My favorite is still "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" (Taste of Red Classics (15))

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily

The picture from top to bottom is stills of the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", the group photo of the crew when the 1963 movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is turned off, and the Gazi, Gazi and Grandma in the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".

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Draft: Cai Huawei

Heroes from ancient times out of youth. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a group of young heroes fought side by side with their fathers. The deeds of many little heroes have been adapted into movies, songs and literary works, inspiring generations of Chinese to inherit the red gene and continue to struggle. The lively, mischievous, witty and courageous young Gazi in the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is undoubtedly a classic screen image in the hearts of generations. In this issue, we invite Jiang Pinghe, the original director of the Chinese Children's Film Studio, and Wang Yuan, a young actor of the "post-00s", to talk about their little hero Gazi.

- Editor

I grew up watching movies, and later worked in films as the director of a Chinese children's film studio. Looking back at half my life, my favorite is still a children's movie, or the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" that I watched when I was young.

When I was a child, I went into the cinema as soon as I had time, saved money for breakfast to buy tickets, and watched "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" several times hungry. In the summer, the People's Park is screened in the open air and does not change the film for 10 consecutive days. My friends and I climbed over the wall and climbed the tree, lying on the grass to watch "Little Soldier Zhang Ga". The number of times I watch it is more, and the lines can be memorized backwards like a stream. Therefore, I remembered the two directors Cui Wei and Ouyang Hongying, remembered the "Luo Jinbao" Zhang Ying in the film, "District Captain" Yu Shaokang, "Old Uncle Zhong" Zhang Ping, "Grandma Gazi" Li Jian, "Landlord Lady" Huang Suying, "Old Guitian" Ge Cunzhuang, "Pseudo Army Commander" Guan Zongxiang...

Unexpectedly, a few years later, I was transferred to the China Film Group, which was formed by the merger of Beijing Film Studio and other units, and had the honor of becoming a colleague of Ge Cunzhuang, Guan Zongxiang, Huang Suying, Li Jian and other predecessors. From their mouths, I know a lot of little-known stories when the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" was filmed.

"It looks like just a few scenes, and life is absolutely different"

In 1962, Wang Yang, director of the Beizhong Film Factory, listened to the famous director of the factory and the best actor cui wei of the first Hundred Flowers Awards, report that there was a small soldier named Xu Guangyao in Hebei who wrote a novel and compiled a film script for the story of the Little Eight Roads that he had seen and heard with his own eyes in the Jizhong Plain, and named it "Little Soldier Zhang Ga". This theme has aroused everyone's interest. At that time, the economic situation of the North Film Factory was not good, but the director of Wang Yang Still made a decision: "Tighten the belt of the pants, and also shoot a good play for the children!"

Wang Yang and Cui Wei served in the Eighth Route Army and fought against the Japanese. Director Cui said that it is not easy to elevate the characters, but to show the arduous years of resistance through a child who grows up in battle. He also said that Gazi should "Ga", not have a beautiful face, and cannot be weak and cannot help the wind.

The famous performance artist Yu Lan heard that Gazi had not found a suitable little actor, so he recommended a grassland baby to Cui Wei. This child is the same year as Gazi in the play, and his mother Wulan is Yu Lan's comrade-in-arms when he was in Yan'an. This child has no acting experience, as soon as he entered the crew, Cui Dao told him to go bare-chested and barefoot to the village to experience life, and within a few days he was tanned. Cui Wei looked at it, happy, and the role of Gazi stood up.

