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When we look back at director Yang Yanjin's colorful life today, his complex and changeable emotional journey is undoubtedly full of drama and thought-provoking. As one of the most dazzling and controversial directors of the "Shanghai Film Studio" in the 80s of the 20th century, Yang Yanjin successfully became one of the pioneers of the fourth generation of directors in China with his masterpieces "Troubled Laughter" and "Little Street", leading the wave of "New Wave" of Chinese films.
However, his sentimental personality also plunged him into an emotional whirlpool, and at the peak of his career, he began to be burdened with the pressure of notoriety.
Compared with the more conservative fourth-generation directors of the same period, Yang Yanjin's works not only dig deep into the true face of human nature in those scarred years, but also issue an affectionate call for the truth, goodness and beauty of human nature with firm belief after the great changes of the times.
More importantly, he demonstrated extremely advanced photographic skills, narrative strategies, and photographic styles. For example, when directing "Little Street", he boldly experimented with "meta-cinema" and made it into an "emotional film", creating a unique "cloud, mountain and fog" style of storytelling, so that the audience can experience feelings beyond reality in the clips.
This innovative approach to expression is of great artistic value even today.
This is inseparable from his personable and sentimental personal behavior. People have mixed reviews of him, some praise him for his courage to pursue love, others criticize him for being too indulged in the role of the heroine, which caused many storms.
Yang Yanjin dared to pursue his ideals and feelings, and paid a huge price to achieve these goals. Whether it is the brilliant achievements in his career or the various troubles he encounters in his love life, he faces them with his own unique attitude towards life.
Looking back now, the life of this "talented director" is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and it is endlessly evocative.
Everything has to start in 1978, when the 33-year-old Yang Yanjin directed the movie "Troubled Laughter", and the beautiful and moving Pan Hong played the heroine. Although Pan Hong was already married to the talented painter Mi Jiashan at that time, they fell deeply in love with each other during the filming process.
Pan Hong was born in Shanghai and is a typical Shanghai girl, but her first film as a heroine was "The Slave's Daughter", which was produced by Emei Film Studio.
It was through this popular classic that she met Mr. Mi Jiashan, who held an important position in Emei Film Studio at the time, and the two talented souls quickly collided with the spark of love and became a loving couple.
What is remarkable is that Mr. Mi Jiashan's father, Mi Jianshu, once served as the deputy mayor of Chengdu and can be described as a leader in political circles.
During the filming of the film "Troubled Laughter", Pan Hong's big eyes as bright as stars seemed to be able to convey endless affection, which made director Yang Yanjin fall in love with it.
Yang Yanjin is personable, romantic and amorous, and often tells Pan Hong sweet love words, and Pan Hong is also deeply attracted by his unique charm, and as time passes, the emotions between the two gradually sublimate during the filming process.
However, the good times did not last long, and Yang Yanjin's wife at the time, Hong Rong, found out that Pan Hong wrote a passionate love letter to her husband, and immediately became angry, and did not hesitate to make the love letter public, so that the entire factory employees knew about it.
Pan Hong felt extremely ashamed, so she could only choose to leave Shanghai Film Studio, and did not cooperate with her old club for ten years.
However, her husband Mi Jiashan showed great tolerance for Pan Hong's behavior and gave her full respect and dignity. It is worth mentioning that his father, as an important leader in Chengdu, the provincial capital, did not have to bear such pressure.
However, for the sake of this relationship with Pan Hong, Yang Yanjin resolutely decided to divorce his wife Hong Rong, and since then he has parted ways with Pan Hong and is a stranger.
Although Yang Yanjin and Pan Hong were forced to separate, his infatuation with the heroine still could not be dissipated. In 1983, when he directed the film "3 Girls", he fell in love with Li Fengxu, a young actress from Xi'an Film Studio, at first sight.
Li Fengxu was born in Hebei in 1962 and became famous for successfully portraying the role of the nine girls "Xu Qin" in "Xu Mao and His Daughters". She is fresh and refined, with a height of 1.66 meters, graduated from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, and is impeccable in terms of appearance and acting skills.
For Yang Yanjin, who is not confused when he is approaching, Li Fengxu is undoubtedly the ideal love object in his heart.
Yang Yanjin's pursuit of Li Fengxu can be described as going all out, and he has almost exhausted all means to pursue her. He pasted large photos of Li Fengxu all over the bedside of the hotel, immersed in her obsession all day long.
However, it is regrettable that during the production of this work, an assistant director of the crew fell in love with actor Li Fengxu deeply, which led to the intensification of the conflict between the two, so that the filming of the film was forced to stall.
In the end, Li Fengxu left the crew in tears, and this movie, which was originally called "Shuangjiao", was reluctantly renamed "Two Girls" In the face of all this, director Yang Yanjin could only be sad and deeply regretful.
Let's go back to earlier and talk about Yang Yanjin's family background and growth process. He was born in 1945 in Ningdu, Jiangxi Province, and his father, Yang Zuxing, was a veteran soldier known as a revolutionary hero.
