1960 Shanghai, China
He Lanyun
Born in 1950
First Movie Memory in Shanghai, China
Interviewed on September 23, 2019
By Sally Ma
In the second grade of elementary school, I got to watch a movie for the first time. It wasn’t my parents who brought me to the theatre–my parents had six kids, and both of them were too busy working to take us to movies. It was the year 1960 (Interviewer’s note: my grandmother started elementary school at the age of 9), just about a decade after the founding of the new China, when most people were quite poor, but the economy was growing and the government encouraged everyone to work hard, including women. It was my school that organized the movie screening–for educational purposes. The school reserved the whole viewing hall just for us students. It was an important event for us and the school. In addition to our teachers, there were ushers and other staff members at the theatre to assist us in finding seats and keeping us safe. We all had big smiles on our faces. In spite of our excitement, we behaved well. Whenever students talked loudly or stood up to see where their friends were sitting, the teachers would gently gesture with their hands for them to be quiet or sit down, and the students would do so immediately. The teachers never criticized us loudly. It was a time when teachers treated us with care, when we really respected the teachers, and when society as a whole valued etiquette and good education. It was during the best years of the new China. (Interviewer’s note: The Cultural Revolution, which would last from 1967 to 1977, would rip apart such a good educational system; the party would coax students to trash schools, burn books, and beat teachers.)
The showing was at Hu Xi Movie Theatre, a grand and famous movie theatre located at the intersection of three central districts. The theatre was big, tall, and modern, right alongside the busy Wai Hang Du Road, next to bustling stores and businesses. To get there, we walked in a line, holding hands in pairs, girls with girls, boys with boys, led by our teachers. Even though the walk was long, it felt like we got there in no time, since we were all walking together and were excited about the movie. The theatre had lots of snacks for sale, but we didn’t buy any. We didn’t have the habit of eating snacks at the time, let alone eating while watching movies–it would be of bad manners to munch on food and make noise in public, especially in a quiet movie theatre. When I first walked into the viewing hall, I was greeted with a pleasant aroma mixed with a hint of disinfecting spray. I learned that the staff always took 20 to 30 minutes cleaning up and sanitizing the room after each movie. The two walkways separating the seating area into three parts had floor lights. Thick soft green cloths covered the seats. We sat according to the numbers on our tickets. In our great anticipation, the movie started.
The movie was called Liu Hulan (1950), about a little girl named Liu Hulan who sacrificed herself at the young age of 14 for the Communist Party. She grew up in a poor family and lost her mom when she was little. Her stepmom emphasized education and encouraged her to study hard. She joined the Communist Party at the young age of 13 and did so much for the Revolution (Interviewer’s note: the Revolution is a common term used by the Chinese Communist Party to denote any party struggles against opposing power; here, the struggle was the Civil War against the Guomingdang in 1927-1949). She delivered food to the army, made army shoes, and organized the citizens into hidings when the enemies came. She was such a hero. After the enemies invaded the village and arrested her and many of her colleagues, the enemies started killing them one by one to intimidate the villagers. As she watched the execution, she wasn’t afraid at all. She asked the enemy in a firm loud voice, “How would I die?!” The killer’s hand even shook at her question. He eventually killed her with a huge army knife, but she was so fearless about death. Because of her, the villagers were no longer intimidated by the enemies; instead, they grew angrier and had a stronger fighting spirit.
I still had a vivid memory of this last scene. Many students and I cried while watching it. I felt a strong connection with Liu Hulan because she was also a little girl, with a similar background, and was not much older than I was. I was so moved by her diligence, bravery, and dedication to the party. I was happy when the movie started, and when it ended, I had a heavy heart. I promised myself that I would learn from this hero, that I would study hard, stay motivated and optimistic, and become a useful person who could serve the party, my nation, and the people well. We also learned from our textbook that Chairman Mao personally wrote a calligraphic inscription for Liu Hulan, which said that she was born with magnificence and died with honor (Sheng De Wei Da, Si De Guang Rong). Our generation had a lot of respect for Chairman Mao–he built this new nation so that we could live in peace. How many kids around the nation could have Chairman Mao’s personal inscription for them? I thought to myself as I watched the movie. Liu Hulan was truly admirable. I told myself that I would strive to become someone as useful for the country as she was.
When our teacher asked us to write about our reflections on the movie, I put those thoughts into my essay. It got high marks, and my teacher read it using a microphone for the whole school to hear, so that other students could learn from it.
Liu Hulan’s spirit really made a strong impression on me. I still remember the experience vividly. We later watched more movies about revolutionary heroes, and I had great respect for all of them. Without them, how would our nation become liberated? Without them, how would I have such a good childhood? They paved the path using their own life and blood. I was glad that those movies captured their history so that later generations could learn from them.
