1. Overture
Oh! In the spring of 1980, a fresh and familiar wind gently blew through the film industry in Chinese mainland, and the film "Bashan Night Rain", which went deep into life and praised the beauty of human nature, was like a gripping poem, silently touching the depths of people's hearts.
Xiao Juanzi, this innocent girl, is alone, persistently chasing her father's back. Her big eyes, which seem to be able to speak her heart, sometimes reveal the innocence of a child, sometimes full of deep longing for her loved ones and endless curiosity about the unknown world.
And the poet Qiushi, who has experienced many vicissitudes, has a fervent yearning for freedom and struggles to move forward. The depression, loneliness and melancholy in his heart suffered a huge impact and oppression because of his poetry creation in the context of that special era.
There is also the kind and upright old Wang, although his life experience is unremarkable, he has always adhered to justice, tried his best to protect those innocent people, and deeply sympathized with Qiushi's plight.
It is these vivid and vivid characters, their appearance, that makes the audience feel the warmth and simple beauty of human nature. This work did not use the technique of a big production, but through the delicate and nuanced plot design, it deeply touched the hearts of the audience, and became one of the most influential excellent works in the 80s of the last century.
2. Flashback 43 years later
Time flies, and a full 43 spring and autumn seasons have passed in a blink of an eye. Many actors who once shined in "Bashan Night Rain" are now in their old age, with silver hair and wrinkles crawling all over their faces.
Mr. Zhong Xinghuo, who played the role of the policeman Wang, left us 9 years ago at the age of 91. Ms. Ouyang Ruqiu, who played the eldest lady, passed away 15 years ago at the age of 89.
The image of Qiushi created by the actor Li Zhiyu also left us forever in December 2021, and he just celebrated his 85th birthday, so he left quietly. Guan Shengxuan, played by Shi Ling, left us in 1999 at the age of 77.
Even actors who are still alive now, such as Li Yan played by Qiang Ming, are close to 100 years old.
The youth of a generation has quietly disappeared in the flow of these years. The glory of the past can only be turned into bits and pieces of memory.
3. Illustrate the family history of the main actors in the 80s
However, you may not know that these actors who shine in our minds have a family background that is not ordinary. For example, Mr. Li Zhiyu, after graduating from the Shanghai Theater Academy, chose to stay at his alma mater as a teacher, and trained many later well-known actors, such as Pan Hong, Liao Fan, Ren Quan, etc.
Another example is Miss Zhang Yu, 1980 can be said to be her harvest year, with her outstanding performance in "Bashan Night Rain", she won the Best Actress of the Hundred Flowers Award for Popular Films and the Golden Rooster Award for Actress in one fell swoop, and became a smash hit and became a goddess-level idol in the hearts of countless young people.
However, the lives experienced by these actors were not easy. It is precisely because of their hardships and ups and downs that they have become the superstars we are familiar with today.
Zhong Xinghuo is a vivid example, he lived in a poor and backward family environment, and was adopted by his biological parents to a landlord family since he was a child, and lived a life under the fence.
His acting career was full of twists and turns, he was criticized by public opinion for his status as an "entertainer", his wife was also viciously slandered by the people around him, and even his three daughters held a grudge against him, and they did not get their forgiveness until his death.
Similarly, Zhang Yu's life journey is full of twists and turns. When she first became popular in the country, she decided to leave her homeland and go overseas to study, in-depth research on film and television production in the United States, and successfully obtained a master's degree.
Although she became a high-profile producer after returning home, her career stalled, eventually changing her nationality and disappearing from public view, ending her career.
As for the actor Li Zhiyu, he created a depressed, lonely and melancholy character image in the film, and in real life, he is also low-key and introverted, and devotes himself to script creation.
It wasn't until 2008 that he chose to quit the film industry, and his life has tended to be dull since then, and it can be said that this movie perfectly shows his unique temperament and charm.
Fourth, look back on their respective development trajectories after the 90s
When it comes to the 90s, it was undoubtedly a booming period of leaving the country and emigrating overseas. Many popular actors have seized this historical opportunity, left the domestic film industry, and embarked on a new journey of development.
For example, Zhang Min, who played the role of Xinghua, chose to leave China in that era, and then became an Austrian citizen, never returning to the film industry. Although she rushed back from abroad to participate in the event on the occasion of the reunion of "Old Things in the South of the City", she was already aging at this time, making it difficult to recognize her past style.
In contrast, Zhang Yu's development trajectory is more low-key. In the early 80s, she left her home country for overseas use, and later changed her nationality to study film and television production in the United States, where she successfully obtained a master's degree.
In the early 90s, she moved to Taiwan, but after three years of hard work without significant results, she finally returned to the mainland in 1993 and shot several documentaries as a producer.
However, in sharp contrast to this is another impressive pair of mother and daughter - Mao Weihui and Li Zhiyu. Mao Weihui, the actor of the role of Xiao Juanzi, did not choose to devote herself to acting after completing the filming of this film, but devoted herself to her studies.
At the age of 16, she embarked on a journey to study in the United States, and by the age of 25, she had become a renowned Steinway & Sons piano artist, and her career was smooth sailing.
It is worth mentioning that Li Zhiyu, the "father" she said, also made some achievements in the eighties and nineties, and won the Best Actor Award at the 3rd Golden Rooster Awards for his outstanding performance in "Xu Beihong", and played an important role in many film and television works, winning wide acclaim.
However, his acting career was not all smooth sailing, and it was not until 2008 that he officially announced his retirement, and his development since then has been relatively uneventful, however, fate does not seem to favor the talented actor, in 2020, he unfortunately fell seriously ill and was admitted to the hospital, and on December 5 of the following year, just one day after his 85th birthday, he left this world.
5. Insert the character traits of the main characters in "Bashan Night Rain".
In the classic film "Bashan Night Rain", each actor has successfully created characters with distinct personalities, and these character images are inextricably linked to the actors' own life experiences.
For example, Liu Wenying, played by Zhang Yu, is a young woman whose ideology and cognition are still in the growth stage, her eyes are confused, and her personality is rebellious, but she is finally moved by the kindness of the people around her, and gradually changes her attitude.
The actor Li Zhiyu plays Qiu Shi, a poet who is full of depression, loneliness and melancholy in his heart, and in the context of that special era, he suffered a huge impact and oppression because of his poetry.
Li Zhiyu's personality is low-key and introverted, focusing on script research, and his life trajectory is exactly the same as the temperament shown by the character According to rumors, Mao Weihui, a six-year-old actor at the time, was able to turn the innocent, The outspoken image of Xiao Juanzi is vividly interpreted, her big eyes that seem to be able to speak, directly express the happiness and sadness unique to children, so that the audience can't help but be moved, perhaps because of such an innocent childlike heart, Mao Weihui can devote herself to the field of piano performance in the future, and eventually become a world-renowned artist.
However, compared with other characters in the plot, the policeman Lao Wang played by Zhong Xinghuo does not seem to be so lucky in character portrayal. In the play, he is portrayed as a good man who is generous, helpful, and upright.
In real life, Zhong Xinghuo neglected his family because he focused on his career, and his well-known three daughters' resentment towards their father was almost difficult to eliminate, so that their later life ended up so lonely, which is very different from the glorious image in front of people!