Adam Woeltz

10/14/2013

CHI 321-001

Dr. Luo

The Revolutionary Stage

     Stage Sisters, a film made on the eve of the Cultural Revolution follows the lives of two Shaoxing Opera Singers, Yuehong and Chunhua from their childhood in the mid 30s to 1950, one year after the establishment of the PRC. The film uses the familiar form of entertainment, the Shaoxing Opera, as a vehicle by which a serious dose of propaganda is delivered to the audience. One reason that this film, and its director, Xie Jin are so well renowned lies in his insistence on being original. Despite giving it his own touch, the film is plagued by the political and artistic atmosphere at the time, which somewhat erodes the value of a rather engaging film.

     Although a revolutionary film in nature, Stage Sisters was banned from the general public until after the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution. In many ways it fell in line with similar cinema of the time which contained socialist realist elements, but Xie Jin drew off of a lot of experience making other films. “In Xie Jin's case, after experimenting with the opera movie (1954), drama (1955), sports (1957), war (1958) and comedy (1962), the director turned to Stage Sisters (Wutai jiemei, 1965) a project he had planned for years. (Zhang, “National Chinese Cinema” 214) Given his rather broad background, it's not surprising that he was willing to incorporate elements from other forms of cinema. According to Gina Marchetti's Two Stage Sisters the blossoming of a revolutionary aesthetic: “Xie's style matured in an aesthetic crucible, which ground together Hollywood classicism, Soviet socialist realism, Shanghai dramatic traditions and indigenous folk opera forms.” After the death of their father, the two main characters quickly move to Shanghai the majority of the film will take place. This favoritism led to criticism from the ultra-leftists who, led by Jiang Qing, felt that all film must entirely be of the Yan'an tradition and have no Shanghai influence. Furthermore, criticism of the film was a tool used to indirectly attack Xia Yan who aided greatly with the script. (Marchetti) This background, despite the many problems it caused, helps make the film a lasting one.

     Within the first few minutes of the film, there's a scene featuring Yue Hong singing opera. As the movie progresses we see the ugly side of the Shaoxing Opera business, but the intermittent scene serve as a tension valve to help keep the movie rolling along. This function is taken to the next level when Chunhua begins to perform Lu Xun's White Haired Lady. Suddenly this 'relief' portion of the film has been transformed into a tool that the main character is using to spread revolutionary ideals and values. I feel the film tends to make us feel bad, and that the girls are exploited. This conflicts with our enjoyment of the opera. Resolution seems to come in the form of turning this into something that's both positive to us in terms of entertainment, and positive to the performers who are evidently now expressing their true selves. Yuehong takes an interesting turn near the end of the movie. Long after having gone down the 'negative' path she reappears near the end as a victim of her circumstances rather than the villain that would better fall in line with traditional socialist-realism films. This is one situation where Xie Jin's own touch and background comes out in the film. Zhang says of characters in socialist realism: “The black-and-white dramatization of ideological conflicts with purely good and bad characters thus makes 'middle characters' – most often intellectuals neither positive or negative enough to qualify as agents of revolution nor reactionary enough to represent the villainous force – superfluous in politicized narrative.” (203) In the case of Yuehong, we have a main character directly defying this standard for other films of the time.

     Women and their sexuality is a dominant theme in this film. Yuehong's abandoning opera and Chunhua to be with Manager Tang, and Tang's subsequent poor treatment of Yuehong push sexual norms. Yuehong is being taken advantage of, and society makes her feel like she is being pushed in a certain direction. Chunhua on the other hand is willing to 'follow her heart.' Her making the right decision is further reinforced by Yuehong's wondering back towards her at the end in hopes of redemption from her terrible ways. The scene where a young Yuehong and Chunhua see the older, famous opera actress putting on her makeup in the mirror is another example of the sexuality in the film. The scene emphasizes that the looks and talents that make these two singers so successful will fade with time. The exploitative characters, however, such as Manager Tang and the Monitor do not have to worry about such concerns, going through generations of opera singers.

     The use of Opera both as part of the film and within the film itself with the case of Lu Xun resonates with the tenants set out by Mao at Yan'an for the use of art. (Marchetti) The film was made at a time when filmmakers had to “work within the ideological state apparatuses … cultivate national styles and and explore acceptable genres.” (Zhang 190) Although the ideas are certainly interesting, and the style certainly carries a level of distinction from many other works of socialist-realism, the film tries too hard to be first and foremost a propaganda piece. For one thing, it seems like there could be much greater room for ambiguity in the film. The Monitor for instance, seems like he is not much richer than many of the opera troupe, yet he is automatically included with the class enemies present in the film. Even though it presents us with an ambiguous element, Yuehong's story is still too bland for many modern palates. She's bad but not too terrible, since she's a victim and doesn't seem to buy into the bourgeois ideology. On the other hand, she comes back at the end of the film for a short last-minute redemption. For an audience inundated with socialist-realism, this may not be an issue, but for a modern film-viewer this leaves a little bit to be desired. We have no chance of knowing how sincere she was in her pledge, or if she may be prone to fall back into her wicked ways. The wholesome ending is also doesn't leave one as satisfied as other films might. Everything seems to work out so perfectly, even the villains have fled without anymore confrontation with the protagonists.

     If Xie Jin had created the film with modern viewers in mind, or less restrictions it could have been a much better work of art. Nonetheless it's very entertaining both when taken as a movie and when seen as a political piece. He manages to deliver the appropriate ideas for the time in a way that we can still enjoy without being concerned with politics. As a piece of history it gives us a glimpse into the complicated situation that existed at the time. His work was at once so revolutionary and leftist and yet attacked by extreme elements from within the Chinese communist party. At times what is not included can create more interest than what is included in the film.

Bibliography:
Gina Marchetti, "The Two Stage Sisters: The Blossoming of Revolutionary Aesthetic"
Zhang, Chinese National Cinema