Hear’s a breakdown of the provided text,focusing on the key themes and information:
Movie Title: “Nanjing Photo Studio” (English title: “Dead To Rights”)
Core Theme: The film explores the Nanjing Massacre through the lens of a photo studio,emphasizing the power of images to reveal historical truth and connect individual lives to national memory.
Key Aspects and Messages:
Courage to Face History: The actors,especially Liu Haoran,were moved by the audience’s diverse age range,including elderly individuals and families with children,seeing it as a testament to the Chinese people’s willingness to confront their history.
Subtle Revelation of Truth: The film avoids gratuitous depictions of violence. Rather, it uses the process of developing photographs in a darkroom to metaphorically and literally reveal the truth of historical events. This is described as a “technology and a metaphor.”
The Power of Photography: the “photo studio” serves as the narrative fulcrum, inspired by a 1987 Nanjing Film Studio movie that documented war trauma through images. The director, Zhang Yu, is a photography enthusiast, highlighting his personal connection to the medium.
Connecting Individual and National Destiny: The film uses “photos” as a medium to link individual destinies with national memory. The act of developing film is presented as holding not just negatives, but also the “dignity of a nation.”
Contrast Between Peace and Cruelty: The interweaving of clips depicting lovely life in Nanjing with the harsh realities of war is a crucial element. This contrast aims to show the audience that present-day peace was bought with the lives of ordinary people. The metaphor of “red lights in the dark room will eventually go out, but the truth in the photos will always be bright” encapsulates this.
Actor’s Role as “Developers of the Times”: Liu Haoran’s article in the People’s Daily is referenced, where he likens actors to “developers of the times.” He applies this to his role as “Su Liuchang,” emphasizing the need for actors to accurately convey historical slices and find a balance between reality and art in their performances.
Wuxi’s Role in Film Production: The film is highlighted as the first masterpiece after China Film (Wuxi) settled, showcasing Wuxi’s commitment to becoming a “cultural strong city” and “film strong city.”
Supportive environment in Wuxi: Yang Bin of Jiangsu Xixi Film and Television Culture Industry Co.,Ltd. mentions the “nanny-style” support provided by Qianqiao Street in Huishan District, which expedited business license applications, accelerating the creative process.
Growth of Wuxi’s Film Industry: Wuxi’s film and television industry is experiencing “high-quality” and “scale” development. The article predicts that “Produced by Wuxi” films will constitute over half of the key films planned for release in Jiangsu province in 2025.
Wuxi’s Film Industry Policies: Wuxi City has implemented policies to promote high-quality film industry development, aiming to establish a “three-in-one industrial highland” by 2027, encompassing “technology production + digital film capital + film and television ecosystem.”
In essence, the text describes “Nanjing Photo Studio” as a film that uses a unique approach to historical storytelling, emphasizing the enduring power of images and the importance of confronting difficult past events. It also highlights the growing significance of wuxi as a hub for film production in China.
