Why did the director of "Road Angel" suddenly disappear when he became popular? How was Dr. Bethune's surgery documented? How did the Nanniwan story spread? Speaking of the recorders of Red Yan'an, we always think of Edgar Snow, of the foreign journalists who broke through the blockade, but often ignore Yan'an's own camera structure, the Eighth Route Army General Political Film Troupe (known as the Yan'an Film Troupe).
Dr. Bethune during surgery by Wu Yinxian/Photo
Group photo from the filming of the film in 1939
Wu Yinxian is taking pictures of Mao Zedong
Nanniwan Tunken Wu Yinxian /Photo
In 1938, the Yan'an Film Troupe filmed in Qingliangshan. The person standing on the right side of the upper rock is Yuan Muzhi, the person holding the camera is Wu Yinxian, the person sitting in the middle is Ye Canglin, and the person standing on the left side of the lower rock is Li Su. Photo by Xu Xiaobing
Evans
Wu Yinxian in his youth
Yuan Muzhi, photographed in 1936
In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yuan Muzhi, Wu Yinxian, Xu Xiaobing and other left-wing film elites rushed from big cities to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and became the earliest Yan'an filmmakers.
In the most difficult years, they used the most rudimentary equipment to record the years of the Yan'an War of Resistance. Although the picture is not very clear and the sound is occasionally interrupted, the accurate capture of the leader's style and the true recording of the moments of the battle set off its preciousness.
When film became history, most of the members of the Yan'an Film Troupe also passed away. In order to fill the gap in the history of this film, their descendants, two retired elderly people, regained the power of the record and worked hard to restore this legend.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Children of the Storm</h3>
Many of the Images of Yan'an that we see today, such as Bethune's footage on the operating table, Mao Zedong's footage at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and many life photos of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and Yan'an, are exquisitely polished and well-composed. Many people think that this is the handiwork of foreign journalists, but in fact, they are authentic "domestic".
At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan, under the personal arrangement of Zhou Enlai, Yuan Muzhi, Wu Yinxian, Xu Xiaobing and several other left-wing film elites rushed from big cities to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and became the recorders of the red Yan'an.
From the Anti-Japanese War in 1938 to the invasion of the northeast in 1946, the film troupe filmed in Yan'an for a full eight years, leaving a thick video material, but there are only a few photos of themselves.
Wu Zhuqing, the daughter of the famous photographer Wu Yinxian and Yan'an, moved out a thick collection of Yan'an images, but there were few single photos of his father in Yan'an. "Unfortunately, they filmed Yan'an for eight years, but they were reluctant to turn the camera on themselves."
At that time, the film was limited, and the film troupe had the discipline of "not allowing yourself to take pictures of others", fortunately, a few young people secretly took pictures when they were practicing, leaving several photos for the film troupe. What is more regrettable is that for a long time, this history was only scattered in memoirs, because there was no complete narrative, and it became a blank in the history of Chinese cinema.
"This history of the film troupe should have been written by the fathers, but they went one by one, and seeing that this history became more and more simple and vague, and even often ignored, we had to pick up a pen." On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Yan'an Film Troupe, Wu Zhuqing and Zhang Dai, as the second generation, regained the belief of the older generation - record is a kind of power.
What surprised them was that in just three months of intensive interviews, three people from this small unit of dozens of people left one after another. Today, the only surviving members of the film troupe are Zhang Dai's mother, the centenarian Zhang Jianzhen.
However, perhaps because of the spanning decades, many historical documents have been published, and memoirs have been published, the story of the Yan'an Film Troupe has become clearer and clearer. In Wu Zhuqing's home, when the two elderly people told reporters about this story, a personal character and event became vivid again.
"Our fathers, one was the cinematographer of the movie "Road Angel" and the other was an editor, who was in Shanghai at that time, with a monthly salary of 150 oceans, and they went to Yan'an, and they were guides like Yuan Muzhi and Xu Xingzhi." Wu Zhuqing and Zhang Dai's pursuit of history began with the left-wing film movement.
In 1931, the shadow of war cast on northeast China, and even in the drunken metropolis of Shanghai, the gods and monsters and the wind and flowers and snow moons were no longer popular with the audience. China's most influential film company at that time, the star company, thought about change when it was poor, and extended an olive branch to several new literary and art workers.
Zhou Jianyun, the manager of the star company, first found Qian Xing Estate (Ah Ying), a fellow villager in Wuhu, Anhui Province, and invited Qian Xing Estate, Xia Yan and Zheng Boqi to join the star company.
Do you want to help capitalists make movies? Xia Yan couldn't make up his mind for a moment, and in the end, it was Qu Qiubai, who was leading the communist cultural work in Shanghai at the time, who made a decision. He said: "In the field of culture and art, film is the most mass art, and in the future, we will achieve the world, and we must vigorously develop the film industry." Now that there is such a good opportunity, why not use the equipment of the capitalist to learn a little skill? ”
In order to handle this matter well, the "Cultural Affairs Commission" of the CPC Central Committee also specially set up a film committee. Don't look at this group of only 5 people, but the extraordinary new content and form brought vitality to the film industry that was dying at that time. In 1933, Shanghai's "Stars", "Lianhua", "Yihua", "Tianyi" and other companies produced more than 50 films, of which 43 were left-wing films or left-wing influences.
