Chapter 7 Part 1: 18 domestic gift films for the 10th anniversary celebration of the dangerous "Guangzhou No. 1 case"

From November 1st to 7th, 1958, the Ministry of Culture held a meeting of directors of various film studios in Beijing to implement the special tasks assigned by the central government, arrange and formulate a specific plan for shooting the 10th anniversary gift film.Zhou Yang, Minister of Culture, put forward strict requirements for the "three good" (that is, "good content, good style, good sound and light") for gift films at the meeting. In January 1959, the Cultural and Film Bureau summarized the work of the past year and pointed out that there were problems in the "Great Leap Forward" such as lack of scientific spirit, imbalanced development ratio, shoddy film production, and chaotic management system.Premier Zhou Enlai also pointed out at the meeting: "What we want is a 'documentary art film', not an 'artistic documentary film'".

In February of the same year, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee held a publicity work meeting to criticize such problems as overheating, exaggeration and bias in the art work in the "Great Leap Forward".The inspection by the party group of the Ministry of Culture pointed out that there are shortcomings such as "exaggerated style" in film promotion and hot-headed development in the film industry. On March 27, the party group of the Ministry of Culture submitted the "Report on the Construction Policy of Local Film Studios" to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, suggesting that firm measures should be taken to stop the establishment of feature film studios in various places. From April 2nd to 5th, according to the spirit of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, mistakes such as "high indicators" and "communist style" were corrected. On April 23, Premier Zhou met Chen Huangmei, Zhang Ruifang, Zheng Junli and other film industry figures in the hospital. During the conversation, he pointed out: "Don't be greedy for too many National Day gift films, pay attention to leaving room for manpower and material resources, and pay attention to the balance between work and rest." At the same time, he also reminded the creators to "strengthen spare-time learning and improve artistic quality." In addition, Premier Zhou also emphasized: "As long as a good film is produced before the end of the year, it should be regarded as a gift film." On May 3, Premier Zhou Enlai At some symposiums for literary and art workers, a speech titled "About the Problem of Walking on Two Legs" in Cultural and Art Work was delivered. From July 11th to 28th, the Ministry of Culture held a meeting of directors of feature film studios across the country, focusing on the production of gift films and how to improve the quality of films and strengthen artistic leadership.In his speech, Xia Yan proposed to break through the old-fashioned "revolutionary scriptures" and "way of war", to emancipate the mind, to broaden the subject matter, and to consciously add new varieties.Chen Huangmei criticized "Left" mistakes such as "emphasizing politics and ignoring art", and called for "creating masters" and "creating genres". On July 19, the Party Group of the Ministry of Culture submitted the "Report on Improving the Quality of Art" to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, pointing out that in the art production in 1958, the phenomenon of violating the law of artistic creation, pursuing quantity and ignoring quality was very serious. The annual output is reduced to about 70, and multiple improvement measures such as themes, styles, and style diversification are encouraged.In the face of the "advancing" and "too much" and "excess" of the "artistic documentary" filmed during the "Great Leap Forward" movement in 1958, Premier Zhou Enlai, General Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping have long publicly pointed out: "We At least 7 colorful story films with high ideological and artistic level must be produced to present a solemn gift to the ten-year anniversary of the People's Republic of China."

Under the guidance of this correct literary and artistic policy, our film workers have lived up to the expectations of the public. With their outstanding talents and infinite affection for the party and the people, and through the solid foundation of life, they have successively filmed films on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. There are many good films that perfectly combine thoughtfulness and artistry. In 1959, a total of 82 feature films (including opera films) were produced. Although the output decreased significantly compared with the previous year, the overall artistic quality increased significantly.Through the political review, the leaders and authorities of the Film Bureau generally believe that there are about 30 films that have reached a certain level of artistic creation, accounting for more than 1/3 of the total annual output, of which the production of color films accounts for 45%, both in terms of quantity and total output. The proportion of them has greatly exceeded any previous year.After careful selection by the Ministry of Culture, 18 outstanding domestic masterpieces were released on a large scale for the first time.At the same time, from September 25th to October 24th of that year, the Ministry of Culture held the "New Domestic Film Exhibition Month to Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" in major cities across the country. This was the largest film exhibition since the founding of New China. There are 35 films, including 17 feature films, including "The Wind Comes from the East", "A Family of Steel", "The World Changed", "Oasis Triumph", "Youth in the Flames of War", "Chasing Bandits in the Desert", "Today" I Rest", "Golden Jade Girl", "Flying Over the Danger", "The Beauty of the River and Mountain", "Fire and True Gold", "Trial Voyage", "Miner's Lamp", "The Story of the Huangpu River", "Underground Route", "Outpost" In addition, there are 7 news documentaries, 6 science and education films, and 4 art films.

