This translates into Latin characters as:

China Film Group Corporation

Xin Jie Kou Wai Da Jie no. 25

Hai Dian District

Beijing

People’s Republic of China.

They also list a fax number, but it is for their Internet operation, 中国电影网.

传 　 真：010-62251790

Please don’t hesitate to write them. This matter is generating negative publicity for the movie, and the sooner they correct this, the better it is for the film.

Sincerely yours,

Lawrence Walker

Greetings to all. My fax to China Film Group did not go through, either, so I have written them a letter. I doubt they will receive it before Chinese New Year, however. "dd dingdang" posts an item above that confirms that Phoenix TV issued an apology. Again, I suspect the problem stems from a mixup in the publicity department of the China Film Group, not to any malicious intention on the part of the media who used the wrong photo or on the part of the China Film Group. By the way, I suggest that I not be the only one to write China Film Group a letter; you have their address now, too, and can make your views known to them, and I urge you to do so. If they are monitoring the media, they may already be aware of the situation and may have started to take action.

Though I believe this was not intentional on anyone's part, the use of this photo is not correct, and it is not fair to either the late Leslie Cheung or to Leon Lai. And it has clearly hurt many people's feelings.

We'll be traveling during the early part of the Chinese New Year and away from all computer and Internet access, so please excuse me if I don't respond to blog postings promptly.

I wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year!

Lawrence Walker

Thanks to Shi Annie for your comment above, and I hope you'll forgive me for writing once again in English. To repeat what was I said previously, on the TV interview (see Part II at minute 2:45), Geling describes her experience of seeing Leon Lai in full "dan" makeup when the movie was being filmed. Since TV is a visual medium and simple "talking heads" are boring and cause people to change the channel, the editors inserted a picture into the interview footage, presumably one that they had received from China Film Group promoting "Forever Enthralled," to illustrate what Geling was saying and cause the audience to feel something like what she must have felt upon seeing Leon Lai in "dan" makeup. This picture was added during post-production. Geling not only did not supply the image; at the time of the interview, she never even *saw* the image.

I believe that Phoenix TV, in turn, simply used the image that China Film Group had provided them as part of the standard "Forever Enthralled" media kit and had no reason to suspect that the "dan" in the picture was not Leon Lai. Phoenix has apologized, which is right and proper since they made a mistake, but I do not believe they acted maliciously. I doubt that China Film Group acted maliciously, either: a responsible movie publicity executive would not knowingly send out the wrong photo of a different actor from a different movie.

Regarding apologies to us, I don't believe either the China Film Group or Phoenix TV owes us an apology, because they did not intentionally do anything to harm us. But Phoenix TV was nice enough to apologize, anyway, and we certainly appreciate that.

If the problem originated with China Film Group, they should of course apologize to Leslie Cheung's fans and take steps to correct the matter. So please do bring the matter to their attention, as I have attempted to do by writing them. If they have not already read about this in the media, then multiple letters on the same subject should get their attention. Besides, judging from the postings, I think most of you write Chinese a lot better than I do.

Regards,

Lawrence Walker