From Shangganling to Crossing the Yalu River： Changes and Invariance in the Inter-generational Change of Films and TV Plays to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
The TV series "Meritorious" unit "Capable of Literature and Armed Forces in Li Yannian" regains the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, and excavates the shining human brilliance in the people’s army in detail.
Sun Xinqi
A few days ago, the film "Crossing the Yalu River" officially landed in major theaters across the country. Based on the TV series of the same name premiered at the end of last year, the film version of Crossing the Yalu River condensed the volume of 40 episodes into two and a half hours, and the depth, breadth and density of the content were highly praised by the industry and outside.
From the first film "Shangganling" released in 1956, to the first TV series "The 38th parallel" premiered in 2016, and then to the panoramic work "Crossing the Yalu River" which was broadcast and released one after another last year and this year, the film and television dramas with the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea experienced a creative peak and once faded out of public view, and now they are welcoming another peak. The past 65 years have witnessed the changes and development of China’s film and television drama industry, and witnessed the enduring theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, and even the spirit of defending the country and defending the country in the creation of film and television dramas.
Narrative angle:
From the grassroots to the top
From what angle to cut into the narrative is the first multiple-choice question that war writers have to answer well. In the early preparation of Shangganling, the film crew considered the panoramic display of this epic battle, but they finally chose to break through the tradition and focus on a tunnel and a company in Shangganling battle, so as to deepen the viewing experience and highlight the fearless spirit of the people’s heroes. Since then, a series of movies on the theme of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea have adopted a similar approach of "seeing the big from the small", and created heroic images that are deeply rooted in people’s hearts, such as Wang Cheng in Heroes’ Children, Fang Yong in Surprise Attack, Zhang lei in Flying Across the Sky, Liu Feng in Beacon Train, Zhang Yong in Hero Tanker, and Guo Tie in Guild Wars.
The same way of expression has also appeared in recent years’ films and TV dramas to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Guan Lei and Zhang Fei in The Sacrifice, the Wu brothers in The Battle at Lake Changjin, and even Li Changshun in The 38th Parallel, although the color of individual heroism has gradually given way to the fraternal revolutionary friendship, the breakthrough point of these works is still the close-up of first-line combat heroes or the group portrait of company of heroes, which reflects the overall appearance of volunteer soldiers.
In this sense, Crossing the Yalu River is a work that breaks through the tradition and returns to it. From the drama version to the film version, Crossing the Yalu River is the first of its kind, introducing the first generation leaders’ judgment and decision on the war situation in new China to a large extent, depicting the desperate struggle on the Korean battlefield and the fierce game in international politics from an unprecedented panoramic perspective in Shangganling, placing the war of founding the country in the historical background and the global situation, fully opening up the horizon and opening up the pattern, so that the audience can have a more comprehensive, deeper and more accurate understanding of this war. The film version looks back at the beginning and end of the war from the perspective of Peng Dehuai, commander and political commissar of the Volunteer Army, and its narrative perspective, pattern and boldness are unprecedented.
Artistic technique:
From rendering to documentary
How to make fiction on the basis of authenticity is also an unavoidable proposition for war writers. In order to shoot "Shangganling" well, the film crew interviewed more than 100 volunteers veterans who participated in the battle that year and compiled hundreds of thousands of words of materials. Ba Jin, the author of Reunion, the original novel of Heroes and Children, went to North Korea in 1952 to experience the life of volunteers, ate and lived with the soldiers, and even went to the front to interview regardless of his life. From the feedback of many veterans, it can be seen that the great success of Shangganling and Heroes’ Children is largely due to the restoration of the real war environment, not only being as immersive as possible in the shooting scene, but also the casting criteria of Zhang Zhongfa and Wang Cheng have changed from the traditional "hero face" to a more grounded "all beings".
It can’t be ignored that the two films originated from reality and are higher than reality, and their powerful artistic appeal transcends the barrier of the crowd and the limitation of time and space. My Motherland, the episode of Shangganling, and Ode to Heroes, the two red golden songs, are still widely sung today. Wang Cheng’s line "Fire at me for victory" has become a highly concentrated revolutionary spirit. It should be noted that the energy of art lies in inspiring patriotic feelings flowing in the blood of the nation.
After more than 60 years, the theme of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea has been revived, and authenticity is also vitality, but the way of reproduction can no longer be reproduced. From the perspective of the witnesses, many people who shed their blood and sweat on the Korean battlefield are old or dead, and today’s Korean peninsula has long been another scene. From the receiver’s point of view, the mainstream audience was born in peacetime and had no personal experience of the war years. Therefore, today, with the great improvement of scientific and technological means, it is as important as artistic rendering of feelings to arouse the national war memory with documentary details.
For example, in the TV series "Meritorious Works", the vivid details such as the operational meeting, the "three-three system" charge formation, the scattered mortar placement, and the artillery blockade law of the US military made the military fans hooked up. These seemingly unremarkable settings and bridges can naturally lead the audience into the raging flames of war without more rendering, and can also strongly refute the narrow argument of "winning the war only by sea tactics" through the lens language, showing the combat courage and wisdom of our soldiers in the case of obviously unequal equipment strength.
Thinking about war:
From sensibility to rationality
From Shangganling, Heroes and Children to Crossing the Yalu River, The Battle at Lake Changjin, there are great generational differences in narrative angle and artistic techniques in the film and television dramas on the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea. Behind this difference, in fact, two generations are thinking and questioning the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea from different angles. The question raised by early film and television dramas is: Why can you win? Now, before answering this question, we have to ask: Why do you want to fight?
Crossing the Yalu River is substituted into the perspective of the first generation of new China leaders, which overlooks the overall situation from a strategic perspective and explains the urgency of the war for the founding of the country with historical vision and political language. In Li Yannian, Li Yannian made a speech about home and country when he was dealing with the deserter Anton. This speech radiated the overall situation from emotional dimension and described the necessity of defending the country in popular words.
Explaining "why fight" is based on the dual needs of history and reality, and gives an exact footnote to this endless war, completing an important puzzle for the younger generation’s view of history. The explanation of "why fight" is also based on the gradual transition from sensibility to rationality. After a lapse of 70 years, we will face up to the war and face history with a calm strategic mind.
Of course, rational thinking about the war also means that works of art have more yuan and more subtle interpretations of the part of the war on the premise of keeping the main tone generous and high. For example, The Battle at Lake Changjin Zhong Wu Qianli’s line that "some guns must be opened, and some guns can’t be opened", and Li Yannian’s bridge in "Merit" doesn’t kill deserters, all of which jump off from the traditional routines of war film and television dramas and tap the shining human brilliance in the people’s army in detail.
From the TV series "The 38th Parallel" to the movie version "Crossing the Yalu River", many high-quality works have come out one after another, bringing the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea back to the center of the film and television industry. For the audience, the grand narrative constructed by these works is not only an art movement driven by new technology, but also a historical education called for by the new era.
(Source: Wen Wei Po)
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