Nie Er

A rare realistic description of history in the era of political pressure. Notice that this film was made in the era of Great Leap Forward, shortly after the Anti-Rightists movement, and understandably, the film had to yield to the political pressure of the time. Amazingly, the movie remain true to history by abruptly ending the biography of the musician early:

What was omitted was that although the musician loved his country and opposed Japanese invaders, he eventually went to Japan and died there because the corrupted motherland could not provide the educational and career opportunities he needed. By describing the early part of his life, and stop short before his departure, the film had managed to give an accurate description under the tight political pressure of the time.

'Nie Er' is an amazing discovery. It is a soulful and credible biopic of the composer who wrote 'March of the Volunteers', which became the PRC's national anthem. His very real travails are presented in straightforward manner, showing how a passionate and very talented man was nevertheless sidelined. Heavy propaganda is quite deftly avoided, because it is unnecessary.

The scoring is both poignant and powerful. I was reminded of Alfred Newman. The acting is excellent, the art direction has that wonderful murky quality found in most Chinese studio productions of that era, and the 'Peoples'Color' is muted and quite faded, but somehow effective. (Based on the DVD available from Beauty).

I watched it without subtitles, and the print obtained for the DVD was scratched and aged, but it only added to the film's mystique. The sound was excellent.

The sincerity of the film is quite moving. Chinese cinema of this genre was to reach its peak with Ping Wang's 'Dongfang Hong' ('The East Is Red') in 1965, and 'Nie Er' is an outstanding member of this remarkable group.