In fact, as early as the end of 19 century in Britain, France, the United States and other countries, people's entertainment needs have been increasing with the improvement of living standards. The new product "movie" came into being under this historical background.
In the impression of most people, the Qing Dynasty has always been synonymous with decay, backwardness and obsolescence. However, at the end of its dynasty, due to the "Westernization Movement" and the influence from western powers, it injected a complex fresh thought and ideology into the dying late Qing Dynasty. Strictly speaking, this is actually a western civilization.
As a derivative of the second industrial revolution in western society, "film" not only proved the success of the industrial revolution again, but also showed the superiority of the "electrical age" to the whole world. When China society was still in the stage of industrial enlightenment, western countries had developed into a more advanced entertainment industry.
The author thinks that "film" is actually an important way for western society to export culture or civilization to the outside world. China people are still enjoying "Shadow Play" and various operas from all over the world. Westerners have entered a more modern film era.
According to historical records, in the "Another Village" in Xu Yuan, Shanghai in A.D. 1896, when the moving picture in the projector was projected on the curtain, all the people at the scene cheered for this scene.
As the first screening in the history of China, "Western Shadow Play" not only started the development of China films. At the same time, it also laid an important foundation for the film industry in the Republic of China.
Entertainment Culture and Movie Fever in the Republic of China
1. The origin of China's films.
1895 65438+February 28th The film was born in France and came to China in less than a year. At that time, people called this kind of movie with pictures and silence "Western movies".1August, 896 1 1 can be said to be the record of the earliest movie being released in China. This film, which was brought to China by the French, is also recorded in the history of China film.
In fact, the film has been in a "silent" state since it came to China, which is somewhat similar to the "pantomime" of the society at that time. In order to better interpret this kind of "foreign stuff", people in China at that time also called it "electro-optic shadow play" or "shadow play", which is actually a well-known film in our society.
Judging from the origin of China's films, in fact, the first symbolic film was born in China in the tenth year after the film came out.
Ren Qingtai, the founder of Beijing Fengtai Photo Studio in A.D. 1905, once photographed a section of his masterpiece Dingjun Mountain for the famous Peking Opera actor Tan Xinpei at that time.
This film also marks the official birth of China film, and Ren Qingtai is therefore known as "the father of China film". Although according to the evaluation standard of modern film art, the film Dingjun Mountain did not meet the film standard. However, as the first film segment made by China people, it also opened the door to China films.
However, due to the social unrest in the late Qing Dynasty and the imperfect supporting facilities in all aspects of society, "silent film" did not attract people's attention. But the filmmakers at that time did not give up, and they could express their social feelings and entertainment spirit.
It was not until the Republic of China established a relatively stable society that people became extremely interested in "shadow play". Coupled with the gradual improvement of film technology at that time, the film will set off an entertainment boom in the Republic of China.
From 1926 to 65438+February, the new Central Grand Theatre in Hongkou showed American short films with sound, and at this point, China films moved from silence to the era of sound films.
2. Film culture in the Republic of China.
As a special historical stage in the historical development of China, the Republic of China has its own characteristics in politics, economy and culture. Especially in terms of cultural development, it is more prominent. At that time, due to the influence of the combination of Chinese and western ideas, entertainment cultural forms such as operas, songs and movies showed a trend of "three pillars" among the people.
After dinner, people not only like to go to teahouses to listen to operas or crosstalk performances, but also people with relatively rich families are particularly willing to go to dance halls to watch dances and listen to songs. Cordate telosma, rose, rose, I love you, Shanghai night and singer were all the rage at that time.
From the 1920s, film culture began to occupy a dominant position. What people like to do most after listening to singing is to go to the cinema with their lover, lover or family.
At that time, there were four more advanced cinemas in Beiping, namely Dahua Theater, World Theater, Capital Theater and Xindu Theater.
Although ordinary people living in Beiping can't show movies whenever they want, like modern people, they can take their families to the Grand Theatre to see their favorite movies at a fixed time every month, which is actually the earliest embryonic form of China's film culture.
3. Famous movies and movie stars in the Republic of China.
Watching movies during the Republic of China was definitely a very fashionable thing, and it was also the favorite of gentlemen and celebrities in most cases. Street angels, spring in small towns, goddesses, etc. , shot by a popular movie star in the Republic of China, had no less influence in society at that time than the current commercial blockbuster.
At that time, people had fewer opportunities to get in touch with society, or they could get in touch with society in a narrow range. Therefore, when people gather in the grand theater to watch movies, many actors who participated in the movie for the first time 1 will become household names after the movie is released.
