Source | Guan Liang's public account
Recently, "Changjin Lake" topped the box office list of Chinese film history with a box office of 5.694 billion yuan, and the film shows a more modern view of war and history, which can be said to have reached a new height of Chinese war films. Today, Ling'er will take this opportunity to take you to review the centenary history of the development of Chinese cinema.
The first film came out
Chinese may be the first people to use light and shadow for entertainment exploration, as early as the Han Dynasty, there were shadow puppet plays after the appearance of light and shadow plays. But the real sense of the film, born in modern Europe, on December 28, 1895, the French Lumir brothers in a Paris café for the first time in public screening of their own film "Factory Gate", the film was officially born.
The Lumir brothers
In less than eight months, in 1896, Shanghai's "Another Village" ushered in China's earliest film screening. Before 1905, only foreign films were played in the domestic film and opera park, and at first everyone felt that novelties loved to watch, but over time, they found that it was nothing more than shooting some scenery and funny jokes, and the audience's enthusiasm was slowly reduced.
Ren Qingtai, the owner of the film garden, saw this situation, and at the same time, in order to wish the birthday of Tan Xinpei, the old Dan of Peking Opera, decided to shoot a movie himself, so he filmed a clip of Tan Xinpei's Peking Opera performance, and China's first film "Dingjun Mountain" was born.
This film only shoots a fragment of the Peking Opera performance, which is completely unworthy of the current definition, and is recorded only by a hand-cranked wooden shell camera, but after all, it is the pioneering work of Chinese cinema, which is of greater significance than form, and Chinese cinema has officially opened the curtain.
Groping phase
In 1910, Zheng Zhengqiu, who had previously abandoned his official position and failed to engage in business, decided to engage in the new drama movement under the inspiration of his friends, and since then he has successively published theater reviews advocating the reform of old dramas and advocating new dramas, during which he met Zhang Ishichuan, a like-minded young man with lofty ideals.
In 1913, Zheng Zhengqiu and Zhang Ishikawa formed the Xinmin Company and successfully filmed China's first feature film, "Difficult Husbands and Wives". Zheng Zhengqiu was also known as the "father of Chinese cinema" by posterity.
Zheng Zhengqiu (left) and Zhang Ishikawa (right)
Also in 1913 was another significant film, Zhuangzi's Wife Test, the first Chinese film to be screened overseas, and the first Chinese actress, Yan Shanshan, appeared.
In 1922, Zheng Zhengqiu and Zhang Ishikawa formally founded the Star Film Company, after which Li Minwei's Minxin Company and Shao Zuiweng's Tianyi Film Company were established in 1923 and 1925, and the film industry began to accelerate the commercialization process. And Tianyi Film Company is the Hong Kong Shaw Film Company that became a household name.
A year after the establishment of the star, Zhang Ishikawa's "Orphans Saving Ancestors" came out, lasting 100 minutes, China entered the stage of feature film shooting, after which various types of films mushroomed, and Chinese films also ushered in the first boom.
This stage is the era of Chinese film opening up the territory, this era belongs to those new young people who have been baptized by advanced Western ideas, and they are the greatest merits of Chinese film.
Towards maturity
In 1931, the Japanese invaders set foot on Chinese territory, and at the critical juncture of the survival of the Chinese nation, Xia Yan and other literary youth promoted the rise of the left-wing film movement, calling on people to take responsibility for national salvation and arousing the great spirit of Chinese people.
This year, China's first sound film "Song Girl Red Peony" was released in Shanghai. Although it did not produce the desired sensational effect when it was performed, this was the first sound film in China with wax disc pronunciation, and their bold exploration and hard work opened a new page in the history of Chinese cinema.
After 1931, Chinese cinema began an epoch-making turn. The content of the film breaks through the opera films of the early years and begins to combine with the times and reality, so that Chinese films and new literature and art converge, showing a heavy sense of the times and history. The change of concept brought about a huge change in film screenwriting, prompting the leap forward development of the performing arts.