In addition, 18 gift films were determined, which lasted from the golden autumn of that year to the spring of the following year. Their notable and outstanding features: first, the films were all shot on imported "Eastman" color film; second, the distribution of indicators by each factory The proportions are appropriate, the themes are diverse, and the forms are artistic; the third is that there are major breakthroughs and breakthroughs in difficult technologies such as photography, recording, and printing; , a strong lineup. The 18 feature films classified as "gift films" are: Shanghai Film Studio (6) "Lin Zexu", "Nie Er", "Chun Man Ren Jian", "A Thousand Purples and Reds Are Always Spring", "New Biography of Veterans" ( It is the first color wide-screen stereo story film in New China), "Lotus Lantern" (stage art film); Beijing Film Studio (4) "Song of Youth", "Storm", "Spring and Autumn on Water"; Changying Factory (4) "Five Golden Flowers", "Young People in Our Village", "Sisters on Ice", "Smiling Faces"; Bayi Factory (4) "Sea Eagle", "Thousands of Waters and Thousand Mountains", "Huim Detachment" , "Battle in Shanghai".

Taking a comprehensive look at the above 18 domestic gift films, we can clearly see that these films represented the highest achievements of Chinese films at that time in terms of subject selection, cast and crew, creative direction, and artistic value. Most of these films have become Immortal Chinese classic business card.However, because it is a work of art produced under a specific era background, although the selection of some films is carefully selected in terms of highlighting and emphasizing diversity, with the development and evolution of history, these screen films gradually lose their original luster. .For example, "A Thousand Purples and Reds Are Always Spring", because it pushes its political background to the background as much as possible, and focuses on describing the relationship between several families and women's lives, it stands out from the flood of "Great Leap Forward" films, and puts the original The "Steel Family", which was also scheduled to be a color film, was replaced. At that time, there were different opinions and debates among the leadership of Shanghai Film Studio over whether to make "A Thousand Purples and Reds Are Always Spring" or the light comedy "Today I Rest". Endlessly, because it is also based on the "Great Leap Forward" but the atmosphere of such a strong political movement can hardly be seen in the whole film, and it runs through the whole film with comedic jokes and the main line of love, to warmly praise good people The new social trend of good deeds and the popular routine of both refined and popular tastes can be closer to ordinary people's appreciation habits of traditional film forms and plot development. However, since it was later clearly stated that the "gift films" required to be submitted must be color films. In this way, "A Thousand Purples and Reds Are Always "Spring" took a big advantage. Such an example also happened in Changying Film Studio's "Youth in the Flame of War", which was highly valued and unanimously optimistic by the insiders. The underwhelming "Smiling Faces" was accidentally selected as a gift film in view of the color film that was one of the first to be selected.

As for "Young People in Our Village", which is known as the masterpiece of Chinese film rural themes, won the championship in the gift film, there is also an interesting little story: At that time, in 1958, when the "Great Leap Forward" was in full swing Director Su Li took a fancy to this book written by Ma Feng, a famous Shanxi writer, and tried several times to recommend that the factory be able to start filming. Moved by his spirit, coupled with the fame of "Plain Guerrilla" directed by him, it really brought a good social effect to the factory. In the same year, the work he had completed was also well received after reviewing, so he reluctantly agreed, but at that time the color The film index has been used up, and Suli has never directed a color film since he directed the film, so he tried every means and wanted to shoot a "colored" film, and finally had to use the remaining film of other color films that had been completed. It was completed, but after all the samples were developed and printed for review, they were unanimously applauded by the leaders of the Film Bureau. However, due to the two different color films of "Eastman" and "Akfa", the color cast of the completed samples was severe, and the color difference was serious. Affecting the quality, the film bureau clearly instructed that this film can be used as an alternative program for the 10th anniversary of the National Day gift film. In order to ensure quality and quantity, more than half of the film's shots need to be re-shot. The two types of film lenses are mainly the ones with more shots, and they rushed back to the location in Fenyang, Shanxi for the second shooting.

