Ling Zifeng and "Camel Shoko"

#Warm Moments in Light and Shadow#Ling Zifeng and "Camel Shoko"

Zhang Shuping

In August 1981, I was then appointed as an officer of the Cultural Bureau of Zhangbei County, Hebei Province. One day, Director Dong Xian called me to his office and assigned me a task. The film crew of "Camel Xiangzi" wanted to come to Zhangbei to shoot a movie, and let me assist the film crew as a liaison in the county. At that time, the film was not yet fully marketized, and the film crew of "Camel Xiangzi" went to Zhangbei County to make a movie was also a political task in the county, and the county government handed over this work to the Cultural Affairs Bureau, and the director handed over this work to me, which was also a trust in me.

There were about 30 people in the film crew, and I arranged for them to stay in the Zhangbei Guest House, which at that time had only two or three larger guest houses in Zhangbei County, and one was the best condition. When arranging accommodation, the comrade in charge of logistics of the film crew specially instructed me to arrange two single rooms for director Ling Zifeng and the famous performance artist Zhao Ziyue and his wife.

Director Ling Zifeng I didn't know too well at the time, but Zhao Ziyue I was familiar with, because I watched many of his films, such as "Lin Family Shop", "Song of Youth", "Red Flag Spectrum", "Storm", "After the Armistice", "Little Erhei Marriage", "Wealth and Wealth" and so on. Although Zhao Ziyue is mostly a supporting role in these films, his performance is serious, his performance is simple and natural, vivid and realistic, and his artistic image has left a deep impression on me. In the film "Camel Xiangzi", Zhao Ziyue and his wife played a rich couple in a small village, listening to the comrades of the crew, Zhao Ziyue's wife had never acted in a movie, in "Camel Xiangzi", it was the first time to make a cameo as the rich man's wife, and the performance was very natural, Ling Zifeng director a strong praise: the old sister-in-law played well.

After arranging the accommodation, the production director took me to the room of director Ling Zifeng and introduced me to Ling Dao, who shook hands with me very warmly. Director Ling Zifeng was tall, personable, with silver and white hair, a neatly combed beard, and black-rimmed glasses, and gave me the impression of a kind university scholar.

Ling Zifeng, a famous Chinese director with his ancestral home in Beijing, was born in March 1916. From 1934 to 1937, he studied in the Sculpture Department of the Peking Academy of Fine Arts and the Stage Art Department of Nanjing Drama College, and Ling Zifeng had a strong interest in drama, and participated in many drama performances during his school studies. He has been invited to play roles in the films "Defend Our Land", "Bloody Souls", "Eight Hundred Heroes" and other films. In November 1938, Ling Zifeng went to Yan'an, joined the Northwest Field Service Regiment, and wrote and directed many plays in the troupe, and his one-act drama "Hanakou" won the Lu Xun Literature Award in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region. In 1943, he taught in the Drama Department of Lu Xun Art College, and in 1945 he became a teacher in the Drama Department of the Art College of North China Union University. In 1948, he became a director at the Northeast Film Studio. The first film, Daughter of China, won the Struggle for Peace and Freedom Award at the 5th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1950. After that, he directed "Red Flag Spectrum", "Border City", "Spring Peach" and other excellent films in New China. In his later years, he directed "Shoko the Camel", which is his masterpiece.

Director Ling Zifeng warmly greeted me to sit down, asked me some basic information about Zhangbei County, and I introduced the details of what I knew. He also told me about the scenes that the "Camel Xiangzi" crew needed to shoot in Zhang Bei. Let me choose the right scene according to the plot. The first set of shots is: Shoko was taken captive by several pawns when pulling a tricycle, and in a battle, the troops collapsed and threw down a few camels, and Shoko took the opportunity to pull up a few camels and escaped. After a night of escape, Xiangzi was hungry and cold, came to a village, next to a well at the mouth of the village, Xiangzi used a reel to fetch water to drink camels, and then entered the village, met an old man in the appearance of a rich man, this old man was played by the famous performance artist Zhao Ziyue, after bargaining, the rich man bought a triangular camel for 35 yuan.

"Camel Xiangzi" was created by Lao She in 1936. The story takes place in the early 1920s, when the countryside on the outskirts of Beijing was still backward. So the director asked me to find a village with dilapidated houses and asked for a well with a reel at the entrance of the village. In the early 1980s, the rural areas of Zhangbei County were still relatively poor, and most of the villages were earthen houses and the houses were relatively dilapidated, so it was not difficult to find such villages. But looking for a village with a reel well, really made me difficult, I ran with the director to run a few villages, Ling Director is not very satisfied, the accompanying assistant director advised Ling Director, the work of finding the scene will be handed over to them, but Ling Director insisted on refusing, had to look for it personally, and finally found an old well with a reel in Shuerwan Village, Zhangbei Town, and Director Ling Zifeng was satisfied.

On the day of the shooting, everyone got up when it was still dark, and when they arrived at Shu'erwan Village, the dawn of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon. After some methodical and intense preparation, the shooting began.