In 1934, the government of the Republic of China established the Central Film Studio, referred to as "CLP". In the same year, the film "Fisherman's Light Song" was promoted by the famous filmmaker Li Linxiang of the Republic of China to participate in the Moscow International Film Festival and won the ninth place, known as China's first film to win international honors, opening a new era for Chinese film and television to enter the international film world. Other film and television masterpieces in the same period include "Wild Current", "A River of Spring Water Flows East", "Ten Thousand Lights" and so on.
Although the film "Children of the Storm", which was released in Shanghai in 1935, did not cause a huge sensation, the theme song of the film, "March of the Volunteer Army", was later designated as the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.
In 1937, the Anti-Japanese War broke out in full swing, and various film companies were collectively dissolved, and the Chinese film and television industry in this period was forced to stop the pace of progress. Although the war affected the Chinese film industry, it will never extinguish the beliefs of Chinese filmmakers.
Development in twists and turns
In 1949, the founding of New China, Chinese cinema began the transformation from commercial film to national political film. As an integral part of the party's cause, film bears the historical responsibility of shaping socialist ideology. In addition to political needs, from the perspective of ordinary people, they also need screen heroes to meet their enthusiasm and idealized expectations for the construction of a new country and society.
In 1949, two major film studios in Shanghai and Beijing were established in this context, and in the same year, the first film of New China, "Bridge", produced by the Northeast Film Studio, came out.
New China's first color film "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" was also produced in 1953. During this period, many classic films emerged, and the representative works "White Haired Girl", "Lin Zexu", "Southern Expedition and Northern War", "Sanmao Wandering", "Shangganling", "Red Women's Army" and so on were all released during this period.
In 1966, the Cultural Revolution broke out, the filmmakers were overthrown, the film factory was closed, and for a while the film industry changed from a hundred flowers to a hundred flowers, and even a literary and artistic freak in the form of "model drama" appeared.
Again
After smashing the Gang of Four, the film industry was revived.
In 1978, the college entrance examination was officially resumed, and Zhang Yimou, who was working as a worker in the Xianyang Cotton Spinning Factory in Shaanxi Province, also broke through the rules to enter the photography department of the Beijing Film Academy; Chen Kaige, who joined the army and transferred to Beijing in the same year, was also admitted to the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy. The two did not know at this time that they would change the history of Chinese cinema.
In October 1979, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping affirmed that the literary and artistic line in the 17 years before the Cultural Revolution was basically correct, summed up the lessons of history, corrected the biased formulation of "literature and art obeying politics and literature and art subordinate to politics" put forward in the past, and reiterated the implementation of the double hundred policy.
"Spring breeze is coming, dare to fight for a hundred flowers", the liberation of the mind has ushered in the third prosperity of Chinese films, and a large number of excellent works have emerged during this period: "Farewell to the Overlord", "Red Sorghum", "Qiu Ju Fights the Lawsuit", "The Black Cannon Incident", "Shaolin Temple" and so on have left their names in the history of Chinese cinema.
According to the myth that 1982's "Shaolin Temple" sold 100 million yuan at the box office with a dime ticket price, the phenomenon-level film "Shaolin Temple" made the Chinese film industry truly feel the value and power of commercial entertainment films for the first time, and also saw the potential of the market, so the concept of film as a commercial culture was formed.
Booming periods
After the establishment of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics in the 1990s, Chinese films also showed a prosperous scene, and there are too many good memories left for us in those years, whether it is China or the whole world in the 90s is the golden age of the film and television industry. The famous directors we know have come out with their classic works:
In 1984, Chen Kaige, who had just graduated two years after graduation and was assigned to the Beijing Children's Film Studio, made his first work, "Yellow Land", which also established the direction of his exploration of humanistic themes. In 1993, the film he directed, "Farewell to the King", was officially released, and this film is said to be the pinnacle of Chinese cinema, which is not exaggerated at present, and is destined to be popular in Chinese cinema for a hundred generations.
In 1987, after several years of being a photographer and actor, Zhang Yimou's first film "Red Sorghum" also came out, the work praised the national spirit with strong colors and bold style, and won many domestic and international awards, since then the "old strategist" was officially established, and then made "Alive", "No One Can Be Less", "My Father and Mother", "Hero" and other classic works.
