‘Red movies’ turn lens from history to heroic individuals
A poster of the movie 1921 Photo: FILE
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). To honor revolutionary forerunners’ heroic undertaking of establishing the CPC a century ago during a very hard time, a few movies centering on the Party’s founding, sometimes dubbed “red movies,” were recently released, such as 1921 and Pioneer.
A reflection on red movies that were released in different stages shows that artistic creation varies in terms of aesthetic characteristics. From historically faithful The Creation of A World (1991) to Beginning of the Great Revival (2011), which portrays the volatility of the situation at that time, and on to 1921 and Pioneer which focus on heroic individuals within that historic context, red movies have gradually matured, going through an aesthetic shift from documentary and panoramic recounting, to grand narrative, and further to individual-based storytelling.
Evolving narrative model
In the early 1990s, movies about major historical events were on the rise in terms of quality and quantity. The Creation of A World, which commemorated the CPC’s 70th anniversary, is a documentary film which paints a picture of intellectuals leading the populace to awaken in turbulent times.
The movie features a textbook-style narrative. On one hand, it outlines the historical founding of the CPC in a chronological and progressive order with a rich documentary texture. The director harshly demanded a faithful representation of historical events in the movie. For example, the crew carried out rigorous research on real reasons why pioneering revolutionaries Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao didn’t attend the First CPC National Congress. On the other hand, the movie examines the CPC’s founding panoramically and macroscopically. The narrative unfolds around the serious issue of China’s future direction and who could save the nation, in an effort to reveal the people’s yearning for a leading light in a dark society.
Into the 21st century, the narrative model of red movies started to change amid film industrialization, and under the impact of mainstream blockbusters. Devoted to the 90th anniversary of the CPC’s founding, and set in the ten years after the Revolution of 1911 (also known as the Xinhai Revolution) to 1921 when the Party was founded, Beginning of the Great Revival reproduces magnificent historical happenings through a grand narrative.
However, distinct from a documentary style, and from the panoramic narrative method of The Creation of A World, Beginning of the Great Revival underlines the deeper logic behind the founding of the CPC. For example, it downplays how bleak and tumultuous Chinese society was and the dire economy following the Revolution of 1911, and focuses instead on the “Burning of Zhaojialou” incident in the May-Fourth Movement. [In the incident, indignant students stormed and burned Minister of Communications Cao Rulin’s Beijing residence at Zhaojialou for his betrayal of China’s interests to Japan in the Paris Peace Conference.] The arrangement aims to highlight the resolve of the new force represented by the May Fourth Movement to resist oppression. While evidencing youth’s indignation, it also implies that the new force would surely go on to blaze new trails.
Instead of replicating The Creation of A World’s documentary texture, Beginning of the Great Revival fictionalizes some scenes, such as the Debate at Peking University. By dramatizing a debate between new and old cultures, the director skillfully introduces Li Dazhao’s Marxist views, thereby embodying the dissemination of important thoughts in the early years of the CPC and delivering an enlightenment message to the audience.
The new hit 1921, which celebrates the CPC’s 100th anniversary, makes a breakthrough and innovation in the genre through individualization under a grand narrative. First, it emphasizes stories in which young, hot-blooded representatives of the First CPC National Congress—mainly the couple Li Da and Wang Huiwu—assume the organizational, preparation, and founding roles for the CPC around 1921.
With the narrative method of recounting history through human stories, the movie not only explains the broad historical background, but also sets a personal and life-based tone. Different from previous movies with Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao as protagonists, 1921 features Li Da and Wang Huiwu to give red movies a new feel and freshen up the storytelling model of the genre.
In the movie, such historical events as the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement are set as the background, while the historical foreground is illuminated by life scenes like the relaxing wedding and daily lives of Li Da and Wang Huiwu, the romance between Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui, and Li Da’s casual dinner with Mao Zedong.
