Just One Look : The Look That Wowed Audiences

In the Chinese opera scene, there are many good actors who can act and sing well. But, how do one differentiate a good actor from an excellent actor? To me, it's the kind of feel that particular actor can bring. Many a times, it could be just one look

Don't believe? Look at this clip from Shaoxing Yue opera, "Legend of Liu Yuniang". The actor here is Zhou Yunjuan from Zhejiang Province Yue Opera Company troupe 3. The VCD which I watch just happened to capture a very close-up view of a shot which had taken my breath away.

In case you do not know the background to this clip, here is the synopsis. Yuniang admired Ma Zhou greatly , but had never openly declared her love for him due to her being a widow and him being a talented scholar. On this day, he was taken to the palace and no news was heard from him. Her uncle then came back telling her that Ma Zhou had became the princess consort and this served as a huge blow to Yuniang. She was first shocked by the news, then grief came over her and she wanted to cry. However, seeing her loved ones beside her, she decided to remain strong and pretended that nothing has happened. However, it didn't took long for her emotions to overcome her will and she finally broke down in front of her uncle.