Author: Sang Hu Publishing House: Peking University Press Publishing Year: 2007-1-1
Sang Hu (1916-2004) Director has expanded the geographical style of Chinese films with the living space and family landscape of Shanghai citizens, and added the theme of social realistic with "trivial sorrow and joy", "small love and hate", and "friction of good and evil". The creation of
Sang Gu has made social films no longer a monochrome political image of the times, but a variegated image of sentient beings on earth.
Jiang Tianliu's image in the movie "Long Live the Madam" (1947)
As a film master of the old generation of China, she started to create the first movie script "Spirit and Meat" in 1941, and completed her work at the age of 74 in 1990———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— He directed more than 30 screen works, including the first color opera film in New China "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" (1954), the first color feature film " Blessing " (1956), and the first wide-screen three-dimensional film "The Magician's Adventure" (1962), and represented by films such as "Long Live the Lady" (1947), " Sorrow and Joy Middle-aged " (1949), setting a precedent for Chinese comedy films.
Yuan Xuefen and Fan Ruijuan in the color opera film Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (1954)
Bai Yang in the movie "Blessings" (1956)
Compared with the predecessors Cai Chusheng (1906-1968) and Sun Yu (1900-1990), Sang Hu seems to lack intensity and not romantic enough, but he enjoys a unique reality. He portrays the helplessness and panic of a specific class in the life picture that is almost " naturalism ", and this helplessness and panic are not lacking in sharpness and strength to penetrate the darkness and corruption of a society.
Chen Qiang and Han Fei in the movie "The Adventure of the Magician" (1962)
Among the 100 Chinese films in the 20th century that Asia Weekly reviewed in 1999, Sang Hu's works include three, including "Long Live the Madam", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and "Blessings", which are more than Cai Chusheng (1906-1968) and Zhang Yimou .
[The enlightenment teacher is Zhu Shilin]
Sang Hu, original name Li Peilin, originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang, was born in Shanghai on December 22, 1916.
He studied in the Department of Journalism of Fudan University, . After leaving the school, he went to a bank as a small employee.
Sang Hu was shot in 1935
Sang Hu has had a wide range of interests since childhood, and is especially fond of drama and movies. He often took advantage of Sunday vacation to watch three movies a day, and wrote down his movie essays, and wrote short and concise film reviews or drama review articles to publish them in the newspaper.
1935, Sang Hu, who was less than 20 years old, met famous dramatists such as Zhou Xinfang (1895-1975), Ouyang Yuqian (1889-1962), which further motivated him to have passion for literary and artistic creation in his spare time.
In 1941, he created the script "Spirit and Meat", which used the stage name Sang Hu. It is said that this stage name originated from "I meant the Pang Ya Sang Hu back then, so how could I start to read for fame and fortune."
Sang Hu
1942, he wrote two scripts "The Bedroom Night" and "After the Dusk", both of which were brought to the screen by director Zhu Shilin (1899-1967). After winning the Anti-Japanese War , he joined Wenhua Film Company, and director Zhu Shilin became his enlightenment teacher for film directors.
At this time, he had more opportunities to approach Zhou Xinfang and continued to write articles about Peking Opera and introduce the performance art of " Qipai ".
stills of the movie "Fake Phoenix Void" (1947), Shi Hui and Li Lihua
He particularly appreciates the simplicity and vitality of Zhou Xinfang's Peking Opera performing arts, with a strong sense of rhythm, easy to understand, and tasted by both the elegant and the masses.
He also absorbed the light, peaceful and rigorous artistic style from the calligraphy art of Hongyi Master ( Li Shutong ) with softness and hardness and needles hidden in the cotton.
Sang Hu once treasured the word "Master Hongyi", but unfortunately he was confiscated during the ten years of civil strife and was unable to retrieve the word "Master Hongyi" during his lifetime.
Stills from the movie "Fake Phoenix" (1947), Shi Hui and Li Lihua
When talking about this matter, Sang Hu once felt very sorry, because Master Hongyi's art pays attention to the implicit, thick, sad but not sad, and inner but not revealing style, which laid a solid foundation for Sang Hu's creative path.
Soon after Sang Hu joined Wenhua Film Company, he wrote the movie script "Fake Phoenix" (1947). The film was directed by Huang Zuolin (1906-1994) and was made into a comedy film.
