1940 Fujian, China

Pinfang Zheng
1940
Fujian, China
Interviewed on February 13, 2021
by Brian Liu

The first movie I remember seeing was The Flower Girl. I have watched movies before, but I can’t remember any specifics before this one. I was around thirty at the time. I remember watching this movie especially well because it was my first time going to the theater. Before this, I’ve only watched movies in sports fields; my husband was in the Chinese military, and they streamed movies in the athletic fields only for families. We would wake up early in the morning, three to four hours before the movie would start, bring chairs from home, walk to the station to be picked up by the military van, and wait in the line for hours to reserve a spot in those public showings. It was hot and humid during the summer and freezing in the winter, and the screens were tiny. Still, I was very grateful to have had the opportunity because I liked movies.

This time, however, we decided to go to the theater. I actually don’t remember how we got there; we either took the bus or walked. We would have gone earlier if tickets weren’t so expensive; they were fifty-cents each, and my monthly wage was only a little above ten Yuan. To bring our entire family of five would have cost a quarter of my wage. We decided to go because this movie was imported from North Korea (imported movies were very rare, and of course, considered a luxury at the time) and had wider screens than the ones we saw in the public showings. The theater is called Cang Shan Theatre; people don’t go there anymore now, but it was always packed. We sat according to the seat on our tickets. Nowadays, theaters serve popcorn and all kinds of snacks, but at the time, there was nothing. I was just happy to watch the movie. The visuals were much better, and we watched a foreign movie for the first time! 

To be honest, I don’t remember much about the story itself, but I do remember that it was a very sad story of a poor family who had everything taken from them by the rich landowner. It was especially sad because the movie built up so much suspense, but the events all turned out to be tragic. The main character’s family died one by one, despite how hard she worked and cherished her family. It was especially relatable for me because I could see many parallels in how we lived our lives. It had themes similar to the other movies we were often shown at the time, the poor versus the bourgeois. At the time, every person had to carry a “Little Red Book” — Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. It was our Bible: we studied it in school, referenced it in every conversation we had, and integrated it into our daily lives. And the movies reinforced his teachings in the Book. 

One thing I do remember especially well to this day is the soundtrack. Everyone in the streets knew the song, and it was very popular at the time. I can even still sing some tunes today! I also had a glimpse of the cultural differences between China and Korea through how the Korean women in the show wore skirts different from ours. It was very interesting because there were not many opportunities to see outside our bubble. 

Since then, I have watched many more films, but The Flower Girl is still by far the most memorable!