【Red Culture Picks Up Interests】
Original title: The movie “Eternal Life in Fire” was born like this
Sketches of Jiang Jie and Xu Yunfeng in the brochure of the movie “Eternal Life in Fire”
From right to left: Yu Lan, Zhao Dan, Wang Yang (former director of the North Film Studio), director Shui Hua, photographer Zhu Jinming, courtesy of China Film Archive
In the summer of 1942, the Yanhe River was flooded, and the fields on both banks were washed away. Many young literary and artistic young people in Lu Yi come from the city, and they have never seen such a scene before, so they went to watch it. Some people found that the muddy water submerged the melon fields, and when the water was stepped on, the watermelons floated. This made them feel novel, and after having fun, they brought back a few little melons. That night, the Luyi Party Branch held a general meeting of the whole hospital to talk about this matter. At the beginning, young people felt that it was a big deal, and it was not until they heard that when they heard that they were stepping on melons, the crowd was in tears of distress, and then they realized how distressing that kind of behavior was. The playground was silent.
The 26-year-old Shui Hua felt ashamed. He suddenly remembered one of the core issues of literature and art mentioned by Comrade Mao Zedong in his speech at the Yan’an Symposium on Literature and Art not long ago – for the masses. Shui Hua originally thought that as a comrade who had joined the Nanjing Branch of the Left-wing Drama League in 1934 and had just joined the Party in March 1942, he would have no problem in this regard. The laughter in the melon fields shows that they are still alienated and isolated from the masses.
Shortly thereafter, Shui Hua wrote and directed the Yangko opera “Zhang Pimo Hoe the Traitor”, the protagonist is a peasant underground party member. The music of this play adopts the folk “five changes”. It should be said that the main creators who came from big city intellectuals have sincerely tried to get close to the masses. But the actors were all stunned after singing their lines, for no reason, it was just wrong. Among them was Yu Lan, who was sometimes 21 years old and came to Yan’an from Peiping. Shuihua had an idea and invited a mass of people with experience in struggle. He taught Yu Lan how to do underground work: change the Red Army uniforms into old sheepskin jackets as soon as possible, listen to the secret signal before opening the door, and use a rice spoon to block the light when lighting the lights at night… Yu Lan felt that the play was over in an instant.
This year, Zhao Dan, a movie star who was once popular all over Shanghai, spent his third year in prison under the Xinjiang warlord Sheng Shicai. He and a few friends were deceived by Sheng’s false policies and traveled thousands of miles from Chongqing to the most northwestern part of the motherland, expecting a grand exhibition of art, but unexpectedly saw and experienced the brutality of the Kuomintang reactionaries in an extreme way. At the same time, inmates from all ethnic groups gave Zhao Dan meticulous care. In order to protect Zhao Dan from being beaten by prison guards, a Uyghur brother blocked the stick with iron nails with his palm, and the floor was bleeding. Zhao Dan burst into tears while hugging his cellmates.
It was also this summer that Melles of the US Naval Intelligence Agency and Dai Li, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics of the Military Commission of the National Government, set out to organize a military spy agency. This institution, which was established in Chongqing the following year and named “Sino-US Special Technical Cooperation Institute”, committed heinous crimes. However, contrary to the original intention of its establishment, the fire of purgatory has tempered the “red rock spirit”. The spirit of Hongyan has ignited the minds of countless people and illuminated the historical path and future direction of a nation.
In 1962, Shui Hua began to adapt the novel “Red Rock” into a film. History has once again demonstrated its sense of drama: Yan’an and Shanghai, the two most important forces in modern Chinese literature and art, will converge into the mainstream of new Chinese films, and Yu Lan and Zhao Dan will serve as the starring roles in this film. Their previous lives seemed to be making some accidental and inevitable preparations for the birth of this film.
In 1958, the revolutionary memoir “Eternal Life in Fire” was published, and in 1961, the novel “Red Rock” with the same theme was published, which caused a sensation and was soon adapted into various versions of drama and opera. Yu Lan read the novel through the “China Youth Daily” serialization during hospitalization and was deeply attracted. She recommended it to the Beijing Film Studio, and went to the newspaper to ask for the author’s contact information. In 1963, the original authors Luo Guangbin, Yang Yiyan and Liu Debin were invited to Beidaihe to write the first draft of the script. As a novel reader, Shui Hua is also very excited and passionate; as a film writer, he has shown strong rational power. When he was writing the second draft, he not only communicated deeply with the writers, but also led the creative staff to travel around Beijing, Chongqing, and Guiyang to search for living people related to this period of history. The daughter of Xian (the prototype of Xu Yunfeng), the prototype of Hua Ziliang, Han Zidong, the sister of Xiaoluotou, etc., including the military leader Xu Yuanju (the prototype of Xu Pengfei) who is serving a sentence in the People’s Prison, and Shen Zui (the prototype of Shen Yangzhai) who has served in the CPPCC Literature and History Information Committee. etc., to understand the psychology of those characters and the logic of their actions. After returning from the interview, Yu Lan and others compiled more than a dozen short biographies of characters, totaling 300,000 words. Regardless of historical evidence or emotional reserves, it can be said that it is not insufficient. It is precisely because everything is ready, it is difficult to find the most powerful east wind from an artistic point of view, condensing and sublimating the spirit of Hongyan in the limited time of the film.
