In June 1961, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Culture of the State Council simultaneously held the "National Forum on Literary and Art Work" and the "National Conference on The Creation of Film Feature Films" at the Xinqiao Hotel in Beijing, with the aim of implementing the eight-character policy of adjustment, consolidation, enrichment, and improvement put forward by the Central Committee, summing up the experience since the Great Leap Forward, improving the leadership methods for literary and artistic work, and discussing the relevant regulations on literary and artistic work and film creation. This is the famous "New Overseas Chinese Conference" in the literary and art circles.
On the night of June 16, Zhou Enlai came to the Xinqiao Hotel without any notice, walked to the stairs, and happened to meet Zhao Dan. When I asked, I learned that all the delegates watched two films that night, and Zhao Dan remembered his wife Huang Zongying, who was sick in the room, and returned after watching a film.
Zhou Enlai and Zhao Dan were already old friends, so they asked, "Who are you?" Zhao Dan named several people.
When Zhou Enlai heard that Huang Zongying was ill, he cordially said to Zhao Dan, "Let's go, let's go and have a look."
Zhao Dan was also not polite, shouting all the way to take Zhou Enlai to Huang Zongying's room: "Zongying, quick, fast!" The Prime Minister is here! The Prime Minister is coming to see you, look at everyone!"
Zhou Enlai entered the house with a loud laugh, and looked at Huang Zongying's dress and felt strange: plain cloth shirts and pants, homemade cloth shoes, a bit of a country woman's taste.
He smiled and asked, "What?" Don't even dare to wear flower clothes?" Huang Zongying hurriedly explained: "Often go to the countryside..."
Zhou Enlai said approvingly, "Good."
Then he said, "Transformation is not in appearance."
During the conversation, Zhao Dan had already summoned several other representatives who had not gone to see the film, including Chen Huangmei, vice minister of culture and director of the Film Bureau, Ding Yi, secretary of the party committee of Shanghai Tianma Film Studio, Chen Liting, director and director of the shanghai Tianma Film Studio, and Shen Fu. There were many people coming, the room was small, and after Zhao Dan ran forward, he was already out of breath.
Zhou Enlai beckoned Zhao Dan to sit across from him and handed him the orange water sent by the waiter. Zhao Dan usually does not trim the edges, and he has no scruples in front of the prime minister, he wipes his sweat and laughs. Even the waiters at the Xinqiao Hotel felt fresh: how the prime minister got to know the artists so well, like old friends!
Zhou Enlai shook his head at Huang Zongying and said, "Thinner!" What disease? Ask your doctor to look it up. Huang Zongying quickly explained: "Premier, I am not seriously ill, more than half of them are in a hurry." We will not be able to complete our tasks and eat the people's food in vain.
Huang Zongying's words are instructive. She was an actress for a long time in 1959 and was appointed full-time screenwriter at the Shanghai Film Studio. Screenwriter and actor are two professions, for Huang Zongying, such a change of career, came too suddenly, in her words, "I have a big brain."
In addition, the political requirements of literary and artistic creation at that time were too strong, the tasks were too tightly pressed, and the leaders at all levels had too many thresholds for reviewing the script. Therefore, Huang Zongying was a screenwriter for a year, and the script rarely survived, and he fell ill in a hurry. She also took sick leave before this meeting, but in order not to lose this excellent learning opportunity, she brought illness to Beijing to attend the meeting.
When everyone saw Premier Zhou Enlai coming, it was as if they had seen their relatives, and they were full of stomachs and wanted to talk, and they talked about the situation discussed at the meeting in three words and two words. Zhou Enlai lifted his head slightly and leaned back on the sofa. This action is familiar to everyone, indicating that the prime minister is willing to listen more and even hopes that people will argue in front of him.
Huang Zongying plucked up enough courage to ask: "Premier, the discussions in the various groups at the meeting all involved the issue of art laws. I have an opinion, I don't know whether to say it or not. Zhou Enlai replied without hesitation: "If you want to say it, just say it." Huang Zongying then said: "Premier, if scientists engage in missiles and rockets, laymen (leaders or interlaced) have no say in his profession."
However, in our film industry, everyone has a say and the artist himself has the right to speak... It's hard to say. We are not afraid of literary responsibility and self-responsibility, drama responsibility, to be honest, no one in the past movements has borne for us. But when we work, the person in charge... It seems that there are too many, and everyone calls this phenomenon "Our party, the party committees at all levels, in what way and how to lead the creation of plays and lead the production of art, we think we should study and discuss. ”
In order to put it bluntly, she told the example of "five secretaries as commanders": Not long ago, in order to create a glorious image of the secretaries of grass-roots party organizations, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee gave the Shanghai Film Bureau a major theme and created a film script "Good Master". This task fell to Huang Zongying and others, but she did not know several secretaries in her life, let alone the opportunity to become a secretary. Their superiors asked them to spend two weeks experiencing life, one week handing over the outline of their creations, and the other week handing over the first draft of the script.