Yang Zuxing once participated in the arduous Long March, and was later promoted to a leading cadre at the regular army level, and successively served as deputy political commissar of the Jiangxi Yichun Military Sub-district, deputy political commissar of the Fujian Provincial Military Region, political commissar of the Fuzhou Garrison District, and deputy political commissar of the Nanchang Infantry School.
As a revolutionary general, his reputation was prominent.
However, due to his parents' busy work, Yang Yanjin could only be sent to a nursery school to be raised as a child, and was carefully taken care of by his aunts. This lonely and helpless childhood life may have shaped his rebellious and adventurous personality.
In 1962, Yang Yanjin, who was only 17 years old, resolutely decided to apply for the army art troupe in Fuzhou without the consent of his parents. Perhaps he had the selfish desire to be closer to his parents at that time, because at that time Yang Zuxing was serving as the deputy political commissar of the Fujian Provincial Military Region and had been stationed in Fuzhou City for a long time.
Although he has never set foot in the field of acting, however, in a drama rehearsal, Yang Yanjin was severely reprimanded by the director for his "too many scenes". In the face of criticism, he resolutely chose to stick to his original intention, without fear, and devoted himself to the ocean of performance learning.
In 1964, Yang Yanjin finally realized his dream and was successfully admitted to the Performance Department of Shanghai Theater Academy for in-depth research. After graduating, he first spent several springs and autumns on the army farm, and then was transferred to the Shanghai Film Studio, where he began to rise as an assistant director.
During his tenure as an assistant director, Yang Yanjin worked day and night to acquire directing-related knowledge, and all he lacked was a stage to show his talent. It is worth mentioning that when he followed the work of national treasure director Xie Jin, he frankly expressed his ambition to "surpass you" to his mentor, however, unexpectedly, instead of being criticized, he received encouragement and support from his mentor.
Since then, they have developed a deep friendship.
Stepping into the 21st century, Yang Yanjin's love life has finally stabilized. Under the recommendation of a friend, he met the talented girl Xuan Xiaofo, and the two fell in love at first sight and hated each other.
Xuan Xiaofo is not only talented and brilliant, but also gentle and virtuous, and has a ladylike temperament, which is the ideal partner that Yang Yanjin has been looking for in the past few decades. Yang Yanjin poured all his enthusiasm into her and launched a passionate pursuit offensive, and Xuan Xiaofo was also deeply attracted by the unique charm of this romantic species.
In 1993, Yang Yanjin, who was over half a hundred years old, and Xuan Xiaofo held a grand wedding in bustling Shanghai. Contemporary cultural celebrity Yu Qiuyu personally attended and served as a witness for their marriage, and the scene was very lively.
For a time, Yang Yanjin became the focus of attention, and people cast envious glances.
After getting married, they chose to settle in the beautiful city of Nanchang and walked through every stage of their lives together, enjoying each other and being happy. For Yang Yanjin, this is undoubtedly the fulfillment of his century-old wish to pursue the ideal woman.
However, Xuan Xiaofo also paid a huge price for this, after all, she is much younger than Yang Yanjin, which will inevitably cause some people's discussion and dissatisfaction.
Surprisingly, Yang Yanjin's ex-wife, Hong Rong, later married Li Zhiyu, the father of his rival Pan Hong's husband many years ago. According to rumors, after Li Zhiyu's wife passed away in 2007, Hong Rong and Li Zhiyu formed a new family after being introduced by others.
As a result, Hong Rong successfully became the "stepmother" of Yang Yanjin and Pan Hong, the former lovers, which is really an unpredictable dramatic change, which makes people sigh that the ever-changing life is like a well-choreographed drama!
For Yang Yanjin, this change undoubtedly brought him a different kind of comfort and calm. Thinking that he and Pan Hong resolutely separated for the undying love, it seems that their choice can also be understood as a manifestation of deep friendship.
However, now Yang Yanjin already has such a confidante as Xuan Xiaofo, and it may no longer be so difficult to let go of the past.
Director Yang Yanjin's life is full of twists and turns and legends, and he bravely pursues his dreams and sincere feelings, and he does not hesitate to pay a huge price for this.
In terms of career, he has become a representative of the fourth generation of directors in the history of Chinese cinema with his two works, "Troubled Laughter" and "Little Street", but at the same time, he has also been involved in the forefront of public opinion many times because of his excessive obsession with finding the perfect heroine.
For example, during his love affair with Pan Hong, his wife Hong Rong publicly exposed Pan Hong's love letters, which put Yang Yanjin in an extremely embarrassing situation, and his obsession with Li Fengxu's actor caused disputes within the crew and strong opposition from the woman's family.
In his personal emotional life, Yang Yanjin ignores the shackles of marriage and unremittingly pursues the ideal woman in his mind. This not only led to the breakup of his first wife, but also made him physically and mentally exhausted in various complex emotional entanglements, until he was over half a hundred years old, and finally got together with the talented girl Xuan Xiaofo.
Whether it is the brilliant achievements in his career or the various setbacks he has encountered in his love life, director Yang Yanjin has shown himself with his unique attitude towards life, and has become the most controversial and eye-catching star of the "Shanghai Film Studio" in the 80s of the 20th century, and his experience is endlessly memorable.
This talented and emotionally rich "talented director" has used his life to interpret his firm belief and persistent pursuit of ideals and love.