This year is the 70th anniversary of new China, and China has undergone earth-shaking changes in the past seven decades, and Chinese films are no exception.
Looking back at the beginning of new China, everything was in ruins, and the film industry, which alternated between old and new, was also facing various tests in terms of technology and materials.
Even under the conditions of technical level and creative environment encountering many obstacles, classic films such as "Blessing", "Stage Sisters" and "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" were still born, and many film artists who left their names in film history emerged.
Xie Jin, Cui Wei, Shui Hua, Xie Tieli, Li Jun, Cheng Yin... These directors of the older generation jointly wrote a new style of new Chinese films and created the initial glory of new Chinese films.
The work recommended by Pigo today is the most well-known masterpiece of director Xie Tieli, which is known as "a strange flower in the history of new Chinese cinema" with its unique poetic meaning.
"Early Spring February" 丨 1963
Director: Xie Tieli
Starring: Sun Daolin / Xie Fang / Shangguan Yunzhu / Gao Bo / Han Yan / Yu Ping / Fan Xuepeng
In that era when movies served ideology, "Early Spring and February", featuring "petty bourgeois" intellectual youth, was undoubtedly an outlier, and was criticized and denigrated by mainstream public opinion.
Without impassioned revolutionary slogans, without heroic sons and daughters who see death as a homecoming, the lyrical charm of "Early Spring and February" is undoubtedly incompatible with the era when the red flag fluttered, and for a period of time it caused a nationwide war of invective and was stopped
But it is this poetic meaning that makes "Early Spring february" still widely praised 56 years later, becoming the most eye-catching existence in new Chinese films.
In 1926, when the Chinese warlords were divided and the people were not happy, the vigorous Revolution had just begun.
Xiao Jianqiu, an intellectual youth with ideals but trapped in reality, was invited by Tao Mukan, a former friend and now the principal of a primary school, to teach in furong town, where he is located.
The small bridge flowing water, weeping willows, and the picturesque Furong Town dispelled Xiao Jianqiu's long-standing bitterness and sorrow, and he was even more excited to meet with his old friend Tao Mukan, whom he had not seen for many years.
In addition to the joy, Xiao Jianqiu seemed to see a glimmer of hope: perhaps in this chaotic world where there was nowhere to show ambition, it would be a very meaningful thing to engage in education.
At Tao Mukan's home, Xiao Jianqiu met Tao Mukan's cheerful and lively sister Tao Lan, and the two talked happily, so that the young men and women with the common language could not help but admire each other.
During their small talk with Tao Mukan, Xiao Jianqiu unexpectedly learned that his old classmate Li Zhihao had died on the battlefield, leaving his lonely wife Wen Sister-in-law and a pair of young children in Furong Town.
Xiao Jianqiu, who was full of emotions in his heart, went to visit Wen Concubine's home out of his classmate friendship, which made the depressed Sister-in-law Wen feel relieved.
Looking at the dilapidated house and this pair of lovely children, Xiao Jianqiu couldn't help but think to himself how this humble and cowardly Sister-in-law Wen would support this family alone in the future?
Out of conscience and morality, Xiao Jianqiu decided to take as much care of them as possible in the future, so that they would not be forced by the hunger and cold of life. Sister-in-law Wen was grateful and secretly shed tears.
Feeling that he had done a good deed, he ran and jumped excitedly on the snow, and Xiao Jianqiu seemed to find his own value: it was a good start for him.
What made him even happier was the acquaintance with Tao Lan. The two of them, who are also new youths, often get together to discuss philosophical art and what they usually feel and think, and they have become like-minded partners.
The beauty and peace of Furong Town made Xiao Jianqiu begin to feel that after so many years of wandering lonely geese, perhaps it was really a correct choice to come here.
But Tao Lan pointed out to the point that there was a treacherous plot hidden in the simplicity of Furong Town, and there was a disturbance under the peace. Xiao Jianqiu didn't think so.
The relationship between the two has become increasingly close, and their feelings have gradually developed, which makes Qian Zhengxing, who is also a primary school teacher, feel jealous.
Qian Zhengxing, who has a big family, has always had a special love for Tao Lan, and he even hopes to marry her in the name of sponsoring Tao Lan to study abroad, but he always gets Tao Lan's cold face.
Qian Zhengxing resigned from his job as a teacher in grief and anger, which also caused other colleagues who were good friends with him to complain and resent Xiao Jianqiu.
