Author: Rao Shuguang
The film "Visitor on the Iceberg" was filmed in 1963 by Changchun Film Studio, written by Wu Baixin, directed by Zhao Xinshui, and starring Liang Yin, Ayi Xiamu and Gu Yuying. The film tells the story of a herdsman in the Salir Pass of Xinjiang in the summer of 1951 who marries a bride who pretends to be Guran Danmu and is actually a female agent. Amir and Gurandam, soldiers of the People's Liberation Army outpost, grew up with young plums, and Later Gurandam was sold to bandits. The fake Gurandam repeatedly went to the PLA outpost under the pretext of visiting Amir to spy on military intelligence. Captain Yang discovered his true identity, calculated, and swept away the spies, and Amir and Zhenguran Damm were reunited.
Poster for the movie "Visitor on the Iceberg"
Stills from the movie "Visitor on the Iceberg" (the pictures in this article are Baidu pictures)
"Why are the flowers so red?" Why is it so red? "At the foot of the Tianshan Mountains is my lovely hometown" "Over the Thousand Layers Ridge, over the Ten Thousand Dao Slopes"... These songs that have been sung to this day and are well known to everyone, "Why Are The Flowers So Red", "Remembering Comrades-in-Arms", and "Song of the Plateau", all come from the movie "Visitor on the Iceberg". The film caused a sensation as soon as it was released that year. I repeatedly watched this film after going to college in the spring of 1978, when I watched the "open-air movie" and "dam movie", and after getting the news that the film would be screened, I had to move a stool to occupy the place in advance. I vividly remember that whenever several interludes in the film, especially "Why Are The Flowers So Red", almost all the audience involuntarily hummed along, and the same frequency resonated on the screen and became one. The author was originally in the list of "five tones are not complete", before I never dared to sing loudly in public, but since I had this experience, sometimes I would run to the orchard near the school to sing "Why are the flowers so red", and slowly dared to sing in public!
Carefully create spy film milestones
After nearly 60 years, today, when the Chinese film industry continues to make brilliant achievements, watching "The Visitor on the Iceberg" again, you will still feel the high level of production of the film and the ingenious plot design, which can really be described as suspenseful and dangerous, no matter what time and from which place to start watching this movie, it will be caught at once. For the exposure of the true face of the cunning enemy, the creators took pains to fully delay the development of the plot. The fake Gurandam used the "beauty plan" to spy on the military intelligence by using the identity of Amir's former girlfriend, and the audience only felt strange from his eyes and tone, but did not identify his secret agent identity. Another agent, code-named "True God", is even more hidden and difficult to detect. Amanba, disguised as a slave, does not reveal his identity as the leader of his secret service and his vicious and brutal nature until the climax of the film. In addition to the compact plot, the film's meticulous craftsmanship of details has also become the key to the success of this film, and the repeated use of key props has become the object of continuous imitation in future spy movies. For example, when Amir and Guran Danmu parted as children, the flowers that Amir gave to Guran Danmu were cruelly trampled by the rich man, but after the two were "reunited after a long absence", when Amir saw the broken flowers and leaves touching the scene, the fake Guran Danmu was indifferent and showed "unexpected" indifference; for example, when the Yang platoon leader played the Rewap and sang the song by the scout Kara, he told him in a serious voice: "Be careful, don't pluck the strings..." So later after the fake Gurandam handed over the broken string to the Yang platoon leader, Platoon Commander Yang concluded that the scouts had been unfortunate, and Shunto found the real leader of the hidden conspiracy, Amanba.
After the release of "The Visitor on the Iceberg", one of the lines of Yang Platoon Leader in the film was "Amir, rush!" Countless viewers, especially young audiences, were enthusiastic, and movie fans followed suit, becoming a buzzword for a while. At the end of the film, amir, after experiencing the many scams set up by the fake Guran Damm, is excited in the face of the real Guran Danm, and at the same time full of doubts and vigilance, Yang Platoon Leader shouted "Amir, rush!" Shattering Amir's last psychological defenses, Amir hugged Gulandam tightly. The film's expression of emotion boldly breaks through the ideological forbidden area at that time, and lyrically lyrically that Amir, a soldier of the border guard army, is loyal to the duties of the soldiers, but also full of enthusiasm and desire for beautiful love, and the revolutionary emotions and personal emotions have been extremely tensely integrated.