At the same time, Jiang Wen first reached the peak in the field of acting, and won the best actor in 1987 with "Furong Town", until 1993, when he directed his first film "Sunny Day" and became famous in one fell swoop. Then he filmed "The Devil Is Coming", "Let the Bullets Fly", "Evil Does Not Pressure the Right", etc., and Jiang Wen was also praised as the guarantee of the quality of the film.
In addition, there are directors such as Feng Xiaogang, Ang Lee, Wu Yusen, Xu Ke, Wong Kar-wai, Wang Jing and so on, who have jointly created the glory of the fifth generation of Chinese directors. They have also contributed many excellent works: "No Thief under Heaven", "Fanghua", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero's True Colors", "Spring Light", "East Evil and West Poison", "God of Gamblers" and so on.
Status quo under the review system
I would use the term "cold silence after the carnival" to describe the current Chinese film industry. There will still be good works, but the overall quality is far less than before. The annual film production is very large, the output of bad films is innumerable, and there are fewer and fewer fine products that can be precipitated by time. It seems difficult to go back to the heyday of the '90s.
The Regulations on the Administration of Film, issued in December 2001, imposed the following restrictions on the content of films: they could not involve political, religious superstition, or pornographic violence. This is a big restriction on creativity for writers and directors, and most classic films reflect society and human nature.
We should be glad that many famous works were created before the millennium, otherwise they would not have passed the trial, such as the cruelty of human nature during the Cultural Revolution shown in "Farewell to the Overlord", such as the nude in "Sunny Days", and the insensitive portrayal of the Chinese people in "The Devil Is Coming".
After the millennium, there are only scattered excellent works, until the birth of "I Am Not a Medicine God" in 2018, which makes people see the dawn of Chinese cinema again. After "Wolf Warrior 2", the main theme of the movie was put on the agenda, "Red Sea Action", "Chosin Lake" and so on are among the more excellent works.
However, after the invasion of capital, the problems in the film circle are endless, when people we regard as idols visit the Yasukuni Shrine, take drugs to infringe on underage girls, and earn 2 million a day but abandon their own children, can Chinese films still regain their glory?
The gap with Western films
The birth of Western cinema only preceded China seventeen years, but it was relatively mature for half a century.
To say that the advantages of Western films, the special effects are first-class, and the script is excellent. These two points are exactly what Chinese films lack the most at present, the script is related to the aforementioned censorship, and it is not that there are no good scripts in China, but most of them are drowned. In terms of special effects, it is the most expensive part of the whole movie in Hollywood blockbusters, how cool and how to come. In China, the terrier of the "five-cent special effect" has been heard of by everyone.
The biggest investment in domestic films is the actor's salary, and those top-notch students with beautiful images can still get sky-high salaries even if their acting skills are frequently ridiculed. Is the investor stupid? No, it is caused by the fan economy with Chinese characteristics. As long as there is an idol movie, no matter how good or bad it is, it must go to the scene, behind each top stream is a huge fan base, which is the guarantee of the box office.
Closure
Ling Er's biggest feeling about today's film industry is over-commercialization, through the packaging of traffic stars, exaggerated publicity as a gimmick to attract audiences, and ignore the most fundamental content quality of movies. The original intention of film was a form of expression of art, not a commercial means of the capitalists.
We do not reject capital controlling films, and without capital to operate films commercially, they will not prosper as they are today, as long as they can achieve the same kind of flowers and flowers as Hong Kong did at the end of the last century. What the audience needs is a high-quality conscience movie, and even if it is a sale of feelings, I don't owe anyone a movie ticket anymore.
Moreover, for the audience who has raised the requirements, good works of art are more willing to pay. Just like "I am not a medicine god", the novel theme, the excellent script, and the outstanding performance of the actors have made their fame and fortune both profitable and destined to become a model for the future development of the industry.
In addition, this year's box office dark horse "Fame and Fame", the form is novel, the ending is intriguing, and people have the impulse to brush twice. In the future, we want to see more such sincere works.
I believe that this day will not be too far away, after all, the rice circle rectification action has been put on the agenda.