Another well-known Chinese classic business card "Five Golden Flowers" was able to come out smoothly, which is a great credit to Xia Yan. At that time, when the 18 gift films were repeatedly determined, Xia Gong publicly expressed his opinion: " Don’t always use the same subject matter, but have a reasonable mix, and let a hundred flowers bloom together. I think it’s a good idea to make a light-hearted comedy to reflect the new achievements of the new China’s construction.” Zhao Jikang, a talented man from Yunnan , Wang Gongpu and his wife's "magic work" stood out in a very short time. At first, the original name of this literary script was "13 Golden Flowers". Because there are too many characters to be represented, it is impossible for every "Golden Flower" "All left a deep impression on people, so Xia Gong put forward many practical and good suggestions for this, refocusing the characters, adjusting the plot, and changing the name to the memorable and more exciting "Five Golden Flowers". The film was finalized, so the filming was not completed until the end of the year, and it was not released to the public until after the Spring Festival of the following year.In addition, Bayi Factory's "Sea Eagle" was directed by Yan Jizhou, who is good at using emotion. He filmed some love scenes in which Wang Xingang and Wang Xiaotang, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, are speeding in a jeep, embracing and lyrical at the beach, etc., which are considered to be detrimental to our army. The positive image of commanders and fighters encountered scissors, and many battle scenes in "Battle Shanghai" were absurdly considered to promote the "cruelty theory of war" and had to be deleted.

In short, such a large number of new films that integrate ideology, artistry, appreciation, and "star effect" will be screened together. Through brand-new characters, profound ideological themes, exquisite artistic expression, and various themes, they will truly be presented with a variety of themes. Movies, a popular art form that everyone loves to hear and see, have achieved the purpose of appreciating both refined and popular tastes and entertaining education. These mainstream films have had a positive and extensive influence among the vast audience across the country, and have aroused strong resonance.In just 24 days, the audience reached 120 million people. Afterwards, these films were dismantled and screened in various small and medium-sized towns, industrial and mining, rural areas, and military areas. The number of viewers nationwide exceeded 4 billion, a "genuine" increase of 1/3 compared to the "exaggerated" 3 billion in the first year of the fanatical "Great Leap Forward" movement.

On November 2, 1959, the Ministry of Culture and the China Film Federation held a reception at the Beijing Hotel to celebrate the success of the "New Film Exhibition Month".Premier Zhou Enlai excitedly delivered a speech at the meeting, and praised: "In terms of literature and art, drama and film can be said to be the two most flourishing flowers. They are the flowers of two brothers and sisters." Under the leadership of the party, great progress has been made, and the style of movies has been greatly improved. Chinese movies have begun to create a new style that can reflect the combination of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism of our great era."The 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially the true "Hundred Flowers Blooming" in the Chinese film industry, was called "Unforgettable 1959" by the historians, and it was recorded in the annals of history.

The "gift films" represented by "Five Golden Flowers" have entered the international film market in a stately manner with their distinctive national characteristics and national style, and have also won the love of people all over the world and audiences from all over the world. "Five Golden Flowers", as the finale of 18 tribute films for the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, was screened nationwide in the spring of 1960, and was held in Cairo, Egypt in the same year at the 2nd Asian-African International Film Festival. It was screened at the festival, and Yang Likun, who played the leading role, won the "Silver Eagle Award" for "Best Actress", and Wang Jiayi won the "Silver Eagle Award" for "Best Director". Egyptian President Nasser asked Yang Likun to go to Egypt in person to receive this award.This is since the founding of new China, after Shi Lianxing starred in "Zhao Yiman" won the "Best Actress Award" at the "Struggle for Freedom Award" at the 5th "Karlovy Vary" International Film Festival held in Czechoslovakia ", the young actors Wang Xiaotang and Da Qi trained in New China won the "Young Actor Award" at the 11th "Karlovy Vary" International Film Festival held in Czechoslovakia, and Yang Likun won the "Young Actor Award" in the world The third "International Best Actress" award in the film industry.At the same time, "Five Golden Flowers" has been exported to 46 countries and regions for grand release since 1959, setting the highest record for Chinese films released abroad at that time.