The first scene filmed is when the "devil" enters the village, and a group of children rush to the grandmother who was killed by the Japanese invaders and cry bitterly. But the small actor who plays "Gazi" has not been able to enter the play. Teacher Li Jian, who played the grandmother, later recalled: "At that time, I was lying on the ground and listening to everyone repeatedly tell the child this and that, but he just didn't respond. I was in a hurry, sat up and wanted to give him guidance, I got up, the child smiled instead. Photographer Nie Jing suggested that the director change the plan, not to shoot the faces of the young actors, but to shoot the panorama with the lifting lens, and only then did this important scene complete. ”

The next day, Cui Dao decided to stop filming for two days and let the children go to the old guerrillas and their compatriots who had been persecuted by the Japanese invaders to listen to the real story. When the children's eyes were red and swollen back from crying, the director knew that the arrangement worked. Listening to the compatriots complaining about the atrocities of the Japanese invaders, the young actors felt more and more deeply about the role. There was a scene of fighting with the puppet army, and the small actor who played Gazi pounced on it with hatred and bit off the actor Feng Shun, who played the puppet army.

Huang Suying, who plays the landlord's wife, is an old actor who joined the party in 1938. Years later, she is still very emotional: "It seems that just a few scenes, the next life is absolutely different!" If you don't have hatred for the enemy and love for your fellow countrymen in your heart, you can't play it well. ”

"Filming this scene is the process of asking and learning from the masses of the people."

If I say that when I was a teenager, I watched "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" because I was attracted by its legendary story, and when I became a director myself, every time I revisited "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", I would be impressed by the ideological connotation and artistic charm of the film.

Xu Guangyao, the author of "Little Soldier Zhang Ga," once said that this drama is the epitome of the bloody struggle of countless "little Gazi" in Baiyangdian, and it is also a portrayal of the flesh and blood connection between the Eighth Route Army and the people in those years. Gazi's growth from a hairy boy to a soldier of the Eighth Route Army was inseparable from the influence of Communist Party members such as Zhong Company Commander and Luo Jinbao, and the help and support of Fat Dun's father and son, Yang Daniang's family, and other villagers.

Gazi is undoubtedly one of the most vivid, distinctive and individual characters in Chinese children's films. When we see his reckless and childish behavior of hiding pistols, blocking chimneys, and biting fat mounds, we will be embarrassed by his thick, stubborn, and naughty behavior, and we will be even more impressed by this flesh-and-blood, angular character. In the film, the audience can't see the shadow of the "divine drama", can't smell the taste of "drama", the characters are grounded, and the plot has something to see.

"Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is exquisite in art and has always been respected by the film industry at home and abroad. The black and white images, bold outlining lighting, life-like shapes, extremely realistic settings, and extremely characteristic props in the film highlight the aesthetic value of Chinese children's films. In particular, the use of long shots in the film, such as the scene "On the Threshing Ground", the camera is pulled out of the face of the indomitable grandmother, and then, the big swing arm rises into a large panorama, slowly pushed into the middle scene, and then moves to chase Gazi in the crowd to find the grandmother. A shot, in one go, has a strong shock and artistic appeal. For another example, Luo Jinbao took Gazi through the houses and inns and military barracks, and the old Uncle Zhong spied from the wall and then jumped into the alley, bumped into the enemy to dodge left and right, and finally was captured, the photographer's skillful skills, let the audience immerse themselves in the scene. The use of long shots in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is one of the examples in international film teaching, and film academies in many Western countries teach this film to students as a classic.

Guan Zongxiang, an old Chinese film artist who plays the commander of the pseudo-army in the film, introduced that when filming, they brought their own covers, lived in the broken temple, and repeatedly asked for advice from local compatriots. Teacher Yuan Qili, who plays a female hygienist, once told me that their "guerrillas" were invariably driven to the countryside by the director, and they had to wear costumes in the play whether they were filming or not, and everyone had to learn to swim, row, shoot guns, and even pick lotuses and catch fish, no makeup was allowed, and every day they had to tan their skin in the sun. Director Wang Yang also said: "Filming this drama is the process of asking and learning from the masses of the people. I hope you will remember the lyrics: rely on the people, support will never be forgotten. ”

This year, the Communist Party of China ushered in its centennial anniversary, and watching the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", I was as passionate and blood-boiling as ever! This film, which praises the indomitable and great spirit of resistance of the Chinese people, interprets the profound meaning of "the people are the jiangshan, and the jiangshan is the people", which is really an unforgettable red classic work.

People's Daily (2021-04-28 20th edition)