Xie Jin, We Salute You.

Having not seen enough of Xie Jin's films, and being too young to have felt the culture of them first hand; it would not be meaningful for FTIN to attempt a real obituary of Xie Jin who was found dead yesterday. But any serious studies in Chinese cinema, at least in my own experiences, will quickly see how central and extensive his work is: six productive decades to be exact. Xie’s cinema pre-dates the founding of the Communist republic and remains active (as well as scandalous) right into the post-millenium period.

Despite the length of his career, his films were able to maintain a truly iconoclastic quality, challenging the very filmic language of ideological, gender and aesthetic discourse; not just in Chinese cinema but also the widest sense of radical cinema. A bold claim perhaps, but nevertheless a safe one, particularly if we take into account how Gina Marchetti rendered this same claim:

To anyone interested in oppositional and revolutionary film practices, the case of early PRC filmmaking raises vitally important ideas regarding socialist realism and the nature of radical film form, the representation of gender within Marxist film practices, the nature of popular political filmmaking, among other issues.

In order to better understand this era, the career of the director Xie Jin provides an interesting case in point. Beginning filmmaking in the 1950s, Xie Jin, who is still very active today, has contributed to every stage of the development of film art in the People's Republic.

Xie’s Stage Sisters (舞台姐妹, 1965) is FTIN’s favourite, a remarkable film, that manages to be and do so much at once. Namely; it mobilised the full force of melodrama (in the transnational Fassbinderian and Sirkian tradition), as well as indigenous Chinese opera (framing comparisons with Brecht’s Epic Theatre) in the service to revolutionary struggle at its most fervent; only to subvert it (cf. Marchetti's excellent analysis).

Beyond the acknowledgment of scholars and historians, contemporary filmmakers like Jia Zhangke have paid tribute to the singularity of his legacy. Jia’s own public tribute included his personal feelings, of an affinity and admiration for his "rebellious spirit"; a comparison that Peijin at CFJ draws attention to here. Perhaps Jia’s tribute is also evidence of two more things: first that true radicalism is still possible in so-called postmodern times (like most trends); and second, affirms the eventual fact that true radicalism lives forever.

Also, see Mediadiary's recent post on Xie's other heavyweight: Red Detachment of Women.

Image: Xinhua

Addendum I, Jia Zhangke in CQNEWS:

"When I met Xie this year, he said he wanted to keep making films until he reaches 100-year-old. We didn't think he would pass away so soon"

[...]

Jia Zhangke recalled several conversations with Xie Jin, "I particularly remember when he had two TV conferences, before releasing Still Life in 2006. His hearing ability was weak; however, his thoughts were rather clear; what moved me the most was his passion towards life and art. He told me that he was still preparing his next new film, even having been to Sichuan to examine locations. Now what I really want to do is to send him his favorite [rice] wine, a bottle of Maotai, before he leaves our world. "

Addendum II: Xie Jin's obituary by Ronald Bergen in The Guardian.

Addendum III: Xie Jin, Song Zude, SARFT and the drama of supporting a slanderer. [via Danwei]