E' morta Anita Mui
Senbee Norimaki
da un anno e sembrava averla sconfitta ma a quanto pare non era cosě.
Dopo Leslie Cheung, un'altra morte inaspettata e terribile che colpisce nel
2003 il cinema e la musica di Hong Kong.
Alcuni articoli dal South China Morning Post di oggi:
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On November 15, 10,000 people watched with me as Anita Mui Yim-fong pulled
off what must be her greatest personal triumph - fighting her way past
fatigue, cancer and medication to end her concert series on a triumphant
note.
At the end of the Coliseum concert, as she walked through the church doors
on stage in a wedding gown, with some of her good friends behind her, there
was a finality about the scene. I knew then that, after many false alarms,
it would be probably be the last time that Mui would hold a solo concert.
What I hadn't expected, however, was that it would be the last time I would
see the consummate performer in the flesh. Yes, we all knew she had cancer
of the cervix after her much publicised announcement on September 20.
"I may be a patient, but I am not a weak person. Watch me beat this," she
told Hong Kong - and we believed her.
We wanted to believe her - fate could not be so unkind as to rob Hong Kong
of three of its best entertainers in just 15 months: first Roman Tam Pak-sin
from liver cancer in October last year, then Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing in a
suicide in April. Both had been good friends of Mui.
When a local fortune-teller announced after Cheung's death that a female
superstar with the Chinese character "wood" in her name would die before the
end of the year, all fingers pointed at Mui.
Her friends then went on suicide watch as they watched Mui's grief for
Cheung overtake her.
But true to form, Mui rebounded with strength and resolve. "Don't worry, I
will live my life well," she said, before ploughing herself into organising
one of the most star-studded concerts ever held in Hong Kong, in aid of the
victims of Sars.
Mui was a fighter; she had not had much of a choice. Born into a poor family
of two boys and two girls, Mui and her sister Ann Mui Oi-fong - who died of
cancer in 2000 - had started singing at amusement parks from the age of four
to put rice on the table. Mui's father had died early, leaving her mother
and the two girls to fend for the family.
After leaving school in Form One, Mui continued singing in nightclubs to
support her family.
In 1982, she took the fateful step of signing up for the first TVB New
Talent Singing Contest. Her Farrah Fawcett hairdo and gaudy gold gown failed
to overshadow Mui's mellow, powerful voice. Her rendition of Paula Tsui's
Season of the Wind won her the champion's trophy.
Mui's career reached heights that no other Hong Kong female singer has come
even close to mirroring.
In her 20-year career, she sold more than 10 million albums and staged more
than 300 concerts. In 1990, she broke Asian records for a 30-night concert
run at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
She has won more than 80 music awards and gave Hong Kong such memorable hits
as Breaking Through Ice Mountain, Bad Girl, Time Flows Like Water and Manju
Shaka.
Not your classic Chinese beauty, Mui made up for it by outrageousness and
daring; going through image changes like Imelda Marcos went through shoes.
She earned the moniker "The Chameleon" and "Anita of 100 Faces".
Mui and good friend Leslie Cheung reigned as the Queen and King of
Canto-pop. Both were consummate entertainers who put the "live" into live
performances. When Mui announced her "retirement" from live shows and awards
in 1991, everyone lamented her departure.
However, the lure of the stage proved too much for Mui. Four years later,
she was back on stage albeit at longer intervals than before.
Mui proved she was not just a force to be reckoned with on the musical
arena. She has appeared in more than 40 films in her career, and was named
best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1985.
Two years later, she won best actress at the Golden Horse Film Awards for
her role as the lovelorn ghost in search of her lover (Leslie Cheung) in
Stanley Kwan Kam-pang's Rouge.
Yet, despite all her successes, Mui always carried a tragic, unhappy air
about her. At parties with showbiz friends, she alternated between sitting
morosely by herself and going overboard with drinking and partying.
I remember sitting near her at a party in a Las Vegas hotel penthouse one
Christmas Eve. Everyone else had been playing silly party games but Mui had
sat there gloomy and brooding all night.
Maybe it was because Air France had lost her luggage en route from Morocco
and together with it, her much-needed sleeping pills, but that air of
sadness - even when masked by bravado and bolstered by a few drinks - was
always there whenever else I saw her.
