Which of the two looks prettier? Carman or Fann?
The Story.... ( in brief )
For the start, what they have is not a simple "handsome-guy-meets-pretty-girl-and-falls-in-love " love story, but one full of hardship and trials. That's what sets it apart from the love shared by Guo Jing & Huang Rong, who had it easy when one compares their love story with this dynamic duo. (in fact, I think their love pales in comparison!) Neither is their love like what the Wu brothers had for Guo Fu:blind, selfish, posessive love.
Their love
is pure and true, untainted by the fact that Xiao Long Nu is no longer
chaste after she's been violated by Yin Zhi Ping, or that Yang Guo has
become a one-armed `handicap'. Their suffering had only increased the capacity
of their love for each other. She who can `marry' another she despised
so as to obtain the antidote for his Love Blossom Poison, ready to kill
herself as soon as that is accomplished ; He who would rather bear the
excruciating pain of the poisoning rather than to give up his feelings
for her.
This is the love of two people who were once very much alone: Xiao Long Nu in the old tomb and Yang Guo having only a turtle for his friend. But having found companionship in each other, to be able to mutually care and shower concern on each other, they can no longer picture life without the other. Life now grows around the other person, and they find that life can't continue when one of them is dead. The fact that each of them is important to each other, is the foundation of their undying love.
It all may
have begun when Xiao Long Nu saved young Yang Guo from the clutches of
Quanzhen Sect. She cared for Yang Guo and uncomplainingly provided to his
growing up needs as a loving sister might. To Yang Guo, she took up the
maternal role he lacked in his life.
But what may
have been maternal love before, saw a transition when Yang Guo grew into
his teenage years. He grew to love his beautiful mentor as a young man
might a lady; To protect her always and even if it meant that he must die
to do so. ( heh heh, seriously guys, how many of U would be willing to
die so that your mother will live ? Think about it )
Yet their love has not matured simply because they are left alone, meeting no other people in their lives, hence had a kind of "Limited Choice" , but their love had to face up to discrimination thrown from the entire pugilist world, attacked by the merciless hands of time. More over, Yang Guo has many fair maidens who are willing to lay their lives on the line for his own, Gongsun Lue is one of them. Not to mention the cousins Cheng Ying and Lu WuShuang who wasted their youth waiting for him to have a change of heart as he waited for Xiao Long Nu for an entire 16 years. But he remains steadfast to this love, enduring the acute loneliness for the 16 years to pass and the day to meet his love to come.
Background:
Which of the two looks prettier? Carman or Fann?
Xiaolongnu is another core character next to Yang Guo. She was an orphan and was taken in by her teacher when she was very young and had lived in the tomb eversince. She was 18 years old when she first met Yang Guo and was forced to take care of Yang Guo as she promised to do so before Grandma Sun died. She and Yang Guo lived in the tomb quite peacefully for a couple of years while she teached Yeung Gor martial arts. It was not until she and Yang Guo decided to practice "Yu Nu Xin Jing" ( a form of martial arts ) when their life began to change. On one occasion when Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu were practising "Yu Nu Xin Jing", they were disturbed and Xiaolongnu got her internal strength messed up and suffered a major visceral injury. Not long after, Li Mo Chou came to snatch "Yu Nu Xin Jing" and she and Yang Guo had to go through a great deal to shrug off Li Mo Chou but it was then that Xiaolongnu found out her love and liking for Yang Guo. She went through a lot of suffering physically and mentally as she was raped by Yin Zhi Ping, almost married the lecher, Gong Sun Zhi, and was severely injured by Golden Wheel Monk which was aggravated by Li Mo Chou and Guo Fu so much that she is almost certainly dead. She jumped off the cliff and left a message for Yang Guo to wait for her for sixteen years as she thought Yang Guo will slowly forget her over the sixteen years but she underestimated Yang Guo's love for her. Both of them were reunited after sixteen years as Yang Guo jumped off the cliff to commit suicide, but instead found Xiaolongnu in the other side of the mountains.
Character:
Xiaolongnu as described by the book, was an extremely beautiful and cool-like-an-ice-peak lady but she was extremely sweet when she smiled. In the novel, Jing Yong described Xiaolongnu as " a young lady not much or any older looking than Yeung Gor ". At the end of the book, she still looked as young as before. This was because she managed to keep herself cool and calm without much emotions except towards Yang Guo. Some analysts, however, do not like her and describe her as "a demon under an innocent coat" because she encouraged Yang Guo to kill Guo Jing in exchange for Yang Guo's life and this showed how selfish she was. Personally, however, I think that Xiaolongnu was just pure like snow in her character because she never stepped out of the tomb until after she left the tomb with Yang Guo. She never knew the importance of keeping the integrity of the country and race and all she could think about was Yang Guo because he was the only person she could depend on and whom she lived for. That was why it was inevitable for her to put Yang Guo's life in priority and encouraged Yang Guo to kill Guo Jing. But Xiaolongnu did have a flaw in her character and that was to easily believe in what other people said, which also stamped from the fact that she was so new in the society. Though she loved Yang Guo, she lacked faith in Yang Guo or else she would not have left Yang Guo during the first ( after Huang Rong talked to her ) and second ( after she heard what Yang Guo said to the Mo brothers ) occasion.
