1956 Taizijing, China

Meng Fanxi

1944

Taizijing, China

Interviewed on February 10, 2021

by Kexin Meng

This interview was originally conducted in Mandarin.

Growing up in my rural Chinese village, there were no movie theaters anywhere near us. Even if there were, I doubt anyone would have been able to afford the tickets. Instead, we improvised and made our own. We were always very adept at making do with how little we had, but perhaps that’s because we had no choice but to become accustomed to this.

There was an empty plot of land in front of one of the small streams in our village, so we would set up a makeshift screen by hanging a large white cloth between two trees. Of course, there was no seating so people would either bring small stools from home, or the kids would collect large rocks from the stream and stack them into little chairs. While the mere concept of being able to watch a movie was already worthy of celebration, the best part was that these movie screenings were completely free.

Outdoor movie screening, China, 1950s.

Though the details are little blurry now, I clearly recall the first movie I watched being Reconnaissance Across the Yangtze《渡江侦察记》(1954), and war movies were all the rage at the time. I was probably around twelve years old back then, because I recall not having started middle school yet. I specifically remember rushing to the screening site early, braving the chill of autumn, because I was so anxious to get a good spot near the front. My anxiety ended up being all for naught since the screen was hung so high up that you could see everything clearly even from the very back, but at least I had learned my lesson for future screenings.

As for the film itself, I can really only recall the most essential points of the story. The film was based on the real events of the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign during the Chinese Civil War. The plot centered on the victorious mission of a team of scouts from the People Liberation’s Army, led by Xiong Zhaoren, being sent to spy and gather information on the enemy. Back then, in my eyes, war was nothing more than a chance to prove your worth, and death was a concept that the worthy would always defeat. Looking back, I really have to laugh at my naïveté and simplemindedness, but as a child, all the conflict and tension seemed so glorious in comparison to the little bubble of farmland in which I lived. While kids nowadays grow up with figures like Iron Man or Superman, the soldiers in Reconnaissance Across the Yangtze were the superheroes of my time. Their intellect, bravery, and determination were all traits I admired, yet they were not untouchable; they were role models that the common people, including me, could aspire to become. After the movie, I ran home to imitate the soldiers in front of my mother, even adding my own biu biu sound effects to mimic gun shots as I passionately reenacted the action scenes. She said I was a natural.

I always went to the movies alone, briefly leaving my responsibilities behind to my parents with a kind of carelessness that only a child has the privilege of experiencing. The only downside to these movies was that I would always be left with a tinge of sadness whenever I knew the film was coming to a close. I always wished for them to never end, and sometimes I would even space out for a few moments afterward, still unwilling to return to reality. Life was much harder back then. There was always too much work and not enough to eat. Never mind concessions, we could barely even fill our stomachs at home, yet these movies were a momentary escape from any worries that were clouding our minds. Unfortunately, these movie screenings were a rarity that happened only two or three times each year; however, whenever they did occur, it was like Chinese New Year had come early.

Though the conditions back then cannot compare at all to the luxuries we have today, there was a simple charm to the way our entire village would await our precious movie screenings with anticipation and how we’d all gather together to forget our concerns, if even just for an hour or two. My memory is fuzzy now, but surprisingly, these moments stand out like splashes of color amongst the monotony of my youth.