What was the first domestic movie in China?

193 1 In March, the song "Girl Red Peony" shot by Shanghai Star Company was released, and the first domestic audio film came out.

There are two kinds of speaking skills in movies: "wax disc vocalization" and "film vocalization". The former is to record the sound on the turntable and play it synchronously with the film during the screening, thus dubbing the film; This is also the method used when the world's audio movies first came out. Born in 1927, the world's first audio film "The King of Jazz" is like this. The latter is a widely used recording technology on film today. Because of the cost and technical level, the Song girl red peony adopted a low-cost and simple production method. Therefore, it should actually be called China's first "Waxboard Sound" sound film.

The song "Girl Red Peony" was written by Hong Shen, directed by Zhang Shichuan and starring Butterfly. The film describes the female singer Hong Mudan, who, after marrying her fallen husband, is not only humiliated, but also has a declining artistic career. However, when her husband sold his daughter and went to prison for manslaughter, Red Peony swallowed her words and tried her best to save her husband. The film describes the joys and sorrows of China traditional opera artists, and also reveals the influence of feudal ethics on women's body and mind. In addition to dialogue, taking advantage of "voice", four pieces of Peking Opera (sung by Mei Lanfang) such as Mukezhai, Yutangchun and Shiro Tanmu were inserted into the film, which further increased the sensational effect of the film. This is exactly the same as the world's first audio film with the theme of a singer's life. The film started shooting in the middle of 1930. After five experiments, it was completed at the end of the year at a cost of120,000 yuan. It was shown at the Star Grand Theatre on 193 1 and officially released at the Guangxin Grand Theatre on 15. When the film was released, it was unprecedented, causing a sensation in major cities across the country, and was released in the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries. But strictly speaking, "Red Peony" can only be regarded as a "semi-audio film". Because it only pays attention to the sound of dialogue and ignores the sound effects of the surrounding environment, it seems that only people are talking or singing, and everything around them is silent. This, of course, is also a common problem in early audio films.

Another sound film that started shooting at the same time with this film is Yu Meiren produced by Youlian Company. It also describes the speech part of a pair of drama actors who performed Farewell My Concubine with the wax board voice technology. The two films are slightly different in technology. "Red Peony" is a lip-synching after the film is finished, which is equivalent to our dubbing later today. In Yu Meiren, the sound is recorded first, and then the actors perform live according to the released sound. Compared with the two, each has its own advantages. "Young Mermaid" was staged in May of 193 1, a little later than "Red Peony for Girls".

The sound film made of wax board has obvious shortcomings in technology. The cooperation between recording and projection is the biggest problem. Especially once the film is partially destroyed, it will be difficult for the subsequent plot to match the sound, and even a man will speak on the screen, but a female comedy will come out from the loudspeaker. Therefore, in the year when these two films were staged, some film companies also began to trial-produce "on-chip audio films". China and Jinan co-produced "After Rain clears up" and Tianyi Company filmed "Spring in the Music Circle". Both of these films are rented from foreign equipment and filmed with the assistance of foreigners. The first film, Rain All Over the Sky, was shown at Hongkou Grand Theatre on June 3rd. 193 1. Because the film rented Japanese equipment and filmed in Japan, it was quickly resisted by the audience. 1933, Hengsheng Film Company filmed "Spring Tide" with its own recording equipment, becoming the first audio film with sound on film made with domestic recording equipment in China.

Due to financial and technical reasons, many film companies continued to produce silent films after the advent of sound films, which formed a special phenomenon that silent films and sound films coexisted for a long time in early China. It was not until 1936 that the filming of silent films finally stopped, and the transformation of China films from silence to sound was completely completed.

The first blockbuster domestic feature film

1922 Zhang Shichuan, one of the pioneers of China films, founded the Star Film Company in Shanghai together with Zheng Qiuzheng and Zhou, which was one of the most successful film companies in China in the 1920s and 1930s.

1923, Star Film Company filmed its first feature film drama "Orphans Save the Ancestors", which was written by Zheng Qiuzheng, directed by Zhang Shichuan and starring Zheng Xiaoqiu. The film describes a rich man, Yang Shouchang, who suspected his daughter-in-law was unfaithful after his son died and kicked him out of the house. Daughter-in-law to bear the burden of humiliation, raised her son, sent to the school run by Yang Shouchang. One day, the nephew who framed his daughter-in-law conspired to kill Yang Shouchang and seize his property, and was rescued by his grandson Yu Pu, so the family finally reunited, which was clear.