Left-wing films are becoming more and more influential among the people, and the Kuomintang's methods of suppression are becoming more and more bottomless. In 1935, Tian Han, Yang Hansheng and others were arrested, and Xia Yan, Ah Ying, and Zheng Boqi were forced to withdraw from the Star Film Company.
Undeterred, however, the film group set up a new venture to set up Dentsu Film Company, the first commercial film company under the direct leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. In order to run the "dentsu" well, the "Left Alliance" transported Yuan Muzhi, who had emerged in the theater industry, to the film industry.
Yuan Muzhi was originally a high-achieving student at soochow University Law School, but he was obsessed with drama since he was a child, and even broke off relations with his family and wanted to break into Shanghai. Once, when a photo studio wanted to shoot a window, Yuan Muzhi only used a suit, a tie, and a top hat to create the image of Chaplin and other ten Western film masters, which became a hot news spot for a while. Because he is good at makeup, Yuan Muzhi has the nickname of "Man with a Thousand Faces" in the theater industry.
At the beginning of the establishment of Dentsu Company, it fell into a situation where there was no drama to shoot. At this time, Yuan Muzhi, who had just transferred from drama to the film industry, locked himself in his room and created "Peach and Plum Robbery" in just a few days.
Many young people sang the "Graduation Song" and "to bear the rise and fall of the world", and the main actors Yuan Muzhi and Chen Bo'er also became popular because of this.
In 1935, "Children of the Storm" was released. It is worth mentioning that the playwright Tian Han was arrested during filming, and he wrote the lyrics of the theme song of the film in prison, which was secretly brought out by the daughter of the prison inspector and composed by Nie Er, which led to the "March of the Volunteer Army". The 26-year-old male protagonist Yuan Muzhi, knowing that it is dangerous, still sings this song for the first time in the movie with a spirited voice.
Also in danger was Wu Yinxian, because he was particularly sensitive to light and shadow, and he was from an art class, and he had no film experience, and he was pushed to the position of photographer by director Xu Xingzhi.
Acting and directing, at Dentsu Corporation, Yuan Muzhi also directed China's first musical comedy film "Cityscape". Don't look at dentsu company although it has only existed for two years, and there are only four films officially produced, of these four films, Yuan Muzhi is the main creator of three, and also trained photographer Wu Yinxian and other newcomers into industry masters.
In 1937, the mountain rain was coming, and the Shanghai film industry also encountered an unprecedented crisis. Not only can Dentsu Company not be able to continue, but even star companies are unsustainable, restructuring, unpaid wages, and on the verge of bankruptcy. At this time, "Road Angel" turned out to be the pinnacle of the 1930s.
Although the "July 7 Incident" has just happened, "Road Angel" still swept the beach after its premiere, setting a box office miracle of 21 consecutive days and 100,000 people watching, and the film's "Tianya Song Girl" and "Song of the Four Seasons" were sung all over the country.
This film is not only the highest-grossing film of the year, but also artistically has stood the test of time. In the more than 80 years since its birth, it has miraculously gone through various periods and has always been loved.
The famous actor Zhou Xuan once said that she did not have any satisfactory movies in her life, except for "Road Angel"; Zhao Dan also once said that his real acting career began with "Road Angel".
This movie is so classic, in fact, not only starring Zhou Xuan and Zhao Dan, but also because there is a screenwriter and director of Yuan Muzhi, a Wu Yinxian handheld machine, a he Luting arrangement, a Tian Han soundtrack, and a Rich Xiaozhang editing, such a grand lineup, how can it not look good?
The world-famous film critic Georges Sadur once wrote in the "History of World Cinema" with surprise: "Anyone who has seen Yuan Muzhi's "Angel of the Road", if he does not know that the film is in 1937, from the hands of a young director who knows nothing about French cinema, he will think that this film is directly influenced by Jean Renoir or Italian neorealism." ”
Yuan Muzhi, who is only 28 years old, proves himself not only as an acting star with his strength, but also as a talented filmmaker who integrates screenwriters, directors and literary and art critics.
However, "Road Angel" is the second and final work directed by Yuan Muzhi. Not long after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the once-prosperous star "disappeared". By the time he returned to the public eye again, his identity had become Yuan Muzhi, who founded the Yan'an Film Troupe and served as the first director of the New China Film Bureau. Today, at the China Film Museum, there are five statues of "Pioneers of Chinese Cinema", one of whom is him.
<h3 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Forty Thousand People</h3>
When "Road Angel" was released, the War of Resistance Against Japan had broken out in full swing. A month later, the flames of war reached Shanghai. The once prosperous and noisy gentle township was crushed in an instant, and between life and death, it not only interpreted the sadness of a city and a place, but also affected the feelings of home and country that every Chinese.
