Older generation of movie-goers reruns memories of an iconic cinema
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EDITOR’S Note:
Human development in the past century has been dramatic, but it seems that the faster we go forward, the more we become interested in the past. Minhang, covering 370 square kilometers, is a tiny spot on the map, but it looms large as a bellwether of both change and nostalgia. Shanghai Daily has compiled the stories of Minhang locals to record the history of the district in a new series entitled “Minhang Geographic.” The stories are told in the voices of those sharing their memories. In this installment, residents recollect happy times in the oldest cinema in Zhuanqiao Town.
IN a recent popular Chinese movie entitled “Duckweed,” there is a scene where the main character Xu Tailang rides on his motorbike to go watch an old Hong Kong movie. The camera skims a signboard as he passes. It says Zhuanqiao Cinema.
The shot provoked a flood of memories for some residents living in Zhuanqiao Town. Many of them recall the cinema as the place where they watched their first movie. In the old days, movies were about the only true entertainment in life.
Back in early 1970s, there was no cinema in what was then a rural town. Going to the movies meant residents taking small stools out into a clearing for an evening outdoor movie on a makeshift screen.
In 1975, the town government decided that it needed a conference hall to complement the new People’s Commune office. Three years later, Commune Auditorium was completed.
It also functioned as a stage for performances and a place where movies were screened. It soon became the hottest landmark in town.
Wu Kai, now in his 70s, was born in Zhuanqiao and witnessed the rise and demise of the cinema.
“At first, the facilities were quite shabby,” he said. “There was no air conditioning and the seats were plain concrete. People used newspapers to cushion the hardness, but that didn’t stop them from swarming into the auditorium whenever a movie was on.”
Later, the then Shanghai County Movie Management Office decided to rehabilitate the old auditorium into a cinema. The cement seats were replaced by armchairs and the venue was renamed Zhuanqiao Cinema. It was the first cinema in the Shanghai suburbs.
“The cinema had huge windows and ceiling fans, but it was still scorching inside in the summer,” said Wu. “You could see people wiping away sweat as they watched a movie. Later, air conditioning was finally installed.”
Fang Qichang worked as an art designer for the cinema for more than 20 years. He still remembers how hard it was to get a ticket for what was considered a “blockbuster” movie back then. Tickets cost only 0.15 yuan (2 US cents).
“At that time, people always went to movies — much more frequently than today,” he said. “You always had to wait in a long line to buy a ticket.”
When foreign movies began appearing on the Chinese mainland, many of them were screened at the Zhuanqiao Cinema. The films mostly came from North Korea, India, Albania, Yugoslavia and other “third world” countries. The Korean movie “The Flower Girl” was a big favorite with audiences, and one entitled “The Caravan” was probably the first musical many Chinese people ever saw.
But the biggest box-office hit of all was the movie “Shaolin Temple,” the first Hong Kong kungfu movie screened on the mainland.
“I remember that our cinema showed the movie nonstop, 24/7, and each showing was solidly booked,” said Fang. “Everyone was talking about the star, Jet Li.”
Fang said the ticket line for the film stretched at least 40 meters. He was among the lucky ones. As an employee of the cinema, he had access to the best seats in the house for his family.
“There were no telephones back then, and every night, people came to my home asking me to buy movie tickets for them,” said Fang. “And at that time, a movie ticket might be the fastest way to win over a mother-in-law because it meant that a man was well connected and promising in general.”
The Zhuanqiao Cinema also served as a theater. Every year, more than 36,000 people came to watch stage performances. Many theater-goers were from out of town, and the hall was considered a fancy place to take a date or go on a family outing.
For people born in the town in the 1980s, the cinema was also a place where big school events were held. Every year around the Lunar New Year or on Children’s Day, schools in the town would organize trips to the cinema to watch shows or hold special activities. Children could often be seen walking, hand in hand, in two lines to the cinema.
On a Minhang online forum, people recently reminisced about childhood experiences at the cinema.
A netizen who goes by the tag name Kelly said her first stage performance was in the cinema.
“I was 14, and the school held a new year gala at the cinema,” she said. “My classmates and I danced in front of a large audience. I couldn’t see their faces clearly. I was so nervous that my legs were wobbling.”
Another netizen called Miao remembered the street where the cinema was located.
“Zhuanjian Road was the busiest street in town back then, and we loved to walk around after a movie,” he said. “My favorite place was the snack shop opposite the cinema. The wonton soup served there was the best I ever tasted. There was nothing better than a delicious bowl of wonton soup after a great movie.”
Fast forward to the new century. The cinema once considered the epitome of town life was no longer fancy. Modern cinemas rendered it too old and too small. In 2013, the Zhuanqiao Cinema finally closed it doors forever.
The shuttered building remains, and locals are wondering what will happen to it with the pending restoration of Zhuanqiao Old Street.
“If not for the movie ‘Duckweed,’ my memories of the old cinema might have remained buried,” wrote a netizen named Kelly. “But now, they are flooding back — the iron gate at the ticket office, the screening timetable that I collected every month, the one-armed manager of the cinema, and the old lady in a military coat selling fruit at the entrance.”
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