Author: Chen Chujin
In the 1920s, Cai Chusheng came to Shantou from Chaoyang, and then went to Shanghai from Shantou. With the help of film director Zheng Zhengqiu , who was an elder from the same town, he embarked on the road of film. For decades, he has gone through an artistic creation path of realism and film nationalization. In his lifetime, he wrote, directed and co-authored 26 films and wrote 12 screenplays. Most of the films he has written and directed have profoundly revealed the social contradictions of modern China, accused the society of old China and the corruption of the ruling class, poured out the voices of the people, and called for the dawn of liberation.
This artist who occupies an important position in the history of Chinese film is highly respected by the party and the people. In July 1949, when he participated in the first National Cultural Congress in Beijing, Chairman Mao Zedong happily inscribed the word "struggle" for him. This not only encourages him to make more contributions to the new Chinese film industry that is about to be born, but also commends his perseverance and unremitting struggle in the pursuit of progress.
From Chaoyang Township to Binhai Shantou
In the Dictionary of Modern Chinese Celebrities published in 1988, I found Cai Chusheng's profile: "Cai Chusheng (1906-1968), a film artist, a native of Shenxianli Village, Tongyu Town, Chaoyang County, Guangdong ( Now Jixing Village), joined the China Film Culture Association in 1933, choreographed and directed "Yuguang Song" and won the honorary award at the Moscow International Film Festival. Later, with Ouyang Yuqian and others, he initiated the establishment of the Film Salvation Congress, and co-directed "A River Spring Water" with Zheng Junli After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as director of the Cultural Film Art Committee, deputy director of the Film Bureau, chairman of China Film Association , and vice chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles..." In the relevant local literary history, it is specifically recorded that "Cai Chusheng 1906 Born on January 12, 2012 in a department store run by a Chaoyang native in Shanghai, in 1912, due to the repeated failure of his family's business, he returned to his hometown in Chaoyang with his parents and lived a fishing and farming career with his relatives."
Cai Chusheng has participated in field labor since he was a child, and dropped out of school after four years of private school in the ancient ancestral hall in the village. His wish was to continue his studies, but his father wanted him to become a good businessman. Following his father's order, Cai Chusheng left his hometown in Chaoyang at the age of 12 and came to Shantou to make a living.
At that time, Cai Chusheng's grandfather and relatives and friends jointly opened a "Lunzhang Department Store Wholesale Store" on Wan'an Street, Shantou, operating foreign miscellaneous department stores in Shanghai, Suzhou and Hong Kong, as well as provincial and Hong Kong. Cai Chusheng learned to sell department stores here. Picking up and delivering orders, busy all day. He feels that he lacks knowledge and has a strong thirst for knowledge. He insists on self-study in his spare time. He uses old newspapers packed with goods as learning materials, advertisements , trademark paper as art teacher , and works hard. God rewarded his diligent work, his cultural knowledge increased day by day, and his level of calligraphy and painting continued to improve, which played a great role in later embarking on the creative path of film art.
In 1925, after the "May 30" massacre in Shanghai, the "May 30" movement swept across the country. The Shantou working class and people from all walks of life took action one after another and established the trade union and various progressive organizations. The 19-year-old Cai Chusheng participated in the "Shantou Store Staff Union". Because of his love for drama, he invited several colleagues to organize the "Jinye Vernacular Drama Club", wrote, directed and performed by himself, and actively carried out literary and artistic publicity activities.
The film "Bad luck" was filmed in Shantou.
In the early spring of 1926, Chen Tian, director of Shanghai Huaju Film Company, came to Shantou with actors and photographers to start shooting the location of three films including "White Lotus" and "Love Slave". . At that time, the screen form of domestic films was still dominated by indoor dramas, and the scenes were monotonous. They planned to incorporate the beautiful coastal scenery of Shantou into the film to increase the attendance rate . Chen Tian's crew urgently needed help after arriving in Shantou, so they found Jinye Drama Club. Cai Chusheng and his colleagues in Jinye warmly welcomed and expressed their willingness to give great assistance. Taking advantage of this great opportunity, Dongfeng announced the establishment of "Shantou Jinye Film Production Company".
At the filming site, Cai Chusheng and others were very busy moving props and equipment. In order to thank Cai Chusheng and others for their great help, Chen Tian decided to help Cai Chusheng make a short film after filming three films. Cai Chusheng used half a month of night time to create the script of the comic skit "Dead Luck" based on the theme of Shantou lottery and gambling. During the filming process, Cai Chusheng was very involved, and from time to time asked Chen Tian for directing skills. Chen Tian's ancestral home is also Chaoyang, and the two soon became good friends.
We can get a lot of information from the words in the poster of the film "Dead Luck": ""Dead Luck", produced by Shantou Jinye Film Production Company, is China's first funny satire. Shi YangScreenwriter, Chen Tianlv Shan Director Shi, photographed by Zhang Huimin when he traveled to Shantou.Shi Yang, Fang Wufei starring, Cai Chusheng, Shen Yunsheng, Lin Zongyan, etc., are completely Chaoshan opera talents and Chaoshan scenic spots. "The author also learned from relevant information that the original title of "Bad Luck": ALottery Ticket, the film is 60 minutes long, is a short film mocking the lottery gambling scam. The film uses bizarre plots and exaggerated performances to expose the lottery industry. Scam and Hazard. It is about a poor shoemaker who dreams of making a fortune and bought a lottery ticket. To prevent loss, he stuck it behind the door and waited for the draw. The lottery draw was announced, and the shoemaker actually won the first prize. When I got down, I had no choice but to carry the door panel to the redemption office. Along the way, the shoemaker stumbled while carrying the door panel, knocked down the hawker, smashed the shelf, and smashed the window... All the way to disaster. The bonus he received was just right It was used to pay for the indemnity after the accident. Not only did he not get a penny, but his clothes were torn and the door panel was trampled, resulting in a "bad luck".