This conundrum is in the hands of Xia Yan, one of the pioneers of left-wing theatre and film. The opinion he gave was unexpected: Jiang Jie, who had only two scenes in the second draft, was set as the main line throughout the whole film. Xia Yan determined that Sister Jiang would be the person that people all over the country would care about. In Yu Lan’s memory, Xia Yan then said, “Don’t disturb me, I’ll change it.” Then, in the fragrance of magnolia flowers in Xinhui County, Guangdong, he wrote the third draft in a week, and the title of the film also changed from “Red”. Rock” was changed to “Eternal Life in Fire”. After Shui Hua finished reading it, she thought it was time to shoot.
The new script caused a lot of trouble for Yu Lan. She originally planned to learn to be a director through this filming, and has been working as an assistant director. Now she has to return to the role of the starring role, and carefully consider Xia Yan’s advice: You play Sister Jiang, don’t play Liu Hulan, and don’t play the role of Liu Hulan. Cheng Zhao Yiman.
At this time, Shuihua entrusted Yu Lan with another job: inviting Zhao Dan to play the role of Xu Yunfeng. This casting suggestion was put forward by photographer Zhu Jinming. He is Zhao Dan’s acquaintance and a prisoner in Xinjiang who was tortured. He believes that this role is none other than “Adan”. Before that, Zhao and Yu had collaborated on the production of a biopic of Lu Xun, and this letter was appropriate because it was written by Lan Lai. But Yu Lan felt embarrassed and felt that with Zhao Dan’s status in the film industry, it would be difficult to ask someone to play No. 2. However, when Zhao Dan received the sincere and tactful letter, he didn’t care about the proportion of the role, and he immediately replied: How much I yearn for Comrade Shuihua to work with you as a collective! I will come, I will come!
At that moment, Zhao Dan may recall that in 1933, when he directed American playwright O’Neill’s play “Out of the Sky” in Shanghai, Shui Hua first appeared on the stage as his younger brother.
That letter was sent overnight by Zhao Dan using the fastest air letter at the time. Two days later, he received an invitation telegram from the Beijing Film Studio.
In 1964, Zhao Dan arrived in Chongqing by boat. In 1939, he left Chongqing and was soon thrown into prison; this time he returned, and he had to compose the “prisoner song” again. It was Zhu Jinming who greeted him at Chaotianmen Wharf, which made Zhao Dan, who had experienced vicissitudes of life, hard to let go. When Yu Lan invited him to visit the Sino-US Cooperation Institute and other places, Zhao Dan actually refused. After Luo Guangbin came to the door, his heart knot opened. Zhao Dan immediately realized that his familiarity with the old Chongqing was limited to daily scenes; and the environment of the White Mansion in Zhazidong could never be felt by imagination alone.
After entering the state of creation, Zhao Dan found that the three original authors also seemed to have knots. Their attitude towards the current script is respectful and polite, yet disapproving. After many earnest conversations, they revealed their true thoughts: the novel follows the combination of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism, and is full of legend; while the script adheres to realism and is reserved. The two aesthetics are very different. Therefore, Shui Hua, Yu Lan, Zhu Jinming and others also joined the discussion. From the point of view of art philosophy, that discussion actually went deep into the level of how to complete the theoretical construction of modern Chinese literature and art. When they finally determined the style of “Eternal Life in Fire” as “a heroic ode to romanticism based on revolutionary realism”, they actually inadvertently completed an innovation with the thinking of “degree” in Chinese philosophy practice.
At the same time, preparations for the actual shooting are in full swing. The Chongqing Duyou Street was transformed back to the 1940s in the hands of the Beijing Film Studio’s art team. Comrades from the Chongqing Art Troupe, who acted as a group performer, mobilized the masses to rummage through the boxes to find old clothes, and the final effect was comparable to a documentary image. In the Chinese film industry at that time, there were all kinds of forced simplicity, as well as the texture and sincerity that the over-developed technological myths of later generations could no longer match.
