For Beijingers, the Beijing Film Studio (Beijing Film Studio), which is the same age as New China, is a part of the city's landscape. For Chinese filmmakers and fans, the Beijing Film Studio, which gave birth to nearly 1,000 films such as "Blessing", "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" and "Camel Xiangzi", is the place where their dreams come true. It was once one of the three major film bases in China and was the "golden signboard" of Chinese films. Now, after reorganization, Beijing Film Studio, which carries the collective memory of several generations, continues to write the glory and dream of the Chinese film industry.
In 1956, the photographer of Beijing Film Studio filmed in Beihai Park. (Photo by Feng Wengang)
After its establishment, it made a documentary first and then a feature film
Beijing is the birthplace of China's film industry. In 1905 (the thirty-first year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty), Ren Jingfeng, who studied in Japan, filmed the first Chinese self-made film "Dingjun Mountain" in Liulichang Fengtai Photo Studio. However, for more than 40 years, Beijing did not become the center of China's film industry due to war. After the peaceful liberation of Beiping, the Beiping Military Control Commission took over the Kuomintang authorities' Third Central Film Studio No. 3 Factory (hereinafter referred to as "CLP No. 3 Factory"). On April 21, 1949, Beiping Film Studio was officially established on the original site of the "CLP No. 3 Factory" located on Xinjiekou North Street, and on October 1, the day of the founding of New China, Beiping Film Studio was renamed Beijing Film Studio (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Film Studio"), which opened a new page in the history of Chinese film.
At the beginning of its establishment, Beijing Film Studio focused on shooting news documentaries. In the early 50s of the last century, he filmed a number of precious large-scale news documentaries such as "Chengdu-Chongqing Railway", "Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea", "Red Flag Sweeping the West Wind", "Liberated China" and so on. At the same time, the factory leaders paid attention to excavating and cultivating screenwriters, directors and actors of feature films, and produced the factory's first feature film "Luliang Heroes" in 1950. In 1956, Beijing Film Studio spun off the documentary business and transformed into a feature film, mainly adapting literary masterpieces, boldly exploring creation, and creating excellent works such as "Blessing", "Song of Youth" and "Lin Family Shop" in the mid-to-late fifties. After the successful transformation, Beijing Film Studio became a leader among state-owned studios.
July 29, 1958, Beijing Evening News, page 2
Created in 1956, "Blessing" is the first color feature film in mainland China, and it is also a milestone work in the history of new Chinese film, with first-class artistic value and technical level. playwright Xia Yan adapted the script based on Lu Xun's novel, making the film's artistic structure more rigorous and refined; Director Sang Arc has an accurate grasp of the social environment and character reflected in the original work; The leading actor Poplar has many years of life experience in the northern countryside, and his performance is real and natural. When filming "Blessing", some technical equipment for color films in Beijing Film Studio was still under construction, and Zhou Congchu, the chief printing technician who returned from studying in the Soviet Union, and domestic technicians jointly researched and first converted a black-and-white film processor into a color film processing machine, and put it into production after trial.
May 5, 1956, Beijing Daily, page 3
The new factory was once the largest film studio in China
In order to meet the requirements of shooting feature films, in January 1956, the Soviet Union sent design experts to assist Beijing Film Studio in planning the construction of a new factory. When the new factory site was completed in 1959, the total construction area was about 55,000 square meters, which was the largest film studio in China at that time, with an annual output of 24 ordinary screen and widescreen films. There are beautiful locations in the factory area, including hills, artificial lakes, rivers and some semi-permanent scenery, such as villages and towns in the south, courtyard houses in the north, etc. The factory has three studios, a recording and editing workshop, a set repair workshop and a technical complex. The studio is well soundproofed, mechanically equipped with sets and lighting, as well as complete ventilation and air conditioning and heating. From the preparation to the design and construction of this plant, the Soviet Union sent eight experts to help guide it. Through the construction of the Beijing Film Studio, the Beijing Film Studio also established a relatively close relationship with the Soviet film industry.
October 1, 1959, Beijing Daily, page 7
The 60s of the last century was the peak period of artistic creation of Beijing Film Studio. At this time, Beijing Film Studio had a group of representative directors who were active in the film industry, and became the core force of Beijing Film Studio. Among them, Cheng Yin, Cui Wei, Shui Hua, and Ling Zifeng, four directors with different artistic styles, are known as the "Four Handsomes of Beiying". Cheng Yin is good at works on revolutionary wars and revolutionary historical themes, and his representative works include "Iron Warrior", "Southern Expedition and Northern War", "Thousands of Rivers, Thousands of Mountains", etc.; Cui Wei is full of passion, can both direct and act, and is also good at shooting opera films, representative works include "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", "Yangmen Female General" and so on; Shui Hua is good at adapting famous books, "Lin Family Shop" and "Revolutionary Family" are his masterpieces; And Ling Zifeng is known as "Desperate Saburo", and "Red Flag Spectrum" and "Camel Xiangzi" are his masterpieces. In addition to excellent directors, at this time, Beijing Film Studio also has a group of excellent photographers such as Qian Jiang, Nie Jing, Gao Hongtao, Zhu Jinming, and well-known actors such as Xie Fang and Yu Yang.
