In 2019, a drama film released in 1982 directed by the late Director Xie Jin, "Wrangler", was pushed by countless netizens to be popular on Douyin, and I was fortunate to see a lot of comments and testimonials, and I couldn't help but lament the profound impact of the changes of the times on my personal thoughts.
In an era of intensification of the class struggle, the selfishness and horror of human nature were undoubtedly exposed, and in 1959, the protagonist Xu Lingjun was classified as a "rightist" because of his "birth" problem, and began a 20-year grazing career, in his own words:
You all have a chance, I, no, I cast the wrong birth, I committed the birth sin
Born into a bourgeois family, the product of an arranged marriage, his parents were at odds, his father went to the United States at the age of 11, and his mother died of illness on the third day of his father's departure, and has lived like an "outcast" ever since. Although the misfortune of his family brought him a lot of pain, more than ten years of study and growth made Xu Lingjun a staunch socialist.
The rectification movement against bureaucracy, sectarianism and subjectivism, proposed by the Party Central Committee in 1957, was carried out among the masses of the people, and the essence of the rectification movement was to carry forward socialist democracy and strengthen party building, and it was necessary to fight back against a very small number of right-wing bourgeoisie, but in the later period the rectification movement was seriously expanded, and a large number of talented intellectuals and democratic parties were wrongly classified as rightists, delegated to carry out labor reform, and most of the " Rightists 'suffered more than 20 years of oppression and discrimination, especially during the Cultural Revolution' when they were once again violently attacked. Xu Lingjun in "Wrangler" re-established his faith and belief in such a turbulent situation.
On the one hand, the "immutable birth sin" overwhelmed Xu Lingjun, on the other hand, he was still full of faith in the development of New China, and in this contradictory state of reality, the pasture under the Qilian Mountains had worked for twenty years, and the natural environment of the pasture and the simple people's feelings brought the strength to xu Lingjun to grow, and at the same time harvested beautiful feelings.
Under the guidance of the farm companions, Xu Lingjun, who is already 35 years old, and Li Xiuzhi, a 20-year-old young girl who fled to the ranch, are happily married, and in this way, two seemingly lonely people are accompanied by each other, and since then, the beautiful feelings have taken root in the hearts of the two people and blossomed into brilliant flowers.
Many people envy the love between Xu Lingjun and Li Xiuzhi, see the beautiful love and firm belief of their husband and wife, but they cannot feel and understand the era in which the two people are in and the pain they have experienced, in such a turbulent era, Li Xiuzhi chose to believe in the Xu Lingjun who had carried the hat of "rightist" for 15 years, and for Xu Lingjun, Li Xiuzhi was like a reward arranged by heaven for his years of silent perseverance and payment, and the two people appeared in each other's lives as if they were their own.
For Xu Lingjun, a "rightist", his persistence and dedication have come to reward and belated affection, and his father, who has been away from the country for 30 years, returned to Beijing from the United States in 1977 to find his long-lost son. This is also the beginning of the film to show the father and son duo meeting with Beijing.
The purpose of his father's trip was to take his 40-year-old long-term son to the United States to help him develop his business.
Money can't buy the joy of the world
Xu Lingjun refused his father's invitation to go to the United States because of his love for his homeland, the ranch he worked for 20 years, Qilian Mountain, and the people who gave him affection and support, returned to the ranch to continue his beloved business.
The novel "Spirit and Flesh" is a story adapted by the late writer Zhang Xianliang from his own personal experience to describe how the rightist Xu Lingjun firmly believed in harvesting love and beauty on the road of changing times and social development.
There is a sentence in the article to share with you: I believe that our motherland has the ability to turn things around!!!
Whether it is "Wrangler" or "Spirit and Flesh", both represent the tribute of the creators of different eras to the group that firmly believes in paying for the motherland in turbulent times, and the pain of the past is our cultural symbol, which is worthy of modern people's reflection and tribute.