The main character in "Camel Xiangzi" is played by Sichenkova, who played an actress in the movie "Returning to the Heart Like an Arrow" in 1979, and won the Chinese Ministry of Culture Excellent Film Award and the Shanghai Top Ten Film Award, and personally won the Chinese Ministry of Culture Outstanding Youth Creation Award. From 1980 to 1981, he participated in the filming of "Residual Snow" in Changchun Film Studio as the heroine, and won the Outstanding Film Award of the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Shooting in Zhangbei because there was no scene of her, Sichenkova did not go to Zhangbei. At that time, we fans had some regrets. Another main character is Xiangzi, played by young actor Zhang Fengyi, who was a junior in the acting department of the Beijing Film Academy at the time, and when he was a sophomore in 1980, Zhang Fengyi was selected by the director of Hong Kong Phoenix Pictures to play the male protagonist Jing Dalei in "Treasure From Outside the Cyprus" and began to create his first film.

At that time, I was watching the film for the first time, everything felt fresh, and the scene filmed that day was remembered was: Xiangzi pulled the triangular camel to the well, tied the camel, used the reel to draw water to drink the camel, after drinking, Xiangzi held the water in both hands, took a big gulp, suddenly, Ling Zifeng director "stopped", Zhang Fengyi was overwhelmed, standing there in a daze, only to see Director Ling Zifeng walk quickly to Xiangzi's side, bending down to grab a handful of mud on Zhang Fengyi's hand, Ling Dao said while wiping, you are so clean hands, It was like a man who hadn't washed his hands and pulled a camel in days. After wiping it, he rubbed his hands together, took out a handkerchief and wiped it, and continued to shoot.

People who have lived in the countryside on the dam know that the rural well is not only the place where the villagers carry water, but also the place where the villagers drink livestock, the sludge next to the well is a mixture of excrement and mud pulled by the livestock, it was the middle of summer, the sludge emitted a foul smell, and the director of Ling Zifeng grabbed the sludge by hand and personally wiped the actor, which can be completely allowed to do it himself, or other people to help, but director Ling Zifeng personally did it, and when he did it, he did it without hesitation, and at that time there was a strong shock in my soul. This is the true interpretation of art by a famous artist in the Field of Chinese Film and Drama.

Although 27 years have passed since the film "Camel Xiangzi" filmed by director Ling Zifeng, I have forgotten many other plots in the shooting, but the scene of director Ling Zifeng grasping the sludge in his hand is still vividly remembered and comes to my mind from time to time. My heart shook me a lot, and the spirit of the older generation of artists who strive for excellence in art is always inspiring me.

During the filming, I remember a scene in which Shoko was abducted by the army, and the team marched to a mountain pass outside, where a group of soldiers lit a bonfire and several soldiers dozed off with spears. This location was selected at a mountain bend at the mouth of the Wolf's Den Ditch in Zhangbei County, during the shooting, there were more vehicles, and I was helping the crew maintain order, when I suddenly heard a shout from director Ling Zifeng: "Xiao Zhang, you come and play a soldier." "To play a role in the movie, at that time, for the young me, it was indeed a thing that I could not ask for, I rushed over, and Director Ling asked the crew to find me a set of military uniforms, a long gun, and personally told me the play." Although this shot is a flash in the film, it is also my only "electric shock". I often think that I am only a temporary guide, and ling Zifeng, a famous director, is still worried about arranging a mass role for me to meet the curious wishes of a young man, and I am very touched. This reflects Ling Zi's good character of being approachable and kind to others from one side.

That year, I worked with the film crew of "Camel Xiangzi" for nearly half a month, the scenes required for the plot needed my help to find, and also responsible for the coordination of all the work and life of the film crew in Zhangbei County, because of the needs of the plot, the film crew often came out early and returned late, in order to facilitate work, Ling Director also let me live in the guest house.

On September 3, 1981, the filming of the film entered a critical period in Zhangbei, and I went to the location with the film crew early that morning. When my lover was in labor, I didn't accompany her when my lover gave birth at the county hospital. My lover is a reasonable wife and mother who is very supportive of my work and does not blame me.

After several sets of shots in Zhangbei County were filmed, the film crew was about to return to Beijing, the county leaders and the film crew had a discussion, director Ling Zifeng introduced the shooting of "Camel Xiangzi" in Zhangbei county to Cao Enpu, who was then the county magistrate of Zhangbei County, and especially praised me, Ling Dao told the county magistrate that I loved to have children, I was not around to take care of it, Cao Enpu County Governor affirmed my work, and congratulated me on my joy, suggested that Ling Guide give the child a name, Ling Dao thought about writing my son's name on a piece of paper.

Ling Zifeng adapted and directed Lao She's famous book "Camel Xiangzi", which was completed in 1982 and released nationwide that year. With his unique artistic technique, Ling Dao showed the style and atmosphere of the times in old China, and deliberately portrayed the images of Xiangzi and Hu Niu, two low-level figures living in Beijing society. The film cuts a novel concisely and intensively, so that the film not only has national and local characteristics in content, but also achieves a fascinating and easy-to-understand effect in form, and the film won the Best Director Award at the Third China Film Festival in 1983 and the Best Feature Film Award at the Sixth Hundred Flowers Award Festival.

The famous director Ling Zifeng died on January 22, 1999, at the age of 82. Let us always remember this great People's Artist.

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Author: Zhang Shuping, retired former civil servant