The behind-the-scenes tidbits of the red sun

War movies have high requirements for the authenticity of scenes. In order to reproduce the fierce and spectacular scene of the Battle of Meng Lianggu, the film "Red Sun" crew came to Meng Lianggu for on-the-spot shooting.

The shooting conditions were very difficult at that time. The crew lived in a shabby primary school, and the bed was made up of desks. It is uneven and has seams. If a slightly fatter person turns over, gets caught in a crack and wakes up in the morning with blood stains. The thin man didn't sleep well either. His bone touched the wood, and the next day he was sore all over. In fact, this is just the beginning of the ordeal.

Anyone who has seen "Red Sun" is deeply impressed by the sea of people and the swallowing of mountains and rivers in the film. But who would have thought that those magnificent scenes were all taken by hungry actors? At that time, it was a three-year natural disaster period, and the bark and grass roots around the location of the red sun were stripped and planed by the people as food. A bowl of glutinous rice porridge, a bowl of dried sweet potatoes, and a small steamed bread are the meals of the day. Because of lack of food, people often work until midnight and are still hungry. Because of hunger, many cast members feel sick in their stomachs and feel very uncomfortable. Sometimes, actors will faint from hunger while performing. How can this work? Director Tang and others are very worried.

Li Po, who plays Liu Sheng, commander of our army, grew up in the countryside and is very familiar with crop cultivation. He found that the soil near the location is very good, and the crew will shoot here for several months. Can we dig up land here and grow some food? As soon as he was with Yang Zaibao, he brought back a cart of radish seedlings and eggplant seedlings from the market. As soon as I heard that I was going to grow vegetables, I suddenly felt refreshed. Everyone came to help, turning over the soil, watering, picking manure and fertilizing, which was very lively. Li Po's method really works. Under the careful care of everyone, the eggplant and radish in the field grow very fast and will soon be edible. After a day of filming, everyone rushed to the field to pull out radishes and pick eggplant and enjoy their hard work. But radish eggplant is something without oil and water after all. Whether it is raw or cooked, there will be no problem when you eat it in your stomach. So, everyone bought some immature pears that farmers had just picked and needed to make up.

At least the problem of hunger is solved, but the weather is getting more and more annoying. Especially in midsummer, the temperature is as high as 40 degrees when shooting. Because it is a winter scene, actors have to wear big cotton-padded clothes and leggings, and the feeling can be imagined. After filming, the actors' underwear was soaked with sweat. Moreover, "Red Sun" is shot on two screens, each shot has to be shot twice, and the crew has to suffer "second crop crime" for this.

Many people fell down in the scorching sun. Even a big man like Shuhuang Zhong failed to resist and fainted on the spot. The nurse at the scene quickly moved him to the shade before he woke up. It is difficult for actors to film, let alone photographers. Heavy photographic equipment was carried on their shoulders for a long time, although they were very energetic when shooting. When they stopped, the whole person seemed to fall apart.

Although the filming process was so hard and tiring, the comrades didn't complain at all. Thinking of the martyrs buried in this land, everyone's greatest wish is to make this film well and be worthy of these revolutionary martyrs. When it comes to difficult shots, many people compete for them. There is a scene in the play in which the enemy was hit by a shell and fell into the water while crossing a small wooden bridge. According to the requirements, some people who fall into the water will struggle on the water surface, and some people will never get out of the water again.

Because the soldiers involved in the filming are all landlubbers, it's ok to struggle on the water, but it's difficult not to stir. After several unsuccessful attempts, Tang was extremely anxious. Just then, a soldier volunteered to say to Don, "Let me try!" " Tang looked at the one-meter-eight burly warrior and nodded his head. Sure enough, the soldier jumped into the water and disappeared. Just when everyone was worried about him, he appeared from a distance and waved to everyone. This soldier is the famous sexologist Chen Kai.

After the location shooting, the crew returned to Shanghai to start shooting the interior. Because the food was greatly improved, it didn't take long for everyone's original faces to become round. But director Tang was worried about this and kept muttering: "It's broken. When shooting on location, they all have sharp faces. Now many people have round faces. How can the appearance before and after be linked? " Fortunately, the makeup artist's skillful hand solved his worries.

Through the efforts of the whole crew,1August, 962, the Red Sun was finally completed. The film is magnificent and exquisite, accurately grasping the battle process and the fate of the characters, carefully portraying more than 20 characters on both sides of the enemy and ourselves, and successfully portraying the images of senior commanders of both sides. In particular, the decisiveness of the commander of our army is in sharp contrast with the arrogance of the enemy, which gives people a deep impression. There is also a scene where Shi Donggen, the company commander of our army, is drunk and riding a horse. Life is very interesting. At that time, many people worried about damaging the image of the PLA and advocated deletion, but Tang firmly disagreed. Fortunately, Chen Yi didn't say anything after watching the film, so he kept it. After the filming, the film will be sent to the Ministry of Culture and the Central Film Bureau for review. Because the leaders of the Ministry of Culture were not optimistic about the script before, Tang and others were also uneasy.

