§01
"Don't say eat you a few rotten watermelons, Lao Tzu doesn't ask for prices when he eats in the city..." This is a classic line of the "fat translator" who nibbled on watermelon in his mouth in the old movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", presumably, this sentence is the same as "I Hu Hansan is back again" and other famous sentences, which makes people remember it vividly.
This line comes from Wang Shu, an old actor at the North Film Studio.
In the middle of the scene where the fat translator ate the watermelon, the fat translator not only wasted the watermelon, but also brazenly shouted the above sentence. If it were not the famous reconnaissance hero Luo Jinbao and the tiger-headed soldier Zhang Ga sitting opposite, ordinary people would have been frightened long ago. Seeing that the fat translator had no scruples, Old Uncle Luo said: This year, we must leave some back roads for doing things! The fat translator was surprised: What? Luo Jinbao also said a famous line: Have you not heard anyone say it? Don't look at today's fun, just be afraid to pull the list in the future!
When the fat translator suspected that this pair of watermelons was selling eight roads, Luo Jinbao made a look, gazi picked up half a watermelon and slammed it into the fat translator's face, the glasses were immediately knocked off, and half of the watermelon was also buckled on his head. Old Uncle Luo took advantage of the situation and jumped up, pulled out his gun, and the fat translator obediently raised his hands. It was also at that time that Zhang Gazi's wooden gun became a real guy.
Later, Wang Shu talked about this bridge section, was the watermelon really buckled on the actor's head? In fact, there was no, the watermelon at that time was buckled to the front of the camera lens, and then the watermelon was put on the actor's head, and the two shots were connected together, which became the classic "buckle watermelon" bridge section. Wang Shu said that the storage conditions at that time were different from now, when filming the scene of eating watermelon, the watermelon was a bit sloppy because of the relationship between the seasons, however, the shooting requirements, he had to eat 3 large pieces of watermelon in a row. He said it was disgusting to think about afterwards!
Wang Shu is a translator in the film, in fact, what many people don't know is that it is a translator in itself. Before the founding of New China, he translated dozens of Russian and English film and television works.
§02
In "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", although the number of appearances of the fat translator is not much, Wang Shu's highly personalized performance has left a deep memory for generations of audiences.
So, what was the opportunity for "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" to choose him as this translator? Wang Shu originally worked as a translator for the Soviets, but in the 1960s, Sino-Soviet relations broke down, and Wang Shu, as a translator, became an idler, and the most work he did was to show the door to Beiying.
After "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" began to select actors, the actor who played the fat translator in the film first looked for Guan Zongxiang, and after the actor's modeling came out, director Cui Wei felt that Guan Zongxiang played a pseudo captain more appropriately. The fat translator had no place, and it just so happened that the photographer Nie Jing and Wang Shu were both from the northeast and were very familiar with it, so they recommended Wang Shu, who had acted in "The Victory of the People of Inner Mongolia" and "After the Armistice". Therefore, there is this vivid image of a fat translator.
Wang Shu, formerly known as Wang Shuxiang, was born in Harbin in 1928 and was originally from Changli, Hebei. His father was a surveyor under Zhan Tianyou and spoke fluent English. When Wang Shu was a child, his nannies and teachers were all Russians, and this living and learning environment laid the foundation for his Russian language.
At the end of 1949, Wang Shu served as the deputy head of the translation film department of the East Film Studio. In 1963, because he was the translator of several former Soviet film experts, the experts went to the Beijing Film Academy, and Wang Shu was also transferred to Beijing to continue to work as an interpreter for the experts.
In the 1960s, Sino-Soviet relations broke down, the former Soviets withdrew, and he began to work as an actor in the North Film Actors Troupe. After that, he played the Great Lama in "The Victory of the People of Inner Mongolia", Zhu Botao in "After the Armistice", Wang Translator in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", Niu Shi commander in "Soldiers Under the City", the white porcelain in the fairy tale film "Next Voyage to the Port" and Huang Mo in "The Horse Running to the Screen". In 2000, he also participated in the performance of the Chinese New Year TV series "Rock Sugar Gourd".
However, because Wang Shu is basically a supporting role, the fat translator of "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" has become the "peak" of his art.
§03
Of course, Wang Shu's main business is not to be an actor, but in the final analysis, it is still translation. In his translation work, he has translated more than 40 films from the former Soviet Union, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, the GDR and Romania.
For example, the former Soviet Union's "Great Turning Point" (co-translation), "Xia Boyang", "Victory And Homecoming", "Red Scarf", "Little Captain", "Little Navy", "Mariday", etc.; Czechoslovakia's "Water Embankment", "Tomorrow's Joyful Song and Dance", "Sisters", etc.; Hungary's "Fire", "Karčak Operation Team", etc.; Bulgaria's "Danka", etc.; the GDR's "Cold Heart", "Daily Food" and Romania's "Explosion" (co-translation) and "Boiling Life" (co-translation).
As we all know, in 2004, the TV series "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" premiered on CCTV Eight. In the play, the famous actor Liu Jinshan played the fat translator. In fact, there is still an unknown "origin" between the two. Wang Shu and Liu Jinshan have known each other for a long time, and as soon as he saw Liu Jinshan, he laughed and said that he was like his own fat and energetic back then, and he had escaped a "dog leg" of a "skull eyebrow rat eye". After Wang Shu's reminder, Liu Jinshan also felt that he was very compatible with the "fat translator", so when the director found him, he agreed without saying a word.
Don't look at the characters played by Wang Shu in the movie, most of them are "bad people", but in life, he is a very easy-going person. On March 4, 2003, Wang Shu died in Beijing due to ineffective asthma treatment caused by lung disease.
Hats off to Mr. Wang Shu!
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