祝希娟:永葆红色娘子军本色
2018-03-09孙国维
孙国维
祝希娟是我人生中特别钦佩和羡慕的偶像。我与她同一年投考上海戏剧学院并都被录取了。但后来我被新华社“挖”走,成了一名国际新闻战线的记者,从此与上戏失之交臂。而祝希娟一直在文艺领域耕耘,成绩斐然。我始终关注着祝希娟的前途命运,写这篇文章也是出于对她的敬重和爱护。
寻找“火辣辣的大眼睛”
上世纪60年代的某一天,导演谢晋来到上海戏剧学院出差,其实他醉翁之意不在酒,而在于“挖人”。他受梁信編剧之托,前来寻找一双“火辣辣的大眼睛”。当他路过学院的一间排练场时,无意间看到里面有一对青年男女正在大声争吵。一瞬间,他突然捕捉到一个理想的镜头:女的表情是那么泼辣.强势,怒气中略带激动。那双眼睛确实有点儿“火辣辣”。这不正是梁信在《红色娘子军》剧本中所写的那个吴琼花吗?他暗暗庆幸,感到这回终于可以交差了。于是他没有和上戏院方直接打招呼,只是轻描淡写地向这位女生询问了姓名和联系方式。等到梁信本人亲自验收并征得院方同意后才正式通知本人。当梁信看到祝希娟时,他一下愣住了,简直不敢相信自己的眼睛:面前竟站着一个活脱脱的吴琼花,从她的身材、肤色、长相和气质,尤其是那双忽闪忽闪的大眼睛,会说话、火辣辣,一看就是那剧本里所描写的那个苦大仇深的吴琼花。导演和编剧拍板让祝希娟进入《红色娘子军》剧组,小祝高兴得一整夜合不拢眼。
剧组不久就来到海南岛。这个当年苏东坡流放过的天涯海角,环境十分艰苦。好在剧组中有不少好搭档,最使她好感的莫过于陈强老师,他手把手地教她入戏。尤其是用火辣辣的愤怒眼神仇视南霸天的那场戏,反反复复练了又练。为了真正进入角色,祝希娟做足了功课。她同吴琼花的原型冯增敏结伴深入连队体验生活,在万泉河一带军训,体验1930年成立的“红色娘子军”的生活。两个“连长”同吃、同住、同学习,在一起打靶、露营、急行军,直至日落西山。晚上还要挑灯夜读,翻阅历史资料,琢磨吴琼花的性格特点。她们情同姐妹,不分彼此。一个好的剧本,加上称职的演员和优秀的导演,当然会拍出一部成功的电影。祝希娟果然一举成名,凭《红色娘子军》中饰演的吴琼花一角而获得中国首届电影百花奖最佳女演员奖,成为中国第一位“百花影后”,是年24岁。从此奠定了她在中国影坛的地位,成为被周恩来总理提名的22名中国电影明星之一。
深圳电视的拓荒者
祝希娟在上初中时就在赵丹导演的《为孩子们祝福》的影片中跑过“龙套”,片中她仅留下一个背影,但“触电的感觉”却让她插上了翅膀,飞向了艺术人生。1957年她如愿地考上了上海戏剧学院表演系,而《红色娘子军》使她一举成名,在文艺舞台上大显身手。1960年上戏毕业后,她先后在上戏实验话剧团和上海青年话剧团当演员,参演过莎士比亚的《无事生非》、莫里哀的《吝啬鬼》以及《南海长城》和《刘胡兰》等剧目而成为实力派演员,并因此片约不断。她不仅在《燎原》、《啊!摇篮》等影片中饰演角色,而且还自导自演了《为明天祝福》和《江南明珠》等影片。
20世纪80年代,祝希娟随中国电影代表团出访日本东京,曾路过深圳。那时深圳只是一个名不见经传的渔村小镇。而她却萌生了想投身深圳开发和建设电视台的初衷。1983年8月,她离开上海,举家南迁,去打拼、开辟另一片新天地,这对于一个步入中年的演员来说,究竟要付出多大的勇气和毅力呀!第二年,深圳特区的电视台应运而生,这位年已46岁的电影明星,居然成了电视台的副台长,并亲自担任节目主持人。作为电视台的领军人物,她事必躬亲,各部门有事都来找她,她则来者不拒,于是被称作“公关台长”。1989年,她又兼职电视台的电视艺术中心主任,负责和推动电视剧的创作和制作。在她的领导下,五年内一口气完成了20多部电视连续剧的拍摄。其中,《特区少年》、《超越生命》和《大风警报》三部连续剧一举拿下了“飞天奖”的三个大奖。2007年从美国学成归来的儿子侯量用高清电视拍摄了《滑向未来》的故事片,反映深圳两代滑板青年的生活和爱情。祝希娟笑称:起初有朋友说,你这个岁数还拍“小鲜肉”的戏,岂不让人笑掉大牙。但我的座右铭就是“向前进,向前进,永远向前进!”这就是“红色娘子军”的本色。因此,我要永远接受新事物,接受新挑战。
