Cui Wei (October 4, 1912 – February 7, 1979), born Cui Jingwen, was a Chinese mainland director, screenwriter and actor in Qingdao, Shandong Province. In 1959, he directed his first film "Song of Youth". In 1960, he co-directed the opera film "Yangmen Female General" with Chen Huaigao, which won the Best Drama Film Award at the 1st Hundred Flowers Film Awards.
In 1962, he won the Best Actor Award at the 1st Hundred Flowers Film Awards for his feature film "Red Flag Spectrum". In 1963, he directed the anti-Japanese film "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", which won the first prize of the 2nd China Children's Literary and Art Creation. In 1974, he directed the Peking Opera art film "Plains Battle". In 1978, he directed the feature film "Wind and Rain Mileage".
On February 7, 1979, Cui Wei died of liver cancer in Beijing. In 1995, he won the Actor Award of the Chinese Film Century Award in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of world cinema and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema. He was born on October 4, 1912 to a poor family in Wangjiabashan Village, Zhucheng County, Shandong Province. In 1922, his hometown was desolated, and his father and his family fled to Qingdao to make a living. In the same year, he entered Qingdao Sifang Primary School to study, and at the same time helped his mother set up a cigarette stall.
In 1925, Cui Wei dropped out of school due to his family's poverty; In the same year, he joined The British Tobacco Company as a child labourer. In 1926, he was dismissed for arguing with the foreman. In 1927, he was admitted to Qingdao Lixian Middle School. In 1929, he was expelled from the school for protesting against the government, and the Qingdao Municipal Education Bureau notified all middle schools that they were not allowed to take them in; In the same year, he was admitted to Qingzhou No. 10 Middle School and participated in the Progressive Student Organization.
In February 1930, he was admitted to the screenwriting group of Shandong Provincial Experimental Theater to study; In July, the Experimental Theater was discontinued and returned to Qingdao. In 1931, the Seagull Drama Society was organized; In the same year, he changed his name to Cui Wei. In the spring of 1932, he joined the newly established Qingdao Left-Wing Dramatists Alliance and was responsible for organizing the rehearsal and performance of the school troupes.
In February 1933, in cooperation with Du Jiandi, "Put Down Your Whip" (edited by Chen Liting) was changed to the square drama "Hunger Online"; In the same year, after the destruction of the Qingdao underground party, he fled to Beiping and was admitted to the physical education department of the private Republic of China University with the name of Cui Jun and a fake diploma. In August 1935, he went to Shanghai to engage in drama and film activities, and entered the Oriental Drama Company affiliated to the Yueming Film Company; At the beginning of December, the Oriental Drama Society was dissolved. In 1936, he joined the Shanghai Dramatists Association; In the same year, he wrote the drama "Chadong Night"; In addition, the children's drama "The Wall" was written.
On January 9, 1937, he left Shanghai on the Pacific Wheel with the Shanghai Women and Children Condolence Group; On January 28, he returned to Beiping from the Suiyuan front; In April, he participated in the gathering of the National Liberation Pioneers of Various Schools in Beiping in Xiangshan, and cooperated with Zhang Ruifang to perform the drama "Put Down Your Whip"; In June, he returned to Shanghai from Beiping; In August, the play "Defending Lugou Bridge" was published by Shanghai Theater Times Publishing House. After the "Eight-One-Three", he participated in the first team of the rescue drama and set out from Shanghai to Nanjing, Wuhan, Kaifeng, Xi'an and other places to publicize the anti-Japanese salvation.
In February 1938, at the invitation of the Central Propaganda Department of Yan'an, he went to Yan'an to organize the Lu Xun Art Institute; In July, he joined the Communist Party of China. In July 1939, bid farewell to Yan'an and marched behind enemy lines; At the end of September, he arrived at the Jin-Cha-Ji Anti-Japanese Base Area and served as the director of the Drama Department at the School of Literature and Art of North China Union University. In April 1940, he composed the three-act drama "Miners"; In November, he wrote the Allegro drama "Insist on Thoroughness"; In the same year, the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region Literary Association was established, and Cui Wei served as a member of the Literary Association.
In 1941, he created the drama "The Story of the Weasel Giving the Chicken a New Year"; In the same year, he served as a member of the Cultural Work Committee of the Northern Branch of the CPC in Jin-Cha-Ji; On January 22, he wrote the article "Meeting Difficulties and Overcoming Difficulties" and published it in Jinchaji Daily; At the end of November, he lived with his fellow villagers during the anti-"mop", and began to create a multi-act drama "The Tale of the Lamp Moth" based on many materials collected.
In August 1942, "The Tale of the Lantern Moth" was rehearsed by the "United Nations General Assembly" Literary troupe, with Cui Wei as the director; At the end of November, he transferred to the Fireline Drama Club of the Central Military Region and served as its president. In January 1943, he served as a member of the Three Winds Committee for the Rectification of the Cultural Circles of the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region. In 1944, based on the heroic deeds in the anti-"sweep", the modern Beijing opera "Old Hero" was written; In the same year, he choreographed and directed the Beijing opera "The Death of Yue Fei". In the spring of 1945, he wrote a number of Allegro dramas "The Right Medicine"; In June, he rehearsed the drama "Li Guorui" and served as a director.
