Poster of the Chinese version of the movie "Hope in the World" (1949).
After the release of "Ten Thousand Lights" (1948), a reporter asked Shen Fu (1905-1994): "What is the most important theme at present when writing a movie script?" He replied, "Fight for freedom and light!" “
In fact, from the 1930s onwards, when Shen Fu wrote the screenplay for the wolf mountain (1936), the important purpose of his creation was to "strive for freedom and light", and by the late 1940s he was only more conscious, more explicit, and more confident.
On August 10, 1957, the cover of the inaugural issue of Shangying Pictorial was Chairman Mao and Jin Yan (left) shaking hands, followed by director Shen Fu (then director of Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio)
This is true of "Ten Thousand Lights", and even more so with "Hope in the World" (1949), which was filmed after "Ten Thousand Lights".
Shen Fu's 1947 "Pursuit" (1947) revealed the social problems of the national industry on the verge of extinction after the war.
Stills from the movie "Ten Thousand Lights" (1948), Blue Horse and Shangguan Yunzhu
Subsequently, he went south to Shanghai to join Kunlun Film Company, and his creations underwent significant changes in both ideology and art, becoming the peak of his entire creation before liberation.
At the beginning of 1947, before the Kuomintang CLP Third Factory filmed the film "Chase", Shen Fu wrote the script of "Hope in the World", but the factory did not agree to shoot it.
Image of Shangguan Yunzhu in the film Hope in the World (1949).
The following year, Shen Fu co-wrote and directed the film "Ten Thousand Lights" with Yang Hansheng (1902-1993) and participated in the creation of the film "The Crow and the Sparrow" (1949).
After he transferred to Kunlun Company and filmed "Ten Thousand Lights", he made some modifications and additions to the script of "Hope in the World".
Shen Fu (right) and Yang Hansheng
Unexpectedly, in the process of submitting the script for review, it was also harassed by the Kuomintang inspection authorities, and as many as 18 places were requested to be revised.
What is particularly ridiculous is that the inspection authorities have to change all the characters written in the script to Japanese, as if to expose the traitor agents is to expose them.
Images of Shangguan Yunzhu and Wei Jiang in the film Hope in the World (1949).
Shen Fu resolutely refused to modify it, so "Hope in the World", which had already set up four sets, was once shelved.
Later, after many negotiations and struggles, Shen Fu was able to start filming on the grounds that "the staff and workers of the film company want to eat, they cannot pay their wages without the film, and the workers want to make trouble" as the defense of the counterattack, and only reluctantly entered the filming.
Stills from the movie "Hope in the World" (1949), Blue Horse and Shangguan Yunzhu
Shen Fu chose the actors Lan Ma (1915-1976) and Shangguan Yunzhu (1920-1968) from "Ten Thousand Family Lights" to play Professor Deng Gengbai and Dr. Tao Jinghuan respectively.
The blue horse shows Professor Deng's national integrity and tenacity and tenacity, while Shangguan Yunzhu interprets Dr. Tao's humiliation and burden in a dangerous environment and his inner strength in detail.
Images of Lan Ma and Shangguan Yunzhu in the film Hope in the World (1949).
In order to make the characters real and plump, Shen Fu has made elaborate designs in many aspects such as the display of the environment, the use of props, the laying of details and the use of lenses. This is another masterpiece of Shen Fu that shines with the light of revolutionary realism.
The story described in "Hope in the World" is: After the Japanese occupied Shanghai, university professor Deng Gengbai (played by Lan Ma) was arrested by the Japanese secret service for propagating anti-Japanese resistance and mobilizing young people to participate in the War of Resistance, and his whereabouts are unknown.
His wife, Tao Jinghuan (played by Shangguan Yunzhu), is an obstetrician who has been traveling in many directions for 3 years to inquire about her husband's whereabouts.
At the same time, her eldest son Yusheng (played by Zhang Qian) and his girlfriend Huang Minghua (played by Zhao Yuan) also secretly participated in the anti-Japanese work because they were dissatisfied with the atrocities of the Japanese Kou.
Images of Zhao Yuan (left) and Zhang Qian in the film Hope in the World (1949).
On a snowy night, a woman (played by Huang Chen), who is critically ill and infirm, who calls herself Chen Jia, suddenly arrives at Deng's house and tells Tao Jinghuan that 3 years ago, the couple and Professor Deng were arrested at the same time, and it was a traitor named Li Lu (Played by Dong Lin) who betrayed them.
Her husband, Lin Bohua, had died in prison, and she had just been released by the enemy due to her critical illness. When she was about to tell Professor Tao Jinghuan where Professor Deng was imprisoned, she suddenly fell ill and died.
Images of blue horses in the film Hope on Earth (1949).
