In the early 1960s, movie watching became the most popular entertainment of the time, and many popular movies emerged.
But there is a phenomenon that has caught the attention of Premier Zhou: more than a decade after the founding of the People's Republic of China, posters of Soviet movie stars have been hung in movie theaters, so Premier Zhou proposed that his own country's movie stars should be launched.
At the suggestion of Premier Zhou, the film studios learned from the Soviet Union's "22 big stars" model, combined the influence and age of the actors, and selected the "twenty-two movie stars" from many outstanding actors, which was well received by the public.
Among the 22 major stars, Zhao Dan can be regarded as the leader among male actors.
As early as the 1930s, Zhao Dan had already starred in classic movies such as "Road Angel" and "Cross Street", and made a name for himself in the film industry.
After the founding of New China, Zhao Dan successively starred in films such as "Lin Zexu", "Nie Er", "Li Shizhen" and so on, and through these different screen images, laid his position in the film industry.
The 1965 film "Eternal Life in the Fire", starring him, is Zhao Dan's recognized acting set, and it is also the last film starring Zhao Dan.
To this day, the moving interpretation of the spirit of "Red Rock" by Xu Yunfeng and Sister Jiang in the film has long become the lingering screen memory of generations of audiences.
01. Premier Zhou personally named the film
The birth of "Eternal Life in the Fire" is inseparable from Yu Lan, who plays Sister Jiang in the film, from which he "matched".
At the end of 1961, when Yu Lan was ill and hospitalized, he saw the serial of the "Red Rock" novel in the newspaper, and Yu Lan, who was deeply moved, thought that this novel was very suitable for making a movie, so he sought out Shui Hua, the director who had previously cooperated with "Lin Jia Puzi" and "Revolutionary Family", and asked for his opinion.
After seeing it, Shui Hua also liked this story very much, and the two hit it off immediately, and decided to play the role of Jiang Jie because of Lan.
This shooting plan was also highly valued by the Ministry of Culture, and Premier Zhou personally participated in the preparation of the film, even including naming the film.
The original title of the film was called "Red Rock", and later Zhou Enlai named the film "Sister Jiang", but Yu Lan felt that this title was too prominent to the personal image of Sister Jiang.
Finally, Premier Zhou happened to see that General Ye Ting had a poem called "Eternal Life in the Fire", and felt that it was particularly suitable for the theme of the film and had more profound meaning, so the title of the film was settled, and Premier Zhou also found Guo Moruo to write the title.
We are already very familiar with this story, and the film, with Jiang Jie and Xu Yunfeng as the protagonists, tells the story of our party's final dark moment before dawn and its final struggle against the Kuomintang reactionaries.
The more than 2-hour film length is not only a thrilling contest between the enemy and us, but also a meticulous portrayal of the characters of the enemy and us through many interesting details.
For example, in the clip of Jiang Jie and Fu Zhigao's joint, Fu Zhigao, who is dressed in a suit and leather, carries a heavy luggage bag to see Sister Jiang, which makes Sister Jiang feel uneasy.
She quietly reminded Fu Zhigao: How can you do the hard work of a porter in this outfit? Too easy to be spotted by the enemy. Fu Zhigao suddenly realized.
This plot arrangement not only highlights the meticulousness of Sister Jiang as a person, but also lays the groundwork for Fu Zhigao's carelessness to be arrested.
There is also a scene in the slag cave where the little radish head releases the butterfly before dying, and the director uses a poetic lens to express his desire for freedom, which is very touching.
Especially at the end of the film, Xu Yunfeng and Jiang Jie accompanied by the exciting "Internationale" accompaniment, escorted by the enemy to the execution ground, that moment also pushed the atmosphere of the film to a climax.
02, Zhao Dan yu lan, small radish head by Fang Shu reverse string
The most impressive part of the film is undoubtedly the wonderful interpretation of zhao dan and Yu Lan for the two revolutionary heroes.
Before starring in this film, Zhao Dan had no drama to shoot for a long time for various reasons, and Shui Hua's invitation made him overjoyed and immediately agreed to take over the role.
For the role of Xu Yunfeng, Zhao Dan actually has a strong resonance: he was also persecuted in the 40s and was imprisoned for 5 years, so he has a deep understanding of the experience of this role.
With such a life experience, coupled with the fact that director Shui Hua told him not to be too emotional and must be restrained, Zhao Dan played this role very layered, getting rid of the original performance of the drama.
For Sister Jiang, played by Lan, Xia Yan put forward a suggestion: do not play the same hero, she is not only a great warrior, but also a mother, a wife, should play the flesh and blood of the role.
At Xia Yan's suggestion, Yu Lan fully presented Sister Jiang's spirit through delicate details.
When talking to Sun Mingxia, who is bedridden, her gentleness and patience are like treating her own sister, which can easily arouse empathy with the audience.
When she saw the notice that her husband had been killed, Sister Jiang's face showed shock and grief, but she did not want the comrades on the side to know, so she forced herself to endure grief and pretended to be indifferent.
Especially after the arrest, the sentence "I know the name of the superior, I know the name of the subordinate, but I must not tell the enemy", the tone is firm and sonorous, and the audience's emotions are also very passionate.
It is worth mentioning that the role of the little radish head is the popular actress Fang Shu in the 80s, when she was only 7 years old and still in kindergarten.
Because at that time, there was really no suitable boy to play, and finally the crew took a fancy to Fang Shu's big eyes that were very dramatic, so they shaved her head and took a photo to show Shui Hua, and Shui Hua immediately decided to play The lower Shu.
By the 1980s, Fang Shu starred in many classic film works, among which he won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress for "Sunrise", becoming one of the stars with liu Xiaoqing and Ju Xue.
03, the road to production is bumpy, Wang Xingang was forced to become a supporting role
From production to release, "Eternal Life in Flames" took 4 years to declare its completion, and it also experienced many ups and downs.
At the beginning, in order to adapt the original novel into a movie script, Shui Hua, Yu Lan and another director, Ouyang Hongying, traveled to Guizhou, Chongqing, Beidaihe and other places, spending a year before and after writing three drafts, but they were not very satisfied.
In the end, Shui Hua they found an experienced old screenwriter Xia Yan, and Xia Yan finally selected Jiang Jie, who originally had only two scenes, as the main character, and "revived" the original chaotic story.
Due to the constraints of the environment at that time, the film also encountered many obstacles in the production process.
For example, screenwriter Xia Yan, because he was criticized at that time, finally hid his real name and pseudonym "Zhou Hao" in the staff table of the film.
There is also Wang Xingang, one of the 22 major stars, and Liu Siyang, who plays him, is also a more important role in the scene.
However, at that time, some people suggested that Liu Siyang's brother was a senior Kuomintang official, and felt that it was not suitable to show too much as a positive character, which eventually led to Wang Xingang's role being greatly deleted, and finally less than 2 minutes of footage were left in the film.
Despite experiencing many difficulties, the film has been well received by the majority of audiences after its release, setting off a wave of movie watching throughout the country, and the "Red Rock Spirit" has since penetrated into the hearts of the public.
Today, many main creators, including the director and the two male and female protagonists, have passed away, especially the news of the death of Yu Lan, who was 99 years old last year, is even more emotional.
As these outstanding artists of the older generation leave us, we can only remember through movies, thank them for the classic films they have created, and the golden age of Chinese films that they have created. (Author: Pippi Shrimp)