After the fall of Shanghai, the film industry went out of business under the threat of war. The Shanghai Theater Circle Salvation Association organized 13 rescue teams to evacuate most of the literary and art workers from the isolated island. Yuan Muzhi was put into a team, but did not set off with the team, although the studio is gone, he still wants to make movies, and he wants to make news film documentaries.
Before the advent of television, the most intuitive and realistic way of expressing news was documentaries. The earliest news films showing the life of the northern Shaanxi base area and the Red Army were recorded by the American journalist Edgar Snow.
In October 1935, the Central Red Army's Long March reached northern Shaanxi in victory. At that time, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, as the base camp of the Red Army, was surrounded by "a great wall of activities composed of thousands of enemy troops at all times", especially "a press blockade as effective as a solid stone artillery fort". At this time, Snow was introduced by Song Qingling and walked into northern Shaanxi.
As the first foreign journalist to enter the Northern Shaanxi Soviet Region, Snow carried a 16mm camera with him. While interviewing extensively, he used a camera to record life in the Sioux District on film for the first time. Among them, there are not only the images of Red Army leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, but also scenes of Red Army infantry and cavalry drills, parades and field exercises.
In February 1937, Snow held a photo exhibition of interviews in northern Shaanxi at Linxuan Lake of Yenching University, screening these news materials and videos, and personally explaining them. There were many people visiting the exhibition, and one of the ladies was particularly excited, she was Yuan Muzhi's silver screen couple and the famous film actor Chen Bo'er.
Chen Bo'er went to Beiping this time, originally wanted to perform a left-wing drama in Yanyuan, but was obstructed by the authorities. Just then, she unexpectedly saw Snow's exhibition, saw the image of the leader of the Red Army and the real life of the Soviet district. Chen Bo'er was very excited, and when he returned to Shanghai, he secretly told his friend Yuan Muzhi what he saw and heard.
"Documentaries are more powerful than feature films, and films like Snow's should be made by Chinese themselves!" Yuan Muzhi and Chen Bo'er hit it off, and then pulled the editor Qian Xiaozhang to Yan'an to shoot a documentary to record the real anti-Japanese forces.
But they were bare-handed, with nothing to do with the money and equipment needed to shoot the film, so how did they get the light photographic equipment used in the battlefield? How to penetrate deep into the guerrilla area behind enemy lines in North China? How to form a film crew that is willing to take risks? None of these are immediate problems. Under the persuasion of Chen Bo'er, Yuan Muzhi decided to go to Wuhan first, and then find a way to go to Yan'an.
In Wuhan, Yuan Muzhi and Chen Bo'er starred in the film "Eight Hundred Heroes" written by Yang Hansheng and directed by Ying Yunwei. The film is based on real deeds from the Shanghai War of Resistance: In late November 1937, 800 soldiers of the Chinese army (actually less than 800) under the leadership of regimental commander Xie Jinyuan insisted on the Sihang warehouse. A girl scout braved artillery fire to swim across the Suzhou Creek and deliver a national flag to the army.
In this film, Yuan Muzhi shows Xie Jinyuan's strong patriotic enthusiasm, the firmness of the enemy at present, and the sense of responsibility of the soldiers very well. But ironically, the film is still being filmed, and the real-life Xie Jinyuan has been imprisoned.
Yuan Muzhi recalled: "At that time, I thought that it was a situation in which the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated in the unanimous anti-Japanese resistance, so I participated in the performance of "Eight Hundred Heroes" written by Yang Hansheng... But the problem is that before the film was finished, the battalion was imprisoned in the British Concession under the so-called 'mediation' of British imperialism in the Shanghai Concession. This made me feel that the feature film was very fake and uninteresting, and I thought that the documentary was more effective in publicizing the anti-Japanese resistance. ”
Unable to wait any longer, Yuan Muzhi formally proposed to the Wuhan Eighth Route Army Office to go to Yan'an and the North China front to shoot news documentaries. Unexpectedly, Zhou Enlai personally received him for this purpose, and what was even more unexpected was that Zhou Enlai had a more ambitious idea - "we should have our own movies."
At that time, although the Communist Party produced a number of influential left-wing films, the censorship of films was in the hands of the Kuomintang, and even the word "war of resistance" could not appear in the films, let alone proletarian ideas.
Even after the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, the news documentaries could only publicize the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek, which made it impossible for ordinary Chinese people and foreigners to understand, and there was a very important backbone that fought bloody battles behind enemy lines.
Zhou Enlai deeply regretted that in the early days of the founding of the Communist Party, due to the lack of professional personnel and equipment, the vigorous armed uprising, and the arduous Long March did not leave any video materials.
Therefore, Zhou Enlai wanted not only a documentary, but also a film career to build the party. However, far from drama and literature, films can be simply transplanted from the metropolis to ravines because of ugliness, and films need to be prepared in terms of technical equipment and a group of professionals.
