與夏夢的三“面”之緣

曉柒

2016年11月3日，被譽為“東方版奧黛麗·赫本”“香港最漂亮女演員”夏夢去世，享年83歲。

夏夢自上世紀50年代起，在香港從影17年，演過38部電影，塑造了不少令人印象深刻的角色，是后來許多香港明星心中的“大明星”。

我與這位女星曾有三“面”之緣，值得回憶。

一面：畫中情思

最早的“謀面”在照片上。2010年，海寧袁花鎮(zhèn)金庸舊居剛剛翻新，我慕名而至，試圖從金庸生活過的地方，尋找他的創(chuàng)作痕跡。

在展示的近千張老照片中，有一張年輕的金庸與一位身著旗袍的女子的合影引我關注。那女子一股書卷氣，美貌不可方物。照片下面的一句說明更有意思：“西施怎樣美麗，誰也沒見過，我想她應該像夏夢才名不虛傳。——金庸?！?/p>

我一下子記住了“夏夢”這個名字。后來我才知道，那是一個原名“楊濛”的演員的藝名，取自《仲夏夜之夢》，而她似乎確能映襯一代美人的氣質。

據(jù)說，金庸曾經(jīng)加盟長城電影公司，以“林歡”為筆名任職編劇，為他眼中“像西施一樣美麗”的女人度身打造歷史片《絕代佳人》。武俠大師為夏夢當個小編劇的軼事，當年人盡皆知，華語文學圈里甚至有人評說，黃蓉、王語嫣、小龍女、岳靈珊等角色，都有夏夢的影子。

這當然只是傳聞了，但夏夢的美麗，確實被港、陸兩地文化圈所公認。影視評論家石川這樣評價夏夢：“是傳統(tǒng)士大夫心中理想女性的化身，又是承載著上世紀三四十年代民國文人家國夢想的夢中情人?！睂а荨⒕巹兌紝ο膲羟嗖A有加，王家衛(wèi)說她是“第一古典美人”，岑范則為她終生不娶，梁羽生、倪匡等人對她總是贊嘆不已，并把這位“長城大公主”的美，推廣成傳說。

祖籍蘇州的夏夢，天生帶著江南水鄉(xiāng)的靈韻。1933年2月，夏夢生于上海的一個文藝之家，讓她從小熱愛傳統(tǒng)戲曲。1947年，夏夢隨父母移居香港。就讀馬利諾書院期間，夏夢熱衷于舞臺劇演出，并寫得一手好文章，這為她后來的發(fā)展打下了基礎。

二面：事業(yè)情操

第二次謀面，我見到了夏夢。2014年，上海電影博物館舉行紀念夏夢從影65周年活動。那天，藝術影廳里座無虛席，都為一睹多年不露面的夏夢真容。我有幸躬逢盛會，聆聽夏夢講述從影的歷程。

有人請夏夢談談她和金庸的事，夏夢思慮良久后給出的答復是“不如不說”。夏夢是電影界演技與人品俱佳的難得一見的“標準的女人”。始終潔身自好的她，給自己約法三章，不為人剪彩，不應酬吃飯、不拍內容不健康的戲。她在家中也不掛一張劇照，只是專心相夫教子。

1950年，夏夢進入演藝圈，通過《禁婚記》脫穎而出。她把楊霞芝刻畫得淋漓盡致，而這個角色原本是為剛離職的李麗華打造的。此片成為當年的港產(chǎn)國語片票房冠軍?；貞浤菚r候的表現(xiàn)，夏夢說自己從沒學過表演，也不會緊張，所以大家都覺得自然。夏夢談起好演員的標準，認為天賦是第一因素。

夏夢有不少作品，《孽?；ā烦蔀榈谖鍖脨鄱”H電影節(jié)展映的19部電影之一，《都會交響曲》《姊妹曲》等也都大獲成功。在“香港國語片十大明星”選舉中，她名列第一。

2008年，大連舉辦金雞百花電影節(jié)。大會為夏夢舉辦電影展，但夏夢因為身體原因沒有出席，她錄制了一段視頻講話說，“我是因為機緣巧合，參加了一份與眾不同的工作，電影為我的人生增添了色彩，也給我許多值得回顧的難忘記憶。”在她看來，家、國息息相關，“香港（當時）還在英國高壓殖民統(tǒng)治下，在艱難的環(huán)境下，我身邊許許多多影人為了愛國電影事業(yè)無私奉獻，也激勵著我去做好一個演員的本分”。