Sure enough, the relevant leaders of the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture were very dissatisfied after watching the film, saying: "The characters are incoherent, and Chen Jian, Liu Sheng and Shi Donggen are all hidden from time to time. The contradiction between the colonel and the political commissar is not enough. In short, the emotions of the characters are not shown. "Fortunately, CMC still appreciate this movie. Rola Chen said excitedly after watching the movie, "I think the film Red Sun is very good. It is not easy to refine such a long novel into a movie. This is a good film that all the people's liberation army can see. Tell them (referring to the film crew) that it is not easy to make the film like this and it can be released in public. "Chen Yi made a speech, and the Film Bureau had to issue a censorship order. Tang's hanging heart was relieved, and he said gratefully, "If it hadn't been for Vice Premier Chen Yi's speech, the red sun wouldn't have risen. "

After The Red Sun was released, the audience responded very strongly. Many critics wrote articles praising: "The Red Sun wrote about wars and the fate of people in wars. It's really a good movie. " However, Jiang Qing was greatly dissatisfied after watching the movie and made many accusations.

During the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing turned the red sun into a "poisonous weed", and many people involved in film production, such as novelist Wu Qiang and director Tang, were persecuted. Later, everyone learned that Jiang Qing criticized the film because Rola Chen affirmed it, and she deliberately wanted to play opposite Rola Chen.

After the Cultural Revolution, Shandong held a retrospective exhibition of revolutionary historical films, and Red Sun finally came to light. "Surrounded by green hills, white clouds surround the mountains, terraces are green, and songs are heard in the wind. Hey, who said my hometown is so good ... "No matter whether you have seen a movie or not, you can almost hum a few words about this episode of" Who doesn't say my hometown is good "in" Red Sun ". Speaking of it, the birth of this song also benefited from the "recommendation and protection" of director Tang. Don Xiao Dan attaches great importance to the use of interludes in his films.

As soon as the Red Sun film crew was established, Tang found the author of many excellent songs such as Ode to the Red Flag and asked him to write a song for the film Red Sun.

He said to Lv Qiming: "The Battle of Menglianggu besieged the 74th Division of the Royal Kuomintang Army. The scene is very big and the fighting is extremely fierce. Before the battle comes, there should be a song to carry forward the feelings of PLA soldiers who love their hometown, love their troops and defend the fruits of victory ... "Then they joined the songwriters Yang Shuzheng and Xiao in song creation. In order to integrate songs with movies, Lv Qiming first watched the script of the movie Red Sun, and then went deep into the army to experience life. After repeated research with Tang and others, he set the tone of the song: this song should not only reflect the people's love for their hometown, but also reflect the revolutionary optimism spirit of PLA soldiers who love and defend their hometown, which is in sharp contrast with the music that shows the battle scenes behind, giving people a profound artistic feeling.

After the musical tone was determined, Lv Qiming went into hard work. Soon, he took out three lyrics of "Who doesn't say my hometown is good", and Tang also took more than 300 scenes according to the songs and the plot in the play. But when this song was auditioned by the film crew in Jiaodong, although everyone liked it, many people thought it was too long and should be shortened. But these three lyrics have formed a perfect whole, which set off each other with the shooting scene, so it is not appropriate to delete any paragraph. When Lv Qiming heard the news of the song cutting, he was also very angry. He usually doesn't lose his temper, and immediately ran to the film crew to get angry. Don is not angry at all about being angry. In fact, he has decided to keep the song intact. When he learned what Tang thought, his hanging heart was relieved. He apologized to Tang for his "anger".

The song is over. Who can we find to sing this song? Tang and others lined up to compare the folk singers at that time, and finally fixed their eyes on the singers of Shanghai Opera House.

Ren Guizhen is a singer who is very good at learning from others. Her singing has absorbed the characteristics of national singing in pronunciation, voice control and timbre change. In oral treatment, character expression and other aspects, she learned the methods of China traditional opera, and at the same time drew lessons from western vocalization, forming her own unique style. It is perfect for her to sing this newly created folk song.

As a result, the crew immediately received Ren Guizhen's audition, and her pure and sweet singing, like the spring breeze, immediately conquered the whole crew. The singing task of "Who doesn't say my hometown is good" in the film naturally belongs to her.

"Who doesn't say my hometown is good" was finally sung all over the country and lasted for a long time.