For the sake of insurance, the first secretary of the municipal party committee personally cared for and asked questions, the first secretary of the Shanghai Film Bureau, the first secretary of the film factory, the first secretary of the commune (plus the person in charge of the county party committee) took command at every level, and the deputy secretary of the film factory personally sat in charge.
Zhao Dan and Huang Zongying
Such a lineup crushed the creative team's personnel to the brain, and there was no inspiration. One night, taking advantage of the opportunity to sit in the deputy secretary of the film factory of the creation group and sleep ill, Huang Zongying and others worked all night in one breath, and it was difficult to smooth the outline. Everyone said privately: The five secretaries are in charge, and they can't raise "fat dolls". The reason is that art has its own laws.
Huang Zongying expressed his thoughts in front of the premier, and Zhou Enlai fell into contemplation. Before he came, he had long heard that artists had some complaints about the party's leadership methods for literary and artistic work over the past few years, and that the phenomenon of "one-word halls" in literary and artistic work was quite serious, and there were even cases of often setting frames, grasping braids, digging roots, wearing hats, and beating sticks.
Many artists are bound in their thinking, and they dare not think, say, or do. Zhou Enlai came this time in order to listen to the opinions of literary and art workers and talk to everyone as a friend.
After Huang Zongying finished speaking, everyone reflected to Zhou Enlai the situation at the meeting and the voices of the artists, and discussed with laughter how the party should lead the literary and artistic work, how to respect the laws of art, and how to respect the artists.
Participants had two opinions on the film "Daji and Her Father" screened at the meeting, some people thought that the novel was well written, and others thought that the film was well adapted. The novel was conceived and written in 1957.
The author, Gao Miao, was inspired by the principle of "a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending" after Mao Zedong's speech "On the Question of Correctly Handling Contradictions Among the People." With full enthusiasm and a comfortable mood, the author tries to reflect the real life of the Yi people.
Premier Zhou
Published in early 1958, the novel quickly attracted the attention of the literary and artistic circles and the general readership, and was well received by newspapers, publishing houses, radio stations, stage plays, etc. In 1960, Changchun Film Studio and Emei Film Studio decided to make a film of the same name, and asked the author Gao Miao to adapt the novel into a film literary script.
At this time, the criticism of this work in society gradually increased, and some people thought that this novel promoted a "theory of human nature"; Others simply criticized the work for showing "petty-bourgeois warmth." Literary and art workers are the most afraid of being criticized as "human nature" and "warmth." Directors Wang Jiayi and Gao Miao are worried, and always feel that engaging in this movie is "walking on the blade of the knife", for fear of being put on the hat of "human nature".
To this end, when Gao Miao adapted the novel into a film literary script, he deleted and changed those places involving "human nature" and "warmth". Nevertheless, there is still talk of the work.
After the film was made, it coincided with the National Conference on Feature Film Creation, at which the film was screened and the novel was distributed to the participants, who used the novel to discuss the film. After Zhao Dan and Huang Zongying and others watched it, they were a little disappointed, thinking that the movie was not as good as the novel, and the movie deleted the most touching part of the novel and Zhou Enlai listened to what everyone said, and was more interested.
He reached out to Chen Huangmei and asked, "Can you send me a copy?" It just so happened that Zhao Dan had this book in his hand, but there were many Daoist paintings on it, and there were also comments on it, and he was about to hand it over, when Huang Zongying gently reminded: "Don't give the premier a book that is messy with paintings." Zhou Enlai, on the other hand, smiled and took the book from Zhao Dan's hand and said, "I would rather study and study Adam's opinion."
Zhao Dan
When Zhou Enlai left the Xinqiao Hotel, it was already late. When he left, he asked Chen Huangmei: "After the briefing of each meeting is out, please send it to me on the same day." The focus of the artists' debate has also become an issue of interest to Premier Zhou Enlai; What Zhou Enlai pondered was precisely how to improve the party's leadership over literary and artistic work.
As soon as Zhou Enlai left, the delegates who watched the movie came back, and when they heard that the premier had come, they complained that they had missed such a good opportunity, and they went to Huang Zongying's house and asked this and that, eager to ask all the details clearly, and listen to every word the premier had said. Someone nodded at Huang Zongying's nose and said enviously: "Blessed by illness, blessed by illness!" Another person punched Zhao Dan and said, "The boy is lucky, and he is kind enough to repay."
Huang Zongying
Some delegates also raised questions about reporting to the Prime Minister, as if it were not too enjoyable to reflect at the meeting alone. During the meeting of new overseas Chinese, Zhou Enlai was unusually busy. On June 17 alone, he will attend a meeting of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, invite relevant people to study the Geneva Conference, and deal with various major matters at home and abroad. He was entangled in domestic and foreign affairs, and what worried him even more was that Deng Ying was sick and hospitalized a few days ago, and he had to visit the hospital every day.
However, Zhou Enlai still found time to read the novel "Daji and Her Father". On the evening of that day (June 17), Zhou Enlai came out of the hospital and went straight to the Xinqiao Hotel to listen to the opinions of the artists. At the same time, he specially talked to some party and government leading cadres in the literary and art departments to study how to carry forward democracy and improve leadership.