The tribute film "Five Golden Flowers" was released in 46 countries, allowing the world to see that New China is living and working in peace and contentment.
2024-08-10
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
Our reporter Wang Jinyue
"Dali is so beautiful in March, and it's a good time to put on your makeup by the Butterfly Spring..." On October 1, 1959, the tribute film "Five Golden Flowers" shot to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China was released nationwide and soon became a hit. The film's beautiful natural scenery of Yunnan, rich Bai ethnic customs, unique comedy style, moving lyrical songs, and the pure love between Apeng and Jinhua deeply attracted the audience.
Even today, whenever she recalls the "Golden Flower fever" of that year, film performing artist Wang Suya, who played the second female lead, the Ironworks Golden Flower, can't help but feel excited. She said: "In 1959, two tribute films, Five Golden Flowers and Youth in the War, were released one after another. This was the luckiest year of my life."
Stills from "Five Golden Flowers"
Stills from Youth in War
Message from the Characters
In 2005, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema, the "100 Chinese Films of the Century" were selected, among which "Five Golden Flowers" and "Youth in War" were included. For me, this is the greatest encouragement. These five golden flowers embody the role of "Chinese women holding up half the sky". On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China, I hope that the purest and most simple emotions in "Five Golden Flowers" can be passed on forever. - Wang Suya
At the age of 15, he starred in "Dawn of the Mighty River"
Wang Suya was born in 1938 and is a Manchu. In May 1949, when she was only 11 years old, she joined the army and joined the Youth Art Troupe of the First Field Army Combat Drama Society. When she was a child, she was lively, good at singing and dancing, and showed her artistic talent. In 1953, director Lu Ren filmed the movie "Dawn of the Menghe River" and needed a girl who looked like a Tibetan girl. The co-director of the film and the president of the Combat Drama Society, Zhu Danxi, recommended Wang Suya to play the Tibetan girl Zelang Namu in the film. Although her acting skills were still relatively immature at that time, Wang Suya's youthful vitality and generous personality left a deep impression on many audiences. "At that time, I didn't know how to act at all. I did whatever the director asked me to do, and finally finished it in a muddle." She laughed.
"Five Golden Flowers" is the second film shot by Wang Suya. At the beginning of 1959, the literary and art circles set off a wave of tribute to the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China. At that time, there were more films about revolutionary wars, but few films reflecting real life. The audience needed some lighthearted comedies. Xia Yan, then Vice Minister of Culture, went to Dali to attend a meeting. He was deeply impressed by the local scenery and folk customs and decided to shoot a film about Yunnan. Finally, Changchun Film Studio won the right to shoot.
In April 1959, screenwriters Zhao Jikang and Wang Gongpu, who had lived in Yunnan for many years, were commissioned to write the script. Since the film needed to be screened in October of that year, the shooting time was very tight. Zhao Jikang remembered the horse racing scene she saw on March Street in 1956, and thought that it was very appropriate to use such a "hero and beauty meeting and then parting on March Street" as the opening scene. She wrote the outline of "Twelve Golden Flowers" in just five days, but because there were too many "golden flowers", enough to make three movies, and a movie was only 105 minutes long, it was later changed to "Seven Golden Flowers", and finally after discussion, it was determined to be "Five Golden Flowers".
At that time, the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee proposed that since this was a story about Yunnan, Yunnan actors should be used as much as possible. Wang Suya, who played the role of Jinhua in the iron smelting plant, Tan Yaozhong, who played the role of Jinhua in the livestock farm, and Zhu Yijin, who played the role of Jinhua in the tractor driver, were all Yunnan actors, while Sun Jingzhen, who played the role of Jinhua in the fertilizer production model, was from the Beijing Film Studio. Wang Suya remembered that director Wang Jiayi gave them a skit to observe the actors' personalities and characteristics and finally determine who would play different roles of Jinhua.
"Black face" to get close to the iron and steel plant Jinhua
"Five Golden Flowers is an unforgettable experience for me," said Wang Suya. In her opinion, the iron smelting factory golden flower is a "lively, cheerful, enthusiastic and helpful girl", and is also the most typical image of the Bai working people among the five golden flowers. In order to shape this role well, Wang Suya put a lot of effort, for example, she deliberately "blackened" her face according to the work characteristics of the role, which once made the makeup artist very dissatisfied, but she argued with reason and insisted that the role shaping should be close to real life, and finally won the affirmation of Wang Jiayi. When she learned that the "Five Golden Flowers" used imported Eastman film, which was very expensive, she made up her mind to strive for "one pass", which not only saved film but also saved time.