Carman Lee as "Xiaolongnu"
Cool-like-an-ice-peak and sweet-like-a-blossom, Carman Lee was the perfect candidate for Xiaolongnu. Though Carman is not stunning looking, her beauty comes deep from within, which is what makes me like her after The Condor Heroes 95. She possess this sense of superiority when she does not smile and looks extremely cool, clean and pure, which puts her ahead of other actresses of her time. In addition, she is not fetish like many other actresses and show a lot of elegance and grace as she played Xiaolongnu. However, like Louis, her acting was less than superb, though acceptable, but again, her natural attributes more than compensated for all the lack. But what is important too is that Carman and Louis makes an extremely good couple because while Louis looks stunningly handsome and charming from the outlook, Carman looks subtle and deep in her beauty, possessing a lot of elegance and both blended very well with each other to result in a perfect screen couple.
Fann Wong as "Xiao Long Nu"
Here, we have
TCS's 2nd most popular actress, Fann Wong, as the famous female character,
Xiao Long Nu. How does she look? There were lots of controversy over the
choice of Fann as Xiao Long Nu initially but well, now I think she looks
okay for the role, though her costume is too complicated (lace and all)
for the simple nature of Xiao long Nu... She looks real pale all through
the show. Being pale does not neccessary mean that she's calm and unfeeling,
right? And then Fann's particularly weepy......
Her
hair...reminds me of cobra, but it is REALLY original and creative ( and
there's too much of that ) . Good try, TCS! But generally, I prefer Hong
Kong's Xiaolongnu ( Carman Lee ).
Background:
Which of the
two looks more "pugilistic", handsome, and "born-to-be hunk?"
Then again,
taking another look, they look VERY a-like -- eyebrows ( especially ),
heroic air, nose......Maybe they look like... Yang brothers or something.
When you see them in real life, they are hardly a-like. Louis ( in real
life ) looks cool, while Chris is mischievous, fun-loving and "let-hair-down"
down type.
Yang Guo is the core character of this story. His mother died when he was only 11 years old, thereafter which he spent most of his time stealing to survive until he met Guo Jing who brought him to Plum Blossoms Island. As the son of Yang Kang, he was not well-liked by Huang Rong and Hor Jeung Lok ( Guo Jing's teacher ) since he resembles his father in terms of look. Later, due to some misunderstandings between him and Hor Jeung Lok, Yang Guo was sent to Zhongnan Mountain where Quanzhen Sect was situated. However, Yang Guo was treated badly by his teacher and fellow taoists, and Yang Guo once got into trouble which brought him to the Ancient Tomb where Xiaolongnu lived. As Xiaolongnu promised to take care of Yang Guo before Granny Sun died, Yang Guo became the disciple of Xiaolongnu. On one occasion, Xiaolongnu was injured because she was disturbed when she was practicing Yunu Xinjing with Yang Guo. During the ordeal, their hearts were brought together. However, these lovers were separated once and again due to misunderstandings and the inability of the society then to accept their love because of their teacher-disciple relationship. Although he loved only Xiaolongnu, there are five girls who loved him - Guo Fu, Cheng Ying, Lu Wu Shuang, Gong Sun Lu-E, and Guo Xiang. When Xiaolongnu doubted Yang Guo's love for her, she left him to Loveless Valley where she got injured. She was then saved by Gongsun Zhi. Xiaolongnu introduced herself as Liu-Mei. Gongsun Zhi fell for her and proposed to her, and she agreed to the marriage. At the same time, Yang Guo found out that he actually loved Xiaolongnu deeply and searched for her everywhere. When he finally found her in the Loveless Valley, she coldly denied that she ever met him. In the end, he got poisoned by the Loveless Flowers.
Character:
Yang Guo, according to a book about Jin Yong's novels, is the most well-liked character of the 3 male leads in the trilogy of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre". He is every woman's dream man, being tall and handsome, witty and humorous, as well as passionate and sensitive; but what attracts readers most is his ultimate love towards his one and only Xiaolongnu. Although Yang Gup is ,if not smarter, as smart as his father, his personality traits belong to that of his mother - kind and soft hearted. Yang Guo is a man of principles, which many people think is not apparent. This is because on many occasions, he seemed not to have accomplished what he promised to do but that was because he realised what he had promised to do were wrong. As he said before, if he is wrong, he will admit it but if not, he will stand to what he think is right. This is his principle. Yang Guo is always at the brim of being good and evil. Although kind-hearted in nature, his young mind are often misled by many things but lucky for him, his conscience and the fact that he put the country and people in priority to personal feuds pulled him back from the brim of dropping into the valley of evil. Yang Guo was also a temperamental man who exudate a lot of emotions. He was so temperamental that even Huang Rong said that while she could guess what others were thinking, she could never catch what Yang Guo was thinking.
