Wang Renmei: The Wildcat of Shanghai

CHAPTER 6: Chaos in China

CHAPTER 6 Chaos in China eturning to Beijing, Wang Renmei was delighted to become a part of the Beijing Film Studio and joined R the Chinese Movie Association. At a celebration, the members of the group went to the Forbidden City to meet with members of the government. Mao Zedong entered, took one look at Wang Renmei, motioned for her to come over, and asked her if she still remembered her home in Changsha. Wang had not expected that the chairman would remember her after all those years. He recalled the wonderful experience he had when living with her father and all of her brothers, sisters, and family members. She thanked Mao for his support of the film industry and thanked him for sending a hard-cover copy of his works to her brother’s wife when she could not Ànd the copy anywhere, because it was sold out. She had learned about the book earlier because when Mao visited Shanghai, he asked someone to look for her at the Shanghai Film Studio and instead met Wang’s sister-in-law. This meeting with Mao was prescient because during the great famine later, she and her sisters and brothers were invited to dine with Mao at Zhongnanhai. 82 Wang Renmei: The Wildcat of Shanghai Indeed, during the Cultural Revolution, both Wang Renmei and her niece were assisted by Mao.1 All of the members of Wang’s film company were delighted when the Hundred Flowers Thaw started. During this period, all intellectuals and party members were asked to examine the party in order to improve it. However, when the Hundred Flowers Thaw ended, those who spoke out were attacked as “rightists.”2 Wang Renmei was able to start Àlming Tanqin Ji (The Story of Visiting Family, a.k.a Story of Visiting Relatives) in which she did not have many scenes, but in Áashbacks she played a young village girl. Wang was concerned about her age and presumably her weight as well, but the director encouraged her by saying that in front of the camera she did not look old. With some makeup, she presented herself as a maiden. The actress was happy, feeling like she did during her youthful years. The Story of Visiting Family is fairly simple. It tells the tale of a long journey to Beijing by a father looking for his third son, with whom he has been separated for over ten years. His son has gone to a remote province for work. The father later discovers that the person when he thinks is his son is actually not. What has happened is that another boy and his son are close comrades in the army. During the battle, the father’s brave boy has been killed but his friend continues to write his father from the battlefield using his name and treating the old man as if he were his own father. When the old man realizes he has lost his own son he is extremely saddened, but he is moved by the high ethics and bravery of his son’s friend. In this way he is comforted.3 While the group was shooting The Story of Visiting Family, the anti-rightist movement reached its height. The studio was forced to change the theme of the movie, as it should not be critical of how Communist Party cadres betrayed their countryside bias after Chaos in China 83 they came to the city to become ofÀcials. The story was changed to praise the People’s Liberation Army veterans who helped support old people. All around Wang Renmei, fellow actors and directors were being accused of being rightists. She was shocked that her loyal Communist Party friends were pointed out as enemies because they had probably said something wrong in the meetings and had made some critical remarks during the Hundred Flowers Thaw. Wang made the mistake of supporting one of the actors who, she said, had been an early supporter of the revolution in the 1930s. She was implicated in the criticism. She recalled that her attacks were “like a Áat ball lacking air.” Her mental problems came back again. She became hysterical and was hospitalized in 1958. She believed that there was always deep prejudice against people with her background. Her experience with the Bright Moon Troupe and the Shanghai Àlm industry in the 1930s made the young cadres distrustful of her and...