Recently, the popularity of "Flowers" has been relatively high, and I went to take a few looks when I had nothing to do after dinner. While everyone was talking about whether Wong Kar-wai was not in good luck, I focused on the characters in the play. I don't know if you pay attention to such a character.
Dressed in a Chinese-style cloth coat, behind the gold-rimmed glasses is a pair of eyes full of stories, the old man's voice is trembling but sonorous and powerful, and his face is full of wrinkles and the vigorous and resolute behavior of his youth. He is the master "uncle" of Mr. Bao in the play. 
In the first episode of "Flowers", Mr. Bao and his uncle appeared one after another. In the British suite of the Peace Hotel, Bao is still a stunned young man in the business field, in the 80s when Shanghai was dominant, there were ** everywhere, and Bao also wanted to dig an inch of gold. And my uncle, as a ** lake, has been in the shopping mall for many years, and has taught Ah Bao decades of business experience.
Wong Kar-wai's camera fills the sense of story, and in the British suite, his uncle's eyes are full of stories about the rivers and lakes. 
Uncle is like an old man who has read the spring moon and autumn breeze of the Huangpu River, looking at Ah Bao with a immature face, and this eye play is a god. The old man seems to see his younger self, and he and Po blend with each other across parallel time and space in different eras. In the first episode, this old man lit up the performance level of the whole show.
When I chased after it, I found out that the actor who played my uncle turned out to be "Grandpa Jigong" You Benchang. At the age of 90, the old man still insists on filming on the front line, walking steadily, thinking clearly, and acting skills.
A well-deserved old artist. 
At the age of 90, he became popular again, and behind this is a sincere heart for acting. After the broadcast of "Flowers", netizens sighed that You Benchang's acting skills, whether it is tone, aura, performance rhythm, or line skills, all reflect the temperament and confidence of an old artist. In the crew, he is more serious than anyone else, no matter how tired he is on the filming scene, as long as he starts at the beginning, that momentum is raised. However, this serious energy for acting has long been engraved in the old man's bones. His love and seriousness flowed in his blood. In the year when Jigong came out of the circle, You Benchang was almost 50 years old. 
Before this, he had been acting for more than ten years, but he had been running tricks all the time.
When he was living in poverty, he was also forced to work as a coolie, harvesting wheat, and working as a furnace fitter.
Whenever his dream of filming is shattered, this love for acting can always become his ultimate pillar.
has been running tricks for many years, from youth to middle-aged dilemma, and has gone through hundreds of roles without winning a positive angle. Until 1983, 50-year-old You Benchang appeared on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala. A pantomime "Shower" made You Benchang a little famous, and he had a natural comedic temperament, like the self-deprecation of a little person. It is also this "sense of humor" that attracted Zhang Ge, the director of "Jigong". What kind of character is Jigong?
The shoes are torn, the hat is torn, the robe on the body is torn, you laugh at me, he laughs at me, and a fan breaks ......”
Three points of madness and seven points of sobriety. 
The sense of humor on the surface and the sobriety in the heart form a strong contrast, which coincides with the character temperament interpreted by You Benchang in the Spring Festival Gala.
After Director Zhang Ge met You Benchang himself, he decided on this role without saying a word. 
The first time he got a big role, You Benchang, who was already middle-aged, cherished it very much. In order to play Jigong well, he read through a large number of literary works about Jigong, from the background of the times to the expressions and movements of the characters. Finally, "Jigong" became a big hit as soon as it was broadcast, and it is still a childhood memory in the hearts of a generation to this day.
Before "Flowers", I heard the news of the old man because of bankruptcy. At the age of 68, he took out all his savings to shoot the first pantomime series "Mr. You Smiled Dumbly" in the history of my country.
Unfortunately, the pantomime market was not optimistic at the time, and no TV station was willing to buy it, so, until today, the show has not been officially released.
For countless days and nights, this drama made You Benchang spend too much effort, and this drama also made You Benchang lose all his money. But he didn't give up, and then You Benchang directed and acted in the TV series "Lifan". 
Without the blessing of any capital, art is cheap, and there is no doubt that this drama is a money-losing business. In the end, he lost more than one million.
After two critical hits, You Benchang's life savings were already very small, which led to rumors of bankruptcy later. For the acting career, he is somewhat similar to Jigong. If you don't go crazy, you can't live, so-called:"People laugh at me for being crazy, I laugh at others for not being able to see through it. ”
For the sake of artistic beliefs, 80-year-old You Benchang sold his house and set up a theater. In the eyes of others, there is no need at all, and it is the right way to leave some money for such a large age. But this old man is not. 
In the eyes of outsiders, You Benchang is a stubborn and even a little paranoid old man.
But China's film and television industry needs this paranoia. Acting is the old gentleman's lifelong belief.
On New Year's Day this year, he updated the 2024 New Year's greetings in the short **. In the picture, I saw the familiar Jigong again, he put on the iconic Jigong costume and came to the temple to pray for everyone's blessing. The smile is sincere and moving, and he expresses New Year's wishes to fans word by word, and his expression is as cordial as in the TV series "Jigong" back then. From 50 to 90 years old, what has changed is the appearance, but what has not changed is the ingenuity of art.