Centennial Movie Classics -- The Essence of Excellent Chinese Movie Songs That Are Passed Down by Mouth

Author: Wang Wenhe
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Songs in movies are not only an important part of the film but also vividly summarize its thematic ideas and artistic connotations, giving the film wings to soar into the sky and linger in people's memories for a long time. — Fu Gengchen
Film is a powerful tool for spreading songs, and each era's film songs record the joys, sorrows, and emotions of that time. — Written for A Century of Film Golden Melodies by Qiao Yu
Chinese cinema reflects the ups and downs of the nation's history over a century, and film songs gather the heartfelt voices of hundreds of millions of people. — Wang Liping
Following the rhythm of the times, singing the strong voice of the nation. — Written for A Century of Film Golden Melodies by Xu Peidong
The birth of the song "Xun Xiong Ci" (lyrics by Sun Yu, music by Sun Chengbi) in Sun Yu's 1930 film Wild Grass and Idle Flowers marked the beginning of creative film song writing in China's sound film era. Over the course of a century, film song creation in Chinese cinema has gone through more than seventy springs and autumns. From its inception, it flourished, singing the strong voice of the times and forging a glorious monument for the 1930s. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, film song creation further thrived and developed. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, during this new historical period, film song creation surged again, reaching new heights of brilliance.
Looking back, throughout various historical stages, film song creation has produced many outstanding works, some enduringly sung and others endlessly enjoyed. A great film song is an inseparable part of the film's artistic whole, even its soul. At the same time, it possesses a relative independence, remaining vibrant even after separating from its original. As everyone knows, we filmmakers take pride in the fact that the national anthem of our great motherland is the theme song of the film Children of the Wind and Clouds, "March of the Volunteers" (lyrics by Tian Han, music by Nie Er), and the anthem of the Chinese Young Pioneers is the theme song of the film Heroic Little Eight—"We Are the Successors of Communism" (lyrics by Zhou Yuhui, music by Ji Ming). In addition, many classic solo songs and choral songs, especially many beloved children's songs, all originated from film songs.
Film songs have a broad mass foundation and a strong vitality. This book meticulously compiles over 160 outstanding original film songs (theme songs and insert songs) from Chinese cinema over a century, including feature films (excluding stage art films), documentaries (excluding stage documentaries), and animated films. Each song is accompanied by a concise background introduction and artistic appreciation to help readers better understand and appreciate their charm and essence. The selected songs are arranged in chronological order, followed by feature films, documentaries, and animated films, and then by mainland and Hong Kong/Taiwan.
During the writing process of this book, we received strong support from leaders, many experts, directors, and lyricists. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all of them.