Wang Xiaotang's bumpy life
Before liberation, not a single Chinese could be found in the large photographs of movie stars hanging in the lounges of major cinemas in China. In 1961, at the suggestion of Premier Zhou Enlai, 22 Chinese old, middle, and young actors were selected nationwide, and they were named "New Chinese Actors", but the people still used to call them "22 movie stars".
These stars have two things in common. First, each person must have a work that can stand. Second, each person's appearance must conform to the aesthetic habits of the Chinese. Among these movie stars, the "two kings" of Bayi Factory can be said to be outstanding, and there is also a saying that "men look at Wang Xingang, and women look at Wang Xiaotang".
Bayi Factory "Two Kings" in the film "Sea Eagle" stills
Torpedo Speedboat Squadron Leader Zhang Min (played by Wang Xingang), militia company commander (Zhang Min's wife) Wu Yufen (played by Wang Xiaotang)
Looking at Wang Xiaotang's career in film, the flashes of his performing arts are shining in the years before the Cultural Revolution. Since her first film "The Mysterious Traveling Companion", "Sea Eagle", "Heroes and Tigers", "Wildfire Spring Breeze Fighting Ancient City" ....... Almost all the films have become high-quality products, and all the roles have made her play brilliantly.
Stills from the film "Wildfire Spring Breeze Fighting Ancient City".
Wang Xiaotang plays the two roles of Jinhuan (right) and Yinhuan (left).
The sudden catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution dealt Wang Xiaotang a heavy blow. Because most of the films starring her have been criticized, she has naturally become the target of criticism. For a time, big-character posters criticizing her were plastered all over every corner of Bayi Factory. So, in December 1969, in the form of "special demobilization", Wang Xiaotang was kicked out of the Bayi Factory and became a supervisor and transformation worker at the Huairou Forest Farm in Beijing, where he stayed for six years. There, the cinema she regarded as her artistic life was no longer available. There, her exuberant artistic youth was ruined. There, her lifelike image on the screen can never be recreated.
The greatest misfortune of Wang Xiaotang, who was killed in the Cultural Revolution, was the loss of his beloved son. Before being transferred to Bayi Factory, Wang Xiaotang was an actor in the Peking Opera Troupe of the General Political Corporation. During this period, she met and fell in love with Yan Xiaopeng, the son of Yan Jupeng, the founder of the Peking Opera Yan School. In 1956, after starring in the film "Mysterious Traveling Companion", Wang Xiaotang and Yan Xiaopeng held a wedding. In 1958, their beloved son Yanqun was born. The arrival of his son has brought too much joy to Wang Xiaotang's life, and the smart and lovely Yanqun has also become Wang Xiaotang's spiritual pillar.
When Wang Xiaotang and his wife, who were both criticized, were forcibly demobilized and sent to Huairou Forest Farm, their son had to be fostered at a relative's house in the city for school reasons. Unexpectedly, in 1974, his son Yanqun unfortunately suffered from hepatitis. However, due to the absence of his parents, he was unable to receive timely and effective medical treatment. In the summer of that year, Wang Xiaotang, who was working, suddenly received a telegram that "my son is seriously ill and his life is dying, so return quickly". When she rushed back to the hospital in Beijing, her son was terminally ill. After seeing his mother, a smile appeared on Yan Qun's sallow face. He subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch his mother's face, but he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand. In this situation, Wang Xiaotang, who was in tears, couldn't cry anymore. A few days later, the son left this world forever. At that time, Yan Qun was only 17 years old and Wang Xiaotang was 40 years old.
Wang Xiaotang's son Yan Qun
Later, colleagues persuaded Wang Xiaotang to have another one, but she said: "If there is another one, it will not be him." What always comes to Wang Xiaotang's mind is still the appearance of Ai Ziyanqun when he was a child......
Since the day Wang Xiaotang and his wife were sent to Huairou Forest Farm, she has never given up the idea of returning to Bayi Factory and rekindling her artistic youth. In the later period of the Cultural Revolution, the actors who were kicked out of the Bayi Factory began to rehabilitate and implement the policy. Unlike Zhang Liang, Xing Jitian and other actors who were suspected of settling in the Pearl River Factory due to troublesome procedures, and Wang Runshen did not return to Bayi Factory because he was grateful to Changying Studio for taking him in, Wang Xiaotang insisted on returning to the place where he had been brilliant. Of course, she asked to return to Beijing to give her son a warm home. After she ran around, she finally returned to Bayi Factory in 1975 under the care of the leaders of the General Political Department at that time. Unfortunately, this moment is still too late for Wang Xiaotang. If it had been a year or two earlier, the son would not have left the couple.
After the Cultural Revolution, everything was left to be rebuilt. Wang Xiaotang cherished this belated opportunity very much, geared up, eager to try, and eagerly looked forward to returning to the screen immediately to meet the "long-lost" national audience. However, it seems that God does not favor Wang Xiaotang, who has gone through hardships, and various opportunities always "pass by" her.
As early as 1975, at the beginning of Bayi Factory's remake of the movie "Sea Eagle", Wang Xiaotang was still the first choice for the heroine Wu Yufen. But in the end, it was replaced by Liu Xiaoqing of the Battle Flag Repertory Troupe of the Chengdu Military Region, although the remake died halfway through. However, after looking at Liu Xiaoqing's image after trying on makeup, I found that I couldn't find the taste of Wang Xiaotang back then.
In 1978, when Bayi Factory filmed the film "Menggen Flower", the first choice to play the heroine Menggen Flower was also Wang Xiaotang. Unfortunately, Wang Xiaotang suffered from hyperthyroidism, so he had to be replaced by Yang Yaqin.
Wang Xiaotang (left) and Yang Yaqin (right) Menggenhua makeup trial photo
In 1978, Xie Tian directed the filming of the film "Sweet Career". He insisted on handing over the heroine in the film, Aunt Tang, to Wang Xiaotang to play. At the time, Wang Xiaotang was 44 years old, and when she reached middle age, she was also very consistent with the age of the characters in the film. After reading the script, Wang Xiaotang also expressed his interest in this role, and also did a lot of desk work for it. However, due to the hyperthyroidism operation, her voice could not make a sound, and Wang Xiaotang had to give up this opportunity, although Xie Tian said that he could wait for Wang Xiaotang's throat to recover before filming, or ask someone else to dub it. In the end, Xie Tian found Ma Lin from the Henan Yu Opera Troupe to play the role of Aunt Tang.
Stills from "Sweet Career" - Aunt Tang (played by Ma Lin)
At that time, it seemed that God was deliberately against Wang Xiaotang, and when the opportunity came, she either had such a situation here, or she had such a "moth". The biggest threat is "the fault of hyperthyroidism". , because of hyperthyroidism, his throat couldn't make a sound, and a lot of hair fell down. However, Wang Xiaotang has never been discouraged. On the one hand, she insisted on practicing her voice and recovering her voice. On the other hand, I am also ready to devote myself to script writing in case I can't act in the movie. Later, the script for the movie called "Xiang" was written during that period.
After the script was undrafted, Wang Xiaotang decided to direct the film "Xiang" himself, and will personally play the heroine in the film, and the episodes in the film will also be sung by her. People call it "self-written, self-directed, self-acted, and self-sung". However, what Wang Xiaotang didn't expect was that the filming of this film would be so difficult and unsatisfactory.......
At first, I wanted Bayi Factory to shoot it, but I didn't expect Bayi Factory to "buy it". In desperation, Wang Xiaotang asked someone to find the Shanghai Film Studio. But the attitude of the people of Shanghai is very different from that of Bayi Factory. Cen Fan, the veteran director of Shanghai Film, took over the job and planned to shoot it into a beautiful romance film, and renamed it "Li Hua is a child's home in the depths". However, when Cen Fan handed over the storyboard script to Wang Xiaotang to read, she found that it was not what she wanted to express. As a result, the road of "Xiang" in Shanghai Film Studio can be regarded as coming to an end.
The film was finally filmed at Emei Film Studio. The reason why Emei took over this film was because of Wang Xiaotang's fame, but said that the funds were limited, and everything was arranged by Wang Xiaotang. In order to save money, in addition to the "four self", she also took up jobs such as costumes and props. The actors who participated in the performance, except for Wang Xiaotang, who is a star, are almost "unknown". Because of the lack of money, the production of this film is not exquisite. The main scenes in the film were all shot in a small courtyard dam in Sichuan, which was neither distinctive nor aesthetic, and did not leave any impression on the audience.
In 1982, the film "Xiang" was screened nationwide. At the time, Wang Xiaotang was 48 years old. However, after the screening of the film written by her, directed, and starring herself, and she personally sang the interlude in the Sichuan dialect, the audience responded mediocre, and did not cause any sensation on the screen because of the appearance of Wang Xiaotang, the star, and the vast majority of Chinese people have not even seen this film. Although many old viewers in the fifties and sixties followed this movie all the way, they either shook their heads or were speechless about her performance and image in the film. Perhaps "speechless" itself is a kind of sympathy expressed by Wang Xiaotang's fans for the misfortune she has encountered and the bumpy life experience. There is no shortage of bitter and mean comments on this film, some people say that Wang Xiaotang's "Xiang" only touched herself, but not the people of the whole country. Some people also say that if the book adapted from Shangying can be directed by Shangying, plus Wang Xiaotang's starring role, maybe Wang Xiaotang's brilliance can really be reproduced on the screen......
Stills from the film "Xiang" - Chief Horticulture Engineer Cai Pianpian (played by Wang Xiaotang)
The song "Sunshine is Always After the Wind and Rain", which has become the song of the Chinese women's volleyball team, sings: "The sunshine is always after the wind and rain, and there is a clear sky on the dark clouds." Wang Xiaotang's embarrassing bumpy experience not only failed to crush her, but sounded her thick and accumulated charge.
In 1988, she was appointed deputy director of Bayi Film Studio, with the rank of colonel. In September 1992, he was appointed as the director of the factory and concurrently served as the secretary of the party committee. He was promoted to the rank of Major General in July 1993.
In 2001, Wang Xiaotang wrote and directed the film "Fragrant Oath", which reflected the family affection and nostalgia of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The film won the Special Award of the Organizing Committee of the 8th Beijing University Student Film Festival, and Wang Xiaotang and Wang Chen jointly won the Best Screenplay Award at the 21st China Film Golden Rooster Awards for this film.
When Wang Xiaotang was the deputy director of Bayi Factory, it was at a time when the country was given the task of shooting epic Liberation War films, including:
The Armageddon series is three films and six episodes
Two episodes of the Big Twist series
Four films in the Great March series
Wang Xiaotang really fulfilled his mission and led the team of Bayi Factory to complete the filming of this series of epic war films on time, with quality and quantity, leaving a valuable legacy for the Republic and future generations.
In 2024, Wang Xiaotang will be 90 years old. However, in the minds of many people, her image seems to still stay in the era of "men look at Wang Xingang, women look at Wang Xiaotang". Wang Xiaotang's journey, whether it is a glittering achievement or a painful ordeal, can always see her never-ending creation and enterprising spirit. From the starting point to the present, whether she becomes a famous character is not the most important thing, the important thing is that she fulfilled the promise of "I am a soldier, for the country and the people".
90-year-old Wang Xiaotang
*The picture is from the Internet, if there is an infringement dispute, it will be deleted