For example, the Street Angel directed by Yuan is not only supported by Zhou Xuan, Zhao Dan and other stars. Even the film interludes "Four Seasons Songs" and "Genv", which are indirect singing methods, have become popular songs in the streets and lanes after the film became popular all over the country. At that time, what people talked about most was the content of movies and things related to movie stars.
If we can find several actresses who can best represent the film style of the Republic of China from the booming film industry of the Republic of China, I think they must be the top ten actresses of the Republic of China. Wang, Bai Guang, Li Lihua, Zhou Xuan, Chen, Luo Lan and Gong.
They are not only the direct witnesses of the film development in the Republic of China, but also the epitome of the film culture of an era. With their beautiful faces and artistic feelings, they made great contributions to the development of films in the Republic of China and even in China. Even the once-popular Hong Kong films are inextricably linked with the film culture of the Republic of China.
In the late 1940s, under the influence of special historical background, many Shanghai filmmakers flooded into Hong Kong. These people with creative experience and life experience have made important contributions to the unprecedented prosperity of Hong Kong Mandarin films.
It is no exaggeration to say that the brilliant decade of Hong Kong cinema is actually due to the solid foundation laid by these filmmakers.
4. The "groupies" in the Republic of China
The groupies are not astronomy lovers who like idolize, but a group of young people who worship movie stars or singers. During the Republic of China, the film industry was very developed, which not only produced a large number of movie stars, but also created a group of groupies with the goal of idolization.
Compared with the "groupies" in modern society, groupies in the Republic of China were relatively more heroic. In fact, this point has been revealed since the Qing Dynasty. Many children of the Eight Banners have high social status and excellent living conditions. Therefore, in order to have fun, they spend a lot of money just to win a smile from a beautiful woman or hold a favorite "corner".
(1) groupies in the upper class
Because in the Qing Dynasty, people could only live and go to the opera, and the actors were the stars at that time. Especially after Huiban came to Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty, Peking Opera became a national quintessence that everyone liked from top to bottom.
Many famous Peking Opera artists were very popular in the society at that time, and passers-by who came to watch the opera spared no expense to pursue their favorite celebrities.
In fact, this trend reached a certain climax in the late Qing Dynasty. In fact, the "groupies" in the Republic of China only continued the habit of chasing celebrities in the late Republic of China. Because most movie stars in the Republic of China were beautiful or pure and charming women, many tycoons, officials and businessmen would spend money just to win a beautiful smile.
From this point of view, the groupies in the Republic of China were actually very complicated, including military and political officials in the government and playboys in the rich family. Especially under the influence of the complicated and changeable social situation at that time, many warlords and their children were actually fanatical groupies.
(2) Young groupies in the Republic of China.
In addition to these wealthy and respected upper-class groupies, ordinary citizens, students and other groups living in cities were actually an important part of groupies in the Republic of China. Although idolization was only a recreational game in the upstream society at that time, there were actually a large number of fanatical groupies among the people.
During the Republic of China, many young people were particularly fascinated by watching movies, because movies, as a novelty in society at that time, were very attractive to young people at a critical period in their lives. Most young groupies are even very popular because they can imitate various scenes in movies or sing theme songs.
Although the society was still in a turbulent situation at that time, young people who were good at accepting new ideas still became the most loyal audience of movies in the Republic of China.
At the same time, they are also loyal fans of movie stars and singers. Most of them even engage in film-related jobs after graduation because they love movies.
The author thinks that young people living in the Republic of China especially like movies, a new thing. Among them, a very important reason is the ability to accept new things. Because China has never seen such an attractive form of entertainment culture in its thousands of years of development history, it will only make the people of the Republic of China so enthusiastic after the appearance of movies.
conclusion
If we say that from the first day of the twentieth century to the end of the forties, besides war, we still have roses. I guess these so-called roses should be female stars in the Republic of China. Because roses not only have hot and bright red external beauty, but also spikes that ordinary people can't reach. Female stars in the Republic of China may fall into the quagmire of love when they meet a versatile and handsome gentleman.
For modern people, movies are an ordinary entertainment culture. You can go to the movies anytime, anywhere. If the film in the Republic of China was a group cultural activity, then the film in modern society has exclusive significance.
Because a person won't feel lonely even if he goes to the movies, especially those made by idols.
In fact, the film culture of the Republic of China is not only the beginning of China film culture, but also an important accumulation of film culture later. Although the film-centered entertainment culture didn't develop for a long time in the Republic of China, it made an irreplaceable contribution to the film industry in Hongkong and even the whole of China.