In 1961, "Soldier Station No. 51" filmed by Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio was released nationwide, which swept the north and south of the river and received great attention from the majority of audiences. The film tells the story of the underground military station in Shanghai in 1943 during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which was betrayed by traitors, and the superior sent Comrade Liang Hong to rebuild the No. 51 Military Station and fight with the enemy. The film is a classic anti-Japanese theme, and the shooting method is relatively new and free, bringing a different viewing experience to the audience.
Basic information
Director: Liu Qiong
Writers: Zhang Weiqing/Liang Xin/Liu Quan
Starring: Liang Polo / Zhang Yi / Gao Bo / Gu Yelu
Duration: 94 minutes
Release date: 1961
Producer: Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio
Synopsis
In 1943, the underground military station set up by the New Fourth Army in Shanghai was betrayed by traitors, the station was destroyed, and comrades were sacrificed. The material channels for the New Fourth Army in the Soviet Union were cut off. In order to restore the logistics supply of the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu as soon as possible, the East China Bureau of the COMMUNIST Party of China sent Liang Hong to Shanghai to rebuild No. 51.
Liang Hong sneaked into Shanghai under the name of the gang leader Fan Jinsheng's disciple "Little Boss", and when he arrived in Shanghai, he was targeted by the Japanese Kameda, who asked Ma Fugen, the head of the Japanese intelligence section, to investigate. Liang Hong, in the name of doing business, got in touch with Huang Yuanlong, Fan Jinsheng's great apprentice and the leader of WuSong's patrol regiment.
After gaining Huang Yuanlong's trust, Huang Yuanlong came forward to invite Liang Hong to pull the field. Ma Fugen interrogated Liang Hong in black language at the banquet, and Liang Hong responded with the answer ruliu, but Ma Fugen did not dispel his suspicions. The Japanese Kameda sent people to inquire about Liang Hong's identity, but they were also used by the comrades of the New Fourth Army to prevaricate with false information.
Liang Hong procured a batch of seamless steel pipes for the battle on the front line, but the arms could not be transported. Liang Hong used Huang Yuanlong's greed to do business with Huang Yuanlong. Liang Hong falsely used a batch of department stores to set off from the dock under the jurisdiction of Huang Yuanlong, Liang Hong was alert and precautionary, Ma Fugen came to search and did not find steel pipes, but Huang Yuanlong believed that Ma Fugen deliberately made a trip, and the relationship between the two was even worse.
The Japanese Kameda thought that Liang Hong still had a problem, and sent someone to find the supplier of seamless steel pipes and instructed Ma Fugen to ambush him. Ma Fugen was lazy to send his men to stalk, but he did not expect Liang Hong and others to steal and transport seamless steel pipes without being prepared to disguise themselves as Japanese gendarmes.
Liang Hong took the opportunity to provoke Kameda and Ma Fugen, making Kameda believe that Ma Fugen had betrayed the gendarmerie. Kameda asks Huang Yuanlong to arrest Ma Fugen, but what Kameda does not know is that Huang Yuanlong has been held hostage by Liang Hong and others, and Ma Fugen has also been killed. Liang Hong's successful abduction of Huang Yuanlong's military supplies provided great help for the front-line war.
Film appreciation
In the 1960s, due to the special political background and social environment of the time, film and television works were also subject to some political interference to a greater or lesser extent. Therefore, in today's people's view, the works of that stage are more boring. However, Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio's "Soldier Station No. 51" in 1961 integrated a series of elements such as anti-Japanese resistance, revolution, and espionage warfare, and had the unique romantic realism characteristics of the time, bringing a novel film look.
"Unit 51" is not related to spy warfare at first glance, but it is actually a very typical spy war film. Set against the backdrop of the Anti-Japanese Revolution, it details the reconstruction of a secret contact point and work in Shanghai by Liang Hong, an underground worker of the Communist Party of China. The incident of workers in the film processing seamless steel pipes into gun control to cause military items also praises the contribution of the working class to the anti-Japanese revolution.
This film adopts a narrative technique that combines the main line and the auxiliary line. The story unfolds with the construction of a military station to restore supplies as the main line, and three auxiliary lines are connected, namely liang hong and his comrades' mission, Liang Hong's infiltration, and the capture of the Japanese Kameda. Liang Hong's task was to obtain a batch of seamless steel pipes, which could only be transported to prove the successful establishment of the military station, and the main line of building the military station to restore supplies was completed.
The auxiliary line of Liang Hong's infiltration and gang members is particularly critical, which is the focus of guiding the direction of the plot, because only through the docks under the jurisdiction of the gang member Huang Yuanlong can seamless steel pipes be transported, and finally the plot against Huang Yuanlong will facilitate future transportation. It also means that the successful establishment of the military station has also completed the main line. The three auxiliary lines are connected to each other to promote the development of the main line, the storyline is interlocked, and the logic is very strict.
Most of the anti-special films and spy films of the 1950s and 1960s had a lot of experience in character creation, and "Soldier Station 51" was no exception. Liang Hong is also one of the characters that has been talked about by many audiences for many years. He wore a long robe, showing elegance and weakness, making it difficult to combine him with the image of a warrior.
In order to fully reflect the vividness of the character image, the director uses the character dressing style to reflect the obvious changes in his personality. Liang Hong is a warrior who disguises himself as a gang member and a businessman, and when he lurks, he must wear a long shirt and behave decently, and behave neatly and weakly. However, as soon as the camera switches and the comrades meet, they immediately turn into short linen clothes, appearing tough and capable, decisive and crisp, and have a spirit of resistance.
The most impressive thing in the film is the clip of Huang Yuanlong inviting the big guys to pull the field for Liang Hong. The director highlights Liang Hong's thoughtfulness. Ma Fugen, who is also a gang member as a lackey of the Japanese, expressed suspicion of Liang Hong and interrogated him in black language. Liang Hong was also prepared in advance, and they all answered like a stream, and they behaved in the face of many big men. Not only that, he also used fan jinsheng's name to cover up the fact that he had not met before. All these reflect Liang Hong's improvisation and intelligence.
Netizen reviews
howe ★★★★ 2014-09-29
The suspenseful setting is very interesting, some nerve-wrenching narrative techniques are quite advanced, and the characters have distinct personalities, but the character dialogue to the black field and then to the character dialogue is a bit boring. If there is no stereotypical constraint like the main melody film, this film will probably be more evaluated
shipengpeng ★★★★★ 2018-05-18
Occasionally turning out this 1961 antique feels quite good, the film is not as sensational and dragging mud and water as most of this genre films, the rhythm is tense and tight, giving people a feeling of step by step. The yellow regiment leader in the other film is too comedic, adding a lot of color to the film.
kiyoni ★★★★ 2019-07-06
Halfway through watching it, I thought I had seen this in an open-air movie as a child. In fact, the overall script is very neat, the layout of the narrative line and the interweaving of the main line branch are very skilled, if you abandon the overly clear and stereotypical character position setting, I believe it will make more people happy to accept.