| The concept of “film locality” was proposed and appeared in the newspapers in the1920 s.Since then,the generation of “film locality” and “localization of film” and the transformation of the connotation of these two concepts have completed within more than100 years.Taking the 70 th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China as an opportunity,the researchers of Chinese film academic circles are trying to achieve the aim of making the writing of Chinese film history go beyond the scope of Shanghai city under the guidance of “reconstructing the history of Chinese film”.As far the reconstruction of Chinese film history is concerned,one of the most important dimensions is to re-examine the development of Chinese films from a local perspective and use “local film” as a breakthrough to try to reconstruct the overall map of Chinese film development.In the stampede of local film research,Chinese scholars have paid attention to the localities which they care about or are familiar with,exploring,uncovering,sorting out and writing the different histories of local film in different styles,which contributes to accumulating rich historical materials and opening up multiple perspectives for the re-evaluation of Chinese film as a whole.Unfortunately,in this academic stampede,few researchers have made investigation and reflection on the connotation of “local film” itself.On the one hand,while rejecting the single-dimensional study of Chinese film history,most of the researchers write the history of local film based on a single and homogenized historiography.On the other hand,they look into the local film history while detaching it from the overall history of film development,excessively emphasizing the independence of local film development.These two methods lead to a serious result,that is,the original research idea on local film history as a part of the overall film history has not fundamentally changed.As a result,the value of the academic concept “rewriting Chinese film history” as well as the achievements it should have obtained has been weakened.Based on the understanding of the current situation of local film research and taking Shanxi film as the research object,the author is trying to sort out and survey the history of Shanxi local film development under the guidance of the dialectical unity relation of the whole and part,refine and interpret the transformation of the connotation of “Shanxi film” in the historical process and the historical factors and social conditions that determine and affect the transformation,so as to achieve a new understanding of local film development against a new historical background,and find out and decide the path and method of achieving the structural value of local film in this specific social context.Film has been introduced to Shanxi since the Republic of China period,for more than100 years.At the beginning,film was just an element of the other artistic forms.Gradually it developed into an independent artistic form accompanied by the emergence of movie theaters.Film is an industry which needs culture,industry and commerce and other various elements to be closely interdependent.Being located far inland and under the closed reign of Yan Xishan(a warlord leader of Shanxi from 1911-1949),Northwest Film Company made a short-term attempt to be industrialized.However,due to the marginalization of Shanxi during the Republic of China period,the development of economy and culture in this region was relatively closed and backward.Therefore,the film industry could only exist depending on releasing and screening films.From the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the reform and opening up in 1980 s,the demand for making films which reflect the people’s or workers,peasants and soldier’ life and work under the new situation provided sufficient internal motivation for local film creation in Shanxi,and the film system which takes Shanxi Film Studio as the main body was gradually formed.Nevertheless,according to the central government’s cultural policy,there were almost no film productions in local areas,and Shanxi films were manifested as literary adaptations and script creation centering on the theme of “Shanxi rural areas” dominated by “yam egg pie”.Since the reform and opening up of China in 1980 s,in order to meet the demand of a new market,Shanxi Film has been seeking after the path of transformation and development actively,and ultimately embarking on a road to developing the “cultural undertakings” in continuous attempts and adjustments against the background of a new market and cultural contexts.Under the globalization context,Shanxi local films are no longer restricted to the artistic expression of film scripts,but join the tide of global industrialization with the cultural image of Shanxi films to shape a new Shanxi image internationally by making use of the local characteristics of Shanxi and build an ecology of local film culture by holding activities such as “Pingyao International Film Festival” and“Jackie Chan International Film Week”.At present,Shanxi films,as a cultural form,interpret Shanxi to the world.After restoring the development path of the local culture in Shanxi films,it is not difficult to recognize the internal logic of constructing the connotation of local films from historical experience.To be specific,local areas cannot exist independently;instead,they exist in the structure of human geography,in the structure of politics,economy and culture,in the structure of nation and globe,and etc.In addition,these macro structures are not stable and immutable,in other words,they themselves are constantly changing with the change of times.Therefore,the ideas of the practice of the local film,which are within the overall structure,are also in a constant process of flowing and generating,and thus constructing its unique film mechanism,manifesting itself in the multi-dimensional aspects of local films in different eras.Although local films are “fluid”,what remains unchanged behind these changes is the “common experience” shaped by local culture for over thousands of years,which makes Shanxi film "fluid" in its multiple connotations and always implies a unified demand for the representation of “locality”.At present,Shanxi films in the global industrialization chain are slightly underdeveloped in terms of industrial strength.Therefore,the mindset of development should be changed in the future.In the context of national rejuvenation,it is also the missions of Chinese local films to create a card of film culture by using the most rooted local elements of Shanxi and represent the aspiration of Chinese films of the times by employing the local discourse form of Shanxi. |
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