The story tells about a hairdresser No. 3 who was entrusted by someone to pretend to be the general manager of Dafeng Enterprise Company and propose to Miss Fan Ruhua, the daughter of an overseas Chinese tycoon who advertised for marriage.
Image of Liu Qiong and Chen Yanyan in the movie "Unbreakable Love" (1947)
In fact, Fan Ruhua was also a young widow pretending to be rich because she was heavily in debt. Both of them tried their best to conceal their true identities and made a lot of jokes during their meetings and interactions.
In the end, the two of them, as well as the barber No. 7 and the other lady, painfully tore off their masks, realized the mistake of deceiving each other, and finally became two happy couples.
Liu Qiong's image in the movie "Unforgettable Love" (1947)
This film uses a satirical comedy style to deeply expose the intrigues and deceitfulness of the old society.
[Collaborated with Zhang Ailing three times]
In 1946, director Sang Hu, who was working at Wenhua Company, was introduced by friends such as Ke Ling (1909-2000) and met the writer Zhang Ailing (1920-1995) and invited her to write a script.
At this time, the 27-year-old Zhang Ailing was in a period of emotional depression, and she soon wrote the script for "Unbreakable Love" (1947).
Chen Yanyan's image in the movie "Unbreakable Love" (1947)
After Sang Hu received the script, the filming was completed in just one and a half months. The heroine Chen Yanyan (1916-1999) had retired for a long time. She was Zhang Ailing's favorite actress.
According to the memories of the crew, Zhang Ailing did not go to the set on weekdays. She only occasionally walked around the Wenhua Company and never took the initiative to talk to others.
As the pioneering work of Wenhua Company, "Unbreakable Love" received great acclaim after its release in early 1947. Zhang Ailing also took advantage of the situation and changed the script into a novella "How Much Hates ".
Images of Liu Qiong and Chen Yanyan in the movie "Unforgettable Love" (1947)
On May 7, 1947, "Wenhua" commended the crew of "Unforgettable Love"; on June 5, Wu Xingzai planned to promote Sang Hu to be the associate director of "Wenhua".
Sang Hu also understood this and worked hard, quickly proposing a new script "Long Live the Wife".
"Long Live the Wife" is the second collaboration between Sang Hu and Zhang Ailing. During this period, Sang Hu had many contacts with Zhang Ailing and informed her of "Wenhua's" expectations for the new script; Zhang Ailing also cooperated and came up with the idea for "Long Live the Wife" in the shortest possible time.
Images of Shi Hui and Han Fei in the movie "Long Live the Wife" (1947)
The script was written in one go in just two months. "Stealing pleasure" in "troubled times" is how she positioned her script. During the
period, although Wang Danfeng (1924-2018) declined to participate in "Long Live the Wife" because he thought there were too few scenes, "Wenhua" quickly decided to replace him with Shangguan Yunzhu (1920-1968), which did not affect the filming of the film.
Images of Shangguan Yunzhu and Jiang Tianliu in the movie "Long Live the Wife" (1947)
In 1947, Chinese movies mostly used dramas and tragedies as the main tone, catering to the common social psychology after the end of the Anti-Japanese War.
Sang Hu and Zhang Ailing's light comedy about citizens' lives, although it was well received at the box office, was criticized by left-wing film critics.
However, "Long Live the Wife" became the highest-grossing movie in Shanghai that year, even surpassing the Hollywood blockbuster "Bathing Beauty" (1944).
Han Fei and Zhang Fa in the movie "Long Live the Wife" (1947)
Hu Lancheng later mentioned that when he watched "Long Live the Wife" in Wenzhou, the audience in the theater was very emotional.
Two consecutive movies were successful. Wu Xingzhai (1904-1979), the owner of Wenhua Company, was overjoyed and invited Sang Hu, Zhang Ailing and others to take a boat trip to Taihu Lake in Wuxi to taste the local specialty " boat dishes ".
Zhang Ailing was rarely invited to go with her. In the future, she mentioned this trip to Taihu in and said, "I was impressed and very unique."
Cheng Zhi's image in the movie "Long Live the Madam" (1947)
Boss Wu invited everyone this time, and it was unknown whether he wanted to match the two of them.
Because the script needs to be discussed, Sang Hu and Zhang Ailing often meet. The scandal of the two falling in love appeared in the gossip tabloids. There are many different opinions on the truth.
Although there are rumors, Sang Hu and Zhang Ailing's cooperation has not stopped.
1948, they were preparing to adapt "The Golden Lock" into a movie. The heroine is set as Zhang Ruifang (1918-2012).
movie "Middle Age" (1949), Sang Hu (left) talked to actor Han Fei
According to Zhang Ruifang's self-report, she suffered from tuberculosis at the time and was forced to be bedridden for treatment, so she had to quit her role.
The selected male protagonist Kingsoft (1911-1982) was also politely rejected. The film died, and the script I wrote was still unknown.
On the eve of liberation, "Middle Age of Sorrow" is the last film made by Sang Hu before 1949. Zhang Ailing served as the consultant. It shows the love between two teachers of a huge age gap and the conflict between father and son. It shows the intenseness in implicitness and sadness in the comedy.
Shi Hui and Cheng Zhi in the movie "Middle Age of Sorrow and Joy" (1949)
This film describes a widowed primary school principal who worked hard to educate his children to adulthood and gained a good social status.
The children all advised him to retire and enjoy the joy of his old age, but he loves the cause of primary school education and is willing to contribute his lifetime to his children.
Finally, a cemetery prepared by his children was converted into a primary school.
Shi Hui and Han Fei in the movie "Middle Age of Sorrow and Joy" (1949), a movie that describes a middle-aged man regaining his happiness, was rated as a "shocking modern theme" by film critics.
It is also the representative work of director Sang Hu in the early days, and the style it embodies had a huge impact on Sang Hu's future creative path.
1949, "Middle Age of Sorrow" directed by Sang Hu was released. There are rumors that Eileen Chang was partly involved in the screenwriter, and some say that the script was written by Eileen Chang.
Shi Shu and Han Fei in the movie "Middle Age of Sorrow and Joy" (1949)
Sang Hu never responded to this matter. In 1990, Zhang Ailing clarified in a letter to the editor of Taiwan's Lianhe Zaobao: "I am particularly vague about it, so it is attributed to the story theme from director Sang Hu, and it is always the film with the least content. Although I participated in the writing process, I was just a consultant and received some screenwriter fees, and I was not named."
In the second half of Sang Hu's life, I was very secretive about Zhang Ailing's topic. Before 1976, the reason why he did not mention Zhang Ailing can be imagined.
Han Fei's image in the movie "Middle Age of Sorrow and Joy" (1949)
The films they collaborated on all of them belonged to the petty bourgeois mood at that time. With the relationship between Zhang Ailing and Hu Lancheng, keeping silent is the best self-protection.
In that era, everyone's life and future were involuntarily in control. At this time, Sang Hu got married in 1951. His wife Dai Qi was not a person in the circle, but a professional woman.
Zhang Ailing
With Sang Hu's status at that time, he could have had a grand ceremony for this wedding, but he chose to be low-key and even did not allow major newspapers to publish any news.
But in a trance, Zhang Ailing still heard about this news. Sang Hu didn't say it from beginning to end, but Zhang Ailing couldn't help but stop asking.
Once, she finally plucked up the courage and asked him casually, "When are you going to get married?"
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In 1995, after Zhang Ailing passed away, many people who knew Zhang Ailing wrote articles to comment on missing Zhang Ailing, but Sang Hu still remained silent and never mentioned Zhang Ailing... The long memoir article "Reviewing My Road to Shadow" written by Sang Hu rarely touched on the three films he collaborated with Zhang Ailing, and Zhang Ailing's name was even more around.
Sang Hu and Zhao Dan were discussing the script
[Become the director of the "Three Firsts"]
When the founding of New China , Sang Hu was in his prime and his creative enthusiasm was very high. He directed the film " Taiping Chun " (1950), and since then he won the "three yuan" in a row and became the director of the three "first films" in my country.
1953, directed my country's first color dance art film "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai"; in 1956, directed my country's first color feature film "Blessings"; in 1962, directed my country's first color three-dimensional wide-screen film "The Magician's Adventure".