When Tao Jinghuan was making efforts to inquire about her husband's location, Deng Gengbai in prison accidentally got a small bird, and he made a clever move, wrote a small note tied to the bird's leg, and put the bird back into the blue sky, and this note actually passed to Tao Jinghuan's hand.
She was overjoyed to write a long letter to her husband overnight.
But the letter was intercepted by the Japanese. The head of the secret service, Hashimoto, plotted to eliminate the anti-Japanese people, intended to parole Deng Gengbai out of prison, and secretly sent secret agent Lei Dianchen (played by Li Paul) to stalk, and Lei Dianchen moved into the apartment where the Deng family lived.
Images of Wu Yin and Paul Lee (right) in the film Hope in the World (1949).
One day, Yusheng and Minghua are performing a progressive drama, and a secret agent comes to the backstage to catch Yusheng and is smashed to death by Yusheng.
Later, the traitor Li Lu (played by Dong Lin) found the clue and closely tracked down Yusheng.
In the midst of the crisis, Deng Gengbai decided to entrust Lu Xiang (Wei Jiang), the leader of the anti-Japanese underground organization, to send Yusheng and Minghua to the mainland.
Images of Shangguan Yunzhu and Dong Lin (left) in the film Hope in the World (1949).
Just about to leave, Li Lu chased after him. At this time, Tao Jinghuan also became strong, and taking advantage of Li Lu's lack of attention, he grabbed his pistol and killed Li Lu.
The sound of gunfire alarmed Lei Dianchen, who lived upstairs, and he rushed to track it down. In order to cover the safe escape of the others, Deng Gengbai stayed behind to negotiate with Lei Dianchen. By the time Lei Dianchen found Li Lu's body, there was already a sound of cars driving outside the door.
Deng Gengbai knew that Yusheng and the others had escaped safely, and frankly admitted that Li Lu was killed by him. At dawn, he was taken to prison again.....
The outstanding artistic achievement of this film is the successful shaping of the image of patriotic and lofty intellectuals represented by Deng Gengbai.
After Deng Gengbai was arrested, he launched a heroic struggle with enemy and pseudo agents. In the face of the Japanese Kou's coercion, inducement, and severe torture, he was always stubborn and unyielding, and his righteousness was awe-inspiring, showing the hard bones of China's progressive intellectuals.
During his parole, Deng Gengbai said to his friends who visited him: "Our country is suffering, comparing my personal fate with the fate of the whole country, what is our sacrifice?" ”
Images of Wu Yin and Fu Botang in the film Hope in the World (1949).
He also wrote down the verse "Andrew a dagger, cut through the clouds and eight or nine; towering on the blue sky, counting the stars over the years", with a broad mind and a proud spirit.
Especially in the last two strokes, after Deng Gengbai skillfully sent away Yusheng and the others, Lei Dianchen showed a vicious face and announced that he would be arrested again.
Professor Deng calmly found his beloved pipe, put it on his mouth, and smiled.
The treatment at the end of the film makes this old professor with a thin face, old age, gray sideburns, and thick and elegant, immediately sublimated in the audience's mind.
The image of Deng Gengbai is of great typical significance. This image not only generally reflects the spiritual outlook of the many intellectuals who gave their lives heroically during the War of Resistance Against Japan, but also a vivid portrayal of many intellectuals who fought heroically and even sacrificed their lives for democracy and freedom and for the establishment of New China during the War of Liberation, such as Yang Xingfo, Li Gongpu, Wen Yiduo, and others.
Images from the film Hope in The World (1949).
Another feature of this film is that it pays more attention to cinematization in the way of narration. Although "Ten Thousand Lights" is an excellent film, in the structure of the play and the director's treatment, there are obvious traces of dramatization, we may as well call it a dramatic film, by the way, as a style, theatrical film can not only exist, but also become an excellent film.
In "Ten Thousand Lights", director Shen Fu adopts a style of contradictions that is more concentrated and the scenes are relatively concentrated according to the characteristics of the script (more dialogues), and in "Hope in the World", director Shen Fu tries to explore a novel-style style that is more stretched and free in time and space.
Stills from the movie "Hope in the World" (1949), from left: Xu Lan, Zhang Qian, Shangguan Yunzhu, Wu Yin, Huang Chen, Fu Botang
For example, at the beginning of the film, it starts from the middle of the story: it is to describe a friend visiting Tao Jinghuan at Deng's house, showing her anxious and helpless scene of not being able to find Deng Gengbai's whereabouts for 3 years; then through the critically ill woman released by the enemy, she traces Deng Gengbai's prison life in 3 years.