The filming of the Eighth Route Army of the Communist Party cannot be made without people who share the common conviction; shooting in a place with difficult conditions cannot be made without a considerable artistic and technical standard. Yuan Muzhi in front of him made Zhou Enlai make up his mind that even if Yan'an was surrounded on all sides and the frontal battlefield was gradually defeated, the Communist Party could have its own film institution.
In the early summer of 1938, Yuan Muzhi purchased a second-hand 16 mm film camera and nearly 10,000 feet of film with the help of Liao Chengzhi, the head of the Hong Kong office. Although these equipment now seem insignificant, they were very expensive at the time, and it was not easy for the Party to come up with this money at a time when economic conditions were extremely difficult.
Back in Wuhan, Zhou Enlai arranged for Yuan Muzhi to meet with dutch photographer Evans.
Evans is a master of world documentary cinema, and he shoots wherever he burns. In January 1938, Evans, who had just finished filming the Spanish Civil War, and two assistants came to Hankou through the American Association for Aid to China with a large camera, two portable cameras and 20,000 meters of film.
He had planned to go to the front immediately, but was obstructed and monitored by the Kuomintang government, which prevented him from contacting the Communists. Later, he won the opportunity to shoot the "Battle of Taierzhuang" and planned a secret trip to Yan'an. But after arriving in Xi'an, the Kuomintang restricted him even more severely, and demanded that he not leave the hotel after 7 o'clock every night. In desperation, Evans had to return to Hankou.
In the 9 months of China, Evans filmed his painstaking work "Forty Million People", which includes a passage about the setback of shooting, contacting Zhou Enlai through secret channels, and filming a group of shots of Zhou Enlai, Lin Boqu, Dong Biwu and Ye Jianying meeting at the office of the Eighth Route Army in Wuhan.
When he was about to leave China, Evans said that he wanted to meet Chinese filmmakers, so he had a relationship with Yuan Muzhi. When the two filmmakers heard that Yuan Muzhi could go to Yan'an to shoot but only had a 16 mm camera on hand, Evans offered to leave him a 35 mm handheld camera and thousands of feet of film.
This sudden snow charcoal made Yuan Muzhi very surprised, but Evans was temporary and did not take the camera with him, so the two shook hands, hugged, and agreed to see each other tomorrow.
Zhou Enlai was very happy to learn about this meeting, but he did not agree to the two meeting again. He carefully considered that this long talk had probably attracted the attention of the secret agents, and if they met again, there might be danger. Zhou Enlai proposed to find someone to fetch the camera for Yuan Muzhi, and this person should rarely appear in Wuhan.
Photographer Wu Yinxian is undoubtedly the first choice for this operation. Since he entered the industry, almost all of his film works have been cooperated with Yuan Muzhi, and yuan Muzhi is naturally indispensable to him if he wants to shoot high-level works in Yan'an. Moreover, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wu Yinxian did not shy away from life and death, and braved the rain of bullets and bullets to shoot "Long Live China". However, the film was regarded by the Kuomintang authorities as a "reactionary film propagating the Communist Party" because of its performance of the "Ping-type Guan Dajie", and even the negatives were burned. In addition, Wu Yinxian has just come to Wuhan and is not easy to expose.
For Yuan Muzhi's sudden invitation, Wu Yinxian did not hesitate to agree. Decades later, he sincerely said: "I am a technologist and do not understand any revolutionary principles, that is, I have a sense of justice."
It was with this sense of justice that Wu Yinxian took Zhou Enlai's car to a side of a road on the west side of Zhongshan Park on the outskirts of Hankou. This was the first time he had participated in a secret activity, and his mood was inevitably a little nervous. A moment later, another car came and a foreigner got out of it.
"Yan'an! Yan'an! Evans whispered this in a jerky Chinese and handed Over a 35mm "Em" camera and a 2,000-foot film negative to Wu. That night the stars were dim, and neither side could see each other's appearance, until 1957 Evans came to China again, and they were both fifty or sixty years old, and they carefully examined each other's faces in the bright sun.
In August 1938, Yuan Muzhi and Wu Yinxian disguised themselves as ordinary Soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and boarded the northbound train.
"The only one who silently sent them off in the distance was my father Qian Xiaozhang." In order not to expose the target, Zhou Enlai arranged for him to continue to work in the Kuomintang film organization until after the "Anhui Incident" and then went to Yan'an. Zhang Dai said.
<h3 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army</h3>
Yuan Muzhi, known as the "Man with a Thousand Faces", has been transformed into "One Side" since the moment his feet stepped on the high slope of the Loess Plateau. He saw himself only as a new man in the revolutionary ranks, wearing leggings and living a life of supply.
As a result of officially joining the Eighth Route Army, Yuan Muzhi had a monthly salary of 5 yuan, which was the highest standard among Yan'an cadres. Wu Yinxian is a special photographer who sends 120 oceans a month to his hometown for his family. Although this arrangement is thoughtful, it is not much compared to Wu Yinxian's past salary level.