为中国影坛早期明星立传
祝希娟作为老演员,从来不斤斤计较名位和报酬。拍摄骑马不用替身。拍摄《大雪冬至》时,她心悦诚服地接受年轻导演的指导和摆布。她知道拍片成本很少,就表示,片酬先放到一边不谈,给多少都行,没有特殊要求。她对自己要求很苛刻,对于公益事业十分热心。
祝希娟对于周总理当年的嘱咐不敢有忘。上世纪60年代初,周总理提出,我们要把电影院里挂的苏联22大明星拿下来,挂上我们自己的22大电影明星。而且还亲自拟定了中国的22位大明星。本来名单中有刘琼的名字,但周总理亲自打电话对他说:“让年轻演员上。”于是由祝希娟顶了上去。当年祝希娟刚刚24岁,而且是其中唯一的话剧演员。22位电影明星还包括:上影厂的赵丹、白杨、张瑞芳、上官云珠、孙道临、王丹凤;北影的谢添、崔嵬、陈强、张平、于兰、于洋、谢芳;长影的李亚林、张园、庞学勤、金迪;八一制片厂的田华、王心刚、王晓棠等。当年在各大影院挂起这些熠熠生辉的中国明星照片之时,民间掀起了一场空前的追星浪潮!它曾经是一个时代的象征和记忆。
尽管上述明星们如今有的已经年迈,有的早已谢世,仅有10人健在。但祝希娟决心要把这些德艺双馨的老艺术家的音容笑貌、精湛演技和代表作品以专辑的形式传给后世。她的壮举得到深圳市委宣传部门的大力扶持,拨款250万元,其余由祝希娟凭借自己的关系和影响努力筹措。经过4年辛劳拼搏,已经制作出了23集《新中国22大电影明星》电视专题片,不久就可与观众见面。这是祝希娟为中国影视事业作出的不可磨灭的贡献。endprint
進军好莱坞,致力中美文化交流
1996年8月祝希娟率领深圳艺术中心摄制组赴洛杉矶与美国上海-洛杉矶艺术公司合作拍摄电视连续集《百老汇100号》。这部反映华人新移民的故事,在大陆和美国华人中引起了不小的轰动,祝希娟被称之为“深圳电视剧的拓荒者”真是名至实归。
1998年,退休后的祝希娟和丈夫侯烽民一起来到美国洛杉矶定居。在一个陌生的国度里开始崭新的生活,这是她人生的一个大转折。在陌生人看来,这无疑是一种不着边际的冒险,但了解她的人认为这是她的又一次华丽转身,就像她往日的抉择。
祝希娟的丈夫侯烽民原来是上戏的美术系主任,他在美术方面有手“绝活”:能在宣纸上画油画。2002年,时任美国总统布什选用的白宫圣诞卡片就是由侯烽民的学生吕震环创作的。
为了在美国开展中美文化交流,祝希娟与好友联手创办美国琼花影视艺术公司。她在处理公司业务之余,每天还去语言学校学习英语,忙得不亦乐乎。如今她的英语水平日渐进步。65岁时还考取了驾驶执照。现在,为了中美两国的文化交流,她不得不在两国间来回奔波。尽管她身在美国电影城,但一直以“深圳人”自居,凡是由她主导拍摄的电视片,她不是以深圳为背景,就是以深圳为主题,因为她的心里装着浓郁的深圳情结。无怪一位深圳有名的的开拓者袁庚在评价祝希娟时,非常形象地把她比作“深圳文化沙漠中的一棵带刺的仙人掌”。
2017年6月,凭借《大雪冬至》,祝希娟获得第20届上海国际电影节电影频道传媒大奖评委会特别荣誉奖。
Zhu Xijuan is my lifetime icon. We enrolled in the Shanghai Theatre Academy in the same year, but parted ways after I joined the Xinhua News Agency as a journalist.