"bad luck" caused a lot of repercussions after its release in Shantou, Cai Chusheng His popularity soared, and he became a local celebrity. Participating in the practice of film creation for the first time made him form an indissoluble bond with film art. Cai Chusheng might as well go to Shanghai to develop. This may be a word of encouragement, but Cai Chusheng actually did it. In the winter of
1927, Cai Chusheng went to Shanghai to find his movie dream. With the help of Chen Tian, he was hired by the Shanghai Huaju Film Company. It is a pity that he was only a handyman, but he did not take into account the meager salary, carried props, built and dismantled sets, cleaned the venue, and worked hard and seriously. Even in such a humble position in the company, Cai Chusheng did not give up his pursuit of film art. Every month, he squeezed out a little money from his meager income to buy literature and art books and movie tickets.Every time I go to the cinema to watch a movie, I will bring a notebook and a pencil, and learn the director's technique, setting, acting skills, etc. by watching the movie, and take notes carefully for future speculation. In addition, I also take advantage of my work to ponder and learn the links and skills of filmmaking. Hard work pays off. After a period of hard study, Cai Chusheng's business level has made great progress. Just when the boss of the company wanted to sign another three-year contract with him, Cai Chusheng chose to leave. He had bigger goals and plans. After
left "Huaju", Cai Chusheng worked in Hanlun Film Company and Tianyi Film Company successively. Acting as an extra and setting the scene and setting the scene, he is diligent and diligent in his own duties. When "La Lang Pei" appears, even if shows his face and does not even have a line, he is meticulous. In addition, he read a large number of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign literary masterpieces and natural science books, and insisted on writing, painting and calligraphy practice.
In 1929, Cai Chusheng was fortunate to meet Zheng Zhengqiu, a Chaoyang film director who is already one of the "Big Three" of Star Film Co., Ltd. Zheng Zhengqiu had a good eye and knew that Cai Chusheng was a forgeable talent, so he strongly recommended him to enter the largest "star film company" at that time, and let Cai Chusheng serve as his assistant. Cai Chusheng regards Zheng Zhengqiu as a teacher who teaches lessons, solves doubts, and preaches. He watches, listens, asks, and remembers, and studies and studies the writing, directing, and acting of films. Zheng Zhengqiu devoted himself to preaching without reservation. In addition to being grateful, Cai Chusheng became more and more motivated. He was soon promoted to assistant director and artist , and was soon promoted to assistant director, assisting Zheng Zhengqiu in shooting " compatriots in the field of ", "Broken Qinlou", "Broken Qinlou", "" Six films, including Peach Blossom Lake and Shadow of Red Tears, showed his artistic talent.
After three years of training, Cai Chusheng has become well-known in the Shanghai film industry.In the autumn of 1931, at the recommendation of the famous director Shi Dongshan and others, Cai Chusheng resolutely left the star company and joined the Lianhua Film Company , which was formed by a group of new intellectuals who had been influenced by the May Fourth Movement, and officially served as the director. In 1932, he independently wrote and directed his first film, "Spring in the South," which is emotionally lingering and slender; then he shot "Pink Dream" "with a strong petty-bourgeois sentimental color" and "Dream of the Vivid". Patriotism", "Together to the National Disaster". In February 1933, he joined the China Film Culture Association and was elected as an executive member. In the same year, he wrote and directed "Morning in the City", which marked a major change in his artistic thinking. In the late spring of 1934, "Fishing Light" was released. The film "represented the real life of China vividly and profoundly with its brave spirit of realism" (the awarding comment of the Moscow International Film Festival), which caused a sensation in the Chinese film circle at that time. When the film premiered in Shanghai, it ran for 84 consecutive days, setting the highest-grossing record for a Chinese film at that time. And won the honorary award at the Moscow International Film Festival in February of the following year, becoming my country's first international award-winning film. Since then, he has successively filmed excellent films such as "New Woman", "Lost Lamb", "Little Five Righteousness", "Wang Lao Wu", and wrote a glorious page for the progressive film industry in the 1930s.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Cai Chusheng moved to Hong Kong , and successively wrote two movie scripts on the theme of the Anti-Japanese War, "Blood Splattered Treasure Mountain City" and "Guerrilla March", and also wrote and directed two films "Lonely Island Paradise" and "Long Miles Ahead". He took on the important task of "serving the country with films". After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Cai Chusheng followed Zhou Enlai's instructions, returned to Shanghai with Yang Hansheng , Shi Dongshan, and together with Zheng Junli, etc., to form a progressive film base "Lianhua Film and Art Club", which was later merged into Kunlun Film Company.In 1947, he co-wrote and directed the film "A River of Spring Flows East" with Zheng Junli, which was known as "a milestone in post-war film". In the winter of 1948, under the arrangement of the party organization, he moved to Hong Kong and organized the shooting of " Pearl River Tears ", which was regarded as "a revolutionary masterpiece in Cantonese films".
Although Cai Chusheng has passed away for nearly half a century, his contribution to the development of Chinese film industry and film art is eternal. Among the 200 most famous film artists in the world, Cai Chusheng is the only Chinese in the "World Film History" written by French film historian Georges Sadour.
