Fourteen years without Leslie Cheung

Those who watch my MVs might have realised that I'm a big fan of Leslie Cheung. Well, not really big apparently, cos I forgot that 1 April 2003 was his suicide, hence this Saturday 1 April 2017 was already 14 years when Leslie left us...

Thanks to Pangchu from Kaypang Gallery, I remembered just before the day was over. I didn't make the deadline before my midnight, but at least in Asia it's still 1 April now. Hence... these videos are for us all, Leslie Cheung fans...

The Invincible Courage 勇者無敵 From Yang's Saga (1985):

'A Thousand Dreams of You' - an UWS 1984 MV

Well, Tung Pang-fei must be happy now, for I have actually become a night-owl just to work on this United We Stand MV! Since I watched UWS last Oct-Nov, I have always wanted to make a noir MV, or at least an MV with the 1930s feelings. I love the fact that Michael and Barbara starred in a series set in a transition period like the 30s, where it's not wuxia anymore but certainly it is not a modern drama yet. Thus, for UWS, it has to be a 1930-1940 jazzy song as well. I sleuthed iTunes and YouTube for days until I came across Leslie Cheung's beautiful 'A Thousand Dreams of You'. Then, as I listened to that song, I realised that this is the perfect song for Michael and Barbara in UWS. And TBH, who can resist Leslie's deep beautiful voice?!

Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone! Let's hope for a more peaceful, healthier and happier 2017 for all... Blessings for you, and thank you so much for being with me throughout the year!

The song was written in 1937 by Fats Waller, but I daresay that Leslie Cheung definitely made this song popular. The Vimeo, Dailymotion and the second YouTube version (the total noir version) links are now here below.

Yang's Saga 1985 review

Directed by Johnnie To, Raymond Lee and Siu Kin-hing, “Yang's Saga” is star-studded with important actors and actresses, minus my dear Barbara who passed away around the time of the filming or editing of this movie. Even the first scenes in Heaven had Dodo Cheng as Immortal Woman Ho, Mr Cheung Ying-choi (Master Ma Yu in LOCH 83 and the Emperor in CLH 84) as Royal Uncle Cho, Chow Yun Fat as Lui Tung-ban (Lu Dongbin), and Maggie Cheung Man-yeuk (Chang Man-yi) as the Divine Lady of Nine Heavens. We have Lisa Lui as Empress Li of Song and Margie Tsang as Tony's apsara girlfriend who was banished to the Earth because she was dating Tony Leung the Thunder Boy. Michael Miu was the Fourth Young Master Yang (Yeung Yin-fai, Yeung Sai-long), Mimi Kung (Wah Jan-Jan in CLH 84) played as his Song wife. Felix Wong was the Fifth Young Master Yang (Yeung Ng-long). Any Lau was the Sixth Young Master Yang (Yeung Yin-Chiu/Yang Yanzhao). Tony Leung was the Seventh son (Yeung Chat-long). Michael Tao was one of the brats in the nemesis Poon family. Kent Tong was the Eight Prince of the Song (Prince Bat Ying, or Zhao Defang). Chan Wing-chun (Wu Tit Fa in CLH 84) and Chun Wong (Old Imp, LOCH 83) were the two Yeung generals. Check this Wiki link for other casts.

"At Least I Have You" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

This CLH Heung 1984 MV starts with some scenes from Ep 11. The MV mostly focuses on how CLH would sacrifice himself to protect Song Siu Ching because he loved her so, and how he was so scared to lose her (or got worried whenever she was upset). Several versions of "At Least I Have You" (Zhi Shao Hai You Ni) exist, and I do love some of them (Alan Tam's and Sandy Lam's in particular). But I picked Leslie Cheung's version because the tone  somehow fits with the MV theme. "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung" 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong; no copyright infringement intended. Dedicated to Michael Miu, Barbara Yung, and Leslie Cheung...

I've uploaded the MV to both Vimeo and Dailymotion, both with high res and lower res (higher res tends to be difficult to stream). Hope they remain there. Pinyin and English translation of the lyrics are below the break. The English translation was obtained from Diana S from YouTube. Enjoy!

   
"At Least I Have You" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"I Am What I Am" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984

The following MV was inspired by Leslie Cheung's number "I Am What I Am". The song talks about his sexuality, which he decided to openly admit to the public. Here I apply a different context for Chor Lau Heung, in which he was just a normal man who fell in love with an amazing woman, yet their backgrounds were so different. Hence, when he had to choose between staying in the Palace with his love Song Siu Ching or returning to his wandering life despite her absence, he chose the latter. However, after returning to the Fragrant Boat, he still wished she was with him. The last scene depicts his disappointment upon learning that she wasn't coming (or so he thought....). 

Music is "I Am What I Am" by the late Leslie Cheung. "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung" 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong. No copyright infringement intended. Yale romanisation and English translations are below the MVs. I took out the numbers for the MV subtitles, but I retained them here. 

   
"I Am What I Am" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"The Moon Represents My Heart" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

About two months ago, after listening to "The Moon Represents My Heart" sung beautifully by the late Teresa Teng, I wanted to make an MV of Chor Lau Heung and Song Siu Ching using this song. But somehow I wanted the singer to be a male, for I wanted it to represent Chor tai-gor’s feelings to Siu Ching. After all, our wanderer was a total helpless in expressing his thoughts! Then I came across Leslie Cheung’s version on this YouTube video. I fell in love with his beautiful rendition. However, that version was too live for the MV I wanted to make. After an easy searching in iTunes, I struck gold by finding another version sung by Leslie in his two albums (“I Am What I Am” and “Forever Leslie”). After a very painstaking process of converting the MP4 protected file, I finally gave up and searched online for any mp3 version uploaded by any kind soul. I struck gold again with this site. Hence, this MV.


   
"The Moon Represents My Heart" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.