<賴婚>、保守主義與中國早期情節劇電影

Abstract

通过探讨格里菲斯1920年执导的影片《赖婚》在19世纪20年代中 国的流行，可分析早期舶来电影对于中国影业乃至整个社会的影 响。《赖婚》的主题是强调男性的暴行及欺骗导致女性的悲惨命运。 这种情节剧影片的模式在中国20世纪二三十年代社会引起广泛共 鸣，体现了“五四”以降，对于女性问题的忧虑及家庭价值观念 的讨论。在思想上，中国进步知识分子对于《赖婚》的推崇是“反 五四”保守主义兴起的缩影。《赖婚》揭示出的问题是: 必须否定 女性决定自身命运的主体性。在电影技巧上，对于格里菲斯电影 的模仿直接导致了20世纪20年代中国电影市场上情节剧电影的大 行其道。This article investigates the distribution and consumption of Way Down East (directed by D. W. Griffith, 1920) in Chinese cities in the 1920s in an attempt to explore the impact of foreign films on early Chinese filmmaking in particular and Chinese society in general. Way Down East highlights a young woman’s trials and tribulations caused by male tyranny and deception. Such melodrama films by D. W. Griffith struck a chord in China in the 1920s, when the concerns of women and the loss of family values after the May Fourth movement found expression in film. Ideologically, the embracing of Way Down East in China, particularly among progressive intellectuals, testifies to an anti-May Fourth conservatism. Chinese intellectuals were inspired by Way Down East to deny Chinese women’s subjectivity as new women who could control their own destinies. Technically, the popularity of D. W. Griffith’s films in China gave rise to the prevalence of cinematic melodrama in 1920s China.