In 1960, the photographer of Beijing Film Studio filmed "For Sixty-one Class Brothers" at Beijing Station. (Photo: Gao Hong)
Filmed in 1963, "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is a well-known children's movie, and in 2005, it was selected as one of the "100 Business Cards of Chinese Cinema in 100 Years". The image of "Gazi" in the film is distinct, with an untamed side and an upright side. What is less known is that the process of finding a young actor is quite tortuous. Director Cui Wei mobilized the comrades of the whole crew to go deep into the city, suburbs and finally to other provinces; From schools to children's palaces, from children's theater troupes to choirs, and even when they encounter a child with the right image in the car or on the road, they will not let go. After two months, everyone in the crew made nearly 100 children with images and personalities like "Gazi". In the end, everyone jointly selected a boy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, smart and clever. However, Cui Wei, with his understanding of the original work and his pondering of the image of Gazi, believes that "Gazi" is not smart enough, but also has the "Gazi" that grew up in a harsh environment.
Everyone thought of Anjis, a 13-year-old boy from Inner Mongolia recommended by Yu Lan, whose mother had participated in underground work. When the crew found Anjis in Hohhot, he happened to catch a thief who stole the chicken coop board of the public's house. At the audition, Aegis stood with a small-caliber rifle on his back, his chest out, his fists clenched, his legs crossed, and his eyes showing fortitude. Everyone was very excited when they saw it - "Gazi" was finally found! (Beijing Evening News, October 9, 1963, page 4, "How was "Gazi" found?) Cui Wei also won the "Director Award" of the "Hundred Flowers Award" in 1964 for this film.
During this period, Beijing Film Studio also filmed many opera films, such as "Yang Naiwu and Little Cabbage", "Wild Boar Forest" and so on. Among them, "Dream in the Garden" starring Mei Lanfang is one of the best, and it is also the last movie shot by Mei Lanfang before her death. The film is directed by Xu Ke, Mei Lanfang plays Du Liniang, and Kunqu opera performance artist Yu Zhenfei plays Liu Mengmei. "Dream in the Garden", as a fold in the Kunqu opera "Peony Pavilion", is one of Mei Lanfang's specialties, but due to the different forms of film and stage performance, Mei Lanfang redesigned almost every figure and every song when filming the movie "Dream in the Garden". After the filming was completed, Mei Lanfang said: "In the past 40 years, I have made many films from silent to sound, black and white to color, narrow screen to panorama, and I think this time I am quite satisfied with the 'Garden Dream'. ”
March 18, 1961, Beijing Daily, page 3
Build antique street scenes to promote Sino-foreign co-productions
In the 70s of the last century, considering the remote location and low-lying terrain of the Xiaoguan factory, the Beijing Municipal Government decided to rebuild the Beijing Film Studio at the site of the former General Staff Surveying and Mapping Institute in Beitaipingzhuang. That is, the factory area at No. 77 North Third Ring Middle Road, which is familiar to people, is the third site of Beijing Film Studio.
Taking advantage of the spring breeze of reform and opening up, Beijing Film Studio ushered in its heyday, filming classic feature films such as "Little Flower", "Camel Xiangzi", "Teahouse", "Look at This Family", "Sunset Street", "Blood, Always Hot" and so on. Sino-foreign co-productions also began to appear, mainly "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", "Marco Polo", "The Last Emperor", etc., which enriched the domestic screen in the 80s of the last century. With the launch of these works, a group of actors such as Liu Xiaoqing, Zhang Fengyi, and Siqin Gaowa have gradually become well-known to the audience.
In 1978, the film crew of "Julan" of Beijing Film Studio was filming in the studio. (Photo: Wang Zhenmin)
During the filming of "Camel Xiangzi", in order to better reproduce the historical environment at that time, director Ling Zifeng decided to build a street in the empty field behind the studio in the factory area and set up the West Fourth Archway. Yu Yiru, an artist on the film crew of "Camel Xiangzi", resolutely took on the burden of designing and supervising the construction. After four months of intense construction, the semi-permanent street, which is nearly 150 meters long and all brick and til, was finally completed. In front of the house, there is an 18-meter-wide road with tall archways and a tram lane. The structure and style of the façade of more than a dozen shops concentrate the architectural characteristics of old Beijing. (November 8, 1981, Beijing Daily, page 3, "The Four Archways Are Erected Again")
In the mid-80s of the last century, in order to shoot the film version of "Dream of Red Mansions", Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion were also built in the factory area. Later, costume film and television dramas became popular, and Xisi Pailou Street was transformed into a street with Ming and Qing Dynasty styles, and became an important landmark of Beijing Film Studio together with Rong and Ningfu. "Farewell My Concubine", "Huanzhu Gege", "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo", "Kangxi Weifu Private Interview" and many other film and television dramas were filmed in the antique street scene of Beijing Film Studio.