Bravado was certainly something that Mui had in spades. It was probably what
got her into her first reported life-and-death scrape in 1992 when an
altercation with a triad boss in a Kowloon Tong karaoke bar escalated into a
gang killing and Mui subsequently had to flee town after receiving death
threats.
Mui's generosity to her friends and family was also well known. Good friend
Eric Tsang Chi-wai once commented: "When you go out with Anita, you don't
have to bring any cash. She pays for everything!"
----------------------------------
"Don't cry for me. Don't say my name. Let me go on my journey in peace."
That, and seeing her friends for a final time, was the last wish of pop
superstar Anita Mui Yim-fong, conveyed by close friend actor Jackie Chan
yesterday at a press conference at which news of her death was announced.
Hong Kong's entertainment industry was in mourning as news of Mui's death
spread.
"A superstar in show business, a friend who treats us with real love
wholeheartedly, Miss Mui Yim-fong has passed away at 2.50am. She died of
dysfunction of the lungs caused by cervical cancer," announced fashion
designer and long-time friend Eddie Lau Pui-kei at Happy Valley's Hong Kong
Sanatorium and Hospital. She was 40 years old.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa last night paid tribute to the singer and
actress who dominated the entertainment scene for more than two decades.
"Ms Mui's achievements and community services signified the best of Hong
Kong's spirit," a spokesman said. "Her success did not come easy. She
started her stellar career on her own and achieved much with her own
efforts. This was typical of how many Hong Kong people achieved successes."
Funeral services will start on January 11 at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in
North Point, which will be open to the public from 4pm. A private service
will be held at 11am the following day for relatives and friends. Her body
will then be taken to Cape Collinson for cremation.
Mui's death followed those of Canto-pop legend Roman Tam Pak-sin in October
last year, her closest celebrity friend, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, in April,
and veteran lyricist Lam Chun-keung - who penned many of her hits - last
month.
Friends spoke of the end of an era. "Her death is a great loss to Hong
Kong," Chan said. "Ah Mui doesn't only belong to show business, she belongs
to Hong Kong. She liked being with friends, so she insisted to see all of us
before she left. This year is a very sad year for our industry.
"It was Anita Mui's last wish. She did not want her friends to cry and be in
despair, and she did not want people to yell out her name."
Mui first disclosed she had cervical cancer in September after being stalked
by paparazzi for days. She said at the time that a benign tumour was
discovered more than a year ago, but a recent checkup revealed it had turned
malignant.
She had insisted her sickness was not terminal.
Movie star and friend Eric Tsang Chi-wai said yesterday: "Her condition kept
getting worse, but she still insisted on waiting for all her beloved friends
and got the last glimpse of all of us and gave us all her blessing before
she left us."
-----------------------
Anita Mui merged influences as diverse as Madonna and Japanese pop idols,
and in the process galvanised Hong Kong's entertainment industry in the
1980s, breaking new ground for women performers, say cultural critics.
Newspaper columnist Bono Lee Chiu-hing praised Mui for casting off the
shackles of 1970s sexual stereotyping and presenting the image of a strong,
assertive woman.
"That was something quite new in the early 1980s, a time when showbusiness
was very much dominated by men and male singers. Women performers were
usually cast as passive beauties," he said.
"Anita was known to be very tough, very much her own person - she wasn't
even very pretty - so it wasn't just an image. She imposed her strong
character in her performances on stage, in film and off stage."
Her 1988 breakthrough performance in the Stanley Kwan film Rouge, which saw
her playing a 1930s high-class courtesan who at times pretends to be a man,
catapulted her to the A-list of performers.
"From that film, you could see that Anita was very aware of gender roles and
she was playing with them," Lee said, adding that this was something she had
borrowed from Madonna, who was then at the peak of her career in the United
States.
"It was really this playing of different roles and images - from
sophisticated lady to naughty and flirtatious woman - that distinguished her
from all other women performers. I consider this breaking out of gender
stereotyping as something very positive, as a role model for young people
and Hong Kong in general."
The 1980s saw Canto-pop concerts developing as a viable business at a time
when television's stranglehold on the entertainment industry was loosening.
Mui excelled in stage performances, borrowing from the elaborate staging and
choreography of Japanese teen idols and the daring, sexy costumes of
Madonna.
The 1980s saw the rise of a middle-class with money to spend, said cultural
critic Sze Man-hung, and concerts became good business. "In the 1970s, all
the singers had to graduate from television, which was the key promotion for
new singers," said Sze, who is also a principal lecturer at Polytechnic
University's general education centre.
