Evening Rain

Ba Shan Ye Yu

China

1980

80 Min

Color

Mandarin

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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CAST Li Zhiyu, Zhang Yu, Zhong Xinghuo, Zhang Ming, Qiang Ming, Ouyang Ruqiu, Lin Bin, Mao Weihui, Zhang Fusheng

SOUND Jin Fugen, Yang Liangkun

Synopsis

Evening Rain transmutes political protest into lyric poetry. A poet, Qiushi, is being transported on a Yangtze River boat to prison in Wuhan. It is during the Cultural Revolution and his unspecified ‘crimes’ are political. His wife has died and he has lost touch with his young daughter. One of his guards, a woman, is a doctrine-spouting Maoist, the other a taciturn veteran. A cross section of victims of the Cultural Revolution and bystanders populate their shared cabin. Their reactions are fear, defiance, or compassion to Qiushi’s presence. But the apparent schematization of the characters is completely undercut by Wu’s delicate, classically based style, which is limpidly clear and balanced. This film sings (its musical score by Gao Tian is one of the most beautiful in Chinese cinema), deploying a poeticism that supports a powerful melodramatic emotional structure while eschewing sentimentalism. There are, astonishingly, no bad guys in this film denouncing persecution as politics. Just an air of quietly powerful justice and courage that radiates from Qiushi and begins to breathe life into the dormant humanity of his captors. Looking back to pre-revolutionary cinematic lyricism and ahead to films like Zhang Ming’s quasi-lyrical Rainclouds Over Wushan, Wu’s cinema poem transcends tears through hope and the revival of classic aesthetic values. —Shelly Kraicer

Director

Wu Yigong

A noted mainland director of the 1980s, Wu Yigong (b. 1 December 1938, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province) graduated from the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy (BFA) in 1960 and was assigned to Haiyan Film Studio in Shanghai. He worked as assistant director on a number of productions. Night Rain on the River (co-dir. Wu Yonggang, 1980), which won Best Film at 1981 China Golden Rooster Awards (GRA), placed Wu’s name in the public spotlight. His solo feature, My Memories of Old Beijing (1982), which won Best Director award at 1983 China GRA as well as the Golden Eagle at the second FF held in Manila, further consolidated Wu’s reputation as one of the most talented directors of the 1980s. Like many directors of his generation who also hold administrative positions (e.g., Wu Tianming, Xie Fei), Wu does not direct films on a year-by-year basis. His The Descendants of Confucius (1992) was awarded Best Director and Best Film prizes by Ministry of Broadcasting, Film and Television (MBFT… read more

Wu Yonggang

A famous director of the 1930s, Wu Yonggang (b. 1 November 1907, Jiangsu province d. 18 December 1982) began working with film at the age of nineteen. His father did not think highly of the medium and encouraged him to study fine arts at the Commercial Press. However, Wu found employment at Lily (Baihe) Film Company and was soon discovered by Shi Dongshan, who promoted him to stage designer. Wu’s directing debut, Goddess (1934), a Lianhua Film Company production, was well received by both critics and audiences. He next directed Little Angel (1935), which was based on a prize-winning screenplay. Although his name is often associated with leftist films, Wu was a socially conscious artist in broader terms. In The Desert Island (1936), for example, Wu searched for a common humanism that could unite people, and he lamented the divisions brought about by class consciousness. Yet when it came to foreign encroachments against China, Wu was a staunch nationalist. In the patriotic The Pioneers… read more

A famous director of the 1930s, Wu Yonggang (b. 1 November 1907, Jiangsu province d. 18 December 1982) began working with film at the age of nineteen. His father did not think highly of the medium and encouraged him to study fine arts at the Commercial Press. However, Wu found employment at Lily (Baihe) Film Company and was soon discovered by Shi Dongshan, who promoted him to stage designer. Wu’s directing debut, Goddess (1934), a Lianhua Film Company production, was well received by both critics and audiences. He next directed Little Angel (1935), which was based on a prize-winning screenplay. Although his name is often associated with leftist films, Wu was a socially conscious artist in broader terms. In The Desert Island (1936), for example, Wu searched for a common humanism that could unite people, and he lamented the divisions brought about by class consciousness. Yet when it came to foreign encroachments against China, Wu was a staunch nationalist. In the patriotic The Pioneers (1936), Wu advocated unity among the Chinese and armed resistance against foreign invaders. Wu’s films became more diverse during the period 1937-41. There were entertaining action flicks, costume dramas and romantic tearjerkers. Eventually, Wu went to Chongqing, where he worked for Nationalist Central Film Studio and began to film The Path to National Reconstruction. However, the project ran into problems. First, the original female lead, Hu Die, had to be replaced because of Hu’s entangled relationship with Dai Li, head of the Nationalist secret police. Then the crew became caught up in a Japanese bombing raid during location shooting and lost most of its footage and equipment. The project was finally aborted. After the war, Wu directed several noteworthy films, including Loyal Family (1946) and A Decision of Life Time (1947). He also founded Daye Film Company and produced Waiting for Spring (1947). During the 1950s Wu directed three films: The Far Away Village (1950) deals with land reform, Hasen and Jiamila (1952) tackles issues of ethnicity, and Qiu Meets Goddess of Flowers (1956) is a fairy tale. In 1957, Wu wrote an essay criticizing the party’s excessive control over the film industry. He was labelled a Rightist and deprived of any opportunity to direct more films. (He was not able to make another film until 1962). Wu made two popular, politically ‘safe’ opera movies. In the post-Cultural Revolution period, he directed the highly acclaimed Night Rain on the River (co-dir. Wu Yigong, 1980), which won Best Film at 1981 China GRA. Wu Yonggang then retired from filmmaking —chinesecinema.ucsd.edu

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