From the post-50s to the post-80s or even the post-90s, there are not many people who have not seen the classic movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", this movie is a fairly classic work in the history of Chinese film, and even some people evaluate it as a milestone-like movie, whether it is a story, characters, lines or photography, it represents a peak in China's film history. This evaluation is not too exaggerated.
There are many stories behind the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", and the author will introduce it from the film lens:
First, the background of the shooting of "Little Soldier Zhang Ga"
What many people can't imagine is that the motivation for the shooting of "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" originated from the former Soviet Union, when there was a children's war film "Ivan's Childhood" that was well received, won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, or the first film of the famous director Tarkovsky.
In order to "compete" with this film, Cui Wei, a famous director of the Beijing Film Studio, was tasked with shooting a children's war film, and he took a fancy to Xu Guangyao's novel "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".
Xu Guangyao, a native of Xiongxian County, Hebei Province, joined the Eighth Route Army in 1938, when he was only 13 years old, he was familiar with the history of Baiyangdian's War of Resistance, and he also knew many children and small comrades-in-arms who were particularly "Ga", so it took only three months to write the famous work "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".
Second, why is the protagonist called "Zhang Gazi"
Many people may have wondered when they heard the name "Gazi", why is it called this name? Because the dialects are different, the meaning of "Gazi" is also different.
It is said that in the Xiangfan area of Hubei Province, "Gazi" means "what to do", similar to the Northeast dialect "Gaha".
In the Lunan region of Shandong, the northern Jiangsu region and some places in Henan, "Ga (ersheng) zi" is synonymous with Ding Ding. Some people also believe that "Gazi" comes from the same pronunciation of "尜子", a children's toy.
However, combined with the performance of Zhang Gazi in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", the "Ga (three voices) zi" in the movie refers to "a lively and cute, mischievous child", so the district captain and Luo Jinbao call Zhang Gazi "Gazi".
Third, Zhang Gazi is not easy to find
Director Cui Wei encountered a big problem when looking for actors for "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", that is, the protagonist Zhang Gazi is not easy to find, although there are three or four hundred small actors in the candidate, but basically they are students of primary schools in the city, and few people can show the "Zhang Gazi" gag.
Finally, it is cui wei's neighbor, the famous actor Yu Lan solved this problem, she has a comrade-in-arms called Ulan, working in Inner Mongolia, once a two-gun female eight-way, Ulan has a son named Angis, who was in the sixth grade at the time, just 13 years old, the child's tiger head tiger brain is very energetic, the key is not to look at his young age, riding a horse, shooting a gun or something, live out of a small eight-way.
Director Cui Wei took a picture of Angis as soon as he saw him, and immediately asked Yu Lan to contact Ulan, and Angis came to the crew by train.
Angis's father was called Kriegen, who was also an old eighth. Angis is actually Mongolian, which means "plough" in Chinese.
Fourth, the first scene is wrestling
Although Angis and Wu Keqin, who played fat dun, successfully entered the crew, they were still children after all, and they could not find the feeling of filming, and at the beginning the assistant director let them rehearse, and as a result, one by one, they said the same lines as reading.
Director Cui Wei did the opposite, simply let them stop rehearsing, and baiyangdian children played in the river every day, found the natural innocence, a few days later, several small actors were all tanned and not slippery, but also saved the makeup.
Director Cui Wei also adjusted the order of filming, putting some scenes that are easier to play freely in front, such as the first scene of the whole movie is Zhang Gazi and Fat Dun wrestling, that is, they really fall, there is no performance component, and Zhang Gazi bites Fat Dun that is also a real bite.
There is also the scene where Gazi "sneaks up" on Luo Jinbao, Cui Wei told others to shoot officially, but did not tell Angis, and when Luo Jinbao pushed Down Gazi, Anjis looked surprised and very dissatisfied, and this expression was caught.
After Angis and other children found the camera feeling, director Cui Wei let them start shooting scenes with more lines.
Fifth, classic and advanced long shots
Long shots are relatively high in film shooting, which is relatively superb in film shooting, which not only requires the director to have a very high artistic level, but also requires the cameraman to have a very high shooting method.
In today's rapidly changing technology, shooting long lenses is not a difficult task at least technically, but in the early 1960s, long lenses were still relatively advanced shooting techniques.
