Zhu Xijuan in her youth.
Poster of the movie "Red Detachment of Women" starring Zhu Xijuan.
On March 25, next to the red kapok park, the reporter met Zhu Xijuan, the best actress of the First Popular Film Hundred Flowers Awards in New China.
Lilac beret with a few extra strands of curly hair dyed blond. Vintage white polka dot light green shirt, coated with the same color pale green knit shirt, light blue trousers.
As soon as Zhu Xijuan appeared, she seemed to be both fashionable and fresh, and the years were quiet.
Retro and elegant berets seem to be her standard, and she has been seen wearing black, white, red and other different colors of berets on different occasions. With a brisk pace and sharp eyes, who would have thought she was 83 years old.
From red movie protagonist to lifetime achievement award
In 1959, because she had a pair of "hot big eyes", she was favored by director Xie Jin and starred in the role of Wu Qionghua, the heroine of "Red Detachment of Women".
"Red Detachment of Women" is a war film produced by Shanghai Film Studio, which tells the story of Wu Qionghua, who has a tenacious, spicy, brave and simple personality, grew from a slave to a communist fighter during the Second Civil Revolutionary War, and the battle story of the Hainan Red Women's Army.
On the day of the founding day of the Party in 1960, "The Red Detachment of Women" was released, which was a sensation in the country. Overnight, Zhu Xijuan was all over China.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, at 10:00 a.m. on March 25, Zhu Xijuan wanted to record a blessing video for the theme activity of "Watching Movies and Learning Party History" in Guangdong Province.
In order to record the video, Zhu Xijuan specially brought a small black jacket from home. Just like Wu Qionghua's crisp and neat, she put on a small black jacket and recited the blessing without saying a word.
In the meantime, her son came over, and she immediately greeted me, "Can I see the image for me."
There is a sentence in the original blessing language: pay tribute to the classics, inherit history, do not forget the original heart, and forge ahead. Zhu Xijuan immediately objected, saying, "Using 'hard work' is not enough to live, and the people may not understand it, so I will continue to move forward." ”
The reporter couldn't help but think of the theme song of the movie "Red Detachment of Women": "Forward, forward, the responsibility of the warrior is heavy, the women's grievances are deep, in ancient times, There was Mulan who went to the army for her father, and now there is a girl army carrying a gun for the people..."
Over the years, Zhu Xijuan has been "continuing to move forward". In 1983, she was already famous for her role as "Wu Qionghua" in the movie "Red Detachment of Women", and went south to Shenzhen to "start a second business" and served as the deputy director of Shenzhen Television Station, breaking new ground for the television industry in the special economic zone. In the next three years, Shenzhen Television Rose from the edge of a barren grass lake, and a number of TV dramas reflecting the construction of the special zone came out, creating the "Shenzhen Speed" of the cultural circle.
60 years old to learn English, 65 years old to get a driver's license, 78 years old starred in "Snow Winter Solstice", 81 years old starred in "Empty Nest", Zhu Xijuan retired in 1998, the pace of "moving forward" continued.
Last year, Zhu Xijuan was also nominated for Best Actress at the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards for "Empty Nest". She told reporters that this was made the year before, and she did not make a movie last year because of the epidemic.
In 1962, Zhu Xijuan won the Best Actress Award at the Popular Film Hundred Flowers Awards for "The Red Detachment of Women". Premier Zhou Enlai also participated in the popular film Hundred Flowers Awards ball, at which the premier said: "Today my first dance, I want to dance with the best actress!" As a result, Zhu Xijuan stepped on the prime minister several times under nervousness.
In 1962, when China selected the "Twenty-two Stars", Zhu Xijuan was the youngest of the "Twenty-two Stars", and at the age of 24, she was already on a par with Wang Xingang, Wang Xiaotang, Xie Fang and so on. In 2018, 80-year-old Zhu Xijuan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.
For winning the award, Zhu Xijuan said calmly, I am a person of my grandmother's generation, and I have more opportunities for young people.
Or the spicy and brave "Wu Qionghua" of that year
Now Zhu Xijuan is still active in the film and television circle. On March 18, she also attended the script seminar of the first Maonan theme cinema film "Happy Flower Bamboo Hat".
For the development of the film, she hopes to discover more good scripts. If you only focus on the actors and do not pay attention to the script, what is the use?
Apparently, she has her own film persistence. In 2019, at the age of 81, she filmed "Empty Nest" produced in Shenzhen.
The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by the famous writer Xue Yihui, which tells a socialization problem that is common in China and even the world at present, and how the elderly and empty nesters should happily live their old age. Zhu Xijuan plays Zhao Yimei in the film, a teacher at a middle school in Shenzhen, an old man living alone, whose son works in Beijing and does not return home to visit her for many years. Zhao Yimei is lonely inside and does not like to communicate with people. Later, he had a strong relationship with the grandfather of Lei Xiaoding, a health product salesman, and tried to cover up Lei Xiaoding's fraudulent behavior.
Talking about movie ticket prices, the straightforward Zhu Xijuan said, "It's too expensive to watch movies now, and it was only a few cents before."
After shooting the blessing video, the reporter failed to catch a few words, and Wish xijuan was going out again at 10:30. She seemed busier than before. She said quickly, "I'm going to fly to Hangzhou tomorrow." Now the older ones can not move much, and the burden falls on us."
Between words, although he thought he was old, Zhu Xijuan's mentality was still very young. Not only dressed and dressed young, in life, she also asked herself to keep up with the world of young people, WeChat, Taobao, one does not fall.
Zhu Xijuan, who is already in her old age, seems to be the same spicy and brave "Wu Qionghua" who raised her hands and feet.
"She always has endless talent"
Guo Baochang, an old friend and choreographer of the Mansion Gate, said of Zhu Xijuan: "In 1984, she asked me if I would like to come to Shenzhen, and I followed her without hesitation." After coming to Shenzhen, they made a lot of TV dramas and made a movie "Male Citizen". "This is also one of the most satisfactory works I have ever made, and I think she is very bold and grasps the theme of Shenzhen's reform in the forefront." Now, Zhu Xijuan is still fighting on the front line, and Guo Baochang has seen her performance in many TV dramas and movies, and her feelings are endless. "The older she gets, the busier she gets, and there is always an endless amount of energy and endless talent." She has always maintained a very advanced posture, and I hope that she will be healthy and long-lived, and that she can continue to show her talents in her creation and create more good characters. ”
Zhu Xijuan's personal autobiography "Forever Forward - Zhu Xijuan" author Liu Shu once commented that her playing Wu Qionghua is actually a true performance, and her personality has many similarities with Wu Qionghua. When an actor's own personality and her personality invisibly match, the role is successful. When she was in school, people called her a tomboy, and she couldn't play a particularly virtuous image, and she didn't pretend to be like it— but she was very diligent and hardworking, trying to develop into a characterized acting, and it turned out that she had also achieved great success.
Written by: Nandu reporter Xu Xiaolei
Photo: Nandu reporter Zhang Zhitao
Video: Nandu reporter Dong Zihao
Intern Zhu Hanqi Zhang Tong Feng Yingqian