In September 1938, the Eighth Route Army Political Film Troupe was officially established.
Wu Zhuqing said: The film troupe was completely different from the spontaneous association in Yan'an at that time; it was a military organization established according to the regular organization of the Eighth Route Army, the first regular film and photo shooting organization in the history of the party, and it was directly subordinate to the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army.
At the beginning of its establishment, there were only 6 members in the regiment, and Li Su, a cadre who had participated in the Long March, served as a political instructor, Yuan Muzhi was responsible for art direction, Wu Yinxian and Xu Xiaobing were appointed as photographers, and Ye Canglin and Wei Qi were transferred from the Kang University to serve as drama crews.
Among them, only Yuan Muzhi, Wu Yinxian and Xu Xiaobing have engaged in film work. Xu Xiaobing worked as a photography assistant to Wu Yinxian before the outbreak of the War of Resistance, and later joined the Eighth Route Army and entered the Kang Da to study, but he did not expect to meet again in Yan'an this time, and he was also his photography assistant.
Their entire belongings are called "two moves and three stays". "Two moves" refers to two machines that can make movies, the 35 mm "Em", which was donated by Evans; the 16 mm "Ferm", purchased in Hong Kong. "Three stays" refers to three cameras for taking photos, one of which belonged to Xu Xiaobing and the other two that Wu Yinxian bought with his savings. The film has a total of 16,000 feet, plus some printing drugs, which constitutes all the means of production of the Yan'an Film Troupe.
Although the conditions are far less than in Shanghai, they firmly believe that what is about to be produced is a work of lofty intentions and worthy of their ancestors. Wu Yinxian wrote in his handwriting, "Start our work from the graves of our ancestors."
On October 1, 1938, the camera turned to break the silence in Ancient Berlin. In front of the solemn Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum, the newly established Yan'an Film Troupe was launched. As the first documentary film in the history of the Communist Party of China, shooting the first set of shots here is of far-reaching significance.
The camera turns and then turns to the rugged mountain trails of the Loess Plateau. In the summer and autumn of 1938, more than 2,000 patriotic young people slept on the road and ran from this road to Yan'an. Why does Yan'an have such charm? What is life like in Yan'an? How did the Eighth Route Army's anti-Japanese struggle unfold? In director Yuan Muzhi's plan, people will get the answer in "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army".
The cruelty of the war soon became apparent. One day two months later, a sharp alarm sounded, and Yan'an was bombed for the first time since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, killing 41 people and injuring more than 100 others. At that time, Wu Yinxian and Xu Xiaobing were maintaining the camera in the cave, and a bomb was just under a corner of the cave, and the room was suddenly covered with dust. Almost at the same time, Wu Yinxian pounced on the table and covered all the parts with his body. Miraculously, he was not injured, a table of camera parts, not even a tiny screw was lost.
The filming in Yan'an ended smoothly, and the film troupe will go to the anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines in North China. Mao Zedong specially sent them off, and said in a serious tone, "You are now heroes who are useless and cannot give full play to your abilities, but there will be a lot of work in the future." For example, it is impossible to shoot the Long March now, and in a few years you will be able to shoot.
In the midst of gunfire, danger and busyness, the field shooting has been carried out for a year, and the materials filmed are in urgent need of post-production. Therefore, Yuan Muzhi returned to Yan'an with the filmed negatives, leaving Wu Yinxian and Xu Xiaobing with a group each and going to the Pingxi Guerrilla Zone and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Jin.
The post-production process of the film is complicated, yan'an not only has no equipment and equipment, but also no electricity, what to do? In the declassified archives of the Soviet Union, Zhang Dai found a top-secret telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to Dimitrov, Zhou Enlai, and Ren Bishi, which introduced the ins and outs of the film, the identities of Yuan Muzhi and Xian Xinghai, and the importance of the film:
It was intended that the films would be sent to the United States or Hong Kong, but according to the information we have received, the films are in danger of being damaged or confiscated during the delivery to the United States and Hong Kong by the supervision and inspection of the Customs Police. After careful discussion, we decided to send these films to Moscow for development so that these complex photographs could be correctly edited into films. ...... Please resolve this issue as soon as possible, because as time drags on, the film film is in danger of being damaged. This will be the first battle film that truly reflects the heroic struggle of the Chinese, the Communists and the Eighth Route Army against the Japanese invaders. It has unusual significance for international and domestic propaganda.
On March 26, 1940, a grand welcome party was held in Yan'an to welcome Zhou Enlai, who had returned from the Soviet Union. On that day, Zhou Enlai met with Yuan Muzhi and told him that the Party Central Committee had made proper arrangements for him to go to the Soviet Union with Xian Xinghai, director of the music department of the Lu Xun Academy of Arts, to complete the film "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army." When leaving Yan'an, the organization also arranged the negatives on Zhou Enlai's car to avoid inspection by the Kuomintang and ensure absolute safety.
