Of Private-owned Film During The Second Sino-Japanese War Period

The conception of Private-owned film is relative to official and party-owned film. At the very beginning of Chinese film, the film industry existed in private-owned form. During the Second Sino-Japanese War period, private-owned film came into a special moment, when private-owned film was situated at the edge of the embarrassing status. However, private-owned film has played an important role in the history of Chinese film.To study the form, the effect, and the historical meaning of the Chinese film in the Second Sino-Japanese War period will help us know the continuation of the art of the Chinese film, the persistency of the nationalized direction, the unattached development of the Chinese film, and the politics in the Second Sino-Japanese War period as a pattern of manifestation of ideology.The private-owned film during the Second Sino-Japanese War period, which was situated at the edge of the official film market, went on with the Chinese film on its own in the occupied Shanghai. Almost all the researchers regarded the official film studio, such as"Central Film Studio"and"Film Studio of China", as their narrative objects, when they narrated the films in the Second Sino-Japanese War period. They emphasized the importance of these studios and their works in the propaganda, but ignored contribution of the private-owned film.In fact, the private-owned film not only enriched the types of the Chinese film, but also guaranteed the continuation of the film artistry and the nationalized style. Because of the special geographical location(Shanghai), all kinds of films, such as song and dance, comedy, love and ancient costume, were innovated and developed, which add the"main rhyme"of the official film to ensure the film diversification. The diverse types of the private-owned film are precious exploration of Chinese film practice, as well as the importance premise of nationalization. In the Second Sino-Japanese War period, although the war spread to the whole country, the private-owned film continued this kind of exploration and preserved the film in the business and war. Though the private-owned film seemed to be covered by commercialized appearance, in some sense, commercialized view was the very basis of the private-owned film. The key of private-owned film's success in the market is not the enormous fund and not the protection by the background, but the continuous transferred forms.According to the way of film research, as usual, the film research in the Second Sino-Japanese War period skipped from the private-owned film to the official film, when the former one was ignored artificially. Although in this period, the private-owned film was less direct and clear in the content than the official film which propagated the thought of anti-Japanese, the life scene that it expressed was the fact in that period.It can be judged whether the film industry run for business or progress from original fund and staff structure. It can be seen that the products of the private-owned film were directed by the market and the directors'thoughts through analyzing the screenwriters and the directors. Different views make more abundant content, more independent thought and more developed art.The Second Sino-Japanese War lasted eight years, while the film"war"continued nine years. The historical function of the private-owned film should be paid more attention in the research about the film history and war history.The private-owned film was supplement of the anti-Japanese propaganda. The Second Sino-Japanese War was a national wide liberated war, in which all estates in China should be mobilized. Film, as a horn, should blow the anti-Japanese movement in every place in China. There were different attitudes and manners about the functions of film transferred in the society between the official and civilian. The official film was based on politics'need, but the private-owned film was according to the public's favor which enlarged the market to satisfy the need of the public's entertainment. The private-owned film responded to the call of the unified battlefront of anti-Japanese. Throughout the film history of anti-Japanese, it can be found that the film worker strived for the plays, roles, and fictions, and propagandized the thought of anti-Japanese, which represented their social responsibilities, and was an objective reaction of the unified battlefront of anti-Japanese in filmdom.The private-owned film was the key part of the anti-Japanese literature. In the difficult anti-Japanese situation, the literature, plays, songs, which owned obviously progressed meaning, were impossibly widespread. However, the attribute of the commercialized private-owned film and the obscure and twisting contents made this kind of art overspread objectively and deeply impressed the area short in the anti-Japanese art. No doubt that the film produced by private-owned enterprise took the important part in the anti-Japanese art in the biggest city of China, the window of foreign propaganda, where the art with politics can not exist.The private-owned film preserved the art of Chinese film in the war. The inertia of the development itself prevented that it lost its own personality to become the tool of politics. First of all, the film was a form of art, and its continuation was destined to follow the art.As a cultural carrier, the private-owned film transferred spiritual products to the public, recorded the time call, and carried the art idiosyncrasy. The private-owned film in anti-Japanese period, as an important historical stage in the one hundred years'history of Chinese film, was not only the continuation of the pride of China film in 1930s, but also the beginning of the film renaissance in 1940s, which was also an element of the anti-Japanese and art's history. The anti-Japanese war is a national war, in which the film was the horn. During the anti-Japanese period, the private-owned film relatively independently continued the art and the diversity in Chinese films, which guaranteed its own existence in safe means, which enriched the forms of anti-Japanese art in real contents, which objectively became a part of national anti-Japanese .