"But in the 1980s, concerts became big business and ... of course Anita
could sing well, so it wasn't just mindless borrowing but imposing her own
distinct signature. Her fans were never teenagers, they were always older,
more experienced people."
But perhaps one taxi driver, a Mui fan, put it best. "She could sing, had
personality, was her own person and had her own opinions. Today's stars,
they have none of these. We will never see the like of her again."
-------------------------
Anita Mui's death not only received wide attention locally but was given
extensive coverage by overseas news agencies.
Hailing the 40-year-old singer as "Hong Kong's Madonna", CNN.com in its
world news section reported that cancer had claimed the Canto-pop star.
On its website's news section, the BBC described Mui as Hong Kong's
best-loved singer and actress, as well as an advocate for charitable and
pro-democracy causes.
BBC correspondent in China Francis Markus said Mui's death was being mourned
throughout the Chinese-speaking world, where she was often compared to
Madonna.
The Agence France-Presse news agency said Hong Kong was mourning the death
of Mui after the singer known as "the Madonna of Asia" lost her battle
against cervical cancer.
Reuters also noted the Madonna comparisons, saying that Mui had won the
admiration of fans throughout the region with her flamboyant on-stage
presence.
Associated Press also paid high tribute to Mui, saying the singer and
actress's melancholy voice had captivated the Chinese-speaking world.
Xinhuanet.com, which is sponsored by the Xinhua news agency, devoted a page
to mourn the star. It said Mui was a natural born singer, an outstanding
actress and a musical legend.
Many of Mui's fans visited the site's cyber memorial, which was specially
designed for the singer.
A fan, whose identity was not revealed, wrote: "With so many facts lying in
front of my eyes, I still can't believe it is the truth ... sister Mui has
left, and she left gracefully. She will certainly bless us from heaven and
continue to shine bright, and will never wear away."
The popular mainland website, Sina.com, dedicated extensive coverage to
Mui's life and her sudden death.
An anonymous fan wrote on its message board: "A singer, a superstar, Mui
still stood on the stage a month before she passed away.
"It showed how much she did not want to put down her beloved singing career.
Miss Mui forever," the fan added.
In Taiwan, prominent reports of Mui's death were to be found almost
everywhere, with all newspapers giving detailed coverage of her career.
TV news channels also gave hourly reports on the Hong Kong superstar,
showing her singing numbers including Scent of a Woman, which is highly
popular in Taiwan.
Her albums, especially the most popular ones, were snapped up by fans in
less than an hour when most CD shops opened in the morning.
"Why her? She was still young. We can't afford to lose a big star like her,
especially when we have already lost Leslie Cheung," said a 30-year-old fan,
Bill Huang.
---------------------------------
The streets of Mongkok were yesterday filled with the songs of Anita Mui,
the final tribute to the 40-year-old star who had battled cervical cancer
for months.
Mui died early yesterday at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy
Valley.
Stores were running out of Mui's albums and films as her fans, mostly aged
over 30, rushed to buy her recent and past work.
"We have already sold close to 100 copies of CDs and VCDs this morning,"
said a shopkeeper at Wide Sight Entertainment who gave his name only as Mr
Chan.
"They [fans] just keep coming, asking for whatever is related to Mui. She
was really a star."
Mr Chan said people mostly wanted to buy copies of Rouge, the Stanley Kwan
film made in 1988 co-starring Mui and Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, who jumped to
his death in April this year.
"It was a sad year really. First it was Leslie, then it's Mui. We lost two
stars who were so bright, so dear to us," he said.
Ngan Lam Yin-choi, 32, and her two daughters were among the crowds looking
for Mui's CDs.
"I want to keep all her songs because they were full of memories of my
younger days.
"Her soulful voice can always take me back to those good old days," said Ms
Ngan.
She said Mui's songs touched even the younger generation, including her
nine-year-old daughter, Ngan Ka-yan, who said: "I and my friends all liked
Anita very much because we love her songs . . . We are all very sad to hear
that she died."
Videos of Mui's latest concert and films were broadcast on television
screens at most record stores and electronics shops, attracting crowds who
stopped to admire her singing and acting career.
"I've been watching her singing on stage since she was four, making it from
the humble settings of the Li Yuen Playground to the Hunghom Stadium. It all
seems like yesterday," said one 75-year-old man who said Mui was his
favourite singer.
