In the empty grasslands of Inner Mongolia, a train roared past, and inside the carriage was a family search group returning to Shanghai. Then, the camera switches back to decades ago, also in the vast grassland, a northbound train is sending a group of Shanghai orphans to Inner Mongolia, they are the "children of the country". In the 1960s, "three thousand orphans entered Inner Mongolia", between Han orphans and Mongolian mothers, a legend of a nation that transcended regional blood.
This is also the beginning of the Shanghai-produced TV series "National Child". A few years ago, Liu Xiaofeng, a national first-class actor of the Shanghai Film Actors Troupe, bought the script rights and served as a producer; more than 300 people in the Inner Mongolian steppe braved the wind and snow to shoot, and put the story of 3,000 orphans being cared for and raised by the party on the screen. In 2019, "National Child" premiered on CCTV, unveiling this dusty history to the world.
On March 5, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, when attending the deliberations of the Inner Mongolia delegation to the Fourth Session of the 13th National People's Congress, mentioned historical stories such as "working together to build Baotou Steel" and "three thousand orphans entering Inner Mongolia". When the news reached Shanghai, Oriental Satellite TV took the lead in rebroadcasting the TV series "National Child", which was broadcast at 12:30 noon every day from March 11.
Half a century ago, three thousand orphans entered Inner Mongolia
Few people know that before Liu Xiaofeng bought the copyright, the script of "National Child" was backlogged by a listed company for six years, and the name of the script was still called "Under the Sky". Many investors are not optimistic about this subject, believing that it is an impossible book to make money. But Liu Xiaofeng has no remorse, the story is good and touching, which is his original intention to prepare for this drama. "I often feel that literary and art workers must also be lovers of the party and the country, so that they can make good pictures of party history, can they create characters and images with soul and faith, and can they clearly express the humanistic details of the party Central Committee's concern for the people."
The story of "National Child" began in Shanghai, the script was incubated in Shanghai, the TV series was produced by Shanghai, and it was also supported by the Shanghai Film Group during the shooting. The production team of this drama has a strong lineup, with Battle as the general director, Liu Hua, who won the "Magnolia" most popular media attention award, as the screenwriter, the composer Zhang Hongguang, who created well-known works such as "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven" and the lyricist Fan Xiaobin, participated in the creation of the theme song. The play revolves around the fates of the four protagonists, Lu Xiaozhong (Chaolu), Lu Xiaoyu (Tongaraga), Bi Ruoshui (Xie Ruoshui) and Huang Xiaoxian (Atenhua). It was the northbound train of the 1960s that tied the fates of the four men together. Behind it is a real past of "three thousand orphans entering Inner Mongolia".
Disasters, famines, diseases... In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a large number of abandoned babies in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and other places were sent to nursing homes in Shanghai, and the rice grain was about to bottom out, and thousands of children adopted by the government faced death threats. The Party Central Committee attaches great importance to this, and after consultation between Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Ulanfu of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Comrade Xi Zhongxun, vice premier and secretary general of the State Council, has sent some orphans in Jiangnan to Inner Mongolia to be raised by herders. Ulanf said: "Send children to the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, give them to herders, herders like children, no matter whose children like." ”
The news spread like the wind across the prairie. Elderly Eji, middle-aged women, newlyweds, some on horses, some in Lele cars, some on foot for hundreds of miles, scrambled to adopt these orphans. Some couples did not adopt children and were so aggrieved that they shed tears. According to statistics, from 1960 to 1963, more than 3,000 orphans in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui were accepted throughout Inner Mongolia.
These children who came to Inner Mongolia were called "children of the country." Since then, the orphans have had a home, a new mother and a Mongolian name. "Take one, live one; live one, strong one." This is Prairie Mother's commitment to the "national child.".
Grassland shooting, the biggest difficulty is the climate
Screenwriter Liu Hua still remembers the shock of the first time she went to the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to interview the children of the country. When he came out of the yurt, it was late at night, and the grassland was full of stars and at his fingertips. "It was shocking, and the story I just heard was even more shocking. I was immersed in the fate of their half a life, so I blurted it out and called it "Under the Sky". "Later, the script reached the hands of producer Liu Xiaofeng and director Battle, who persuaded him to change the script to 'National Child', because behind these four words, the meaning is profound." Writing a script is a stupid effort by smart people. There are no shortcuts to creating such a realistic theme. I honestly read the materials, took notes, and read about sixty or seventy books related to Inner Mongolia and that era. ”
In more than two years, Liu Hua went to Inner Mongolia five times to collect wind, drove more than 3,000 kilometers, interviewed nearly 100 famous and surnamed national children, and lived among them for a long time, following them down to the pastoral area. "From the folk customs and living habits of Inner Mongolia to their wonderful stories, no matter how big or small, they are collected and form the current story bit by bit."