Dedicated to his personal ambitions, Xiao Jianqiu has no time to take care of the gossip of others, and he tries his best to impart useful knowledge to students in class, in addition to persuading Sister-in-law Wen to send his daughter Cailian to school, and he is responsible for the "pick-up and drop-off work" of going to and from school.
In the long run, the townspeople who loved to chew their tongues spread rumors about Xiao Jianqiu and Wen Concubine, which were known to everyone for a while and became the talking point after the tea and dinner.
Just as the so-called "people's words are terrible", Sister-in-law Wen's heart is full of humiliation, she plans to stop letting Cailian go to school, she is afraid that those vain gossip will crush her and hurt her children.
Xiao Jianqiu, who learned of this, was also extremely heavy in his heart, and he did not expect that his kindness and sympathy would develop to this point.
But under the encouragement of Tao Lan, he bravely faced the criticism of those people, faced the pressure inside the school, and encouraged Wen Yan to be strong.
With the support and companionship of Tao Lan, Xiao Jianqiu insisted on himself, temporarily abandoned his fear and timidity, and strengthened his ideals and beliefs.
But at this moment, the unfortunate death of Sister-in-law Wen's young son made the bitter woman who had lost her husband and son depressed again: if she continued, she might die like this.
Looking at the lonely and helpless Sister-in-law Wen, Xiao Jianqiu came up with a bold idea: marry Sister-in-law Wen home, stop the spread of gossip, and let Sister-in-law Wen also have a dependence.
This idea tormented him all the time, making him entangled: because he already had Tao Lan in his heart, he did not hesitate to give up love, and he could not do it for a while.
After hesitating repeatedly, Xiao Jianqiu told Tao Lan about this idea, and as expected, Tao Lan was extremely shocked and disappointed.
She sharply pointed out that Xiao Jianqiu's behavior was only out of sympathy, not love.
Tao Lan's words made Xiao Jianqiu embarrassed, and between love and responsibility, he fell into a wandering and struggle...
Just when Xiao Jianqiu was anxious about this, Wen Concubine's neighbor Grandma hurried to bring a bad news: Wen Sister-in-law committed suicide.
The child's premature death, the unbearable rumors, and the successive blows made Sister-in-law Wen lose the hope of life, and it was only at this time that Xiao Jianqiu truly understood Tao Lan's original evaluation of the town.
Behind the beauty and peace, it is indeed the sinister and unpredictable nature of the human heart, and not long after the death of Sister-in-law Wen, the town praised her as a "martyr woman who keeps the festival", and even praised Xiao Jianqiu as the great benefactor of Sister-in-law Wen.
Once slandered and satirized by them in every way, but now she has become a "festival woman" and "benefactor" praised by everyone, Xiao Jianqiu felt extremely ridiculous at the same time, but also discouraged by this town.
He finally understood that in this sinister world, where there was any paradise, the small town of Furong left him helpless, almost drowning in the whirlpool of right and wrong - morality and education could not save others, nor could they illuminate themselves.
After some thought, Xiao Jianqiu entrusted Cailian to the Tao family, and left this "dream land" that had made him think about it without hesitation, and returned to the hustle and bustle of the times without hesitation.
After reading the letter left by Xiao Jianqiu, Tao Lan did not hesitate to choose to follow Xiao Jianqiu's footsteps and plunge into the torrent of the times...
"Early Spring in February" continues the artistic style of literati films of the Republic of China period such as "Goddess" and "Spring in a Small Town", implicitly euphemistically and without losing critical strength, and expressing a unique national charm.
The smoky and rainy Jiangnan town, the small bridge with deep meaning and the flowing water, the Furong Town of "Early Spring and February" is like a landscape painting that makes people linger, conveying the joy and sorrow of everyone in the film, the undercurrent under the calm, but the ruthlessness of the world.
Xiao Jianqiu, who has ideals in mind, is a typical representative of petty-bourgeois intellectuals, and his kindness, integrity, and compassion are precious qualities that are difficult to conceal, but his inability to do anything in the face of feudal ideas and secular vision is also his limitation and shackles as a "petty bourgeoisie."
Today, more than 50 years later, when we look back at this work, we have to admire the spirit of artistic exploration and great courage it insisted on in such a harsh environment.
"Early Spring and February" bears witness to the historical inheritance of Chinese films for more than 100 years, which proves that the charm of a good film will never disappear with the passage of time, but the taste will become more and more mellow and evocative.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Ah Zhi
© Original 丨 Article Copyright: Ppdianying
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