Popular Cinema and Political Thought in Post-Mao China

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42 Paul G. PickowiczLegend of Tianyun Mountain, now characterized as a film that "runs counterto reality" ( weifan zhenshi) . 12 Movie theaters and television stations werediscouraged from screening it.As a result of the controversy surrounding Bitter love in 1981, a secondimportant film, A corner forgotten by love, was in serious p~liti~al troub.leeven before it was released. A production of the small Erne! Film Studioin Sichuan this movie was based on an award-winning short story publishedin early 1980 by Zhang Xian, a victim of the anti-Rightist movement in1957. 13 Completed in late 1981, A corner forgotten by love came extremelyclose to being "executed," that is, killed by cultural censors. 14 The film wasfinally released in early 1982, after the political dust of the first campaignagainst bourgeois liberalization had settled, but it was denied the usualpublicity given to new productions. . .Set in 1979 well after the death of Mao and the arrest of his leadmgproponents, th~ story is about an utterly destitute peasant household in adepressing and forgotten corner of a remote county. The hea~ of the hous~hold,Shen Shanwang, had been a deputy co-op leader in the mid-1950s, pnor tothe collectivization of agriculture. During the Great Leap Forward in 1958,however, he was dismissed from his post and branded a rightist because heopposed the cutting down of valuable fruit trees. to fuel backya.rd steelfurnaces. Like the protagonist of The legend of Tranyun Mountam, Shenwas treated as a social outcast for the next twenty years. In 1974, duringthe Cultural Revolution, his eldest daughter, Cunni, committed suicide afterthe local militia discovered that she was having a sexual relationship witha hardworking local lad. .A comer forgotten by love focuses on Shen's second daughter, HuangnKI,who was born during the post-Great Leap famine. Haunted by the memoryof her sister's awful fate, Huangmei must come to terms with the rumblingsof her own sexual awakening in 1979. She is at once attracted to andfrightened by a poor, but forward-looking, young cadre named. Xu Rongs~u,who insists that the grinding poverty the village has known smce collectivizationcan be broken if the households are allowed to develop private cottageindustries sow cash crops, and sell their goods at the free market. Huangmei'smother s~spects that the young man is about to make the sort of rightisterrors that ruined her husband twenty years before and is terrified thatanother sexual scandal is on the horizon. Arrangements are soon made forHuangmei to marry a ma:n in another village for 500 yuan, a sum that willget her family out of debt.In mid-1982, within weeks of its release, A corner forgotten by love wasattacked by hostile critics who disliked its graphic depiction of rural misery: 15Still, A comer forgotten by love, like The legend of Tianyun Mountam,had many supporters in the press and film worlds. Zhang Xian's screenplaytook first place at the second annual Jinji Film Award ceremony and HeXiaoshu, who portrayed the mother, Linghua, won the trophy for bestsupporting actress. Although this film was not among the top three votegettersin the popular Hundred Flowers competition, it was on a very shortPopular Cinema and Pclist of works describe
Paul G. Pickowicz1 that "runs counterision stations weree in 1981, a secondus political troubleEmei Film Studioart story publishedhtist movement inove came extremelysors. 14 The film wasthe first campaigns denied the usualrrest of his leadingant household in aad of the household,mid-1950s, prior top Forward in 1958,rightist because hefuel backyard steeln Mountain, Shenrs, In 1974, duringmitted suicide afteral relationship withaughter, Huangmei,ted by the memorywith the rumblingse attracted to andnamed Xu Rongshu,own since collectivelopprivate cottagemarket. Huangmei 'sthe sort of rightistmd is terrified thats are soon made foruan, a sum that willxgotten by lm·e wasion of rural misery, 15Tianyun Mountain,.ng Xian's screenplayi ceremony and Hethe trophy for bestthe top three votewason a very shortPopular Cinema and Political Thought 43list of works described at the award ceremony as the best-liked films of 1981.The ministry of culture also certified this film as one of the nine bestfeatures made in 1981. 16 Still, to this day, A comer forgotten by love isnot permitted to be screened publicly outside China.The last film I want to discuss, At middle age, a product of the ChangchunFilm Studio, was based on a novella published by Chen Rong in January1980_17 Like the other movies mentioned here, the filming of At middleage was interrupted time and again by the ongoing controversy surroundingthe original work of fiction. Released in early 1983, the film took morethan two years to shoot. 1 HSet in 1979, this film tells the sad story of a forty-two-year-old woman,Lu Wenting, whose physical and emotional health breaks down as sheunsuccessfully attempts to play the conflicting roles of eye surgeon, wife,and mother of two. A promising medical graduate in 1961, Lu is completingher eighteenth year of residency at a Beijing hospital as the film opens.Despite her dedication and high level of skill, Lu, a nonparty intellectual,earns only 56 yuan a month (that is, less than a barber) in 1979 and herfamily of four lives in a 130-square-foot room, Her workload is oppressive,she feels guilty about neglecting her children, and her marriage is passionless.As she is recovering from a debilitating heart attack that weakens her stillfurther, a major question is posed: Should she try once again to carry onwith her work in hopes that the party's outrageous treatment of intellectualswill improve or, like her best friend and colleague Yafen, who has decidedto emigrate to Canada, should she give up hope that life in China willsomeday change?By the time At middle age appeared in early 1983, the political stormdirected at the original work of fiction had subsided. It still had somepowerful detractors, but, like The legend of Tianyun Mountain and A cornerforgotten by love, At middle age did extremely well at the box office andwas praised by many film professionals, Film viewers chose it as the bestfilm of 1982 in the sixth annual Hundred Flowers competition and actressPan Hong took top honors in the best actress category at the third annualJinji Film Award ceremony sponsored by the film establishment. 19One way to begin to understand the popularity of political melodramaslike these three films among many film professionals and among educated. young city dwellers is to contrast the social views contained in such worksto important, even pathbreaking, official pronouncements published at aboutthe same time. Democracy Wall was gone by late 1979, but party ideologistswere still under considerable pressure to explain the mistakes made by theparty in the years after 1949. There was also a persistent call for a funda_mentalreevaluation of Maoism and the personal role of Mao Zedong followmg theestablishment of the People's Republic Reform-minded people inside andoutside the party were demanding that the party send a clear signal that thenightmares of the past would not be repeated and that there was hope forpolitical and economic reform. The spectacular trial of the Gang of Four,which opened in late November 1980, was welcomed by most urbanites,
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Popular Cinema and Political Thought in Post-Mao China

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