"She was such a brave and talented girl who never gave up . . . I will
always remember and cherish her voice and her face, which was always so
young and beautiful to me and all those who loved her."
Mui's fans gathered at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital with bouquets.
"I rushed to the hospital first thing in the morning, but Mui was already
gone," said one woman who carrying a bouquet who was in tears.
"I just could not believe it. She had appeared so cheerful and energetic to
us."
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This year will go down in history as a black one for showbusiness with the
deaths of three stars and a veteran lyricist within six months of each
other.
Anita Mui's death yesterday morning followed those of Taiwanese stunt legend
Ko Shou-liang three weeks ago, lyricist-columnist Lam Chun-keung in
mid-November and pop singer-actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing on April 1.
Cheung and Mui attracted the most media attention in their careers,
reflecting their impact on Hong Kong people through films and music in the
past 20 years. The pair, who acted as lovers in Stanley Kwan's 1988 film
Rouge, were best friends off screen.
Cheung, 46, Hong Kong's most flamboyant screen presence, plunged to his
death from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central and Mui
is understood to have been greatly depressed by his death. She said in May
that Cheung "knew me better than anyone and I can't forget - I dare not
forget - his every gesture, every quirk".
Cheung, star of the hit 1993 film Farewell My Concubine, who entered
showbusiness through a music contest in 1976, had suffered from depression
for much of the latter part of his career, but police refused to disclose
details of his suicide note.
Apart from Cheung and Mui, the Canto-pop world also mourned the loss of Lam,
who wrote lyrics for both Cheung and Mui in the 1980s. Lam, 56, died of
blood cancer. Starting in the 1990s, Lam also wrote a weekly column for Next
Magazine and until recently wrote a daily feature for Apple Daily.
Three weeks before Mui's death, stuntman Ko died in Shanghai from a
suspected asthma attack caused by heavy drinking. He had attended three
banquets before his death.
The 51-year-old, best remembered for stunts such as jumping over the Great
Wall and Yellow river on a motorcycle and in a car, also dabbled in acting,
singing and directing.
----------------------------
A gynaecology professor hopes the death of Anita Mui will raise public
awareness of cervical cancer which kills more than 100 women in Hong Kong
every year.
Hextan Ngan Yeun-sheung, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the
University of Hong Kong, warned that many women in Hong Kong ignored the
threat of cervical cancer and failed to receive regular pap smears, delaying
diagnosis and increasing their health risk.
Professor Ngan warns that although most patients are aged more than 50,
doctors are seeing an increasing number of younger patients, such as those
in their 40s, in recent years.
The Family Planning Association said only 78,359 women received pap smears
last year. The association is the major organisation providing the medical
test.
Professor Ngan said the accuracy of pap smears was between 30 and 70 per
cent but it was the major diagnostic test for cervical cancer. She appealed
to women in Hong Kong to get tested regularly - annually for the first two
years and then every three years.
"Women in Hong Kong are usually very busy. They devote most of their time
and effort to work and family. Many fail to take good care of their own
health such as having health checks regularly," she said.
Professor Ngan said smoking was a major risk factor for cervical cancer.
Previous medical findings also showed that sexually active women have a
higher chance of developing the cancer than those who never had sex.
But there was no evidence that women with a family history of cervical
cancer had a higher risk of developing the disease, she added.
However, women living in poor regions such as Africa, and some Southeast
Asian and South American countries are found to have a higher rate of
cervical cancer than those from developed countries.
Professor Ngan said patients with early-stage cervical cancer had a 90 per
cent chance of recovery with treatment, so it was important to be diagnosed
early.
They usually do not present symptoms at the early stage but suffer bleeding
when the condition deteriorates.
According to the latest Hong Kong Cancer Registry figures, there were 444
new cervical cancer cases in 2000 and 128 women died of the disease in the
year.
Alberto Casini
nel
> 2003 il cinema e la musica di Hong Kong.
:-(
Roberto76
"Au revoir, mon amour"!
(tristezza indescrivibile)
R.
Kekko
malattia
> da un anno e sembrava averla sconfitta ma a quanto pare non era cosě.
>
> Dopo Leslie Cheung, un'altra morte inaspettata e terribile che colpisce
nel
> 2003 il cinema e la musica di Hong Kong.
>
Una lacrima per Anita
(anche solo per ABT3)
baci
kekko