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'One Last Battle Cry'
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 Director Wu Ziniu. |
The importance of the pen and the movie
camera in any political struggle does not go unnoticed in Wu Ziniu's latest cinematic
creation National Anthem. In pseudo-documentary style, Wu recounts the creation of "March of the Volunteers" and portrays the anthem as historically emblematic of China's struggle for survival against imperial aggression. |
| Set during the early years of the War of
Resistance Against Japan, Wu re-envisions the guiding role of the leftist literati and the
crucial contribution of intellectuals to the salvation of their country. National Anthem depicts three figures -- Tian Han, Xia Yan and Nie Er -- fully committed to the resistance effort and their cultural endeavors manifest in plays, films and songs that propelled China's battle for salvation and sovereignty. Wu, who agreed to film only after receiving permission to alter the script, intertwines battlefront scenes with a nostalgic history of dramatic and film productions during the 1930s. |
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Timing
National Anthem represents a special, if not awkward, cultural and historic moment of China's film history. The film syncretically combines official discourse, market pressures and a very talented director's unique artistic and cinematic vision.
"Directors today can't just be immersed in film as a medium of artistic expression like the time when they were students," says Wu.
"During the past 10 years of my experience with film, I have gradually come to learn that a film's completion occurs when the audience sees the films and exchanges their feelings with you. So we must try to communicate with the audience."
Although partially rejecting the ambiguous and general label "Fifth Generation," Wu finds it difficult to articulate what is unique about his cinematic vision.
"There is a heavy color of criticism in my work," he says. "This kind of criticism doesn't mean being merely against somebody or something, but to appraise reality with my deep affection and an open mind towards human beings.
"I am a humanist. I can't comment on my film though and think that my films can only receive a fair assessment later in history."
| Rise up, we will not be slaves. We will build a new Great Wall with our flesh. China has arrived at its most perilous time. Each person is forced to make one last battle cry. Rise up, rise up, rise up. We are all of the same heart, risking our enemy's fire. We will advance, advance, advance. |
 The original draft of the national anthem by Nie Er. |
Debut
"March of the Volunteers" made its debut by means of a 1935 movie, The Children of Troubled Times. The screenplay was written by Tian Han and Xia Yan.
Tian, who penned the anthem's lyrics, had begun to write dramas in the early '20s and screenplays in the early '30s. One of China's most highly acclaimed dramatists, we glimpse two of his plays -- The Alarm Bell and Death of a Star -- during the movie.
Xia Yan, another significant leftist literati, dramatist and screenwriter from the early 20th century, paternally guides the leftist cultural movement's transition into a cultural front armed with "national defense literature," constructed to rally national support against the Japanese invasion.
Nie Er, writer of the anthem's music, is depicted as an energetic and youthful spirit dedicated to China's survival.
These leftist cultural pioneers adopted film as an ideal medium for warning the masses about the Japanese invasion and the country's perilous plight.
Songs were often disseminated through film, harnessing mass media for the national war effort.
At an emotional climax in the film, Tian resolutely declares:
"Has the blood spilled by the Chinese been in vain? Our China has endured too much suffering. We must courageously face the circumstances. We have already exerted much effort in our dramatic productions, but what has been the result? Drama is not enough. We must also have songs."
Official Seal
One may be led to think the film is not so different from certain Cultural Revolution "model revolutionary dramas".
Many of these re-envisioned the War of Resistance in promoting a political agenda of national consolidation, collective identity and the Maoist campaign of "continual revolution."
Indeed, National Anthem received a 2 million yuan grant from the Chinese government out of a total budget of 20 million -- and it was produced as part of the commemoration of China's 50th anniversary.
However, the film is also treated as a self-conscious artistic medium, to the credit of one of China's best fifth generation directors, and makes a clear attempt to engage a general audience through its cinematic appeal -- the war scenes, attractive movie stars and a minor love story.
Although the film plays a somewhat hackneyed tune of patriotism, it is far from a stridently mindless espousal of warmongering nationalism, and Wu Ziniu's positive, if not heroic, portrayal of literary figures may point to certain cultural values which function to deconstruct a superficial nationalistic rhetoric.
Nie Er(Chen Kun) and Tian Han(He Zhengjun) film the Japanese invasion of Shanghai.
Generation 5
During his training at the Beijing Film Academy -- all of the so-called "Fifth Generation" directors attended the Beijing Film Academy from 1978-1982 -- Wu was exposed to many European and American films, especially art house films, toward the goal of creating his own artistic expression.
"From the mid '80s to the early '90s, a new wave of Chinese film emerged," says Wu. "That formed the directors' group of the fifth generation, including Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang. In the 1980s, a great number of excellent American films entered the Chinese market.
"The American film industry almost conquered the world, while the range of subjects within Chinese films was tightly controlled. In the past, the directors could either choose a script they liked from the film studios or look for a script themselves. The Chinese films began to face problems of how to integrate with the market."
Wu admits he is inclined to select intense and piercing subjects for his films, such as seen in his Massacre of Nanjing (1995) and Dove Tree (1985), the latter of which depicts the "China-Vietnam Self-Defense War", and was not permitted release and distribution within China.
The majority of Wu's 12 films are set on the battlefield. Noting the irony in this as he has never fought in a war nor served in the army, Wu explains, however, that he has "witnessed great disasters experienced by the Chinese people. "
"In the 1960s, when China was suffering from three years of natural disasters, I saw misery, death and people's flight from starvation.
"This is another kind of battle. I admire this kind of situation which I refer to as the 'field of life and death.' People's true nature is deeply exposed in this type of 'field'."
Wu says he wants to make films on subjects worth being preserved, in contrast to the new trend in urban cinema.
National Anthem carries an important historical, cultural and moral message, he believes.
"There has never been such a film," says Wu. "The content is closely tied to the fate of the nation. One fourth of the people in the world sing the national anthem ... The film primarily illustrates the cultural essence of those Chinese whose sacred duty was to usher a calamity-ridden Chinese nation on its way to freedom.
"Today's Chinese should meditate upon this history. While industry is experiencing rapid development, the idealism and spiritual role of Chinese film is diminishing. China's victory over Japan was not only representative of China's military strength, but more importantly, China's cultural and moral strength.
"All Chinese must realize their blood ties with the nation when singing the national anthem, so it is necessary to understand the song's historical origins."
Future
Future projects include two films dealing with Taiwan. The first tells the real story of a Taiwanese who during Taiwan's occupation by Japan is taken back to Japan, processed down the streets, and executed in public. The other tells the story of Zheng Chenggong, who fought for Taiwan during its occupation by Holland at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Despite working in this suspended moment of China's history of film, Wu Ziniu is optimistic about the future: "I hope we can be given a wider choice of themes. The directors in the future will have a difficult time because of the market for one thing.
"But I think they will overcome these difficulties because everything depends on man's efforts."