1949- 1966: "movies of workers, peasants and soldiers" and "movies with major historical themes"
Since the founding of 1949 New China, China film industry has entered a brand-new era. The seventeen years from 1949 to 1966 is an important period for the development of new China films. During this period, although it was also seriously disturbed by the political climate, it experienced several twists and turns and took a tortuous road. But through unremitting efforts, filmmakers produced more than 600 feature films with rich themes in 17, which made a breakthrough in quantity and quality compared with before the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Movies at this stage can be summarized as "movies of workers, peasants and soldiers" and "writing important historical themes". 1April, 949, Northeast Film Studio produced the first feature film Bridge in New China, which was the first feature film reflecting the direction of workers, peasants and soldiers. "Interestingly, the first film produced by Shanghai Film Studio, one of the three major film bases, in New China was" Nongjiale ",which shows the future trend of new China films.
Since 1953, New China has entered a planned and large-scale economic construction period. Since the First Five-Year Plan, China's films have reflected new people and new things in the process of industrialization and socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce. Such as Young People in Our Village, Li Shuangshuang, Five Golden Flowers, Biography of Veterans, Ashima, etc. Being a classic in China's film history has a lot to do with filmmakers' closeness to people's lives at that time.
The slogan "Write a big theme" was put forward at the meeting of the film steering committee. At that time, influenced by Soviet war films, film managers demanded that films pursue "epic" and even forced creators to write "major themes" with administrative orders. For example, to reflect the theme of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it is required to have an epic scale, and it is stipulated that the top leaders and generals of China and North Korea should appear in the film, and the friendship between the Chinese and North Korean people, the unity of the Chinese and North Korean armed forces and the strategic thinking of war should be expressed. Films reflecting land reform also require a comprehensive reflection of the attitudes of people from all walks of life and all aspects of land reform policies, and become textbooks to guide land reform work.
These works, undertaken by revolutionary historical films, artistically reproduce the hard revolutionary struggles in the political, military and cultural fields led by China's * * * production party before and after the founding of the Party192/KLOC-0 and before the founding of New China. A large number of works in this field have become "red classics" after time elutriation, such as White-haired Girl, Private Zhang Ga, Flying Tigers, Sentinel under Neon Lights, Wild Fire Attacking Ancient City, Red Female Soldiers and so on. There are many fine products and unprecedented influence.
A large number of directors who are good at shooting revolutionary historical themes, such as Yin Cheng, Cui Wei, Ling Zifeng, Su Li, Xie Tieli and Li Jun, etc. They all came directly from the battlefield filled with smoke and were members of the revolutionary ranks. Therefore, in their works, the feelings of the characters, the texture of life and the expression of ideas are convincing. In recent years, these films have been frequently adapted, such as Private Zhang Ga and Sentinel under Neon Lights. Time is enough to prove the charm of these films.
Like the people after liberation, filmmakers at that time were full of revolutionary passion and creative spirit. In a short time, they combined the film form with new life and new characters, and determined to establish a clear and popular socialist film. Unfortunately, the "political standard theory" seriously bound the hands and feet of filmmakers in the seventeen-year period, making them unable to fully display their ambitions. The arrival of the "Cultural Revolution" led the film to a completely strange road.
1966- 1976: China's film "Dancing with shackles"
After the "Cultural Revolution" began, in addition to the "Old Three Wars", seventeen-year films were uprooted and replaced by "model operas". People in the 1960s should be familiar with this word. 1966, People's Daily published an article. For the first time, the Peking Opera The Red Lantern, Taking the Tiger Mountain Outward, Shajiabang, Harbor, Surprise on the White Tiger, Ballet The Red Female Soldier, White-haired Girl and Symphony Music were named as the eight largest.
In a word, the characters in the model operas are proletarian revolutionary heroes of "Three Outstanding" and "Gao Daquan". They are infinitely noble and tall in spirit, but they are not ordinary people, and they have no secular desires of ordinary people. So they are a group of heroes who do not exist in reality and have a strong idealistic color. It is shaped according to the means of shaping God in mythology.
Because the characters in the film are all heroes of Gao Daquan, the creators of the "model opera" film have to solve two problems. First, how to shoot the expression of Peking Opera? The second is how to create an absolutely ideal hero. It is difficult for a first-class filmmaker who dances in fetters to find a way to express this idealized hero. At that time, the shooting techniques explored by film artists, such as "red light", "the enemy is far away and I am close, the enemy is dark and I am bright, the enemy is small and I am big, and the enemy is superior to me", were extremely rigid and dogmatic, but they also added unexpected brilliance to this "branch" that grew out of the ruins.