Goodbye, Li Xianglan

This film (drama)Also known asさよなら李香蘭，is aJapan, Mainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At1989Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese, Japanese，Current Douban rating8.5(For reference only)。

Li Xianglan's original name was Yamaguchi Shuko, and her family called her Dou Dou. She was Japanese, born on February 12, 1920, near Fengtian (now Shenyang), Liaoning Province, China, and soon the family moved to Fushun. Yamaguchi Shuko was born into a family of sinologists in Japan; her grandfather was a sinologist from Saga Prefecture, and her father, influenced by him, studied in China during his youth and later worked for the "South Manchuria Railway Company." Growing up in Shenyang and later living in Fushun, she was deeply affected by a blood-red image that stayed with her for life: in 1932, she witnessed several bound Chinese men being shot dead on the spot by Japanese military police, their bodies bloodied and mutilated. Later, she learned that this was related to the Pingdingshan Massacre—where 3,000 Chinese civilians were killed by Japanese troops. Following her father's detention for "collaborating with the enemy," the Yamaguchi family moved to Shenyang. At the age of 13, she recognized her father's Chinese classmate, the pro-Japanese president of the Shenyang Bank, Li Jichun, as her adoptive father, thus acquiring the elegant name Li Xianglan. In 1943, the young and naive Li Xianglan, filled with love for both China and Japan and dreams for her future, arrived in Beiping and attended Beiping Yijiao Girls' School under the name Pan Shuhua. "Pan" was the surname of her other adoptive father—her father’s sworn brother, Pan Zhengsheng, who was then the mayor of Tianjin; "Shu" was derived from Yamaguchi Shuko's name; and "Hua" meant she was born in China. This name also contained hopes for friendship between Japan and China. Beiping Yijiao Girls' School was a comprehensive girls' school covering high school and junior high. It was there that she received a good education, laying the foundation for her future acting career. In her book "My First Half of Life - The Biography of Li Xianglan," she recorded her learning experience: "I came from Northeast China to seek relatives, as a Chinese person—an adoptive daughter of the Pan family—attended Yijiao Girls' School, named Pan Shuhua... Sometimes, while three of us went to school together, I would be left alone after school. During that time, I often stopped by Beihai Park on my way, practicing my Chinese pronunciation or checking the dictionary alone on a deserted small island, and I also visited the distant Tai Temple." Due to her innate beauty, fluent Chinese, and a wonderful singing voice, when the "Li family has a daughter coming of age," her artistic talent and unique background quickly caught the attention of the pro-Japanese puppet "Manchukuo Film Association," which had been manipulated and orchestrated by the Japanese invaders. They recruited her into their organization and decided to promote her as a Chinese singing star, stirring up support for their invasion policies. The young and ignorant Li Xianglan was filled with limitless hopes for the puppet "Manchukuo," singing Chinese songs like "Fishing Girl," "Zhaojun's Lament," and "Meng Jiangnu," in the newly launched program "New Songs of Manchukuo" on the Fengtian Broadcasting Station, eventually becoming famous with her song "Night Jasmine." Thus, "Singing Star Li Xianglan" was thrust into the spotlight, quickly rising to prominence in the song and film industries, becoming a household "superstar." After her rise to fame, she also starred in several films that promoted the Japanese military or glamorized Japan's invasion of war, leading everyone to believe she was Chinese, which brought her later misfortune. As the Japanese invasion of China escalated and the Pacific War broke out, Britain and America declared war on Japan. Japan became the enemy of the world, sinking deeper into a quagmire. On one side, there was killing intent, and on the other, a façade of song and dance. In the midst of the chaos, her singing served as a soothing tonic, mingling with the spirits of the people, soothing their minds while wearing down their fighting will. Despite being in turbulent times, her popularity continued to rise. During the early period of the Pacific War, her performances at the "Japanese Theater" were met with enthusiastic audiences, with as many as seven and a half circles of fans surrounding her, causing chaos and becoming sensational news. At that time, she received a letter from Matsugane Hiroshi, the eldest son of Japanese Foreign Minister Matsugane Yangyo. The letter stated, "The value of a person cannot be measured by their fame. A person's worth is not reflected on the surface; you should cherish yourself. This is an era where personal value is ridiculed, and you must respect yourself more; otherwise, you will only be manipulated by the national situation. I hope you will always love yourself." These words are thought-provoking. In one of Japan's darkest historical periods, the son of a foreign minister later deemed a war criminal wrote such a letter to a star actress posing as a Chinese (or "Manchurian") who served Japan's Far East policy. It both conveys the power of liberalism and highlights its weakness—it can only resist but never accomplish its goals. Fluent in both Chinese and Japanese, possessing captivating beauty, and with a European vocal style reminiscent of Hollywood’s leading lady Diana Durbin, Li Xianglan perfectly embodied the Japanese idealization of Chinese women. Thus, she became the "sugar-coated shell" in the Kanto Army's war policy.  ◆ Years as a Singer: Li Xianglan's experience is unique. Although she was a fake Chinese actress manufactured by the Japanese, promoting Japan’s Far East policy through films designed to console the Japanese army, this was not enough to erase her artistic achievements. Her singing was melodious and enchanting, her artistry profound. During her school years, she studied coloratura soprano with a renowned soprano, Madame Podoriosov, and later became a singer at a broadcasting station, marking the start of her musical career. Throughout her life, she sang countless classic love songs. In her memoir "My First Half of Life," she stated that the three most popular songs among the audience were "When Will You Return?" "Suzhou Night Song," and "Night Jasmine." "When Will You Return?" is an insert song from the 1930s film "The Three Stars Accompanying the Moon;" although originally sung by Zhou Xuan, her rendition added a different charm. Just like in her old photographs, her alluring face, dressed in a qipao, is Eastern yet not entirely Chinese, with an air of ambiguity in her brows and eyes. "Suzhou Night Song" was composed by the Japanese composer Hattori Yoshio, based on a Chinese melody and referencing American love songs, specifically written for her. "Night Jasmine" is perhaps the most well-known. It was composed by the record company Bada and inspired by Chinese folk tunes, yet the melody and rhythm were entirely in a Western style, arranged into a lively slow rumba that spread throughout the vibrant occupied areas. Unfortunately, it remains a song that has not been unbanned to this day. Despite its popularity, many people can only sing it privately. In her autobiography, she mentioned, "Although this song is very popular, its popularity was short-lived; later, both the Japanese and Chinese versions were banned from sale... The reason given was that any foreign, soft love songs would disrupt public morals." Moreover, in 1945, she was summoned by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau for singing this song. She said, "They suspected I sang this song in hopes that the Chongqing government or the Communist government would return." Even in her later years, she continued to reminisce about the lyricist Li Jinguang. In 1981, she specifically invited him to visit Japan, and they performed "Night Jasmine" together at a cocktail party, surrounded by a group of "Night Jasmine" fans who sang and danced around. In her autobiography, she also mentioned another song banned for being labeled as "decadent and demoralizing enemy music"—"Blues of Parting." This song was very popular among Japanese soldiers; when the actress performed it upon request, the officers, although pretending to have matters to attend to, shed tears while secretly enjoying it. Her songs "Three Years," "One Night of Love," and "Not Meeting Until Marriage" captivated fans deeply. In June 1945, when she performed this piece in Shanghai, fans from both Chinese and Japanese backgrounds, despite being in a state of war, were mad about her. This was also her last public performance in Shanghai; two months later, the war ended, and she was arrested on charges of "colluding with the Japanese army." In addition to singing, she also shot many films in the puppet "Manchukuo," Shanghai, Japan, and Hong Kong and Taiwan. In April 1991, she personally selected seven films she starred in for a Hong Kong film festival showing. The seven films were: "China Night," "Bell of Sian," "My Nightingale," "The Most Brilliant Days of My Life," "Escape at Dawn," "Scandal," and "The Demon Love of Lady White." Among them, "My Nightingale" was shot during her time with the puppet "Manchukuo Film" and took nearly two years to complete at a cost of 250,000 yen, five times the average film investment. The film portrays the bittersweet story of a father and daughter; she herself believed it "is a globally significant musical film and a truly musical film in the history of Japanese cinema." "The Most Brilliant Days of My Life" is her representative work after returning to Japan post-war, produced by Japan's Shochiku Company, depicting a dancer who falls in love with the enemy who killed her father; it was ranked fifth among the ten best films. "Escape at Dawn," a romantic tragedy penned by Akira Kurosawa, was ranked the third best film of the year. "The Demon Love of Lady White" was adapted from the Chinese folk story "Madame White Snake." "China Night" left audiences with the impression of a beautiful Chinese woman and her sweet singing voice. Her singing gave people dreams, and the films she starred in were sensational. She filmed "Mulan Joins the Army" and "Eternal Fame," and in "Eternal Fame," she gained fame in China's film industry for her role as Lin Zexu's daughter. She had different interpretations of these two films; she believed they could be understood by Chinese audiences from the perspective of patriotism against the enemy—anti-Japanese. She even said this was a film acceptable to both sides of China and Japan. However, her true flourishing occurred in the 1950s, following her performances in Hollywood films and Broadway musicals, when she was invited by a Hong Kong film company to shoot several films, including "Jin Ping Mei," "One Night of Love," "Mysterious Beauty," etc., with all the inserts sung by her personally and recorded into records. Although some accused her films of being filled with Japanese militarism, art cannot entirely become a propaganda tool for militarism. Additionally, she also participated in the "documentary art film" "Yellow River" and a music film styled after Russia, titled "My Nightingale," and was tracked by spies from both Russia and Japan because of the latter. Regarding this, she said, "Japan will definitely lose the war, but precisely because of that defeat, we must leave behind quality artistic films. When the U.S. military occupies Japan, it can prove that Japan didn't just make war films, but also produced excellent artistic films that rival Western masterpieces..."