The first time I saw him on screen was in the movie "The Tempest." I thought he wasn't a professional film actor, but a farmer the film crew was looking for directly locally. Because whether it is from appearance or conversation, you can't see that he has the characteristics of an actor. On the contrary, in him, we can feel the rustic "earthy smell" that emanates from the inside out. But the old grandson he played left a very unforgettable impression on us at the beginning of the movie. Later, I learned that this old Sun Tou was really played by a professional actor, and this actor's name was Zhao Ziyue.
It was probably from this time that I had a new understanding of the profession of an actor. It turns out that as an actor, it is not necessary to be tall, extraordinary, and outstanding, but whether you can integrate with the role you play is the most important. There is no doubt that Zhao Ziyue is such a good actor.
Zhao Ziyue really did not have a handsome appearance. Walking on the street, many people will not associate this old man who looks very ordinary and ordinary with the movie star. But as far as too many artists I have come into contact with, the more big stars I am often, the more low-key and simple they are in real life. The profession of an actor has never been a capital for them to show off. And presenting vivid and vivid characters on the screen is their greatest achievement for them.
Born in Shanxi in 1909, Zhao Ziyue was interested in literature and art from an early age, and was proficient in playing and singing. In 1924, he was admitted to the Shanxi Provincial First Normal School, where he received progressive ideas. In 1934, he worked as a music teacher at Shijiazhuang Zhengtai Railway Rotary Primary School. At that time, when Japan invaded our three eastern provinces, Zhao Ziyue stepped forward and not only often went to the army factory to teach soldiers and workers to sing anti-Japanese songs, but also led everyone to the streets to publicize the anti-Japanese resistance. At the end of 1936, Zhao Ziyue joined the party honorably, and later went to the Taihang Mountains, where he first served as an officer of the Propaganda Department and then became the artistic director of the Taihang Mountain Theater Troupe.
During this period, Zhao Ziyue first set up a Jin opera troupe and personally performed on stage, playing a clown. Later, many talents were gathered together to form a Peking Opera troupe. When the whole country was liberated, he brought this Peking Opera troupe into Taiyuan. In 1950, the North Film Studio began to shoot the movie "The Legend of the Hero of Lü Liang", and the film crew came to Shanxi to shoot the scene, and Zhao Ziyue was responsible for the reception. After the director Lü Ban saw Zhao Ziyue, he felt that his image was very close to the farmer Kang Tiancheng in the film, so he gave him this role. This is the first role played by Zhao Ziyue when he first appeared on the screen.
Later, I saw many movies starring Zhao Ziyue on the screen. I found that in his decades of career as a filmmaker, he never seemed to have played a particularly "tall" role. Almost all of his characters are peasants, workers, or station managers of small railway stations. I think the biggest reason for this is, on the one hand, related to his rustic physical characteristics, and on the other hand, closely related to his artistic pursuits.
In Zhao Ziyue's view, art cannot be separated from life. In his life experience, what he is most familiar with and understands are the native people around him. And these ordinary people became the source of his artistic creation. As a true actor, he can't get out of the crowd and create roles based on imagination alone. Therefore, for many years, he has always regarded himself as an ordinary person, and through artistic re-creation, he has presented the scenes of life he observed on the screen.
I think it is precisely because of this that the performances of Zhao Ziyue that we see are always so lifelike, so intimate and natural. Such as the black old Cai in "The Biography of the New Children's Heroes", Director Jin in "Ten O'clock on National Day", the cooker in "Visiting Relatives", the old solution in "Icing on the Cake", the old Sun Tou in "The Tempest", Li Jingchun in "Miner's Lamp", and the Er Zhuge in "Little Erhei Marriage". Each role is so vivid and vivid, as if it is not acting at all, but it reproduces a familiar person around us.
I think that the actor who is the least like an actor is the greatest actor. And Zhao Ziyue is the most typical representative of this. Since acting in movies in 1950, Zhao Ziyue has created a large number of roles on the screen. From these characters, we can hardly see the traces of his performance, but more in the restoration of life. Among them, except for a few protagonists, most of his creations are supporting roles, and even many are villains, such as the old landlord Wu Rengui in "Song of Youth", and Li Decai, the accounting room in "Red Flag Spectrum". However, whether it is the protagonist, supporting role, or villain, after Zhao Ziyue's interpretation, it can always show a different style, which is unforgettable.
I remember that in the movie "Red Flag Spectrum", Zhao Ziyue played Li Decai, who did not play much, always standing behind Feng Lanchi, a large landlord played by Ge Cunzhuang, banging drums and gongs, pretending to be posture, but always cowering when encountering things. Zhao Ziyue has a very good grasp of the identity and personality of this character, although he always stands in the position of the corner and corner of the camera, but through the physical action of the gods, he shapes this old accounting room vividly.
In "Little Two Black Marriage", Zhao Ziyue plays the second black father er Zhuge Ge, an old man who must see the yellow calendar when he goes out, whether it is the character appearance, or the demeanor, or the action, Zhao Ziyue has made a special design for this character, shaping the image of a feudal old farmer.
Everyone has always felt that Zhao Ziyue is very good at acting in comedy, but I think he has never been deliberately funny through some performance means, but from the character of the character, through the natural disclosure, to achieve a hilarious effect. Whether it is the old solution in "Icing on the Cake" or ren Laole in "The Way to Make Money", this is not the case.
When Zhao Ziyue participated in the movie "Making Money and The Way", he was already very old, and his physical aspects were not as good as before, and he often felt tired and needed to sit down. However, as soon as he arrived at the camera, the old man immediately changed like a person, becoming energetic and radiant. In this movie, he and his old partner Ling Yuan worked together again, and the two seemed to return to the scene when they made "Icing on the Cake" in the past, and they reflected each other in the performance, which was interesting and exciting. Let no one see that this is already an almost 80-year-old man.
Zhao Ziyue has always said that he is just an ordinary actor, with an ordinary appearance and a very natural performance. But for the audience, a good actor like Zhao Ziyue who is rooted in life is the artist we love. It's just that how many artists like this are there today?
When Zhao Ziyue was 85 years old, he was still insisting on acting. After filming "Making Money and a Way", he also participated in many movies such as "Charming Band", "Fireworks and Tears", "Loess Po's Aunts", "Comedy Stars", "Heaven's Reply", "Intruder", "Court Cockfight" and so on. Until 1994, he also made a cameo role in the movie "Men Are Hard".
On March 25, 1997, People's Artist Zhao Ziyue died of illness at the age of 88. In his lifetime, he has participated in so many movies, although most of them are supporting roles, but almost every character is deeply preserved in our memory. I think the most important reason is that his performance is simple and unpretentious, never out of life, and a good actor like this is not worth remembering forever?
But how many viewers still remember him? Which of his most memorable characters is that he portrays? Go to the message area and let us know!
This article is original by DJ Yaqing, please do not copy without permission! Violators will be prosecuted!