In the spring of 1946, he was appointed deputy director of the Jizhong District Literary Association. The article "Grasping the Direction", which wrote and guided the activities of the village opera troupe, was published in the first issue of Song and Drama in Jizhong. On August 24, the song and live newspaper "Military-Civilian Cooperation to Fight Old Chiang" was published in the Jizhong Herald. In the autumn of 1947, he was transferred to the School of Literature and Art of North China University as the director of the Creative Research Office; In late November, Shijiazhuang was liberated, followed the troops into the city, and took over the literary and art department under the leadership of the municipal party committee.
On February 24, 1948, the drum "Asking for Trouble" compiled to publicize the party's industrial and commercial policies was serialized in Shijiazhuang Daily; In October, he was dispatched by the North China Bureau to lead a team to the Central Plains to open up literary and artistic work in the newly liberated areas; In December, he established the Literature and Art Research Office in Kaifeng Zhongyuan University and served as the director; In the same year, he composed the opera "The World Can't See the Truth".
In the spring of 1949, he participated in the Central Plains Literary and Art Work Conference held by the Central Plains Bureau and served as the deputy director of the Zhongyuan Literature Association; In May, he followed the army south to Wuhan and served as the director of the Literary and Art Division of the Cultural and Educational Takeover Department of the Wuhan Military Control Commission; In July, he served as the dean of the School of Literature and Art of Zhongyuan University, which was rebuilt as the Cultural Research Office; In early July, he was elected as the executive director of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
In February 1950, he was appointed as a member of the Cultural and Education Committee of the Central South Military and Political Committee, and concurrently served as the director of the Opera Improvement Division of the Cultural Department of the Central South Military and Political Committee. In 1951, he was elected vice chairman of the Central And southern literary association. In October 1952, he became the head of the Zhongnan opera delegation. In April 1953, he was appointed director of the Central South China Cultural Bureau and president of the Central South People's Art Theater. In 1955, he played Song Jingshi, the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Qing Dynasty, in the feature film "Song Jingshi"
In 1956, he starred in the feature film "Sea Soul" directed by Xu Tao, playing Dou Erpeng in the film; On April 11, he was elected as a director of the Chinese Film Workers Association. In 1959, he directed the feature film "Song of Youth", co-starring Xie Fang and Yu Yang, which was based on Yang Mo's novel of the same name; In November, he served as the artistic director of the Kunqu opera film "Dream in the Garden"
In 1960, he co-directed the opera film "Yangmen Female General" with Chen Huaigao, which won the Best Drama Film Award at the 1st Hundred Flowers Film Awards. In 1961, he co-directed the feature film "The Wild Man of The Great Northern Wilderness" with Chen Huaigao, and played Huang Yiqing in the film; In the same year, he was elected as the executive director of the China Film Workers Association; On October 19, he published an article on the 3rd edition of Wen Wei Po entitled "The Exploration of Opera Art Films- A Miscellaneous Discussion of the Director of the Film "Yangmen Female General"".
In 1962, the opera film "Wild Boar Forest" directed by him was released; In the same year, he co-starred with Cai Songling in the feature film "Red Flag Spectrum" based on Liang Bin's novel of the same name, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1st Hundred Flowers Film Awards. In 1963, he directed the anti-Japanese film "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", which was adapted from Xu Guangyao's novella of the same name, which won the first prize of the 2nd China Children's Literary and Art Creation; In the same year, he directed the Peking Opera opera film "Mu Guiying vs Hongzhou".
In 1964, he co-directed the feature film "The Red Flower of Tianshan Mountain" with Chen Huaigao and Liu Baode; On December 21, he was elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress. In 1974, he co-directed the Peking Opera art film "Plains Battle" with Chen Huaigao, which co-starred Li Guang, Wu Yuzhang, Gao Yuqian and others.
In 1975, he directed the feature film "Red Rain", which showed the story of "barefoot doctors" delivering medicines to poor and lower-middle peasants. In 1976, the feature film "Mountain Flower" directed by him was released. In 1978, he directed the feature film "Wind and Rain Mileage" co-starring Gao Weiqi and Mu Huaihu; In January, he became a member of the leading group of Beijing Film Studio
In February, he was elected as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and attended the Fifth CPPCC Session; In the same year, he published the article "New Year's Outlook" in the first issue of "People's Film". On February 7, 1979, Cui Wei died of liver cancer in Beijing. In 1995, he won the Actor Award of the Chinese Film Century Award in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of world cinema and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema.
No matter what drama Cui Song plays, he is always him, and he happens to be the character he plays. There are few traces of his acting. He is so calm, kind and lovely, put him in a story, he will naturally become a cute drama person. He has profound artistic attainments and extraordinary temperament and acting skills, as well as unique appearance conditions, so that the two roles of Zhu Laogong and Zhu Laozhong that he created have a natural sense of artistic beauty.
Moreover, he was a director and actor with a unique Chinese "bloodiness" and heroic spirit in that era, and his directing style in the "Four Great Marshals of Northern Film" was also full of passion, and his film style was as "rough and unrestrained, rich and fierce" as his personality. He combines the roles of different personalities with his own heroic temperament, water and milk, forming a unique Chinese momentum and a strong national style. At the same time, the feature films he directed have a majestic, rich and rough artistic style