One day in the 1960s of China, famous film director Xie Jin walked into the campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He was there to look for “two burning eyes” for Liang Xin, who was working on the screenplay for , Xies new film. A boy and a girl engaged in a fierce quarrel in a rehearsal room caught his eye. The moment he saw the girls glaring eyes and aggressive face, he knew he had found the ideal actress to play the role of Wu Qionghua.
Most of the scenes of the film were set in Hainan Island, where extreme living conditions posed as a big challenge to everyone in the cast. Set in the stormy years of 1930s, the 1961 Chinese film tells the story of two peasant women who go into warfare, thirsty for revenge after going through much suffering and humiliation.
The sensational success of the film brought Zhu Xijuan into the countrys first tier movie star legion. At the age of only 24, she won the Best Actress Award from the first China Hundred Flowers Film Award.
In her junior middle school years, Zhu Xijuan played a walk-on role in a Zhao Dan film, in which the viewers could only saw her back. The experience, however, sowed the seed of dreaming to be an actress in the girls heart. She shot to fame after playing the role of Wu Qionghua in the Xie Jin film when she was a student at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. After graduation from STA in 1960, she joined the STA Modern Drama Troupe and honed performing skills in various plays such as Shakespeares and . She not only played the leading role in a good many films but also proved her directing talent in and .endprint
In the 1980s, Zhu Xijuan joined a delegation of Chinese movie stars for a visit to Tokyo, Japan. When passing Shenzhen, she felt the urge of breaking new grounds in what was then still a little known fishing village. She and her family moved to Shenzhen from Shanghai in 1983. At the age of 46, she joined the Shenzhen TV as Vice Director. Over the years, she became the steering wheel of Shenzhen TV. In 2007, her son joined her ‘TV dream after finishing his study in the US.
Zhu Xijuan is the only drama actress of the 22 ‘Chinese film superstars selected by Premier Zhou Enlai in the 1960s to replace the 22 Soviet Union film stars posted on the walls in cinemas across the country. The others included such big names as Zhao Dan, Bai Yang, Yu Yang, Xie Fang and Tian Hua. Today, only 10 of the 22 in the ‘hall of fame are still alive. Using her own connections and resources, Zhu Xijuan raised 2.5 million for the production of a 23-episode TV documentary that serves as a special summary of a brilliant chapter in the film history of China written by the 22 performing art masters. The production took four years to complete.
In August, 1996, the filming of Broadway No. 100 started in Los Angeles. Telling the story of the new generations of Chinese immigrants in the US, the TV series created quite a stir in the Chinese mainland and among the Chinese community of the US, making Zhu Xijuan the ‘trailblazer of Shenzhen teleplay in the true sense of the word.
Zhu Xijuan and her husband Hou Fengmin, formerly Director of the Art Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy, settled down in Los Angeles in 1998 to start a new life. The couple has since been actively involved in China-US cultural exchange. Reaching 60, she went to the local language school every day to practice English. At the age of 65, she got the drivers license in the US.
In June, 2017, Zhu Xijuan won the Special Honorary Award from the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival for her performance in , a Xing Xiao film telling the loving story of Wei Daxue, an old woman in Beijing, and her dog Dongzi.endprint