In Moscow, the Soviet side quickly washed out the negatives, Xian Xinghai's soundtrack was completed, and just as he was preparing to edit, a storm came unexpectedly.
On June 22, 1941, Germany launched a blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union, and the Moscow film studios retreated to the rear. Yuan Muzhi and Xian Xinghai obeyed the arrangements of the Soviet side and arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. However, just as they were wishing each other peace, a message was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day—the box containing all the negatives of "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army" was missing.
Yuan Muzhi did his best to inquire and search, but there was no clue, its call was drowned out in the roar of war, and all ideals and creations were extinguished in an instant.
What is even more deplorable is that because of the war, Yuan Muzhi was trapped in the Soviet Union for five years and three months. Xian Xinghai died of illness in the Soviet Union on October 30, 1945, at the age of 40 due to long-term fatigue and poverty.
<h3 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Doctor Bethune</h3>
Was "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army" really all scattered in distant Moscow? Wu Zhuqing smiled bitterly and said, "Not necessarily, but it is difficult to find it back." ”
In 1950, in the Sino-Soviet documentary "The Victory of the Chinese People" and "Liberated China", Chinese filmmakers accidentally saw some precious footage from "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army" and heard the familiar Xian Xinghai-style soundtrack.
In 1952, after the establishment of the Bayi Film Studio, people were sent to the Soviet Union to retrieve some fragments of "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army", which were later mostly used in documentaries such as the film "Yan'an Sanji" by the Central New Film.
In 1959, when Gao Weijin, the choreographer of the Central New Film, went to the Soviet Union to collect materials, he formally inquired about the whereabouts of the film from the Soviet side. The Soviet authorities concerned replied that during the Soviet-German war, all the negatives and materials of this film had been handed over to a comrade working in the "Third International" at that time to bring back to China. At that time, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, and it was not known whether they did not want to give, or did not bother to find it, or did not have it at all.
"Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army", the first news documentary filmed by the CCP itself, could not be presented in the form of a complete picture after all, which is the eternal regret of the film troupe and a major loss to the party.
However, there are also good fortunes in misfortune. Before leaving Yan'an, Yuan Muzhi had consulted with Wu Yinxian that the thousands of feet of film that had been filmed were shot at the risk of their lives, and the film was large and heavy, carrying these treasures to the Soviet Union, everything was unpredictable in the long journey, and if there was a mistake, it would cause irreparable losses.
After several deliberations, a part of the 16 mm negative with similar content was finally left in Yan'an for the time being. What is even more rare is that the video material about Dr. Bethune is completely preserved because it is not in the shooting outline.
This part of the film material was later processed by hand in Yan'an, accompanied by the Eastern Expedition column, carried by a small donkey, and brought to Xingshan in the northeast (present-day Hegang City, Heilongjiang) for nine months, and then taken to Beijing after the founding of New China, and is now preserved in the database of the Central New Film.
In 2013, in order to create the documentary film "Film Pioneer", Bi Qiong, the choreographer of Central New Film, spent a year repeatedly reviewing these films.
"When you walk into the database, you will be in awe." Bi Qiong told reporters that many of the materials are shots that have not yet been released, and they are so real and vivid that people have to lament the efforts and painstaking efforts of the Yan'an Film Troupe.
In the process of reviewing the film, Bi Qiong also found more than twenty "field mark board" pictures left during the shooting. These "field boards" are sometimes a piece of paper held in the hand, and sometimes even a small blackboard placed on the puppy. Due to the shortage of film at that time, these pictures often only had a few frames, but their existence is enough to explain the professionalism of the film troupe.
Bi Qiong found that unlike many main theme films, these materials focus on the most ordinary people, and the simple and unpretentious pictures are full of enthusiasm and kindness. Among the materials are the farewell party of new soldiers held in Tang County, Hebei Province; women picking up knives and guns like men; and military production in full swing. "When the film troupe recorded these scenes, they must believe that there is a force for China's victory."
In the Jin-Cha-Ji anti-Japanese base area, Nie Rongzhen, commander of the military region, focused on introducing Dr. Bethune to Wu Yinxian and specially arranged for him to live next door to Bethune. Subsequently, the film troupe followed Bethune from Jixi to Jizhong and followed the film for nearly two months.
Dr. Bethune in the picture used homemade medical equipment to examine the people, meticulously bandaged the wounds, and brought a set of practical and efficient field medical solutions to the Eighth Route Army. Wherever he went, Bethune would be enthusiastically supported by the military and civilians in the base areas.
In October 1939, the Japanese army mobilized 20,000 troops to launch a fierce winter sweep to the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region. On the 28th, just a few kilometers from the Skyscraper Battlefield, Bethune set up a field operating room in a small temple on the hillside.
The wounded carried from the front line were constantly being sent, the open space in front of the small temple was already lined with dozens of stretchers, and Dr. Bethune was busy without lifting his head. At this moment, a ray of sunlight fell on him through the clouds, and Wu Yinxian raised his camera to capture Bethune's focused expression in the gap between filming.
