In the late 1950s, with the proposal of the "Double Hundred Policy", the film creation of New China ushered in a creative peak, especially in 1959, a major moment of the "Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China", the major film studios mustered up their vigor and produced many popular masterpieces.
For example, "Lin Zexu", which reflected the Opium War, "Lin JiaPuzi", which showed the social darkness of the Republic of China period, as well as comedies "Five Golden Flowers" and "Today I Rest", etc., these rich and well-made films have set off a strong wave of movie watching in the country.
Among them, the movie "Song of Youth", adapted from the novel of the same name, was the most high-profile work of the year, and after the release, the scene was basically full, and many people even lined up all night to buy tickets in order to watch the movie.
To this day, many of the plots in the film are still enjoyable, especially the agile eyes of the heroine Lin Daojing, which have left a vivid screen memory in the hearts of countless people.
01. The "Copyright Dispute" between Shanghai Film Studio and North Film Studio
Before it was adapted into a movie, the fame of the novel "Song of Youth" had already resounded throughout the country, and its readership group, from the leadership to the general public, had almost become a "national must-read list".
Yang Mo, the author of "Song of Youth", began to create it in 1950 based on his personal experience, and finally spent five years to complete the novel in 1958, which was published in 1958.
Yang Mo did not expect that his work would trigger such a strong response once it came out, and the plan to adapt it into a movie was soon put on the agenda.
It is worth mentioning that in order to obtain the adaptation rights of the novel, the two state-owned film studios also launched a fierce "tug-of-war".
As early as the novel was not yet published, Yang Mo's brother-in-law, Jiang Junchao, who was working in the Shanghai Film Studio at the time, proposed to adapt the novel into a movie, and Yang Mo agreed.
After that, Jiang Junchao created the first draft of the script of "Song of Youth", and the Studio also began to make arrangements to find an experienced director Shen Fu to direct the film.
However, after the publication of the novel, its influence attracted great attention from all walks of life, and the Beijing Film Studio also had the willingness to adapt the film, and the leaders of the literary and art circles at that time also came forward to find Yang Mo and asked her to hand over the novel to the North Film Studio for shooting.
Due to the many persuasions of the North Film Studio, and the fact that Yang Mo himself was an employee of the North Film Studio, Yang Mo had to obey the arrangement to hand over the novel to the Hands of the North Film Studio.
When the studio heard the news, it immediately sent Jiang Junchao to Beijing to fight for the right to adapt, and the dispute between the two sides fell into a stalemate for a while.
Reluctantly, in the end, the leaders of the Film Bureau decided to set the North Film Studio, and then found the director Cui Wei, one of the "Four Handsome Men of the North Film Studio", to direct the film.
Despite experiencing many twists and turns, the final effect of the film did not disappoint the audience, it retained the overall style of the novel, and the portrayal of the heroine Lin Daojing was also very deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
From a female student who is in a desperate situation and attempts suicide, to a wandering youth who resists alone, to a strong-willed Communist Party member, Lin Daojing's growth process is presented in great detail in the film.
At the end of the film, Lin Daojing, who participated in the mass movement, is no longer the female student who hesitated and cowered at first, standing at the front of the line, her eyes are firm, shouting slogans to confront the enemy, and also pushing the atmosphere of the film to a climax.
02. National Audition for Female Lead
Director Cui Wei had the idea of adapting the novel of "Song of Youth" into a movie as early as when it was serialized in the newspaper.
During the war, the young Cui Wei also participated in the student movement many times, so he empathized with many chapters in the book, including the growth experience of the heroine Lin Daojing.
In the process of filmization, Cui Wei made some changes to Yang Mo's script, including the scene originally designed at the beginning of the film for Lin Daojing on the train, but Cui Wei changed it to Lin Daojing to commit suicide in the sea, so as to enhance the dramatic suspense and better meet the viewing effect of the movie.
In addition to the script, Cui Wei also spent a lot of effort in the choice of actors, especially the heroine Lin Daojing, Cui Wei was slow to determine who would play.
At that time, many actresses were very interested in this role, such as Bai Yang, Zhang Ruifang, etc., but Cui Wei felt that Bai Yang was older, and Zhang Ruifang did not fit Lin Daojing in appearance, and did not get Cui Wei's approval.
In addition, Cui Wei also conducted a national audition, not only to find people from all walks of life to seek advice, but even overseas Chinese sent him a list of actors, the influence of "Song of Youth" can be seen.
Just when Cui Wei was at a loss, he suddenly remembered that when he was the leader of the Zhongnan Cultural and Labor Troupe in Hubei, there was a little girl whose image temperament was quite close to Lin Daojing, so he quickly asked her to notify her to come to Beijing to audition.
After only trying two scenes, Cui Wei decided that she would play the heroine: in his opinion, this girl not only looked similar, but the heroism in her bones also made her closer to Lin Daojing.
This is Xie Fang, who was later selected as one of the "22 Big Stars", in fact, her name was "Xie Fang" before that, but when the subtitles of the movie were released, the subtitles mistakenly changed "Fang" to "Fang", and she also mistakenly changed her name to Xie Fang.
Although it was the first time to act in a movie, and he played with big actors such as Yu Zhi, Yu Yang, and Qin Yi, Xie Fang, who had experience in drama performance, performed very calmly and grasped the image of Lin Daojing in different periods very well.
After the release of the film, Xie Fang's image in the film won countless fans, especially the blue cheongsam and white scarf, which became the most popular costume for girls that year.
03, from filming to release through twists and turns, and finally won the approval of the prime minister
Although "Song of Youth" has long become a classic, the fate of the film at that time was very bumpy, and it experienced many twists and turns from shooting to release, and it was almost impossible to meet the audience.
For example, in the early stage of script creation, some newspapers and periodicals criticized the novel "Song of Youth", which caused a fierce debate at the time, and the film's main creators were under great pressure and made some modifications accordingly.
Filming did not begin until March 1959, less than seven months before national holiday.
Fortunately, Peng Zhen, the secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee at the time, called on relevant units to provide strong support for the shooting of "Song of Youth", so that the filming of the film could be completed in five months.
However, due to the limitations of the times at that time, the relevant person in charge of the film felt that the film was too "petty bourgeois" and not suitable for large-scale screening: this almost pronounced the "death penalty" of "Song of Youth".
Until Premier Zhou, Marshal Chen Yi and others spoke highly of the film after watching the film, Premier Zhou also said that "birth cannot be chosen, the road can be chosen", and the approval of the premier and others has allowed the "Song of Youth" to be released smoothly.
Nowadays, the success of the film is inseparable from the director's strategizing, and the director Cui Wei later directed the film "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", which is also a classic in the history of Chinese cinema.
In addition to Cui Wei, the film also has a co-director Chen Huaigao, who is also a famous director of the North Film Studio, who has directed works such as "Haixia", "Wild Boar Forest", "Zhiyin" and so on.
Chen Huaigao also has a special identity, that is, the father of the fifth generation director Chen Kaige.
The father and son also had a collaboration in the film industry, that is, chen Kaige won the Cannes Palme d'Or"Farewell to the King", and Chen Huaigao held the position of art consultant in the film.
Unfortunately, Chen Huaigao died of lung cancer shortly after the release of "Farewell to the King", but the contribution of father and son to the Chinese film industry was forever remembered as a good story in the film industry.
62 years later, "Song of Youth" has not been forgotten, and we can still see the replay of the film on the movie channel, which proves that the classic will never be outdated and will be remembered by generations of audiences. (Author: Pippi Shrimp)