The documentary video exhibition "A Generation of Tianjiao - Red Line Woman" was launched in Guangzhou Library.
"Where there are Chinese, there is Cantonese opera, and where there is Cantonese opera, her voice can be heard."
Speaking of the red line woman, the most widely known label on her body is "Cantonese opera generation grandmaster", as the founder of the "red school" performing arts, she is regarded as the "four famous dans" of local opera together with Chang Xiangyu of Yu opera, Yuan Xuefen of Yue opera, and Yan Fengying of Huangmei opera, which can be called a national treasure level opera composer.
From Miss Xiguan, who has no worries about food and clothing, to the performance artist who has set off a "red whirlwind" around the world, the life of the red line woman is like a drama, with great ups and downs in the whirlpool, but her spirit of endeavor and innovation has become more and more moving in the tempering.
Recently, the documentary video exhibition with the large-scale artistic documentary "A Generation of Tianjiao - Red Line Woman" as the main line was launched at the Guangzhou Documentary Research and Exhibition Center of Guangzhou Library and will be exhibited until February 18, 2022. In the documentary, 149 guests were interviewed across the three continents of Asia, Europe and the United States along the footprints of the red line girls, searching for many undisclosed notes and recordings, and combining film technology to reproduce the unknown life and work details of the red line women. "Through this process, a channel of soul dialogue is reconstructed with the Red Line Woman." Deng Yuan, the general director of the documentary, said that through the footprints of the red line woman and the spatial aura in which she existed, he re-realized and captured a spiritual red line woman.
"Rescue" historical data
Across three continents to retrace the "Red Line Female Spirit"
"Explore" and "transcend" are the key words of this documentary.
Deng Yuan has created documentaries about the Red Line Woman, such as "The Pearl of The Pearl of the Art Sea - The Red Line Woman", "The Life of Yu Le", "The Spring of the Flower City", and "The Eternal Stage". When he re-created with the Red Line Woman as the theme, he wanted to shoot a series of feature films. However, under the influence of Chen Jianhua, the then mayor of Guangzhou, in order to seize the time to better record the historical materials related to the red line woman, it was decided to remake a documentary.
In the past three years, the film crew of "A Generation of Tianjiao - Red Line Girl" with the psychology of exploration, re-read millions of words of text materials, read a large number of pictures and video materials, lasted more than 2 years, along the footsteps of the red line girls before the visit to Russia, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, China, Macao and other places, interviewed 149 guests. Years and months of efforts have made this documentary the documentary with the largest narrative volume, the richest content, the largest number of interviews and the largest number of historical materials cited in documentaries on the same subject.
During the filming process, Deng Yuan felt that with the passage of time, a lot of information about the red line woman, the people she had contacted, and even some architectural relics could be lost at any time. Nowadays, of the nearly 150 people interviewed, 6 people have passed away one after another, and this shooting is also a "rescue" of historical data.
The departure of the Red Line Woman has also changed the overall focus and narrative logic of the documentary. "In the past, the red line woman was the protagonist and main backbone of the documentary, and her attitude was the scale and standard of the documentary. Now, with no one to rely on, the crew needs to reconstruct a new way of shooting. "Deng Yuan followed the life footprints of the red line woman, re-explored and speculated on the true feelings of the red line woman from the narration of people, things and things, and more three-dimensionally reproduced her life journey."
Although there are 100 red line women in the eyes of 100 people, the red line women in everyone's eyes still have many things in common. "She has elevated Cantonese opera from a local drama to a national temple, to the world, and has always closely linked her personal destiny with the times, even if there are several ups and downs, but she has always adhered to the spirit of forging ahead and climbing." Deng Yuan believes that this spirit can be summarized as the "red line female spirit".
In the film, from time to time, there will be such a picture: on a long step, the back of the red line woman hurried forward, and the sky screen is engraved with the vicissitudes of the times and her artistic achievements. This passage is used as a spiritual symbol throughout the film. "A lifetime of rushing against time, climbing constantly until the end. This is the state of life of the red line woman, and it is also the condensation of her artistic life. Deng Yuan said.
Andy Lau is a year-old friend
To protect his throat, he did not speak to anyone for a month
"A Generation of Tianjiao - Red Line Woman" has a total of ten episodes, which are divided into six chapters. The first chapter of the documentary takes "The Return of The Red" as the theme, restoring the journey of the Red Line Woman who resolutely gave up the favorable living conditions in Hong Kong and returned to the mainland when she became popular in 1955.
Because cantonese opera is too bright, it often obscures her achievements in the film industry, and the documentary devotes a whole episode to showing the artistic achievements of the red line woman in film. As early as the 1950s, she was already a leading figure in the film industry. From 1947 to 1955, she took over nearly 100 films in Hong Kong, and after returning to Guangzhou, she mainly shot Cantonese opera films, of which "Search Academy" and "Guan Hanqing" were representative works. In 2004, she also actively promoted the adaptation of the Cantonese opera "Diao Man Princess Huan Ma" into a Cantonese opera animation film, and personally dubbed it.
Through the visits, the documentary also pieced together a cute and lovely predecessor image in many ways. For example, in "The Story of The Note", in order to protect her voice, the red line woman can not talk to people for a month and communicate with people by writing a note; and the "Midnight Bell" clip shows a red line woman who has devoted herself to the cause of Cantonese opera.
Artistically, the RedLine Woman remains open and inclusive. She and Andy Lau are friends for many years, and whenever Andy Lau comes to Guangzhou to hold a concert, she must go to see what young people like and whether they can learn from it. In her home at 20 Youai Road, there is also a ping-pong table, and Every time Andy Lau visits, he will play three games with her. Deng Yuan revealed that when andy Lau was interviewed, it was after he suddenly lost his voice at the concert. He mentioned a sentence that the Red Line Woman had said to him: "Life has reached a peak, it must go down, otherwise you will not have another peak." This sentence later became his spiritual support at a low ebb.
Teach barefoot in person
Concerned about the cultivation of "Cantonese opera fans" for young children
The documentary also reveals many precious images of red line women teaching in their later years. She teaches students by hand, such as how to walk beautifully with a lame leg. She took off her shoes to demonstrate for herself. "You can't imagine a big guy who kicks his shoes on stage and demonstrates on stage barefoot, that spirit, that charm." Deng Yuan said.
As a disciple of the Red Thread Woman, Ou Kaiming can see many traces of the Red Line Woman. "When he sings Cantonese opera, he can clearly feel the change in the singing voice, which is carefully designed. This is also an important embodiment of red art, not only with a good voice or passion, but also with strict requirements for art. Deng Yuan said that Ou Kaiming will also have cultural requirements for himself, he will go to graduate school, absorb the nutrients of all walks of life and schools, and master the role of Ma Shizeng in the film very skillfully.
In the student's place, she is both a strict teacher and a loving mother. "When you rehearse a play with you, you are slightly distracted, she will hit you, and the teacher will hit people very painfully." Ou Kaiming recalled that at that time, he did not understand Master's strict requirements that "ten minutes of drama can be rehearsed for a whole day", but now in retrospect, he really benefited immensely. In her later years, the Red Line Girl focused on the cantonese opera teaching of young children. "We once asked her why she likes to teach children so much, many of whom are still very young and don't have the heart to learn. She said that she was not cultivating actors, but wanted to cultivate the audience. Pan Jun recalled, looking at it today, this is still a very far-sighted decision. In his opinion, "it is much more difficult to cultivate a Cantonese opera audience than to cultivate a disciple." ”
Written by: Nandu reporter Wang Meisu intern Zhong Baoyi
Photo: Courtesy of Guangzhou Library RedLine Women's Art Center