Chapter 23 Part Two: The ups and downs of "Thousands of Miles Against the Wind" where life is at stake

The "Cultural Revolution" that began to blow on "May 16" in 1966 became more and more violent in the short period of time that followed. This movement was more violent than any previous political movement, and the entire film industry was in chaos. It's hard to say enough here.In short, all the films made in the 17 years before the "Cultural Revolution" were labeled as "poisonous weeds". Re-batch, batch down batch stinks.From 1966 to 1969, when the "Cultural Revolution" was the most powerful, "Early Spring and February" filmed by Beijing Film Studio and "Stage Sisters" produced by Shanghai Film Studio, as the two most important "big poisonous weeds", were accused of being " Class reconciliation theory" and "bourgeois human nature theory" were typical of the same fate, and became the two most unjust cases involving the most people in the film industry at that time.As the director, Xie Jin was naturally the protagonist. He was kicked out and put up for criticism. Xie Jin's Tianma Factory regarded him as a "live target", and the criticism meeting held accumulated more than 200 times. The prototype of the heroine Zhu Chunhua in "Sisters on Stage" - Yuan Xuefen, a famous Yue opera actor, was also imprisoned and often "followed" Xie Jin in the same battle, especially the poor Shangguan Yunzhu, who was doomed to die. She was the last one before the "Cultural Revolution" The death fate of the main characters in the three plays of "Early Spring and February", "Sisters on Stage" and "Blood Monument", unfortunately, finally deduced the real tragedy in life: Hao, and Deng Nan who played the role of the monk Ah Xin, all passed away prematurely.Although Xie Jin's life is not over, he has been criticized and fought all day long, ransacked his home one after another, and quarantined for inspection. The whole family was finally reduced to an empty room and had to sleep on the cold floor with newspapers.Xie Jin, who suffered mental torture and physical pain during the "Cultural Revolution", couldn't help himself and was forced to go to the "May 7th" Cadre School of the Shanghai Film System in Fengxian County in the suburbs of Shanghai, where he continued to criticize and undergo labor reform.

The gloomy time lasted until 1972. Because of Lin Biao's "September 13th" as a turning point, many people in the film industry also took this as an opportunity to obtain temporary "liberation".In view of Xie Jin's talent, fame and director skills are becoming more and more mature, Shanghai Film Studio's leadership team reactivated Xie Jin to follow the intention of the higher authorities and seize the time to shoot "eight model plays".Peking Opera "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy", "The Story of the Red Lantern", "Shajiabang" and ballets "The Red Detachment of Women", "The White-haired Girl", and "The Story of the Red Lantern" with piano accompaniment, and the piano concerto "Yellow River" , the revolutionary symphony "Shajiabang" and other three stage art films, together with the other two Peking operas and "The Raid on the White Tiger Regiment", were listed as the first batch of "eight model opera" films.In addition, the second batch of "model operas" are "Six Beijings and Two Dances" (i.e. Peking opera "Ode to the Dragon River", "Red Detachment of Women", "Dujuan Mountain", "Battle on the Plain", "Red Yungang", "Panshiwan ", ballets "Ode to Yimeng", "Children of the Grassland").This time, Xie Jin directed the performance of the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe. This Peking Opera art film was co-produced by the Beijing Film Studio and the Shanghai Film Studio. In the past two years, I have shot two different versions of the film, which were later developed and produced into two types of film, normal and widescreen.At first, it was originally directed by Xie Tieli, a famous director who has filmed several "model plays" in Beijing Film Studio. Later, due to the cooperation with Shanghai Film Studio, Xie Jin was added, and another well-known director Fu Chaowu was added to form a powerful director. line-up.

In the crew, Xie Tieli, who co-directed with him, was the director of "Early Spring and February", one of the two "big poisonous weeds" in the "Cultural Revolution", one in the north and one in the south.This time the two unexpectedly cooperated in such a revolutionary "model play", which is really ironic, forming a great irony.Xie Tieli is a "ghost and snake spirit" who was liberated earlier than Xie Jin. The reason is that Jiang Qing appreciates the elegant, fresh and beautiful prose and lyrical style in the film "Early Spring and February", which has extremely high aesthetics. For what it's worth, however, it's a comical self-mockery that the film has been blatantly criticized in public.After Xie Tieli was liberated, he was ordered to direct the "Model Opera" film "Taking Tiger Mountain Out of Wisdom", which was his second "model opera". "Ode" and "Cuckoo Mountain", becoming an authoritative director who directed the most "model opera" films in the late period of the "Cultural Revolution".When Xie Jin returned to the human world, he was physically and mentally exhausted, because in addition to his own sufferings during the "Cultural Revolution", his father died of mental depression and suffering from illness, and his mother was stimulated by this and fell to her death.His wife was inevitably implicated, and his children Ah San and Ah Si were not born with dementia. They were discriminated against during the "Cultural Revolution", and their fragile hearts were traumatized.The family's many disasters left Xie Jin physically and mentally scarred.However, he had no choice but to obey the orders of the party and the requirements of the organization. Moreover, returning to the position of film director was something he had never dared to think about for many years.Re-directing, facing the camera, facing the mercury lamp, and facing the cast and crew of the crew, what kind of emotion should Xie Jin feel in his heart!The long shooting cycle, the difficulty of filming, and the pain of repeated revisions are naturally omitted here. However, due to the silent excellence of many artists in front of and behind the stage, this Peking Opera art film shines brilliantly.Regardless of the subject matter, the singing, the lines, and the use of film techniques are all quite elegant.