Chen Qiang and Cheng Zhi in the movie "The Adventure of the Magician" (1962)
, especially the movie "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", which has reached the ears of Hong Kong Run Run Shaw (1907-2014), insisting on making a "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" (1963) of Shaw , and concluded that it would definitely sell.
So, Li Hanxiang (1926-1996) took Hu Jinquan (1932-1997), and filmed Shaw's opera movie version in a hurry. As expected, it was a big box office sales.
Yuan Xuefen's image in the color opera film "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" (1954)
Sang Hu has won honors for his outstanding creative achievements and has won many honors for the motherland.
In 1954, at the 8th International Film Festival of Karlovi Vary held in the Czech Republic, the film "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" won the musical award.
In 1957, at the 10th International Film Festival of Karovi Vary, the film "Blessings" motivated the international film industry with its strong Chinese national style and won the special award for the Film Festival conference.
Bai Yang and Wei Heling in the movie "Blessings" (1956)
"Blessings" are typical works that reflect the style of Sang Gu. The film describes Xianglin Sao's tragic fate with deep and strong strokes.
The scene of sending the Kitchen God at the end of the New Year in Nalu Town, the scene of getting married in the mountains, the black-sailed boat in the water town of Jiangnan vividly reproduces the typical environment depicted by Lu Xun's original work.
movie "Blessings" (1956) location, Sang Hu was telling Bai Yang a drama
Although Sang Hu was from Zhejiang, he grew up in Shanghai, where the ten-mile foreign market was. In 1954, he adapted the "Four Jinshis" starring Zhou Xinfang, and was later made into the film " Song Shijie " (1956).
At this time, he made an appointment with Zhang Leping (1910-1992) and Zhang Guangyu (1900-1965) and lived in Shaoxing for a month.
The painters were sketching, and Sang Hu was familiar with the scenery of Lu Xun's hometown, such as black-sailed boats, fiber pulling, stone alleys and restaurants in the town.
movie "Blessings" (1956), from the outside location, from left: Sang Hu, Bai Yang, Xia Yan
Not long after he returned to Shanghai, Shanghai Film Studio gave him the task of directing "Blessings". When Sang Hu saw Xia Yan (1900-1995), everything he saw in Shaoxing came to his eyes.
Originally, Shanghai Film was preparing to make the film "Blessings" into a black and white film. While preparing, Wang Yang (1916-1998), the director of Beijing Film Studio, proposed to shoot my country's first color feature film, and selected the theme of "Blessings".
Bai Yang's image in the movie "Blessings" (1956)
With the approval of the Ministry of Culture, this subject was transferred from Shangying to Beijing Film Academy, and Sang Gu continued to be the director of the film.
[Dispel the concerns of "talking about joy"]
Sang Hu said in an interview in 1980 that since I wrote the comedy film "Fake Phoenix and Void Phoenix", I have always been reluctant to leave the comedy film.
After "10 years of turmoil", Sang Hu directed the light comedy "The Two of They and The Two" (1979).
Zhu Xijuan's image in the movie "Song of the Silver Needle Under the Shadowless Lamp" (1974)
Sang Hu believes that "The Two and The Two" and "The Magician's Adventure" are also making people laugh, but they laugh differently.
The magician's joys and sorrows and separations with his son, with a hint of sorrow and Chu's love. The smiles of Fangfang, Yuanyuan, Dalin and Xiaolin bring the vibrant and passionate songs of young people.
Sang Hu later recalled that these two films were separated by more than ten years, and there was also a clever thing.
Han Fei's image in the movie "The Magician's Adventure" (1962)
In June 1961, Sang Hu attended a feature film creation conference held in Beijing and listened to Premier Zhou's "Speech at the Symposium on Literary and Art Work and Feature Film Creation Conference". His creative passion was greatly encouraged, and he dispelled his concerns of "talking about joy". After returning to Shanghai, he devoted himself to the intense shooting work and quickly completed "The Magician's Adventure".
Because this video can only be released in three-dimensional screen theaters with special equipment, it has become the longest-lasting film in my country.
movie "The Two of They and The Two" (1979), Mao Yongming and Gao Ying
However, in the ten years of turmoil, this film was also labeled as poisonous weed without exception and was locked in a cold storage.
1976, although Sang Hu had the desire to make comedy movies, he couldn't let go of his courage and was still a little scared.