There was another interesting incident during the filming of "Five Golden Flowers". When Wang Suya was eating in the cafeteria, she found that an older man always sat next to her. She was confused and didn't know what was going on. Later, the other party asked her: Do you like to play a female soldier? She replied: It depends on what kind of soldier it is. It turned out that the man was Wang Yan, the director of "Youth in War", who came to select actors. After coordination, the crew of "Five Golden Flowers" concentrated on shooting Wang Suya's scenes before the end of September of that year. Later, Wang Suya joined the crew of "Youth in War" and played Gao Shan, a deputy platoon leader of the People's Liberation Army who was disguised as a man. Among the more than 550 shots in this film, 530 were shot for Gao Shan and Lei Zhenlin played by Pang Xueqin. For this, Wang Suya cut her long hair, dressed as a man, and created another classic screen image. The film was released nationwide as scheduled on December 1, 1959.
After the release of "Five Golden Flowers", the response was enthusiastic. This film achieved the goal set by Wang Jiayi at the beginning, that is, "love this character, love society, and love these people who love to work". The film uses the name misunderstanding method of "mistake in mistake" in traditional opera. The story is full of twists and turns and the plot is ups and downs. The interlude "By the Butterfly Spring" is still sung today and has become a classic. Since 1959, "Five Golden Flowers" has been released in 46 countries, setting the highest record of Chinese films released abroad at that time. In 1960, at the Second Asian-African Film Festival held in Cairo, Egypt, "Five Golden Flowers" won the Silver Eagle Award for Best Director and the Silver Eagle Award for Best Actress. "Golden Flower" has also suddenly become a synonym for model and a symbol of honor.
In January 1961, Premier Zhou Enlai led a delegation to visit Myanmar. Wang Suya was one of the members of the delegation. After the screening of Five Golden Flowers in Myanmar, it received high praise. "This film allows foreign audiences to see that the people of New China live and work in peace and contentment and are happy in a land full of hope," said Wang Suya.
Grateful to Changchun Film Studio for the success of my acting career
Wang Suya's original name was Wang Shuya. Because she liked the Soviet actress Vera Maletskaya who starred in films such as "The Rural Teacher" and "She is Defending the Motherland", she deliberately changed her name to Wang Suya.
"Five Golden Flowers" made Wang Suya fall in love with acting. After that, she played Ah Hongsao in the movie "Haixia" (1975), Ling Yanzi in "Pearl on the Sea" (1976), Du Jinguangcai in "July Fire" (1981), and Ye Zhi in "The Moon Rises on the Sea" (1983), all of which left a deep impression on the audience. It is worth mentioning that in the movie "The True Story of Ah Q" directed by Cen Fan in 1981, Wang Suya played Wu Ma, a character in Mr. Lu Xun's works. At that time, many people at the Shanghai Film Studio wanted to play the role, but Cen Fan rejected all objections and only took a fancy to Wang Suya. To be on the safe side, Cen Fan and the photographer took a shot of Wu Ma carrying a basket from the right side of the screen to the left side. Cen Fan considered at the time that if he was not satisfied with this shot, he could temporarily replace her, but as soon as Wang Suya took two steps, Cen Fan dispelled his concerns and said, "That's her."
Wang Suya became the director of Yunnan National Film Studio in 1984. In 1987, she became the director of the Film Department of Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture, engaged in cultural film administration. The most recent film she participated in was "Deng Xiaoping" directed by Ding Yinnan in 2003, in which she played Deng Xiaoping's wife Zhuo Lin. Lu Qi, who played Deng Xiaoping in the film, is 15 years younger than her, but the two of them cooperated well, which made people have to admire her ability to shape characters.
Looking back on her 70-year film career, Wang Suya is grateful to Changchun Film Studio for its support and help. "Changchun Film Studio cultivated me and lifted me up." She collaborated with Changchun Film Studio on four films, including "Dawn of the Fierce River", "Five Golden Flowers", "Youth in the War" and "Housekeeping Honest Officials". The two tribute films in particular made her a household name. Wang Suya currently lives in Beijing and is very low-key. She said that because she is a little hard of hearing, she is afraid of causing trouble to others. Despite this, she still pays close attention to the development of Chinese films and "hopes that the future of Chinese films will be better and better."
(Source: Beijing Daily)
