Zheng Junli
| Zheng Junli | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Chinese name | 鄭君里 (traditional) |
| Chinese name | 郑君里 (simplified) |
| Pinyin | Zhèng Jūnlǐ (Mandarin) |
| Born |
December 6, 1911 Shanghai, China |
| Died | April 23, 1969 (aged 57) |
| Occupation | Film director, actor |
Zheng Junli (December 6, 1911 – April 23, 1969) was an actor and director born in Shanghai and who rose to prominence in the golden age of Chinese Cinema. His films The Spring River Flows East and Crows and Sparrows are widely considered classics of Chinese cinema. He was severely persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and died in prison.
Zheng was born into an impoverished family, often harassed by creditors. At early ages, he showed great interest in reading and art performing. He left junior high at second grade and entered "Nanguo Art School" led by Tian Han and studied play acting.
During the 1930s, Zheng was an actor under contract with Lianhua Film Company. While with Lianhua, he played a number of roles, notably as the love-interest Yu Haichou in the film New Women opposite Ruan Lingyu.
After the Sino-Japanese War Zheng began to focus his efforts on directing, most notably with The Spring River Flows East (co-directed with Cai Chusheng) (1947) and his anti-Kuomintang polemic Crows and Sparrows (1948). In 1957, the latter was awarded Excellent Movie Award first-class (1949-1955) by Minister of Culture of PRC.
Zheng welcomed the establishment of the new government of CPC. As a left-wing director, he was at first one of the beneficiaries. He moved his family from dilapidated dormitory in Kunlun Studio to the best residential area in Shanghai, opposite to the house of Soong Ching-ling.
On 2nd meeting of CPC 7th national congress, Mao Zedong mentioned some issues of CPC cadres after entering the cities. Zheng immediately followed the directive and made the movie The Married Couple (我們夫婦之間), starring Zhao Dan and Jiang Tianliu. It told a story that a CPC cadre ditched his original wife in village in order to marry a girl in the city, showing his failure to resist the temptation of "sugar-coated bullet". This movie was banned even before the public release.
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