The screenwriter Zheng Qiuzheng is one of the pioneers of China's film industry. His film view also inherits the tradition of China's view on literature and art, and holds that films should shoulder the important mission of improving society and educating people. Therefore, his films emphasize moral education, pay attention to practical problems and social connotation, and are called the pioneers and representatives of "social films". This film is an important attempt of Zheng Qiuzheng's film concept and his first "social film". The themes of the film are "teaching filial piety", "punishing evil", "encouraging learning" and "promoting goodness" to promote social progress; The characters in the film are also attributed to the representatives of good and evil, especially the image of daughter-in-law Yu is a good wife and mother, which is a typical symbol of China's traditional concept.

Before The Orphan Save the Ancestor came out, China films, which had been born for more than ten years, were at a low ebb. In addition to the story content, this film has got rid of the imitation of western films, such as funny films, and contains strong national feelings and concepts. In art, it also got rid of the staged performance style of civilized drama, strived for the vividness and authenticity of images and scenes, and paid attention to fascinating stories and plots, which made the film really extraordinary at that time and very suitable for the audience's taste.

The film was released in Shanghai on February 28th, 1923. According to records, it became the first domestic film to achieve great success in business and art, and its reputation and influence surpassed all foreign films at that time. After the film was released, "in less than two days, the reputation spread all over the sea, so it is necessary to go and have a look." Later, it was shown in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hankou, Tianjin and other places for six or seven months. "Business is second to none; The beauty of public opinion is also a moment. " The success of The Orphan Save the Ancestor not only brought vitality to the newly established star company, but also became one of the most important production organizations in China in the 1920s and 1930s, which directly contributed to the unprecedented "domestic film movement". In the following years, the domestic film industry rose rapidly. According to statistics, during the period of 1922- 1926, there were 175 film companies all over the country, and there were 145 in Shanghai alone. The emergence of many film companies naturally led to the surge of film production, and domestic films were enthusiastically sought after by the market, so China films began to walk out of the trough and enter the first unprecedented prosperity period.

It is also worth mentioning that (1903- 1978) plays Yu in the film. She was one of the earliest female movie stars in China. At that time, she worked as an English typist in a foreign-funded enterprise. Before the film starts, look for actresses everywhere. Introduced by the shareholders of a star company among colleagues, Hanlun Wang took the exam, which was satisfactory for Zhang Shichuan, and he entered the film circle from then on. The success of the film not only made her the first professional actress in China, but also the first tragic star in China.

China's first feature film series

During the period of 1928, with the gradual rise of commercial films such as martial arts and costume films, the star film company released a martial arts film "Burning Red Lotus Temple", which was warmly welcomed by the audience. Encouraged by the box office revenue, Star Company has continuously released movie sequels. By the end of 193 1 year, * * * has filmed 18 episode, making it the first feature-length movie series in China history.

"Burning Red Lotus Temple" is based on the martial arts novel "The Legend of the Jianghu Chivalrous Man", written by Zheng Qiuzheng, directed by Zhang Shichuan, starring Zheng Xiaoqiu. The film is set against the background of fighting and revenge in rural Hunan. Liu Xiaoqing, the son of Fengyang people in Reuters, studied superb martial arts in Liuyang County. When he got home, he strayed into the ancient Honglian Temple, where demons lurked. Later, with the help of many martial arts experts and officers and men, he had to rush out of the magic cave, rescue the imprisoned governor and the mutilated good girl, and set fire to the Honglian Temple.

This film came out in the background that commercial films began to flourish in China in the second half of the 1920s. At that time, costume films and martial arts films became the mainstream of commercial films. "Burning Red Lotus Temple" adds a lot of martial arts experts to the martial arts movies with the contents of "different skills" and monsters who are half human and half demon, and becomes the pioneering work of "martial arts monsters". For example, the core of the film is the battle between "Kunlun School" and "Kongtong School", which makes the film change from the martial arts scenes in previous martial arts films to a large number of special effects shots and institutional settings, focusing on the magic of martial arts masters such as "flying swords and white light" and "hiding from the ground". At the same time, it is interspersed with half-naked women and half-human, half-beast monsters, which are very active and lively.

The success of Burning Red Lotus Temple triggered the first martial arts film craze and supernatural film craze in China film history, and many companies followed suit. Among them, movies with the theme of "burning" emerge one after another, such as "Burning Pingyang City", "Burning Seven-Star Pagoda" and "Burning Clean Stream". No matter from the perspective of technology accumulation or theme expansion, the word "martial arts" has since become a conventional weapon in China's film armory, and generations of teenagers have since grown up in the ambiguity of sword light.

"Burning Red Lotus Temple" is the pioneering work of China's large-scale film series. This series based on commercial films also became a craze at that time. Later, a series of films appeared in this film, including "Ganlong Xiajiangnan" (9 episodes) and "Wild River Girl" (13 episodes).