Years later, when Yu Lan reviewed this creation, the first thing Yu Lan mentioned was a regret: In the film, Sister Jiang first saw her husband’s head hanging above the city gate, and then met the old woman with two guns. Too strong and self-controlled; if she cried out, it would be more in line with Sister Jiang’s mood. In contrast, when expressing her feelings for the young son and the little radish head, Yu Lan’s motherhood is much more natural and abundant, which comes from the deep shock she got from Sister Jiang’s real deeds. On the other hand, Shui Hua’s handling of the scene of Sister Jiang’s arrest and trial is full of tension. After the enemy’s coercion and inducements were fruitless, the door of the torture room was opened, and the flame of the burning iron illuminated the new extended space. Sister Jiang entered purgatory on earth with a calm expression. Later, the accusation that Lan’s performance was “insufficient” actually showed that the artistic image that Shui Hua pursued – “a strong warrior, a gentle mother” – had succeeded. As a result, Yu Lan has been embraced by generations of audiences, which in turn gave her a well-deserved unease.
Zhao Dan, who is willing to be No. 2, fully enjoys the fun of creation. Two of his best scenes were improvisations. The first is that when the military police are on the street checking pedestrians, Xu Yunfeng, played by Zhao Dan, smartly buys a copy of “Central Daily” as a cover. The newspaper created by the Kuomintang was so unpopular with Chongqing people back then that the military and police were a little surprised when they opened it. There was a small pause in the rhythm of the performance. Zhao Dan suddenly grabbed the newspaper and walked away, leaving behind two. Confused group performance. Second, Xu Yunfeng Cafe had an appointment with Fu Zhigao, realizing that this person had put the party organization in danger, and he was shocked and angry. Zhao Dan moved subconsciously, the spoon fell into the cup, and with a clang, he reminded Xu (also Zhao) to restrain himself. By the time Pai Xu was arrested, Zhao Dan had turned into a revolutionary martyr and completely forgot himself. He stood calmly at the top of the wooden ladder of the tea house, attracting all the attention of the spies and traitors, and withstood all the pressure of the plot. On the screen, Zhao Dan slowly walked down the diagonal line, so heroic that his old friend Xie Tian stopped watching, and even called “the most delicious” and “the most delicious”, and even said that he would definitely go down the stairs next time.
Everything complies with the artistic law of realism, and everything also contains the romance and poetry that history and reality already have. Yu Lan and others remembered that Fang Shu, who played Little Radish Head, was only 6 years old and had no idea about acting. Shuihua hugged her in his arms, held her two little hands with his hands, and told her not to bruise the little butterfly in her hand, and to make it fly higher. In 1986, scholar Chen Xihe revealed the mystery: when Shuihua expressed a strong revolutionary passion, it did not lose its moving taste of life, so that the concept of “revolution”, which had become more and more rigid at that time, became more and more rigid at the time. His works have become full of humanity and touching; it is hard to forget the yearning for freedom and happiness under the barricades.
After the demo came out, Guo Moruo wrote the title of the film. It caused a sensation in the film circle first, and at the same time, there were also visiting Japanese colleagues who were excited to point out that this was a kind of film that would never exist in Japan. As deputy director Zhao Yuan realized later, there are many Chinese and foreign films that reflect the struggle in prisons, but none of them are like “Eternal Life in Fire”, which will have these scenes: the prisoners are wearing shackles and twisting Yangko, holding flags and elegiac couplets to open in prison. At the memorial service, several female prisoners secretly embroidered the five-star red flag they imagined…
By chance, Yu Lan was able to convey to Premier Zhou Enlai his wish to review the samples. Premier Zhou really came. Accompanied by the main creator and others, he saw the mountain city where he fought and left footprints again through artistic images in the projection hall of the News Film Studio. When the scene of Martyr Long Guanghua’s sacrifice was shown, Premier Zhou exclaimed softly and said to himself: It’s very touching.
This review not only paved the way for “Eternal Life in Fire” to finally meet the masses, but also promoted the final completion of the creation. Premier Zhou suggested that there should be a re-shoot of the heroic scene of the martyr’s heroic sacrifice, and he also specifically instructed to call Zhao Dan, who was already in Shanghai, to be recalled. This scene was filmed in Xishan, Beijing, and the poster of the movie also adopted the design of Xu and Jiang generously when they died.
In the summer of 1965, “Eternal Life in Fire” officially came out, and was loved by the audience without any suspense. The praise of the people is the greatest affirmation of an artist and a work of art.
“Eternal Life in Fire” is Zhao Dan’s last film work and is known as the peak of his actor career.
In 1981, the film “Death of Sadness” was released. Director Shui Hua reconstructed Lu Xun’s famous works with amazing pioneering ideas, and explored the hearts of a generation of Chinese intellectuals.
In the same year, Yu Lan became the first director of the Beijing Children’s Film Studio, contributing the rest of his life to the Chinese children’s film industry. That’s also for Sister Jiang’s child, for the little radish head.
The Jialing River is still surging, and the modern urban wonders of Chongqing continue to arouse laughter and laughter among young people in the new era. In the Hongyan exhibition hall, some martyrs and victims still only have names, and people have not been able to find their photos.
The spirit of Hongyan has entered Chinese films, and Chinese films have also been integrated into Chinese history.
(Author: Zuo Heng, Director of the Film Culture Research Department of the China Film Art Research Center)