Description
| Title | Early Spring |
|---|---|
| Duration | 38 mins 44 secs |
| Collection | Educational and Television Films Ltd |
| Language | |
| Country View on map | |
| Director | |
| Subjects | |
| Terms of Use | more… |
Description
Tracing the Chinese year from Winter through to the Spring Festival, this documentary shows scenes from rural China and how life has been improved by the Communist regime.Credits
Scenario: Joris Ivens Commentary Writer: Ho Chung-Hsin Directors of Photography: Wang Teh-Chen, Shih I-Min, Tsiao Tse-Lin Music: Kao Chao Music Performance: Studio's Orchestra Conductor: Han-Ching Wang Sound: Shao-tseng Wang Commentary Spoken by: Xie Tieli
Segments
?Segment 1
Starts: 0:00
(5:09)
Music, credits. Sound of a train. Text: "Early in 1958 I toured certain parts of the People's Republic of China. During my trip I made three films to record the sights and scenes I saw at that time. The Big Leap Forward in 1958 brought about tremendous changes in every field of activity in China. While making these films I was keenly aware that China is entering upon an great new historical age". Joris Ivens. Inter title: Winter. Ivens begins his tour of Inner Mongolia from the north east corner of the Hulun Buir grassland. Mongolian herdsmen in a co-operative maintain their ancestors' traditions. A herd of horses. A spirited horse is being broken in. A herd of cattle grazing, there is snow under their hooves. A co-operative has decided to set up a factory to make milk powder as every year they have too much milk. Hurrying flocks to shelter before a storm breaks, the workers return home to their yurts, for protection. New villages, where this year the herdsmen will settle in permanent homes.
Segment 2
Starts: 5:09
(6:00)
Next morning, the co-operatives cart sets out to Hailar, the central depot of the Hulun Buir Grasslands. Footage of the town. Liberation has increased its population from 20,000 to over 70,000. There is snow and ice for eight months of the year. Children look out of icy windows. Members of the Red Flag co-operative prepare for the spring ploughing. Camels set out to villages and towns. Children play in the snow, building a snowman. A steel bridge crosses the Hailar river, although as it is frozen the trekkers don't use it. The temperature is -40 degrees. The Lama temple, a landmark for travellers. The narrator talks about the future of the area, new cities and railway networks. A blizzard means the camels need to stop for a rest.
Segment 3
Starts: 11:09
(6:12)
Early Spring. Village people prepare for summer. Narrator travels south by train, to Nanjing, snow still falling. Children playing in the snow. Spring festival is coming, a grandfather buys his grandchild a coloured lantern. Intimations of of spring, blossom, flowers. Workers enthusiastically building a new reservoir. Dingshan, a village which before liberation was noted for three things: how much land was being sold, its many landless peasants, and many beggars. Today members of the co-operative are transforming nature. Footage of work on the land, turning barren hillsides into rolling fields of grain. There are now many new houses, new couples, babies, clothes, bank accounts etc.
Segment 4
Starts: 17:21
(5:45)
In 1957 the average income of a co-operative worker in Dingshan was the equivalent of a middle peasant's income. Scenes of tranquility from around the village, a baby sleeping, children and animals. A family outside their house, the grandmother makes cakes, a daughter teaches her mother to read. The co-operative plans the work for the coming year, water buffalo are herded together, footage of them at work. There is an old Chinese saying: 'The year's harvest depends on the spring.' Sunset, beautiful shots of the landscape. Ducks on rippling waters, children helping to plant trees. More idyllic imagery: birds in the sky, streams flowing, fields, hills, trees and blossom.
Segment 5
Starts: 23:06
(5:36)
Spring Festival. Taihu has long been called 'the home of rice and fish'. A lake, workers in boats dredge rich mud to fertilise their fields. Peasants attending mulberries and silk worms. New Years Eve, kite-flying, children receiving gifts, playing with their toys. Workers in the field, four happy workers tread a water mill, bringing water into the fields. Mottos for the festival embody new ideas, for example 'Be patriotic and increase production for a splendid future' and 'Run the household economically for a good life'. These are painted on red banners and stuck onto doors. Fish is indispensable at the festival, it is lucky and symbolises abundance. A family on their boat gather in and clean fish. There is an abundance of food this year. A pagoda, children playing skipping and rhyming games.
Segment 6
Starts: 28:42
(4:06)
New year is a time for reunions, a worker from Shanghai returns to see his family. In the street, a young boy has his hair shampooed. A craftsman entertains a group of children, lots of smiling faces. A new outdoor stage is made and children immediately play on it. Performers rehearse for the show. Inside a house a daughter helps her mother prepare for the new year's feast. Night, fireworks, excited faces.
Segment 7
Starts: 32:48
(5:56)
New Years Day, boys set off firecrackers. Children run to see the traditional dragon dance; the dragon is a Chinese symbol of fertility. The parade moves down the street. A workers spare time repertory company performs the 'A Man and Woman at the Mill' on the stage, shots of the crowd. The two girls who practiced the previous day then perform the same story. A group of girls sing accompanied by musicians. A group of young children watch performers put on their elaborate costumes, masks and make-up. The traditional fable 'The Snake and Mussel' whose quarrel resulted in them being captured by the Fisherman, is performed. The children are enthralled. The End.