It was during this operation that Bethune's fingers were unfortunately infected, and a few days later he suffered another, more serious infection, just two weeks after Wu Yinxian's shooting, he died in Huangshikou Village, Tang County, Hebei Province. The "decisive moment" photographed by Wu Yinxian has not only become a precious document, but also an artistic classic.
Wu Yinxian's daughter Wu Zhuqing told reporters that no matter where he lived, his father hung the photo on the wall, and if someone else's motto is a sentence, then his father's motto is this photo.
In 1962, these materials were edited by the Central New Film into a documentary "In Memory of Bethune", and Dr. Bethune walked to the big screen with the most authentic appearance.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Nanniwan</h3>
With the end of the filming of "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army", Wu Yinxian is once again faced with a life choice, he has fulfilled his original promise, where should he go now? In the past two years, Yan'an has shown a "fascinating" charm, which deeply attracted Wu Yinxian, who asked the organization to stop the settlement fee of 120 yuan per month and instead receive 1 yuan per month.
Wu Yinxian stayed in the film troupe, but did not know that the film troupe was facing the crisis of being streamlined.
After 1941, the War of Resistance Against Japan entered its most difficult stage. Mao Zedong once described the difficulties of Yan'an in a speech: "We once got almost no clothes to wear, no oil to eat, no paper, no vegetables, soldiers without shoes and socks, and staff members not covered in winter." The Kuomintang treated us with a suspension of funds and an economic blockade in an attempt to trap us to death, and our difficulties were really great. ”
Yan'an is difficult, the film troupe is even more difficult, the film source is cut off, there is no supply at all, can only use the remaining film, carefully used. The film troupe has no film, just like the warriors can still fight without guns?
In order to overcome difficulties, Yan'an implemented the "lean army and simplified administration", and many literary and art institutions were merged or streamlined, but the seemingly useless film troupes were retained. In the heart of Xiao Xiangrong, director of the Propaganda Department of the General Political Department, the 8 members of the photography team and the 6 members of the screening team are elites who have been hard to assemble, and it is easy to disperse the gangs, but it is difficult to get together again.
In order to reduce the burden on the government, Wu Yinxian led the people of the film troupe to open up wasteland and cultivate land, and achieved grain self-sufficiency that year. They also opened photo studios, held photography exhibitions, and independently settled office expenses and living expenses.
The funds are solved, but the film troupe wants to prove the value of its existence, how can it do without works? No matter how difficult it is to make a movie, when the central government proposed to shoot Nanniwan, Wu Yinxian set his sights on the final 2,000-foot positive film.
As a professional, of course, he knows that filmmaking needs to use negative films, positive films are used for remake copies, and these positive films are expired for four or five years, the sensitivity is poor, as long as the lighting conditions are slightly worse, or moving objects, it is difficult to ensure the quality of imaging. But with these conditions, the film troupe has no choice.
In the autumn of 1942, a year after the 359th Brigade entered Nanniwan Tunken, the film crew also drove into Nanniwan. In order not to waste a single block of film, Wu Yinxian was in charge of the whole process, and finally completed the shooting with 1500 feet of positive film. Today, the audience sees the shots of digging caves, wielding the reclamation land, spinning thread and weaving fabrics, and transporting salt, which are full of vitality and unique artistic atmosphere, all because they are from the hands of the masters. "It's a pity that there is no lighting equipment, and there is no scene of hot land at night." Wu Zhuqing told his father's regrets.
Post-production in Yan'an was impossible, and this problem was encountered during the filming of "Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army". But Yuan Muzhi did not return for several years, and the film troupe dared to repeat the same mistakes.
The more difficult it is, the more it needs an example, in order to spread the deeds of Nanniwan as soon as possible, the film troupe decided to adapt to local conditions and use the most primitive soil methods to carry out post-production by hand.
The development of the film, water is not less, and need to flow water, Yan'an is a place of water shortage, there is no tap water, but heaven helps people, the station is on the yanhe river, there are still several deep wells at the foot of the mountain. The boys of the film troupe carried their backs up the mountain, got a few large tanks, and repeatedly clarified. Without lights, use natural light exposure, open a hole in the roof, observe the sunlight with the naked eye, and look for the time of exposure.
Without a movie editing machine, not even a magnifying glass, editing is not easy. Qian Xiaozhang, who cut out "Road Angel" at the age of 18, used his brain to find a mirror, reflected the daylight onto the film, and looked for the cutting point between the square inches. In the end, 1300 feet of footage was used for the 1500-foot foot shoot, and the damage rate was minimized.
On February 4, 1943, the documentary "Combining Production and Combat" (commonly known as "Nanniwan") premiered in Yan'an. The screening effect is even better than that of China's early sound films, and the picture, music and commentary complement each other, which greatly enhances the artistic appeal of the film. Many unknown audiences still think that Yan'an can produce "sound movies", and they are surprised and proud on the one hand.
