The White-Haired Girl
About The White-Haired Girl
At Spring Festival, landlord Huang Shiren calls in the debt of tenant Yang Bailao and drives him to suicide, then takes his daughter Xi'er. Huang rapes her and she becomes pregnant. When he prepares his own wedding, he and his mother plan to sell Xi'er to a brothel. With Auntie Yang's help she runs to the mountains, gives birth to a stillborn child, and lives there until her hair turns white and villagers take her for a ghost. The Eighth Route Army liberates the village. Dachun, the poor boy she loved, is there when she is brought back.
Cast & crew
More about The White-Haired Girl
Wang Bin and Shui Hua directed. Shui Hua, Wang Bin, and Yang Runshen adapted the Yan'an opera written down by He Jingzhi and Ding Yi from work at the Lu Xun Academy. Wu Weiyun was director of photography. Qian Jiang is also credited on the camera. Music is by Qu Wei, Zhang Lu, and Ma Ke. Lyrics by He Jingzhi and Zhang Songru. The Changchun Film Studio orchestra plays, conducted by Yin Shengshan and Li Bingshen. Tian Hua plays Xi'er, Li Baiwan plays Dachun, Chen Qiang plays Huang Shiren, and Zhao Lu plays Old Zhao. Catalogues differ on the length, 106 minutes or 111, and on a 1950 or a March 1951 release.
Themes
Background
A Changchun production of the Yan'an opera, released in the early People's Republic, with the Eighth Route Army as the force that takes the village back.
In film history
Xi'er's white hair, the mark of years hiding in the mountains, is the image the title sells: a peasant girl treated as a ghost until the village is liberated.
Making
Changchun Film Studio made it as a musical feature after 1949, with the opera's collective credit kept on the adaptation.
Look
Wu Weiyun was director of photography, with Qian Jiang also credited, on the village, the landlord's house, and the mountain scenes.
Music
Qu Wei, Zhang Lu, and Ma Ke wrote the music. He Jingzhi and Zhang Songru wrote lyrics. Wang Kun is among the singers. The Changchun studio orchestra accompanies.
Notes
- Songs are sung by Wang Kun, Meng Yu, Zhang Ping, and Li Yaodong.
- The stage piece came out of the Yan'an Lu Xun Academy and a folk story. The film keeps the landlord, the flight to the mountains, and the white hair.
- A line tied to the story runs: the old society forced humans to become ghosts, and the new society turns ghosts into humans.
Awards
- Huabiao Award for Outstanding Film
Scenes
- Huang Shiren drives Yang Bailao to suicide and takes Xi'er for the debt.
- Xi'er hides in the mountains until her hair is white and the village calls her a ghost.
- The Eighth Route Army enters, and she is recognized again.
Influenced by
- The Yan'an opera The White-Haired Girl
Also available
- Internet Archive (the_white_haired_girl)