PUBLISHED ONNovember 09, 2022 3:29 AMByKhoo Yi-HangBrigitte Lin's wardrobe malfunction may make for a heartwarming story now, but it would've been a painful memory if not for the help of a mysterious "benefactor".
In an article she wrote titled Meteor, Brigitte (or known to audiences as Lin Ching-hsia) revealed in a Chinese newspaper that her modesty was saved by someone that was a stranger to her when she had a wardrobe malfunction in the 90s.
According to multiple media reports citing her work, Brigitte, now 68, was wearing a low-cut dress during the 27th Golden Horse Awards held in 1990, the same one where she won the Best Actress award for her performance in Red Dust.
While the dress itself was certainly revealing, the problematic incident occurred when she was descending a flight of stairs and bent over to adjust her footwear.
She recalled in the article that there was a gap around her chest in the dress she wore, and her left breast was exposed when she bent over.
In that moment, however, a flash went off that indicated someone had captured that brief instance of Brigitte's vulnerability on camera.
Although she was in a state of panic afterwards, her worries were soon put to rest when she received an envelope from a stranger who insisted on meeting her in person.
Upon opening the envelope, a small film fell out.
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According to China Times, Brigitte wrote: "I put it under a source of light and got a shock, the expression on my face completely changed… the other party said, slightly embarrassed, 'I think it's best if I leave this with you for safekeeping.'"
The film handed over to Brigitte wasn't just an ordinary one, however. It was the film negative, the source which copies of the image of her unfortunate moment could be made from.
Handing that over meant that only Brigitte would have access to the image from that point on.
Her hand shaking as she looked at the film negative that she held then, she considered how to compensate for the act of kindness from her benefactor.
"I didn't know how to repay him, so I thought about how he's a reporter and figured that I should invite him over to my home in Wan Chai after work and give him an opportunity to interview me," she wrote, according to Lianhe Zaobao.
Recalling the interview session, she said: "I don't usually drink tea, alcohol, coffee or listen to music, and only have plain water as my companion.
"In the dead of the night, I shared a room with a strange man, and the two of us were clueless about what to say…"
Just as she was staring out the window and thinking about how she shouldn't have invited someone over so late at night, the reporter stood up and announced that he would leave — and he did, without leaving behind any way to contact him, Brigitte reportedly wrote.
From that point on, she never saw or heard from that man ever again.
Said Brigitte: "I can't remember what he looks like nor can I remember his name. But I will never forget the one thing he's done for me."
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She added: "A friend once said that when people meet or become acquaintances, they pass by like shooting stars in the journey of life."
Brigitte also expressed her worries for the reporter, which had developed over the past three decades.
Stating that "paparazzi culture" was common in today's entertainment industry, Brigitte said she wondered how this reporter would survive as a conscientious person, and guessed that he had already left the industry for greener pastures.
Speaking to Taiwan news outlet NextApple, the reporter, Ke Zhiyuan, told them that he hasn't left the industry. Instead, he's now a media veteran and film critic.
Recalling the situation where the photograph was taken, he admitted that his memory was somewhat unclear due to how long it's been since then.
But he still remembered that the photograph was taken by a photographer surnamed Wu.
He had thought to himself then that the growth of Brigitte's generation of artistes was too important and needed to be protected, he told NextApple, so he instructed the photographer to keep the negatives in an envelope.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW3tRBu7cMw[/embed]
Over a year after Ke successfully handed the film negatives to Brigitte, the latter met Ke again in a dressing room on the set of The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993).He was representing the Chinese version of People magazine and wanted to speak with the stars of the show.
While Brigitte didn't recognise Ke at first, she did remember his name, and from there, she introduced Ke to cinema legends Tony Leung Ka-fai and Leslie Cheung.
Stating that the interview went smoothly thanks to Brigitte's aid, Ke also told NextApple reporters that it was her help that landed Leslie Cheung on the front covers of the Chinese version of People magazine's inaugural issue.
Ke also revealed that Brigitte had recently reached out to him via the well-known film director Yang Fan and she has exchanged WeChat contacts with Ke.
khooyihang@asiaone.com