三面：夢想情懷

第三次“謀面”，在他人的談話中。2015年，我赴香港采訪，聽夏夢的生前好友、香港電影“教父級”導演吳思遠談夏夢。

采訪從夏夢談起，吳思遠像被打開了話匣子：“這幾年見面比較少，以往會在一些電影活動中相見，也經(jīng)常聊天?！眳撬歼h回憶：“她曾說非常希望自己能參加香港金像獎終身成就獎的評選，我覺得，無論是夏夢的演技或是作品，無論做演員還是當監(jiān)制，她都應該得到這個獎項的首肯?！?/p>

事實上，夏夢除了演員的角色之外，后半生還擔綱了許多電影監(jiān)制的事業(yè)。1982年，監(jiān)制許鞍華導演的《投奔怒海》時，夏夢甘愿損失一筆已經(jīng)簽好的合約訂金，也務必要將劇本改到完美才開始。她選劇本的眼光也極為挑剔，在她看來，劇本是一部好影片的先決條件，也是最基本的要求?！锻侗寂！芬约八?984年監(jiān)制的《似水流年》，分別包攬了兩屆香港金像獎最佳影片、最佳導演和最佳編劇獎。

2015年，上海國際電影節(jié)，夏夢獲得華語電影終身成就大獎，她并未親身到達現(xiàn)場，但特別送上了一段錄制的短片，她說著家鄉(xiāng)話與觀眾問好：“上海是我出生的地方，電影是我一生的夢想，有了這兩樣東西我感到幸福?！?/p>

是的，正是這樣一份對電影的夢想情懷，構筑了我腦中一個立體的夏夢的形象，也構筑了她應該被人記住的一生。

（本文照片由作者提供）

Xia Meng passed away at the age of 83 on November 3， 2016. A film actress of classic beauty， she used to be known as the Audrey Hepburn incarnate of the east and the most beautiful woman of Hong Kong. As of the 1950s， she appeared in 41 films （according to Wikipedia） in Hong Kong over a period of 17 years. She is the biggest star in the memory of many cinema celebrities in Hong Kong. As a journalist born in the 1980s， I had run into her stories three times.

2010

The year 2010 was the first time when I ran into her story. Back then， the former residence of Louis Cha， a famed writer of novels about martial-art masters had been restored in Haining in northern Zhejiang. I went there to see if I could find the traces of his kungfu masterpieces. There were nearly 1，000 photos on display and one stood out. It presents Louis Cha in his youthful years and a young woman of stunning beauty. The caption was written by Louis Cha himself： “Nobody of today knows exactly how beautiful Xi Shi was. I think whether she deserves the fame depends on whether she looks like Xia Meng.”

The name Xia Meng burned into my memory at that moment. It was later that I learned that the name Xia Meng， which meant summer dream， came from Shakespeares comedy and that she was born as Yang Meng.

Louis Cha worked as a screenwriter at the Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd where Xia Meng was the crown princess. He wrote for Xia Meng， who was then 20 years old. Many people say that Xia Meng can be seen in many heroines of Louis Chas kungfu novels. Whether Louis Cha was in love with the heartthrob is only hearsay， but Xias beauty is widely recognized by film directors， screenwriters and critics.

2014

The year 2014 saw me attend a memorial event at Shanghai Cinema Museum in celebration of the 65th anniversary of Xia Mengs film career. The theater at the museum was full that day. Most of us there wanted to see Xia Meng personally. I count myself lucky to be there， hearing Xia tell the story of her career as a film artist.

When asked about her and Louis Cha， she considered the question and said it would be much better if she would rather not talk about it. It was just like her. Xia Meng as a film actress followed a set of three rules to discipline herself and keep a low profile. She did not attend opening ceremonies； she did not come to parties and banquets， she did not appear in films which she did not approve of. It is said that one did not see photos of her as actress around at her home and that she was dedicated to her husband and children.

2015

That year I was chatted with Ng See-Yuen， a “godfather-class” director and producer in the filmmaking industry of Hong Kong. Xia Meng came up as a subject in the conversation. The director confessed that he had not met Xia as frequently as he would like to in recent years. In the past， they had met in cinema events and had chatted quite a lot. Ng said that Xia said she wanted to be in competition for life achievement prize category of Hong Kong Film Awards. Ng agreed and said she qualified in terms of her acting and the films in which she appeared or the films she made as a producer.

She left Hong Kong for Canada in 1967 and came back in 1980. She founded a film company and became a film producer. In making in 1982， she chose to pay more in order to have the script perfected. The film later won several awards including the best picture and best director in the second Hong Kong Film Awards.

In 2015 she was honored special life contribution prize at Shanghai Film Festival. She did not appear at the ceremony but made a speech through a video. In the Shanghai dialect， she said hello to her hometown people： “Shanghai is where I was born and cinema is my lifelong dream. I am happy because of the two.”