November 8, 1981, Beijing Daily, page 3
In the 80s of the last century, the Beijing Film Studio had first-class technical equipment in China. There is not only a special main building, a printing building and a recording and editing building, but also a studio of nearly 5,000 square meters, Dolby stereo recording equipment and 3D stereo cameras imported from the United Kingdom and the United States. At that time, the latest halogen tungsten lamp for cold light photography developed by the mainland was also applied here. In 1984, China and Japan co-produced the mainland's first 3D stereoscopic legendary martial arts feature film "Thirteen Sisters of Chivalry", which is also a stereo movie.
January 7, 1986, Beijing Daily, page 3
Build a national film creation and exchange center
However, while booming, the crisis of Beijing Film Studio also quietly came. Since the end of the 80s of the last century, as TV sets have entered thousands of households, TV dramas have become more and more popular with the public, and the film industry has suffered a box office crisis. At the same time, the cost of film production has risen, and the old state-owned film studios that have left the track of the planned economy are not familiar with the market-oriented operation of film production, and problems have begun to arise in their operation and management.
According to the Beijing Daily, January 16, 1989, page 4 "Beijing Film Studio Will Spend a Cold Winter", due to the sluggish production of the mainland film industry and poor management in the factory for several consecutive years, Beijing Film Studio was heavily in debt. The loan borrowed from the bank by the factory had long since expired, but it was unable to repay it. Due to the financial constraints of the factory, it could not afford to pay the heating fee of 10,000 yuan per day, so it had to reduce the heating in the dormitory. In order to get out of the predicament, Beijing Film Studio tried to adopt cooperative filmmaking, raising funds to make films from all employees and all walks of life in the form of selling film shares, and implementing comprehensive contracting in all units in the factory.
In the 90s of the last century, with the deepening of the reform of the film system, the film production and distribution system that was once monopolized by state-owned studios and film companies was broken, and private film and television companies began to rise, which also squeezed the living space of Beijing Film Studio. Although a number of international award-winning films such as "Farewell My Concubine", "Heaven's Reply", "Chinese New Year", "Forty Not Confused" and "Police Story" have temporarily recovered the momentum of the decline in the operation of Beijing Film Studio, the development prospects of the company are still worrying.
On February 12, 1999, eight film enterprises and institutions, including Beijing Film Studio and China Children's Film Studio, established China Film Group Corporation. (February 12, 1999, "Beijing Evening News" 13th edition, "China Film Group Corporation listed today") In 2008, the film digital production base of China Film Group was built in Yangsong Town, Huairou District. The establishment of China Film Group and the completion of the Huairou base have injected new vitality into the development of Chinese film art, and also reborn Beijing Film Studio.
February 12, 1999, Beijing Evening News, page 13
At the entrance of the North Film Studio of the North Third Ring Road during this period, there was a unique scenery - the extras of "squatting work". As soon as the "group head" appears, a large number of extras who hand over resumes will immediately gather around Hulala. The "group heads" select the actors according to their needs and then bring them to the various sets. The story of Wang Baoqiang being discovered by the director at the gate of Beijing Film Studio is like the story of Cinderella, inspiring these Beipiao people with star dreams. With the last batch of departments of Beijing Film Studio moving to the Huairou base in 2012, the scene of extras gathering at the gate of Beijing Film Studio has also become history.
In 2012, he was an extras who "squatted" at the gate of Beijing Film Studio. (Photo: Dai Bing)
In February 2019, the compound of Beijing Film Studio launched a protection and repair plan. It mainly repairs and protects the three buildings of Beijing Film Studio, known as the "81st Floor" - the main building, the recording and editing building and the printing building, with a total area of 12,000 square meters. After the repair, the building complex was built by China Film Group into a national film creation and exchange center. In addition, on the 136 acres of land in the main area of Beijing Film Studio, it is also planned to build a film culture sculpture park, a film museum area, and a film culture corridor. (February 21, 2019, "Beijing Daily" 10th edition, "Beijing Film Studio Compound Starts Protection and Repair") In the future, Beijing Film Studio will become a new landmark of film culture in the capital that integrates six major functions, including film creation, film exchange, and film inheritance.
February 21, 2019, Beijing Daily, page 10
In 2021, the main building of the "81st Floor" after the completion of the renovation of the Beijing Film Studio. (Photo by Pan Zhiwang)
(Source: Beijing Daily, May 10, 2024, page 14; Author: Zhang Pinqiu; Image source: original article with pictures; Source: Beijing News Group Graphic Database; The original text has been deleted)