Fei Mu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Fei.
| Fei Mu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1906 Shanghai, China |
| Died | 1951 Hong Kong |
| Occupation | Director, Screenwriter, Film Producer |
Fei Mu (Simplified Chinese: 费穆; Traditional Chinese: 費穆; pinyin: Feì Mù) (1906 - 1951) was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the Communist takeover in 1949. Known for his artistic style and costume dramas, Fei made his first film, 1933's Night in the City (produced by the Lianhua Film Company), at the young age of 27, and he was met with both critical and popular acclaim (the film, unfortunately, is now lost). Continuing to make films with Lianhua, Fei continued to direct throughout the 1930s and became a major talent in the industry, with films like 1936's Blood on Wolf Mountain (often seen as an allegory on the war with Japan).
Fei's legacy as one of China's greatest directors, however, was not sealed until his 1948 influential masterpiece Spring in a Small Town about a love triangle in post-war China was made (it was later remade by Tian Zhuangzhuang in 2002 as Springtime in a Small Town) . He also directed China's first colour film "Remorse at Death" (1948), which incorprated Beijing Opera. Unfortunately, following the Communist revolution in 1949, Fei Mu fell into obscurity, as much of his filmography was forgotten or ignored, rejected by leftist critics as indicative of rightist ideologies. However, Fei Mui's reputation began to change during the early 1980s, when the China Film Archive re-opened (like other institutions, it had been closed down during the Cultural Revolution) and made a new print from the original negative of Spring in a Small Town. The film quickly found a new and admiring audience. In 2005, Spring in a Small Town was declared one of the greatest Chinese films ever made by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association.
Fei Mu died in Hong Kong in 1951.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Director
- Night in the City (Chéngshì zhīyè) (1933)
- Sea of Fragrant Snow (Xiang xue hai) (1934)
- Life (Ren sheng) (1934)
- Filial Piety (Tianlun) (1935) (Also known as Song of China)
- Blood on Wolf Mountain (Lang shan die xue ji) (1936) (Also known as Bloodbath in Langshan)
- Martyrs of the Northern Front (Bei zhancheng jingzhong lu) (1937)
- Gold-Plated City (Dujin de cheng) (1937)
- Murder in the Oratory (Zhan jingtang) (1937)
- Nightmares in Spring Chamber (Chungui duanmung) (1937) (Episode in Lianhua Symphony)
- Confucius (Kong Fuzi) (1940)
- The Beauty (Guose tianxin) (1941)
- Songs of Ancient China (Gu zhongguo zhi ge) (1941)
- The Magnificent Country (Jinxiu heshan) (1946)
- Spring in a Small Town (Xiǎochéng zhī chūn) (1948)
- The Little Cowherd (Xiao fang niu) (1948)
- Remorse at Death (1948)
- A Wedding in a Dream (Shengsi hen) (1949)
[edit] Screenwriter
- Life (Ren sheng) (1934)
- Blood on Wolf Mountain (Lang shan die xue ji) (1936)
- On Stage and Backstage (Qiantai yu houtai) (1937)
- Martyrs of the Northern Front (Bei zhancheng jingzhong lu) (1937)
- Nightmares in Spring Chamber (Chungui duanmung) (1937)
- Confucius (Kong Fuzi) (1940)
- Children of the World (Shijie ernu) (1941)
- Songs of Ancient China (Gu Zhongguo zhi ge) (1941)
- The Magnificent Country (Jinxiu heshan) (1946)
[edit] Producer
- Flower Girl (Hua guniang) (1951)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Li, Cheuk-to (2000), "Spring in a Small Town: Mastery and Restraint", Cinemaya 49
- Pang, Laikwan (2002), Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-Wing Cinema Movement, 1932-1937, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., ISBN 0-7425-0946-X