Louis Koo as "Yang Guo"
I feel that Louis Koo was a near perfect choice for "Yang Guo" because his appearance fits the description of the book snugly - tall, handsome, with a witty look and slightly snobbish air. I think that his acting is very good, as he could become very engrossed and had more feeling than he had planned. He also has a kind of noble as his evil father, Yang Kang, was a prince and the grandson of Yang De Xin, the descendent of a court official. Being the son of Yang Kang, who was a prince, and the grandson of Yang De Xin, who was the descendent of a court official. Although he possessed his father's stubborn-ness and maybe looks, he did not possess Yang Kang's evilness, but his mother's kindness and goodness. His natural attributes already compensate for his inadequency in some areas of acting and it is exactly the natural attributes that give him an edge over other actors of his time for the role of Yang Guo.
Christopher Lee as "Yang Guo"
Ah, another controversial character, both in personality and choice of actor. Well, Christopher Lee looks really older than Fann ( Xiao Long Nu ) as when he smiles ( which is very often ), there are VERY deep laugh-lines, or rather wrinkles. But do we have any choice? TCS gave a reason that we'll have to ask fans of Andy Lau to justify: that Christopher looks like Andy Lau in his famous portrayal of Yang Guo years ago. Chris has the pugilistic, all-hero look and he and Fann are one of the voted best screen couples! He is one of the top actors in Singapore, 2nd, next to Lee Nan Xing, acting as Lu. Fann is also 2nd in Singapore, next to Zoe, acting as Lu Er Niang. Generally, I still think that Louis is better.
Other characters ( Comparing )
Actually, I prefer Singapore's version of Guo Xiang ( Yvonne Lim ). Although the Hong Kong 95' version's of Guo Xiang is rather sweet, the Guo Xiang Yvonne had brought out shows more liveliness, stubborness, and kindness in her. Yvonne's personality is rather similar to Guo Xiang's -- lively, stubborn, righteous and talented. Maybe it's the natural stuff that made her character come to life. She was nominated for "The Best Non-leading Female actress", but still did not win. Although Yvonne did not win, she was already contented as she was very new to the Entertainment world, and this was only her second drama serial, and being nominated is a great boost to her. She also was voted the top Ten Actresses.
As for Guo Fu, Singapore's version is also better. Florence Tan, starring as Guo Fu, always has this pouty, spoilt and proud, stubborn, but sweet look. Actually, she admits that she is sometimes stubborn and proud, which adds some "flavour" to her role. Also a new actress, Florence Tan had been already considered a success for her role.
For Huang Rong, both sides are not bad, but the Huang Rong of the Hong Kong 95' version looks more mature. Singapore's version of Huang Rong is played by Shirley Ho. Shirley, also looking a little mature, always has this mischievous and witty spark. She looks much younger than the Huang Rong of Condor Heroes 95'.
Both sides of Guo Jing may not be very good. Both do not really look pugilistic, and are looking kind of fat too...... But their acting and images are quite okay, so no more comments.
Hong Kong's Lu Wu Shuang looks nicer, but Singapore's Wu Shuang ( Evelyn Tan ) acts much better, as Evelyn is one of the top five actresses ( 1st - Zoe Tay or Lu Er Niang, 2nd - Fann Wong or Xiao Long Nu, 3rd - Ann Kok, 4th - Evelyn Tan or Lu Wu Shuang, 5th Kym Ng ). If I designed Evelyn's image, she would have been near perfect ( not that I'm boasting or anything, but her image's really yucks!!! My hamster could do better ).
Singapore's version of Cheng Ying is definitely better. Although Constance Song's acting skills are not as good as Maggie Cheung Ho Yee's, she won over by the image and look. I admit that Maggie is prettier, but is not really suitable for Chinese period dramas according to me. Constance looks more mature than her in many ways, or maybe is that I'm used to seeing her appearances in modern images that I did not put the chinese period drama images of her in mind.
Pan Lingling, starring as Li Mo Chou in the Singapore version, definitely has the acting skills and her evil-witchy look to win over, but it's the image that really makes people puke. Her hair is done into my little curls, and she could actually look like "Buddha". Her purple dress symbolises grace and elegance and beauty, but poisonous. Actually, the Hong Kong version's is better. Her acting is not so bad, and she looks beautiful, but venomous. Her image is just right, looking like a priestess.
Both the Golden Wheel monks are really good. Actually, they really look kind of alike -- The weird red, orange and yellow clothes, their weapon ( wheel ), their hairstyle, and even hair colour!
ACTIONS' OPINION -- HK'S VERSION IS BETTER, AS TH FIGHTING ON THE SINGAPORE'S VERSION IS SOOOOOO CONFUSING, EVEN MAKING BOTH JACKIE CHAN AND NYPD BLUE HAVE HEADACHES. IS THE CAMERAMAN SICK OR WHAT???
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