Chapter 23 film lesson

Ru Niu When I watched old Chinese operas in my hometown village, it was before I was educated to be a "scholar", and the children were probably farmers.What I like to watch is somersaults, tiger jumping, and a fairy emerging from a smoke; as for the plot, it doesn't seem to have much to do with us.The battle between Da Mian and Lao Sheng for the city and land, and the joys and sorrows of Xiao Sheng and Zheng Dan are all their business. The children of the family who hold the hoe handle know that they will never go to the altar to pay homage to the general, or go to Beijing to take the exam.But I still remember a play that moved me, it seems to be called "Zhan Mucheng" [2].A high-ranking official was wronged innocently and had to be killed. There was an old man in his family who looked very similar, so he went to "subdue the law" on his behalf.The tragic movements and singing really touched the hearts of the spectators and made them discover their own good role models.Because the farmers in my hometown, after the busy farming season, some of them go to help big households.In order to be like this, when she was about to be sentenced, the mistress had to "cry with her head in her arms" as usual, but she was kicked away by him. Even at this time, her status must be strictly guarded. This is a loyal servant, a righteous man, and a good person.

But when I watched movies in Shanghai, I had already become an "inferior Chinese". I saw white people and rich people sitting upstairs, and middle-class and low-class "huahua" downstairs, and white people appeared on the screen. The soldiers fight, the white master gets rich, the white lady gets married, and the white hero explores, which makes the spectators admire, envy, and fear, and I feel that I can't do it.But when the white hero explores Africa, there are often black loyal servants who will open the way for him, serve him, work hard, and die for him, so that the master can return home safely; , then remembered the deceased again, his face darkened, and a black face from his memory appeared on the screen.The faces of the spectators with yellow faces also darkened in the twilight: they were moved.

Fortunately, domestic films are also struggling, jumping up, onto the high wall, raising their hands, and throwing flying swords, but they also withdrew from Shanghai together with the 19th Route Army [3], and are now preparing to show Tuge Naf's "Spring Tide" [4] and Mao Dun's [5].Of course, this is progressive.But at this time, a "Yaoshan Amorous History" [6], which was vigorously promoted, came first. The theme of this film is "Cultivating the Yao People", and the keynote is "Recruiting a Son-in-law [7]", which reminds people of the originals of "Silang Visits His Mother" [8] and "Princess Shuangyang Chasing Di" [9].The great theory that China's spiritual civilization dominates the world has not been heard much recently. If you want to be civilized, you have to retreat to Miao Yao and the like. But to achieve such a great cause, you must first "get married", Huang Di Children and grandchildren, like blacks, cannot be married to princesses of big Eurasian countries, so spiritual civilization cannot be spread.This is what everyone can understand.

September 7th. [1] This article was originally published in "Shenbao Free Talk" on September 11, 1933. [2] "Zhan Mu Cheng" According to the plot described below, this play comes from the legend "A Handful of Snow" written by Li Yu in the Qing Dynasty.Mu Cheng should be Mo Cheng, the servant of Mo Huaigu in the play. [3] The Nineteenth Route Army refers to the Nineteenth Route Army of the Kuomintang.On January 28, 1932, the Japanese army attacked Shanghai, and the 19th Route Army stationed in Shanghai resisted automatically; To Fujian. 〔4〕 "Spring Tide" Turgenev's novella, in 1933, Shanghai Hengsheng Film Company based it on the film of the same name.

[5] A short story by Mao Dun, which was adapted and filmed by the Shanghai Star Film Company in 1933 into a film of the same name. [6] "Yaoshan Yanshi" is a film that insults ethnic minorities, produced by Shanghai Yilian Film Company.In the film, the male protagonist engaged in "civilization" work in the Yao district woos the daughter of the Yao king and is determined not to "go out of the mountain".When it was released in Shanghai in early September 1933, the film company advertised it in various newspapers.The film was awarded by the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, and the phrase "enlighten the Yao people" was found in the award letter.

〔7〕Consort In the Han Dynasty, there was a "Captain Consort", who was in charge of the royal horse; from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the spouse of a princess was granted the position of "Captain Consort", and after that, consort became a special title for the consort of the princess. 〔8〕The Beijing opera "Silang Visits His Mother" is about the Northern Song Dynasty fighting the Liao Dynasty, and the Song general Yang Silang (Yanhui) was captured and became a son-in-law.Later Shiro's mother, Taijun She, led the army to conquer Liao, and Shiro thought of his mother, sneaked back to Songying to visit, and then returned to Liao.

〔9〕Princess Shuangyang Chasing Di, a Beijing opera, tells the story of Di Qing, a general of the Northern Song Dynasty who strayed into Dandan Kingdom by mistake during his expedition to the west, and was lured into marrying Princess Shuangyang, the daughter of King Shandan.Later, Di Qing escaped and continued westward to Fenghuoguan. The princess chased him and accused him of being unjust; Di Qing told the truth, the princess was moved and let him go.