Wonderful presentation of national cultural elements
In the film, the steep ice peaks, turbulent rivers and groups of Bactrian camels on the Pamir Plateau greatly satisfies the imagination of inland audiences on the frontier scenery, and also allows the audience to have a specific and clear understanding of the frontier and geography of New China, and promotes the generation and dissemination of the new Chinese screen image.
In this vast land full of colorful scenery, the unique ethnic cultural charm of ethnic minorities is vividly displayed, especially compared with the uniform uniforms of the People's Liberation Army, the herders' costumes with national characteristics are eye-catching. For example, the fake Guran Danm wears an embroidered hat at the wedding, a headscarf of several meters long, a round silver jewelry around the neck, a dress with lace, and boots, which is completely different from the simple dress of the real Guran Danmu, which leaves a deep impression on the audience. As the "cultural memory" of the nation, folk rituals embody the cultural memories of the ethnic group and are an important symbol of national identity. The folk rituals with strong regional characteristics in the film are intertwined with the tense and fierce and thrilling struggle between the enemy and ourselves. For example, in order to celebrate the wedding, Yang Platoon Commander arranged a sheep-snatching competition, and behind the cheerful and exciting music and the chase you chased after me, it was a secret contest between the enemy and us. At the Baroti Festival, a traditional Tajik festival, the reactionaries used the custom of lighting the "sky lantern" and used the lighting of the butter torch as a code for the attack, and the Yang platoon leader saw through the tricks of the reactionaries, and finally annihilated the enemy in one fell swoop and won the victory.
The film's use of ethnic music is pure and perfect, which is a classic among classics, showing the creator's high musical attainment. The composer of these songs is the famous Manchu composer Lei Zhenbang, who has created love songs for ethnic minorities such as Bai, Zhuang, Yi, Lahu, Tajik and other ethnic minorities, and created a large number of music with strong national characteristics and regional customs for ethnic minority films such as "Liu Sanjie", "Five Golden Flowers", "Lusheng Love Song", "Jingpo Girl", "Daji and Her Father". The episode "Why Are The Flowers So Red" of "Visitors on the Iceberg" is one of Lei Zhenbang's representative works. The original song was originally a dance song at a Tajik wedding, and under the adaptation of Lei Zhenbang, it became a song expressing friendship and love. The song appears 3 times in the film, and each time it appears, it is as good as it can be. The first time was when Amir attended the wedding of the fake Gurandam and the herdsman Nauruzi, saw the fake Gurandam, remembered the scene of the childhood and the Gurandam and the forced separation, the poignant singing conveyed Amir's longing for Gurandam; the second time was that The Yang platoon leader went out with Amir to herd sheep, and the Yang platoon leader deliberately arranged for Amir to sing this song, Amir's song was sad and emotional, and the fake Gurandam was unmoved, revealing the horse's feet; the third time was when Amir sang this song, True Gurandam could not help but sing with him, and at this time music replaced a thousand words, not only the identity of Zhengurandam was confirmed, but also the emotions of revolutionary romanticism were exerted to the extreme.
"Visitor on the Iceberg" is the earliest film that reflects the unity of the military and the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang against ethnic division and national division, and through the common resistance of all ethnic groups to the enemy, it presents the consciousness of the Chinese national community and is also a model of community aesthetics. At the beginning of the founding of New China, the film shaped the national image on the screen through episodic stories and nationalized customs, enhanced the national identity of the ethnic minorities in the border areas, and embodied the family of the Chinese nation. With the change of the times, the revolutionary romantic feelings and ethnic minority cultures in the film have increasingly shown the eternal charm of traveling through time, carrying the identity of people of all ethnic groups for the Chinese national community.
(The author is president of the China Film Critics Association)
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition