Another Mother's Day is coming, and I would like to reminisce with you about a movie, which is perhaps the most widely circulated and touching mother image in the history of Chinese cinema. This film is "Nine Fragrances", filmed in 1994, the heroine Song Chunli won the best actress of the Following Year's Golden Rooster Festival for her touching performance.
In 1996, the music program of CCTV's "Oriental Time and Space" intercepted the movie clip and recorded the MV of the song "Understand You", which Manchu Wenjun sang all over China. To this day, this is still the best mother image on the Chinese screen.
The birth process and era background of the movie "Nine Fragrances"
"Nine Fragrances" is probably a movie that many people have not heard of. But many people have heard Man Wenjun's song "Understand You", and its MV intercepts clips from the movie. The film and the song are so closely linked that "Get You" has always been considered an episode of the film. For a long time, the image of the mother in the movie and song MV has touched generations of Chinese.
There is a shocking work in the history of modern Chinese painting, and its name is "Father". It depicts the image of the father of traditional Chinese society who endured humiliation and burdens and painstakingly raised our suffering society in that particular era. I believe that every viewer who has seen this painting will be silent, and sometimes the power of the image is so directed to the human heart.
In the history of Chinese painting, there is no painting depicting a mother that can be compared. But there are certain shots in one film that have the power to point directly to the human heart, that is, to face this timeless masterpiece of art history, let alone let it go. That is the image of the mother in the movie "Nine Fragrances".
The two figures bear a great deal of similarity. Whether it is the father in the painting or the mother on the screen, it is full of vicissitudes. The era in the background of this painting and this film is the poorest period in our country. In that era, what the mother carried was wordless acceptance, silent dedication, and hard work to raise her children to adulthood.
The movie "Nine Fragrances" depicts a mother who faces the sudden death of her husband and finally raises her five children with hard work. In order to raise these five children, she was like an oil lamp, exhausting her light and heat. At the beginning of the movie, it is explained that Jiuxiang has been terminally ill because of years of fatigue, and she has left her hometown in the countryside to go to the city to see her children for the last time. Interspersed with memories of her raising these children alone.
The film was filmed in 1994 and produced by Changchun Film Products Factory and directed by Sun Sha. In order to shoot this film, the film crew made a special trip to the northeastern countryside. The film depicts this burden of life that the mother alone cannot afford with a realistic lens. How many nights, the five children had gone to sleep, and she alone licked the leftover rice residue from the children's bowls one by one, and then used the stone grinding to grind out the cornmeal needed for the next meal. The heavy physical labor, coupled with the body that was often undernourished, made the mother exhausted, and often fell asleep on the stone mill.
Song Chunli, who plays Jiuxiang, with superb acting skills, brilliantly interprets the mother image of a traditional Chinese society. Won best actress at the 1995 Golden Rooster Film Festival.
The movie "Nine Fragrances" and "Understand You" MV
There is no doubt that the movie "Nine Fragrances" is an excellent movie. However, the mother image of Jiuxiang has been passed down to this day, and the song "Understand You" has also played a great role.
This song is the famous work of Manchu Wenjun. When he was in the Railway Literary troupe, he was discovered by Xue Ruiguang, the composer of "Understand You", because of a coincidence, and asked him to try to sing a sample of this song.
At the 1995 conference, the most influential music program in Chinese mainland was the golden song chart of "Oriental Time and Space". This classic program in the history of Chinese television was founded in 1993. At that time, there was very little original music in the mainland, everyone was covering Hong Kong and Taiwan songs, and Wang Jianping, the producer of "Oriental Time and Space", invited Huang Xiaomao as the music director to promote original music.
At that time, the status of "Oriental Time and Space" in the Chinese television music industry was comparable to the magic of the Spring Festival Gala stage. Many singers sing a song on the Spring Festival Gala stage and immediately become popular. Although the "Oriental Time and Space" golden song list is not as influential as the Spring Festival Gala, its novel program methods, coupled with the original music launched, are indeed of high quality and have a wide degree of dissemination. At that time, many post-70s and post-80s audiences always had to watch the morning golden song list before they were willing to go to school. As a result, the Golden Melody Chart has attracted a large number of singers and songs. Including Sun Hao's "Chinese Folk Songs" and Gao Feng's "Great China", which we are now familiar with, they were first broadcast on the Golden Melody Chart and later on the Spring Festival Gala stage.
Songs from the Golden Melody Chart are recommended from all over the country. Xue Ruiguang recommended a sample of the song to the program, with lyrics by music director Huang Xiaomao, and the song was formed, which was later "Understand You". It was also broadcast on that year's Golden Melody Chart.
What many people don't know is that the first version of the MV of "Understand You" is not the current version. In 1996, the Golden Melody Chart was revised into "China Music Television", and the MV of "Understand You" was re-broadcast, and its picture captured the essence of the movie "Nine Fragrances". This song and the film are thus linked, and the theme of maternal love expressed in the song is perfectly aligned with the theme of the film, which produces a strong artistic appeal. So much so that later everyone said that "Understand You" was an episode of the movie "Nine Fragrances", and even the theme song. But in fact, this song does not appear in the "Nine Fragrances" film. This also became a beautiful misunderstanding.
This is why this beautiful misunderstanding occurs. Isn't it precisely because the songs and movies have a very perfect resonance?
This song by Manchu Wenjun was later widely circulated. I believe that most people have heard this song and seen the MV of this song.
But I'm afraid few people know the story behind this MV.
It was a match made in heaven.
The epochality and significance of "Nine Fragrances" to today
In China in the 1990s, including "Longing", a large number of film and television dramas showing the dedication of mothers in traditional society were born. These film and television dramas have some commonalities, that is, there are a large number of bitter love dramas and tragic love dramas, which earn enough tears from the audience. At that time, Chinese society had just recovered from the turmoil, everything was in ruins, the life of the people had just improved a little, and on the whole it was still relatively poor, far from being as rich in materials as it is today. This is probably the social basis for the birth of so many bitter love dramas.
There are some plots in the film, which have the tear-jerking points of traditional cinema. For example, once the second son, Tianyang, returned home because he did not bring books, and accidentally found his mother licking their leftover rice bowl. Unable to control his emotions, he cried loudly as he shoved the lunch his mother had prepared for himself into her mouth.
For example, later Jiuxiang found that he could not support so many children, and the owner of a restaurant in the town had no children and looked up to the youngest son Tianxing and wanted to adopt. Jiu Xiang endured the pain to send Tianxing away, and the mother and son hugged and cried.
These shots contain endless heartache that people who have not lived in that era may not be able to appreciate this heartache.
But it cannot be denied that this movie has some limitations of the times, and like most domestic orthodox films of that era, the storyline is still a bit old-fashioned. China's main theme movies, whether they depict exemplary figures like Jiao Yulu or ordinary mothers like Jiuxiang, are a bit tall and complete, and pay too much attention to moral perfection. Such moral requirements are somewhat distant from ordinary people with seven passions and six desires.
This spirit of self-sacrifice like the mother in the film, in the current era of emphasizing personality and self, I am afraid that many people cannot understand.
Mothers are also human beings, and as human beings, they have their own personal consciousness and self-needs; they are also women, as women, who also have their own emotional needs. This movie does not avoid these, in the main line of raising children, with a great deal of ink interspersed with the heroine Jiu Xiang and the male protagonist Lao Guan a relationship branch. But in those days, this emotional need of the mother was not understood by the surrounding society, especially her eldest son. Eventually, she watched Lao Guan leave by car at the train platform, and from then on, all the meaning of her life was only dedication. Jiu xiang, as a woman, has died, and she has only one identity for the rest of her life: mother.
This dedication to paving the way for children's growth at the expense of a generation is actually very cruel. It is a product of that particular era and reflects the social value orientation of our country, which is still in a period of poverty and hardship. Today, this kind of selfless dedication is no longer worth advocating too much. Today's China may still have many deficiencies, after all, with a relatively complete social security system, there is no longer a need for a sad mother like Jiuxiang who is completely dedicated to self-sacrifice.
But the spirit of maternal love is in the same vein. The core of maternal love does not change.
Watching the whole movie, the most memorable shot for me actually appeared in the 85th minute, when the elderly Jiuxiang went to visit her daughter. Looking at the back of her daughter going to the vegetable market, her face was full of love.
As soon as the camera pans, she recalls her daughter's childhood, walking in from outside the door, with a delicate face, and saying to her, "Mom, I'm hungry."
Such a lens, I am afraid that people who have not personally raised children, can not understand at all. Seemingly plain and bland, the camera flashes back for a few seconds, which contains an unknown depth of licking feelings. In such a bland shot, the greatness of the mother is silently displayed.
However, chinese films, for many years, have not seen several impressive mother images.
Mother's Day is coming again, and I wish all the mothers in the world happiness.