Director Battle explained that the reason for the name "National Children" is because these children are no longer orphans and abandoned babies from the moment they embark on the train from Shanghai to Inner Mongolia. "They are the children of the nation, and they will welcome their own adoptive fathers and adoptive mothers on the steppes. This incident fully embodies the feelings and great love of the grassland people who have the courage to take responsibility for the country. ”
"National Child" was filmed in the City of Ulanqab, the hometown of the old man Du Guima, the prototype of the character Ulanqiqige. In the play, Wulanqige was trained to become the first batch of people to pick up the "children of the country" in Shanghai, and was a key figure in changing the fate of orphans. In reality, Duguima, a Mongolian girl who was only 19 years old at the time, was assigned to take care of the 28 "national children" who had just been received in the flag, and in the years when there was a lack of medical treatment and medicine, and often starvation, none of the orphans in this group were disabled by illness, let alone died prematurely, which was a miracle. In 2019, Du guima was awarded the national honorary title of "People's Model".
Steppe Eji UlanQige is played by actor Xiong Ruiling. Although she is not a Mongolian actress, she has 13 years of life experience in Xinjiang and has a bone familiarity with the blue sky, white clouds, grasslands and herders. After joining the group, she often got together with Mongolian actors, learning languages, learning to sing, and learning the normal life of Mongolian women. This is the prairie Eji recognized by everyone on the screen. "Wearing a Mongolian robe, a red face, and if the lines are not pronounced in Mongolian, there will be some sense of discord." She also remembers that during the 3-month shooting period, every day was with the sunrise, and when she came back, the grassland was already silent. She is still grateful to have the opportunity to portray the role of "UlanQige", "'Ulanqige' is just a microcosm of thousands of grassland eji. If the adoption of an orphan is the kindness of a mother; then a nation that adopts three thousand orphans is the sentiment of this nation. ”
Battle recalls that the biggest difficulty in shooting in the prairie was the climate. In a year, the green grassland lasts only about one and a half months, and it is impossible to express the spring, summer, autumn and winter of decades without the green grassland. "When we started the phone, we only had half a month of green time, day and night." When the wind blows, people are blown away. "The cold makes it impossible for actors to speak, and some lines can only be matched and supplemented in the later stage." But none of these difficulties has hindered everyone's steps in telling this Chinese story well. ”
"National Kids 2" is actively being filmed
In the play, the story of the "national child" begins with the beautiful grassland, the kind adoptive parents and four orphans who came to the grassland by train from Shanghai. The age range of the characters is very large, from childhood to more than half a hundred years old, and the fate of orphans is closely linked to the changes of the times. It is not difficult to find that the protagonists of Chaolu, Tongaraga, Xie Ruoshui, and Atenghua are not perfect characters, they have their own shortcomings, and they are gradually growing up under the tolerance of the grassland. The friendship between the grassland and the "children of the country" is hidden in many details. For example, Inner Mongolians eat noodles, but these southern children who eat rice are not used to it, so they specially distribute rice and candy. At that time, there was also a rule that rice and sugar for national children could not be moved.
"The time span of the whole play is more than 50 years, and in the process of creation, there is indeed a lot of difficulty." Fu Chengpeng, who plays Chaolu, said that the crew has made sufficient efforts to truly restore history. "Whether it's the actor's styling, costumes, or props, they all strive to be realistic. The crew also set up some scenes in Inner Mongolia to create the feeling of that era for the actors. As an actor, he was deeply touched by this historical event, "The herders in Inner Mongolia have brought up their children one by one, grown up and become talents. Mothers of the motherland do whatever they can, because they are all children of the country. ”
The theme song of "National Child", "Never Forget", won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Music (Original Theme Song), and there is also a multi-ethnic cooperation behind the creation of the song. The composer Zhang Hongguang is Korean, the singer Danzin Nyima is Tibetan, and the lyricist Fan Xiaobin is Han Chinese. Liu Xiaofeng recalled that after the film was completed, the original composition could not participate, and coincidentally, he met Zhang Hongguang the next day. "At that time, the crew budget was almost exhausted, I understood his creative value, we couldn't give it, and we didn't dare to talk to him." That day, Liu Xiaofeng added Zhang Hongguang's WeChat and invited him to see this just finished play, so he "tricked" Zhang Hongguang into the post-production computer room.
When watching the film, Liu Xiaofeng Yuguang saw Zhang Hongguang wiping his tears three times, and his heart was suddenly a little emboldened, thinking about how to open this mouth, Zhang Hongguang took the initiative to ask, "Who is this play looking for?" "I haven't thought about it yet." "Don't look for someone else, I'll do it." After listening to this sentence, Liu Xiaofeng was stunned for two or three seconds, he explained that the crew did not have much money, but Zhang Hongguang said not to negotiate the price, only asked him if he agreed. Within a few days, he sent a musical sample, which amazed several creators. Looking back on this creative experience, although full of twists and turns, the sentiment of loving the party and the country and the pursuit of jointly creating fine works have brought these literary and art workers together.
Battle said that the story of "The National Child" is not just "reminiscent of bitterness", but more of "thinking sweet". "It not only shows the love of grassland parents for their children, but also expresses the dedication of children to the grassland after growing up."
Just as "National Child" was being replayed, new news came. Shanghai Film Group revealed that the TV series "National Child 2" is actively in preparation, and Shanghai Film is also striving to put this story on the big screen as soon as possible. Wang Jian'er, secretary of the party committee and chairman of The Board of Directors of Shangying Group, said: "This theme reflects the great love of the country and the unity of the nation, and also expresses that the city of Shanghai is a city that knows how to be grateful. We want to remember this history. ”
Source: Shangguan News