1963 Chang Sha, China

王宋全 (Wang Song Quan)
1947
长沙 (Chang Sha)
Interviewed on 2/5/24
by Sophia Zhou

The first movie I saw was 五朵金花 (Five Golden Flowers). I was around 15 years old, I saw it in 1963, and I watched it as a projection in an outdoor sports field. Because it was a projection, you could watch it from the backside too, which is what I did because there were too many people. I went to elementary school in the countryside (乡下), but I was in the city (长沙) for middle school, and the middle school put this showing on. So, I went with my classmates and friends. I walked from home to the showing, and I was carrying a little stool with me. People had to bring stools since the field didn’t have chairs.

The movie was a romantic musical starring a female and male lead. The plot was just like those romance plots, you know, 爱情的情节; it was about a pair of people who are pursuing love. The male lead, 阿鵬 (Ah Peng), meets a girl who calls herself 金花 at 三月街 (March Festival), a traditional Bai celebration. They sing a Bai duet and fall in love. Jin Hua promises that she’ll meet him at the Festival again next year, and they part ways. But next year, Ah Peng doesn’t find her at the Festival. He becomes determined to reunite with Jin Hua, and goes searching for her in 苍山 (Cang Mountain). In his journey, he discovers that Jin Hua is a common name for Bai women. Through encounters with bears and iron workers, Jin Hua eventually finds his love with the help of a woman at a local foundry. The movie ends with a final chorus.

The movie was so beautiful since it was shot in 云南 (Yunnan), a scenic province in southwestern China next to Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. The characters sang in snowy mountains and beside clear blue lakes, which I really liked. 云南 is the home of the 白族 (Bai ethnic group). The characters in the movie were Bai people, and the songs they sang was Bai folk music. I really like this kind of folk music [starts singing]. My favorite moments of the movie were when they sang duets about love! The movie was very emotional, and the acting was good. I thought the plot was quite good at the time, but in comparison to today’s movies, the plot was probably average. The main actress was my favorite actor.

For projected movies there weren’t concession stands, but in real theaters there were. The most popular snack was popcorn, of course, but we also had snacks like 辣条 (spicy strips), 瓜子 (sunflower seeds), peanuts, beer, 梅子 (preserved plums), 烤肠 (roasted hotdogs), and chicken legs. The theaters were clean and had wooden chairs.
Nowadays my favorite genre is spy/thriller!

Wang Song Quan is my maternal grandmother.