Wang Renmei: The Wildcat of Shanghai

CHAPTER 4: Song of the Fishermen and the Creation of Wildcat

CHAPTER 4 Song of the Fishermen and the Creation of Wildcat he year of 1933 was to become known as “Chinese Film Year.” Jin Yan was named “Emperor of Film” T and Wang Renmei, because of her triumph in Wild Rose and The Morning of a Metropolis, was about to embark on a motion picture which would have international implications. This new film for her that Cai Chusheng had developed was about extremely poor fishermen on the north coast of China. The director asked Nie Er to write a song that would embody the suffering of these exploited seagoing people. He knew that Wang Renmei could deliver the music in an empathetic way, thereby conveying the tormented lives of these working-class people. After assembling the cast at the Lianhua Studios, thirty members of the group went to Shipu Village in Xiangshan County in eastern Zhejing Province. It was symbolic that they arrived by sea. Shipu was a declining fishing town with rundown houses. The crew and cast stayed at two inns that did not have electricity. The dwellings were ridden with huge insects which the citified actors found disconcerting. The original plan was to Àlm there for one week, but actually the Àlming took more than one month. The production had many difÀculties. 34 Wang Renmei: The Wildcat of Shanghai Cai could only Ànd a small Àshing boat for the shoot. Because of its size, it bumped and jolted on the sea. Many actors had motion sickness and the cameraman vomited so hard that he could not work. Wang Renmei, at the age of 19 and in excellent physical condition, did not feel very uncomfortable. In fact, she bonded with the Àshermen and learned a great deal from them. She discovered how difÀcult their lives were. The weather was another factor. It rained most days. Many of the cast and crew were sick. Many times, they could only stay in their fetid conditions and could not work. The group was also bullied by the Guomindang cadres. Shortly after they arrived, the local gentry and the cadres held a reception for the group. However, the Guomindang and gentry merely wanted the group to entertain them by singing and dancing. The actors had to conform. After the reception, some of the “big shots” attempted to get close to the actresses in the company.1 Cai Chusheng and Nie Er stabilized the crew and actors by emphasizing the importance of the Àlm. Whenever the rain stopped, Àlming would continue. Despite the pouring rain, some of the scenes had to be shot anyway. The inn in which the cast stayed had thatched roofs and leaked. The cast and crew bonded with the local Àshermen and had long conversations with them. The Àshermen told the cast how the local bullies lowered the price of Àsh and how poverty made them lose their children. Wang Renmei listened with tears in her eyes. Nie Er, when he wrote the music for the Àlm, was inspired by the humble lives of the Àshermen. The composer also had a part as a Àsherman in the Àlm, even though he had a high fever. When he became sick on the Àrst take, everybody said that he did not have to redo the scene but he insisted on another take. His hardworking spirit moved the cast. Song of the Fishermen and the Creation of Wildcat 35 Wang Renmei played Xu Xiaomao, or “Little Cat.” In preparing for the Àlm, she learned to paddle a boat. She practiced many days until her arms were sore and swollen. She experienced the hardship of life in that tawdry village and heard sad stories from the local Àshing people. She saw how the local gentry bullied the locals as well as the cast. What she saw, heard, and experienced helped her understand the mental world and inner feelings of Little Cat. When someone asked her the secret of her characterization of Little Cat, she said that she did not have any secrets. She said that because she experienced the life, thoughts, and character of Little Cat, she became that character. When she observed the life of the poor, she moved from mere compassion to a more complete understanding of their condition. She remembered that she played herself in Wild Rose, so it was not difficult, but in Song of the Fishermen, she improvised a new character.2 At the same...