The reason why "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is known as a milestone in the history of Chinese cinema is that it is important that there are two classic long shots in the film.
The most widely praised classic long shot is the section where Luo Jinbao takes Gazi into the guerrilla station, and when I watched this movie, I felt the magic of this shot, which made the audience have a wonderful immersive feeling and also reflected the mystery of the guerrilla station.
The other is when Old Uncle Zhong escapes from the broken temple with Gazi until Old Uncle Zhong is wrapped up in the crowd, and this shot shows a sense of urgency that has nowhere to go, making people breathless.
In fact, the use of the film's film shots is really pure fire, in addition to these two classic long shots, like the scene of two pseudo-soldiers falling down is also stunning, and the top-down shots are more real and tense.
These classic shots also reflect the superb level of director Cui Wei and videographer Nie Jing.
Sixth, classic characters
Almost every character in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is very vivid, and there are also stories, let's see them one by one.
The above photo is very interesting, the front played by Kameda Shosa is Ge Cunzhuang, his appearance at first glance is a little different from himself, that is because the makeup artist moved his hands and feet on his face and raised his nose. Ge Cunzhuang has a very famous son, Ge You.
The puppet army officer in the back is played by Guan Zongxiang, who also has a famous son, Guan Hu.
This fat translator has always been a famous scene in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", and his classic line: "Don't say you have a few rotten watermelons, Lao Tzu does not ask for prices in the restaurants in the city" has been passed down to this day.
The actor who plays the fat translator is called Wang Shu, a veteran actor who has also played a positive character, and coincidentally, his first job was to be a Russian translator.
The most impressive adult actor in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is undoubtedly Luo Jinbao, who is played by Zhang Ying.
Zhang Ying once played a company commander in "Dong Cunrui" and played Li Xiangyang's superior in "Plain Guerrilla", his dashing and capable appearance is actually very suitable for Playing Xiao Fei, but unfortunately In 1969, Zhang Ying unfortunately died of illness at the age of 45.
Luo Jinbao has pushed down Gazi in the film, of course, this is acting. Unfortunately, in real life, Gazi really beat Luo Jinbao.
Zhang Ying's lover Li Huiying recalled that during the special period, Anjis, who was already a high school student, once ran from Inner Mongolia to the Beijing Film Studio with people and beat up director Cui Wei, Zhang Ying, and Yu Shaokang, who played the district captain, which made Zhang Ying very sad.
Here are three young actors:
The child who plays The Fat Dun is called Wu Keqin, who was discovered by director Cui Wei when he was in physical education class and wrestling with his classmates, and then he was selected into the crew, and when Anjis really bit him in the first scene, he was directly crying. However, Wu Keqin did not try to enter the film and television circle later, and grew up to become the owner of a building materials company.
Angis later did not step into the film and television circle again, it is said that after he performed "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", he went to several crew auditions but did not pass, and when the college entrance examination was resumed, he applied for Nortel and Chinese opera were rejected, and finally admitted to Peking University, after graduation, he first worked in the Central Government, and later went to the sea. He and Fat Dun Wu Keqin also had frequent contacts.
The little actor who played Yuying was called Li Xiaoyan, and the cute and clever Yuying left a good impression on everyone that year. Regarding her later development, there was an oolong incident.
Checking the information of several more authoritative Internet platforms, you will find that Li Xiaoyan, the actor who plays Yuying, became a star in the 1980s and 1990s, not only on the cover of "Popular Movies", but also acted in many film and television dramas.
Li Xiaoyan played Li Wei's mother in "Li Wei as an Official", played Mama in "New Zhu Gege", and played Wang Baichuan's mother in the hit drama "Ode to Joy". Her later husband is also more famous, the famous actor Xu Min, who is the prince Yin Rong in "Yongzheng Dynasty".
However, although the well-known actor Li Xiaoyan has some eyebrows like the cute Yuying in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", this is indeed a oolong, this Li Xiaoyan was born in 1962, obviously impossible to star in the 1963 release of "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".
In fact, Li Xiaoyan, who played Yuying in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", did not later engage in film and television drama acting, but worked as an editor at the China Filmmakers Association, and she also wrote an article in honor of Zhang Ying.
Finally, "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" already has a color HD restoration version, you may wish to relive the childhood classic.