Where do they know that behind the screen to play "double reed"! The phonograph and record for the soundtrack were borrowed from Mao Zedong, and the commentary was explained by the staff through a small speaker, which was explained to the audience live. With this film and a hand-cranked engine, the screening team traveled all over the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and everywhere they went, it was as lively as the New Year.
During this period, the Yan'an Film Troupe also took portraits of many CCP leaders. These photos capture the personality of the characters very accurately: the gentle and simple Zhu De, the flexible and free Zhou Enlai, the introverted and heavy-handed Dong Biwu, the broad-minded Lin Boqu... These photographs, set against the backdrop of cave dwellings in northern Shaanxi, have left an image of Yan'an for future generations.
In order to record the fiery life of Yan'an as much as possible, the film troupe, in line with the principle of "Ning Jing rather than Indiscriminate", selectively shoots some materials with great historical value. However, no matter how important the subject matter, only a limited number of shots can be shot.
In this way, they successively filmed a series of major events such as the Yan'an celebration of the victory of the Hundred Regiments and the memorial service; the Second Senate of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region; and the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Now it seems that these films have immeasurable historical value.
New China has not forgotten "Nanniwan", and the members of the Yan'an Film Troupe have not forgotten the first documentary they personally produced. Qian Xiaozhang is the editor and narrator of "Nanniwan", and has also been the director of the Central New Film Studio for a long time, under his auspices, "Nanniwan" has become a real sound film.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Film Pioneer</h3>
In August 1945, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was won. In order to open up the Northeast Liberated Area, the CPC Central Committee dispatched 100,000 cadres to the northeast. The Yan'an Film Troupe was also ordered to go to Changchun to receive the largest film shooting base in the Far East, the Japanese pseudo-Japanese "full screening".
The film troupe found a new mission in the northeast, and Yuan Muzhi, who was far away in Almaty, actually coincided with the comrades in Yan'an.
In the spring of 1946, on Fushun Street, Qian Xiaozhang, an advance member of the film troupe sent to the northeast, suddenly saw a familiar face, which was an unexpected encounter that stunned both sides. Yuan Muzhi, the person who had been painstakingly awaited by the Yan'an Film Troupe for five years, actually appeared in front of his eyes, and Qian Xiaozhang could not believe his eyes.
Yuan Muzhi also did not expect that Qian Xiaozhang would come to the northeast in the midst of the war. During the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union, he suffered hardships. It was not until the end of the war and the Beginning of the Party Central Committee that the Party Central Committee began to arrange for the return of soviet personnel one after another that he was able to depart from Almaty in Kazakhstan, through Moscow and Siberia, and return to the motherland with Li Lisan and others. This time I rushed to Fushun to report to the Propaganda Department of the Northeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
What an unusual encounter! When Shanghai fell, the two had agreed to go to Yan'an to make a documentary; when they went to Yan'an, Qian Xiaozhang had sent Yuan Muzhi off, and for seven and a half years, the heavens were separated, but they came together at this critical moment.
Yuan Muzhi's arrival made the reception work have a leader. However, as soon as the reception work began, the Kuomintang transported a large number of troops to the northeast, and a civil war broke out. As part of the strategic retreat, the Northeast Bureau decided to transport the received "full film" equipment to the rear and mobilize the staff to go with them.
Zhang Dai sighed, "The Propaganda Department of the Northeast Bureau has three and a half people, but it is necessary to persuade hundreds of people in the factory to withdraw together, and I still can't think of how they did their work, and even moved the Japanese in the factory." Leaving Changchun, not even a single screw was left for the Kuomintang. ”
After the "Manying" was moved to Xingshan City as a whole, the large troops of the Yan'an Film Troupe also came here with the Eastern Crusade Column and built the first film production base in New China, the Northeast Film Studio.
From 1947 to 1949, they set six firsts in the Chinese development of the film industry: the first puppet film "Emperor's Dream", the first scientific education film "Prevention of Plague", the first animation film "Catching Turtles in the Urn", the first short story film "Leave Him to Fight Old Jiang", the first feature film "Bridge" and the first translated film "Ordinary Soldier".
Victory in the Liberation War was in sight, and "Eastern Shadow" sent 32 photography teams to the south one after another. A camera team, a camera, a photographer, an assistant, they are not warriors, but they are always in the front. Among them, 15 groups of members of the photography team came from the Yan'an Film Troupe, and three comrades unfortunately died in the battle.
All the sacrifices and sufferings eventually condensed on film. After writing a book for the Yan'an Film Troupe, Wu Zhuqing and Zhang Dai had new expectations, saying, "Our greatest wish now is to retrieve the lost film 'Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army'. The Central New Film named the documentary commemorating the Yan'an Film Troupe "Film Pioneer" because these people created the film industry of New China with a pioneering spirit that transcended the times.
(Original title: My Movie My Troupe.)
——The pioneer of red image "Yan'an Film Troupe")
Source Beijing Daily
Reporter Sun Wenye
Process Editor Liu Weili