(The following article, with the headline "A Brief
History of Maxu Weibang," is preserved by China
Film Archive, Beijing, as an undated and unsourced
photocopy. It appears to come from a newspaper or
magazine c. 1942, and is the earliest detailed
account of the man and his career that has has so far
been unearthed. D.E.)
If we believe the theory that people with prominent
foreheads are particularly abundant in ideas, then
Maxu Weibang, a director now with Shanghai's
United China Pictures, is an excellent illustration.
Lightly built, he's a kind, tolerant-looking man with a
long, angular face. Who would ever have thought
that such a large forehead could harbour such a
wealth of artistic ideas! An outstanding fine arts graduate,
Maxu Weibang discovered an interest in film
while still a student. However, the Shanghai film
industry was far from flourishing back then [in the
early '20s], and had precious little of any artistic
value to offer. So Maxu devoted most of his attention
to foreign films, studying things like their treatment of
subject matter, the beauty of their imagery, the style
of acting, and the plotting. Though still an amateur,
his hard work provided him with a significant knowledge
of filmmaking. Later, when Shanghai cinema
started to grow and found itself on more solid
ground, he decided to join Mingxing Film Company
as head of the art department. Silent films require
intertitles - not just for dialogue but also to explain
the plot. These need to be nicely presented, with artistically
designed frames. Whether ironic or suggestive,
these intertitles need to introduce the audience to
the overall plot as succinctly as possible, enhancing
viewers' experience.
Mingxing's intertitles were very popular with
audiences in those days. This was partly thanks to
the compelling, witty style of director Zheng
Zhengqiu, but credit should also be given to Maxu
Weibang for his ingeniously conceived, individual
visuals. While at Mingxing he worked both as an art
director and actor. There was a scarcity of young
male talent in those days and he was best in roles
that played out the depression and frustrations of
repressed youth - like Lü Yukun today - for which he
enjoyed unprecedented success. His first time in
front of the camera was, I believe, in The Marriage
Trap [1924] with Yang Naimei, followed by A
Shanghai Married Woman [1925], starring Xuan
Jinglin, in which he played a young man from the
countryside who's loyal, kind-hearted - and weak.
His honest performance brought the young man
vividly to life on the screen, particularly in the second
half of the film when he's run over by a rich city type
and has one of his legs broken, which reduced the
audience to tears. Maxu Weibang's talent as an actor
lay in his extraordinary ability to embody the character
he was playing, using every word and action to
express complex moods. None of his peers could
match his portrayal of a character's deepest emotions.
A good actor has to understand the society and
times he lives in, but must also be aware of the range
of his own ability. More important still, an actor
should give every ounce of himself but not simply
overact by venting emotions. This gives a "healthy"
quality to a film, and audiences will also enjoy it
more. Maxu Weibang would go to tremendous pains
to think through even the tiniest gesture, to find the
best way to move people, and in doing so to add to
the power of a film. His style of working was to be
consistently sincere and honest. When playing a
young man he was able to depict current social
trends from all kinds of different angles, expressing
in a single phrase the subtleties in relations between
people. In the film world of the time he was considered
an exceptionally talented actor. From time to time
he'd play an artist or scholar, not just because of their
closeness to his own nature, but also because he
naturally looked the part: an artist with a somewhat
scholarly demeanour. This so much enhanced his
performance that he barely seemed to be acting at
all and was regularly showered with praise from all
sides. He acted in a considerable number of films
during his time at Mingxing, which provided him with
abundant experience. After leaving Mingxing, he
gave up art direction and acting, and devoted himself
to mastering direction. When his first film came out,
it was comparative disappointment, but he managed
to turn this failure around and make something out of
it. He changed course and threw all his efforts into
the production of horror films. Not long after this,
Midnight Song, his first in the genre, was screened in
front of an audience - and was a success. The success
of Midnight Song [1937] shook the whole film
world, not only forging Maxu's reputation as a "horror
film master" but also ushering in a period of "horror"-
type films.
Although he has directed a few horror films since
then, nothing has matched the success of Midnight
Song. Only Midnight Song II [1941] is on a par with
the standard of his previous work. Despite the many
horror films made in Shanghai since, Midnight Song
is still the most significant. The story may be about
little more than the love affair between a man and a
woman, but he handled it with tremendous innovation.
With this film Maxu Weibang became a famous
director, and Jin Shan - who played the male lead,
Song Danping - a big-time star of the silver screen.
This gives an idea of how significant Midnight Song
was. Horror had never before been used like this in
film and it aroused major interest from audiences,
breaking all previous box-office records. This was
certainly not the case for subsequent films of his,
such as The Poetic Spirit of the Cold Moon [1938]
and The Leper Woman [1939], which didn't even
come close. The theme song, also called Midnight
Song, is solemn and stirring (heroic, even), while
also evoking the bleak falling of autumn leaves. It
became an instant hit with young people, securing its
place among the mass of Shanghai popular songs
as a timeless, much-loved favourite. Its popularity is
still almost as high today, and was another factor that
contributed to the success of the film. When United
China Pictures was established [in 1940], Maxu
Weibang joined the new company, still as a director.
His first major production, in his usual horror style,
was Night Rain on a Cold Mountain. Starring Huang
He, Li Jing and Li Lihua, the film is about to be releanickelodeon sed. The word is that the plot is full of surprises, with
the horror element even stronger. One scene uses
the framework of a performance of A Midsummer
Night's Dream, with the whole film transforming into
a series of mysterious circumstances. Also, a female
ghost actually cuts her head off to comb her hair. It's
enough to make your skin creep! When Midnight
Song was released, cautionary notices were put outside
cinemas, declaring: "No admittance to children
under eight." Who knows what will happen with Night
Rain on a Cold Mountain? Since then he's been consultant
director on Lasting Fame and director of the
segment Fraternity in the portmanteau film Love in
the Country - a return to the horror film genre. Maxu
Weibang hasn't directed all that many films and
they've [mostly] been horror movies. Yet few ordinary
people could ever dream of attaining the status and
fame he has today. More than that, he's shown us
how an artist can work conscientiously, without turning
art into a commodity by churning out trashy,
inferior work. This kind of spirit runs deep in Maxu
Weibang, despite the fact that all the films he's directed
have been horror ones. In the Shanghai film
world there are many art directors, many stars, and
many great screenwriters; but you'd be hard-pushed
to find someone like Maxu Weibang who can write,
edit, direct and act. Maxu Weibang is just such an allround
genius.
Han Yin