This kind of narrative draws the audience closer to history, making it vivid and warm. More importantly, it can inspire the audience to empathize with historical figures more easily, so that viewers get a deeper taste of the pioneers’ firm faith in the ambition of saving the nation, as well as their unyielding spirit.
Similarly, Pioneer also gives individualized accounts amid the integration of revolutionary realism and romanticism. The interesting dialogue between Li Dazhao and Mao Zedong at the hot pot restaurant suggests their profound cross-age friendship, and further conveys the metaphor of carrying on the revolutionary cause from generation to generation.
Aesthetic shift
History comes alive for humanity. The characterization of Chen Duxiu in The Creation of A World was groundbreaking at the time. It objectively affirms his contribution as an advocate of the New Culture Movement and leader of the May-Fourth Movement. Meanwhile, his deep, though guilt-ridden, fatherly love for his son is expressed in a carefully concealed way, adding the sweet vulnerability of human nature to the leader.
Beginning of The Great Revival adopts the business strategy of an all-star cast. The gathering of 108 stars led to the red movie’s big success in the box office and added to its public reputation. However, too many figures are involved in the history, from the Revolution of 1911 to the founding of the CPC. The sheer quantity makes it difficult to deeply develop each character’s personality, which weakens the movie’s philosophical quality.
On the contrary, 1921 not only focuses on individuals, but also encompasses the CPC’s affinity to the people while presenting how youthful China was at that time, in a quite innovative and artistic expression. Through the portrayal of leaders, it captures the brilliance of their humanity in their daily lives, so that the audience can feel their personal charisma and profound thoughts when empathizing with them.
For example, the Lis in the movie interact sweetly, exchange banter, and are bothered by financial problems just like ordinary couples. These details bring the audience closer to history. Mao Zedong is likewise characterized as an ordinary man through the story of his romance with Yang Kaihui, particularly in the moment where they reluctantly part on the dock.
Appreciating the details from these historical figures’ lives, the audience doesn’t feel far from historical topics. Instead, they obtain a sense of identity. On this basis, the movie bonds individual fates with the missions of family and nation by interpreting the CPC’s care for the people, and thus, the great event of the CPC’s founding still echoes in our present age.
For instance, Li Da risks being followed and exposed by Japanese agents as he resolutely runs to the printing house to modify the phrase “baixing” (civilians) into “renmin” (people) in an article he translated. “‘Civilians’ is a general reference; but ‘People’ are masters of the country!,” he earnestly explained his insistence to the confused printers.
He Shuheng was an upright scholar from the late Qing Dynasty. In the movie, he recalls the day when the empress dowager of the Qing court summoned candidates to the palace examination, the intellectuals were ordered to kneel outside the temple and not allowed to raise their heads. He asks whether a nation can have a future if intellectuals are not allowed to stand up straight with their heads held high. His longing for dignity hints at the inseparable relationship between individuals and the nation, reflecting an affinity for the people.
In Pioneer, the personal detail of Li Dazhao playing the piano makes the character more interesting. When his wife Zhao Renlan runs her fingers across the piano remembering her husband who died a heroic death, the piano’s sound carries her deeper into grief, and indicates that such revolutionary martyrs as Li Dazhao were also ordinary people with worldly emotions.
The depiction of a youthful China is another component of the movie. It captures that the average age was 28 among representatives of the First CPC National Congress by hiring a batch of young actors to represent youth’s vigor and bold spirit, and mirror the youthful mental outlook of the Party.
At the important historical juncture of the CPC’s 100th anniversary, an analysis of the creation and evolution of movies on the Party’s founding can reveal different aesthetic characteristics of the genre in different times. Making new advances within similar film genres is a common challenge facing filmmakers. However, it is clear that films about history should absorb contemporary perspectives to produce classical works with epochal significance.
Wang Wenjun is from the Institute of Films and Television at the Chinese National Academy of Arts.
Edited by CHEN MIRONG