However, just before the filming of "The Two of They and The Two" officially started, Premier Zhou's report in 1961 was officially published in the newspaper for the first time.
From left: Shen Xilin, Feng Zhe, Sang Hu
Sang Gu was studying while recalling the scene of listening to Premier Zhou’s report at that time, and relived the saying that education was "inclusive in entertainment". He used this as a powerful ideological motivation for filming "The Two of They and The Two".
Sang Hushen said with emotion: "Smile, it is also serving the people." The people need to be relaxed and happy. We screenwriters who are engaged in comedy creation must educate the people in laughter.
From left: Wu Yigong, Sang Hu, Chen Huangmei, Zhu Xijuan
When talking about the film "The Two and The Two", the two twins had a lot of misunderstandings and became so interesting, Sang Hu said excitedly: "We must restore our reputation for the ' misunderstanding method ' in creation!"
Sang Hu restored his reputation from the "misunderstanding method" and talked about the theoretical issues of comedy creation.
He talked about Aristotle's belief that tragedy is noble and comedy is low, believing that tragedy describes "people who are better than those of us today", while comedy describes "people who are worse than those of us today".
Sang Hu (middle) and Qin Yi in the Shanghai Film Conference Room
Sang Hu believe that this argument cannot solve the problems in our creation today. The theory of comedy is also developing.
He said: "We must make advanced characters comedy in comedy. This issue must be constantly explored. In our works, we cannot just rely on uglinessing backward characters to fight for cheap laughter. In comedy, we must not cause the feeling of no drama when the advanced characters appear."
Sang Hu (left) and Bai Yang (second from right) took a photo with others
[Guan Shan’s work is a TV film]
Sang Hu’s work is the Peking Opera TV art film "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu". In the 1990s, a good drama "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu" was released in Shanghai. The leaders of the Peking Opera Theater visited and invited the old director Sang Hu to come out and direct the TV art film. He was told.
For the sake of "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu", Sang Hu broke the precept of not filming TV series. At this time, he was already in his 70s and still rushed to the scene to provide guidance every day.
From left: Chen Yanhua, Sang Hu, Li Xinzhang
The film is about to be taken. One day, Sang Hu's son Li Yizhong went to visit his father on site and happened to see him vomiting. He was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed that it was a cholecystitis attack. He was so tired...
Sang Hu is a very subtle and well-educated film artist. Because Sang Hu turned to film directors from writing film reviews and screenwriters, some people called him a "literary director."
Work photos of Sang Hu (first from left) directing the documentary "The Life of Cai Yuanpei" in 1987, Zhang Ruifang, second from left, and Luo Congzhou, second from right
This is similar to his teacher Mr. Zhu Shilin. Zhu Shilin wrote film scripts for theaters when he was young. Later, he became familiar with film techniques, taught himself without a teacher, and became a famous film director.
Sang Hu once said that Zhu Shilin once said to him: "Art creation must pay attention to the accumulation of momentum, virtuality and reality, and concealment of clumsiness. The so-called accumulation of momentum is just like punching. You must first take your hand back and then punch it out to be powerful."
Sang Hu
"Virtuality and reality refer to what should be virtual. 10 or 20 years can pass by in a flash. What should be done? Really, the changes that happen in one minute can be condensed into five minutes. "
" Hiding clumsiness means showing less of the things that you are not sure about and using your strengths to avoid weaknesses. For example, Gai Jingtian is good at singing, and Qiu Shengrong is very careful about hiding clumsiness in colorful opera films. Images from "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" (1954)
In 1987, France's Paris-based "Liberation" sent a letter to 400 film directors around the world, asking for answers to the same question, "Why do you want to make movies?"
Sang Hu said in his reply: "I make movies to consolidate the audience's confidence in future life; to eliminate human barriers. , strengthen our unity, come together to defeat evil, and strive to create a happier and better tomorrow.”
Sang Hu is giving a report
This is the film concept that Sang Hu has practiced throughout his life, which has penetrated into every film he directed, and has become a precious tradition of Chinese movies left by Sang Hu’s generation of filmmakers that is worthy of our inheritance.
Author: Sang Hu Publisher: Shanghai People's Publishing House Year of publication: 2017-1
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