Then, starting with Tao Jinghuan's letter, he used the current narrative method to describe the reason for the enemy's interception of Tao Jinghuan's letter, and paroled Deng Gengbai in the hope of arresting more anti-Japanese fighters. This narrative method not only conforms to the characteristics of the relatively free composition of the film's time and space, but also avoids the flat and direct narrative, making the structure of the entire film more refined.
Location of the movie "The Wanderings of Sanmao" (1949), photographed by Zhu Jinming (left) and Wang Longji
Shen Fu and Wang Longji (right)
Wang Longji, who is famous for filming "Sanmao Wandering" (1949), once recalled the filming of "Hope in the Human World" and wrote: Remember that when participating in the filming of "Hope in the Human World", there was an exterior scene that was filmed by boat to Pudong. At lunchtime, the crew gave everyone a small borscht with red sausage. This snack is very common for children today, but at that time, it was rare to taste such delicious food. I wanted to eat it, but I didn't eat it, so I covered the bread with my hat and held it in my hand, with my head bowed, and didn't look at others eating. Uncle Shen Fu asked me humorously, "What do you do when you put a hat on bread?" I said, "My dad has a stomach problem and loves to eat bread." I was afraid the bread was dirty and covered it with a hat. "Uncle Shen Fu didn't say anything more, so he shoved his own bread into my mouth...
Stills from the movie "Heavenly Spring Dream" (1947), Shangguan Yunzhu and Blue Horse
It is extremely interesting that the film's main actors, Shangguan Yunzhu and Lan Ma, played the screen husband and wife three times, namely "Heavenly Spring Dream" (1947) directed by Tang Xiaodan (1910-2012) of CLP Company, and "Ten Thousand Family Lights" and "Hope in the World" directed by Shen Fu of Kunlun Company, in addition to co-starring in "Group of Demons" (1947) directed by Wenhua Company Xu Changlin (1916-2001) and "LirenXing" (1949) directed by Kunlun Company Chen Liting (1910-2013). )。
Stills from the movie "Qun Devil" (1947), the rogue Liu Dianyuan (played by Lan Ma) has a crush on the little cabbage (played by Shangguan Yunzhu)
In fact, Shangguan Yunzhu lived with the blue horse who came to Shanghai after the victory of the War of Resistance. Lan Ma first partnered up with her to eat a pie meal, and then the two began to live together.
When Shen Fu wanted to shoot "Ten Thousand Family Lights", Blue Horse was the first male lead to be selected, and when Shen Fu was worried about the heroine, Blue Horse recommended Shangguan Yunzhu to director Shen Fu.
Stills from the movie "Long Live the Wife" (1947), Shangguan Yunzhu
However, director Shen Fu believes that Shangguan Yunzhu used to play roles such as the sociable aunt and wife, and the heroine of "Ten Thousand Family Lights" is a virtuous wife and mother, and Shangguan Yunzhu is not suitable for this role.
Lan Ma took the director to his home, and the director saw a Shangguan Yunzhu who was shopping for vegetables, cooking, washing, and doing everything, and immediately made a decision to let her play the heroine.
Under the promotion and guidance of Blue Horse, Shangguan Yunzhu has grown from a nameless small actor to a shining big star in the film industry, and her acting skills have improved by leaps and bounds. The two flew together artistically, so Shangguan Yunzhu's most important masterpieces were born in the days of falling in love with the blue horse.
Stills from the movie "A River of Spring Water Flows Eastward" (1947), Shangguan Yunzhu
Shangguan Yunzhu's son Wei then came and said: "I think the blue horse is very effective in her performance of the leap, the blue horse acting skills are definitely stronger than her, filming together can learn a lot of things, on the other hand, my mother also has understanding, otherwise I can't help it anymore." But she has never married The Blue Horse, and I have heard many people in their peers say that there is a problem with the character of the Blue Horse, people are good people, but they are too lazy, probably because women can't stand it, and feel that such people can't be entrusted for life. ”
Shangguan Yunzhu's son Wei Ran
"In addition, the directors of these scenes she shot in the late 1940s were very powerful, all of them were the most famous directors in China at that time, and without their clicks, there would be no success for her."
Lan Ma and Shangguan Yunzhu took care of each other in life at that time, going in and out together, and in the eyes of outsiders, they were like a loving couple.
As a progressive figure in the literary and artistic circles, Blue Horse has long been regarded as his own by the comrades of the underground party, a Bolshevik outside the party, who has done many things and played an immeasurable role.
On the eve of the liberation of Shanghai, Lan Ma and Shangguan Yunzhu risked their lives, used their homes as joint locations, drove a phonograph, turned the music to a great extent, covered the underground party's plot against 3 Kuomintang air force officers with progressive ideas, flew a civil aviation passenger plane to Jinan in the liberated area, and defected to the embrace of the people.
Cover of the special issue of the film Hope on Earth (1949).
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