In the 1960s, a singing movie "Liu Sanjie" was born. After the was popular in the mainland, it caused a sensation in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places, maximizing the export of my country's foreign cultural heritage in difficult times. So, how did such a movie break through many blockades and cause a "tsunami-level" effect overseas? Today Bai Yu will have a good chat with you
1. Hong Kong Hot Screening
Under the international situation at that time, it was almost difficult to play Chinese movie in Hong Kong.
As the political propaganda of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in Hong Kong intensified, the British and Hong Kong authorities promulgated the "Movie Inspection Rules" in November 1953 to express neutrality. The main purpose of establishing this rule is to prevent mutual political propaganda from both sides. It has no clear review rules at all and is determined entirely based on the government's political intentions, so it is called the "Cold War bamboo curtain" effect.
Hong Kong's "Movie Inspection Rules" have a wide range and strict requirements. For example, in the movie, there are shots of soldiers, leaders, national flags, and national anthem, or as long as there are "political" content in the lines, lyrics and even sets, they will be required to be deleted or even banned.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to release a large number of mainland realistic movies in Hong Kong, and further affect the distribution of Nanyang and other places.
According to Mr. Xu Dunle, who had long held an important position in Southern Pictures, they often argued with the film censorship department on the grounds that commercial interests were infringed, and often made the censors speechless and even angry, but they still could not change the fate of most movies being banned. This rule was not until 1987 that the "Movie Censorship Rules" was considered illegal.
So under such strict conditions, the movie "Liu Sanjie" also underwent layers of review. Although this is an adaptation of folk legends, it seems so relaxed and pleasant. Singing, love, and a large number of comedic scenes conceal the original intention of expressing class struggle in creation. The film was indeed successfully reviewed and became one of the few non-opera films that could be released in Hong Kong during this period.
According to the data, "Liu Sanjie" has been screened three large-scale in Hong Kong in 1962, 1964 and 1978. The first release of 1962 lasted 42 days, with a box office of over HK$300,000, which is rare in the local area.
2. Singapore hot screen
Due to the exemplary effect of "Liu Sanjie" in Hong Kong, "Liu Sanjie" immediately attracted Southeast Asian film manufacturers. If the movie wants to be released in these areas, Singapore faces the first difficulty.
962, a film " Sino-Japanese War " was screened in Singapore, causing a sensational national emotional effect and was banned by the Singapore authorities.
Since modern times, Chinese who have traveled across the ocean to unfamiliar countries to explore their own living space is also the Chinese who aim to open up new worlds with their wisdom and hard work. The legend of Liu Sanjie and the unending national sentiment aroused the psychological resonance of too many overseas Chinese at that time.
At the same time, in the early 1960s, the people of Southeast Asia, who were trying to get rid of their long-standing colonial identity, also formed a subtle multiple repetition between the government and the people. After multiple rounds of negotiations, the first round of "Liu Sanjie" was released in Singapore for seven months, which shows its popularity.
However, the relaxed and pleasant superficial story of "Liu Sanjie" made it pass the censorship again, but it was still inevitably involved in various local political contests. New Singapore’s “ People’s Action Party ” once used the mountain song duet in “Liu Sanjie” to satirize the opposition.
Although there is a lack of other materials to prove whether this political folk song battle exists, during the release of "Liu Sanjie", Singapore was indeed in a critical political period of whether to join the Malaysian Federation.
At the same time, another news in the Nanyang Business Daily showed that nearly three months after the film "Liu Sanjie" was popular, the local branch of the People's Action Party held a movie reception, and also screened "Liu Sanjie" and promoted the Malay Federation news film to raise funds for the party's affairs. This also shows to a certain extent that "Liu Sanjie" is indeed involved in local political party activities.
According to Singapore scholars' research, the movie was screened from June 26, 1962 to January 24, 1963, with a total of 968 episodes, with a total of 500,000 audiences, setting a record for the first round of screening of Chinese and Western films in the local area.
In order to avoid falling into the whirlpool of struggle in Singapore, the New Century Company, which released "Liu Sanjie", was temporarily formed by local newspapers, and was immediately disbanded after the screening of "Liu Sanjie".
3. Ban and expectation
Of course, the passage of "Liu Sanjie" in the bamboo curtain is not unimpeded. At that time, Malaysian , which had not established diplomatic relations with China, has long strictly controlled communist thought and Chinese culture.
According to the recollection of Li Fengyou, who was the projectionist of Shaw Malaysia Company at the time, the Malaysian authorities reviewed the film screening very carefully. The projection of the films must be reported in detail to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Political Science one to three months in advance. The film source that has not been approved is a serious violation.
Therefore, although the movie has had a wide influence in Southeast Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore, , "Liu Sanjie" was not possible to be released in Malaysia at that time. Many Malaysian viewers could only go to Singapore to watch the film, and for this reason, there were even special movie tour groups.
In Thailand and other places, the release of "Liu Sanjie" was allegedly damaged and obstructed, staged another political "secret war" during the Cold War. The various obstacles faced when the film was released seemed to be as interesting as Liu Sanjie's resilience song. Watching "Liu Sanjie" not only enjoys the pleasure of focusing on characters defeating the powerful class with their wisdom, but also superimposed on the pleasure of accepting the mysterious spirit of red China and breaking through taboos.
In subtly, the audience's imagination of the already earth-shaking distant China is that Liu Sanjie and A Niu Ge have obtained "divine" class weapons similar to folk songs, and have overwhelmed the evil forces with high fighting spirit, and have lived a beautiful and hopeful life together.
In the memories of Southeast Asian audiences, "Liu Sanjie" is often compared with the Hong Kong martial arts movie " Tangshan Big Brother ". For Chinese people whose foreign ethnic groups have been suppressed for a long time, as long as they change a little, whether it is the landlord who seized the poor or the capitalists who exploited workers' lives, they can easily correspond to various injustice in the real situation. Shan Song is like Chinese Kung Fu . It has become a unique national weapon in the hearts of ordinary people that can defeat all evil forces, and is also a deified force.
1978, "Liu Sanjie" was screened on a large scale in Hong Kong for the third time, and was re-screened many times later. Southern Pictures adopted the promotional method of travel lottery in Guilin, Guangxi. It caused 850,000 Hong Kong audiences to participate in the most sensation.
Similar situations also occur in Malaysia. Due to the long-term local control over Chinese, most Malaysian Chinese gather in "new villages". In 2013, Malaysian scholars organized an open-air screening of "Liu Sanjie". Although it was only played on DVD, the two consecutive weeks of screening still attracted a large number of viewers who watched "Liu Sanjie" across borders in the 1960s.
It is obvious that "Liu Sanjie" has become a common cultural memory for overseas audiences, and has even formed a new cultural tradition of Chinese and overseas Chinese in the world. All of this is intertwined with the nostalgia of the homeland and old friends, forming a deep bond of national emotionality.
