Stills from the documentary "Shen Congwen and Xiangxi".
Yu Sanding
Watching the 4-episode documentary "Shen Congwen and Xiangxi" broadcast by Hunan Satellite TV, I was deeply fascinated, deeply affected and deeply educated. I think that this carefully created documentary has achieved a good organic combination of history (information), ideology and artistry, and the following points are particularly worthy of our attention and consideration.
Touch the real and palpable Xiangxi
First of all, the documentary uses television art to truly and concretely record the life of the famous writer, famous scholar and cultural master Shen Congwen, and at the same time intuitively and vividly expresses the unique natural environment, historical traditions, folk customs, and residents' character of Xiangxi.
From the documentary, we can see that Shen Congwen was ignorant when he was a teenager, and he didn't even want to study well in school, and he didn't want to go to school after graduating from primary school, and he gradually grew up in the war; At the age of 16, he left his hometown to go out and wander, became a soldier twice, and suffered the twists and turns of life; Later, he went to Beijing, Shanghai and other places to engage in literary creation, served as the editor of a newspaper supplement, and created particularly influential literary works such as "Border City", becoming a famous writer; Later, he served as an associate professor and professor at Peking University and Southwest United University, and became a famous scholar. After 1949, he specialized in historical research, and made outstanding achievements in the research of Chinese clothing and other fields, becoming a generation of cultural masters.
The documentary also makes a true record of Shen Congwen's sincere love and happy marriage, Shen Congwen's warm welcome to the birth of New China in 1949 (persuading Huang Yongyu to go north from Hong Kong to Beijing), etc., providing us with a comprehensive, three-dimensional, vivid image of Shen Congwen.
At the same time, we observed, watched and learned about Xiangxi up close from the documentary. Xiangxi has a peculiar natural appearance, with many strange peaks and rocks, clear streams and rivers, and the traffic was extremely closed at that time; Xiangxi has a long history, profound cultural accumulation, unique residential architecture, and unique legends and songs; Xiangxi has unique folk customs, living habits, folk taboos and characteristic languages. In short, the documentary shows us the real and touchable Xiangxi in an all-round, original and vivid way, allowing us to touch Xiangxi up close.
Interpreting Shen Congwen" and "Xiangxi"
Secondly, as its title suggests, the documentary vividly and deeply reveals Shen Congwen's close relationship and close connection with Xiangxi. This close relationship and close ties are mainly manifested in two aspects.
On the one hand, it is Xiangxi and Xiangxi culture that nourishes, cultivates, influences and shapes Shen Congwen, and Xiangxi and Xiangxi culture have been immersed and penetrated into Shen Congwen's bloodline, thoughts and emotions. The documentary quotes an impression that American scholar Jin Jiefu talked about in an article many years later, he wondered that Shen Congwen, a rural man who went from Xiangxi to Beijing and Shanghai in the 20s of the 20th century, looked even more romantic when he was in the crowd of Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo who had studied abroad and experienced the baptism of romanticism. Why is that? The documentary clearly answered: "In fact, Xiangxi, where Shen Congwen grew up, was originally a land nourished by the romantic ancient Chu culture, coupled with the influence of Miao culture and Tujia culture, which created a free and free side of Shen Congwen's character." Such an answer is an essential and fundamental answer, so it is very deep and convincing.
From the documentary, we can see that just after New Year's Day in 1934, Shen Congwen returned to his hometown in Xiangxi to mourn his mother, and the last trip was by boat (at this time Shen Congwen had left his hometown for 10 years), Shen Congwen described this itinerary in "Essays on Xiangxing": "There are voices everywhere on the boat, the noise of children, the sound of stir-frying vegetables falling into pots, and the sound of the owner questioning. "I'm so touched that if we want to read poetry, there's no better place to do it than to come here." It's all poetry. It can be seen that in Shen Congwen's view, how beautiful, how romantic, how poetic his hometown is, the fireworks of his hometown is poetic and poetic, and Shen Congwen grew up in this poetic and poetic immersion.
On the other hand, it was Shen Congwen who promoted Xiangxi to be known by the outside world, so he gradually went outside and even to the world. From the documentary, we can see that after the publication of Shen Congwen's novel "Border City", the outside world saw and appreciated the nature and humanities of Xiangxi for the first time. Shen Congwen wrote in "Border City": "From Sichuan to Hunan, there is an official road to the east. When this official road approached the border of western Xiangxi to a small mountain town called 'Chaxi', there was a small stream, and there was a small white tower by the stream, and a single family lived under the tower. There was only an old man, a girl, and a yellow dog. "The story and characters of "Border City" are full of charm, and the place where the story of "Border City" takes place and the place where the characters live are also full of charm.
Shen Congwen believes that it is necessary to let the outside world no longer misunderstand Xiangxi. He wrote in "Xiangxi": "The Xiangxi people are called Miao barbarian bandits, which is a shame for all the Xiangxi people. Everyone has the obligation to cleanse away this humiliation. The sun and the moon change, and history arises from it. The rise and fall of a nation is man-made. Many of Shen Congwen's writings are consciously undertaking "the obligation to cleanse this humiliation." In 1982, Shen Congwen proposed the establishment of the Miao Museum, and in 2002, the Miao Museum that Shen Congwen had been looking forward to was officially opened. Located in Shanjiang Town, Fenghuang County, the Miao Museum not only preserves a large number of Miao historical relics, but also displays the vivid songs, dances and handicrafts of Miao life all year round. It can be seen from the above that Shen Congwen's cultivation and growth, the formation of his personality and life realm, and his great achievements are inseparable from Xiangxi; Now Xiangxi is also inseparable from Shen Congwen's description and publicity of her, and Shen Congwen's color and brilliance to her.
Weave poetry and romance
From the perspective of documentary production, the choreographers and directors of "Shen Congwen and Xiangxi" have many unique and ingenious points that are commendable. There are many wonderful things about the reproduction of the situation.
The first episode begins with the following voiceover narration: "At the turn of spring and summer 1923, the summer fever had just begun. Private Shen Congwen told the commander of his unit that he was going to Beijing to break into the world. Chen Quzhen, commander of the First Army of the Xiangxi Protector Alliance Army and commander of the Xiangxi Patrol Army, was not surprised. At the same time, the scene that appeared on the screen was: young man Shen Congwen packed up the 3-month military salary (27 yuan) that Chen Quzhen gave him in advance, picked up the baggage, and slowly walked out of the room... This is a meticulous documentary; When the young man Shen Congwen walked out of the room and got on the boat and ran into the distance, the boat walked in the picturesque river, accompanied by the rough sound of mountain songs, and the characters were only hazy silhouettes, which was a poetic fiction. This kind of performance of the combination of the virtual and the real makes us feel both real and real, but also poetic and romantic.
In addition, the many interviews with people in the documentary greatly increase the authenticity and reality of the documentary, and the appropriate and concise discussion enhances the ideological depth and philosophical rationality of the documentary, which is worthy of our full recognition.