Lü Ban (Chinese: å •ç ; 1913â€"1976), born Hao Enxing (Chinese:
éƒ æ ©æ˜Ÿ), was a Chinese actor, comedian and film director, and a
member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was the author of the first
Chinese satirical comedy film in 1956. His career ended a year later
when he was banned from film-making for The Unfinished Comedy, another
satirical comedy, itself banned before its release and described both
as notorious and "perhaps the most accomplished [Chinese] film made in
the 17 years between 1949 and the Cultural Revolution".Lü Ban studied
in the Film Actor Training School of the United Photoplay Service, and
subsequently worked as an actor and a comedian in leftist theater and
cinema in Shanghai in the 1930s. He made his debut as an actor in
Crossroads (Shizi jietou, 1937). He quickly gained fame, and has been
even called "the Oriental Chaplin".In 1948 he joined the Northeast
Film Studio and the following year he was involved in the production
of Bridge, the first feature film of the post-war, communist China.
His first films were revolutionary melodramas: in 1950 he co-directed
with Yi Lin the Heroes of Lüliang Mountain (Lüliang yingxiong,
1950); in 1951, with Shi Dongshan, New Heroes and Heroines (Xin ernü
yingxiong zhuan); 1952 he directed Gate No. 6 (Liu hao men); in 1954,
A Heroic Driver (Yingxiong siji), and in 1955 a musical, Chorus of the
Yellow (Huangheda hechang).However, his most influential and discussed
works were the three satirical comedies released during the period of
lessened censorship in 1956â€"57 (known as the Hundred Flowers
Campaign). Those three comedies have been described as some of the
sharpest criticisms, at least in the film media of that period, of the
contemporary Chinese society. One of the distinguishing feature of his
movies of that period was the novelty or using fellow, socialist
Chinese citizens as the subjects of satire, instead of the previously
common, and safer, "corrupt GMD officials and snobbish urban
socialites." The works released during that brief period departed from
the state-sanctioned topics aiming to legitimize the new state,
offering "moral edification and celebrating the triumph of
revolutionary virtue over reactionary villainy".
éƒ æ ©æ˜Ÿ), was a Chinese actor, comedian and film director, and a
member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was the author of the first
Chinese satirical comedy film in 1956. His career ended a year later
when he was banned from film-making for The Unfinished Comedy, another
satirical comedy, itself banned before its release and described both
as notorious and "perhaps the most accomplished [Chinese] film made in
the 17 years between 1949 and the Cultural Revolution".Lü Ban studied
in the Film Actor Training School of the United Photoplay Service, and
subsequently worked as an actor and a comedian in leftist theater and
cinema in Shanghai in the 1930s. He made his debut as an actor in
Crossroads (Shizi jietou, 1937). He quickly gained fame, and has been
even called "the Oriental Chaplin".In 1948 he joined the Northeast
Film Studio and the following year he was involved in the production
of Bridge, the first feature film of the post-war, communist China.
His first films were revolutionary melodramas: in 1950 he co-directed
with Yi Lin the Heroes of Lüliang Mountain (Lüliang yingxiong,
1950); in 1951, with Shi Dongshan, New Heroes and Heroines (Xin ernü
yingxiong zhuan); 1952 he directed Gate No. 6 (Liu hao men); in 1954,
A Heroic Driver (Yingxiong siji), and in 1955 a musical, Chorus of the
Yellow (Huangheda hechang).However, his most influential and discussed
works were the three satirical comedies released during the period of
lessened censorship in 1956â€"57 (known as the Hundred Flowers
Campaign). Those three comedies have been described as some of the
sharpest criticisms, at least in the film media of that period, of the
contemporary Chinese society. One of the distinguishing feature of his
movies of that period was the novelty or using fellow, socialist
Chinese citizens as the subjects of satire, instead of the previously
common, and safer, "corrupt GMD officials and snobbish urban
socialites." The works released during that brief period departed from
the state-sanctioned topics aiming to legitimize the new state,
offering "moral edification and celebrating the triumph of
revolutionary virtue over reactionary villainy".
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.