Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan is perhaps the most reproduced painting in the world. Over 900,000,000 copies were made, Liu Chunhua tells Hu Jie and Ai Xiaoming. The painting was also the illustrative theme of the April, 2010 Harvard conference “Red Legacy in China
Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan indeed glorifies. Mao is depicted larger than life, dressed in scholar’s garb, walking above the mountain tops toward Anyuan.
Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan indeed glorifies. Mao is depicted larger than life, dressed in scholar’s garb, walking above the mountain tops toward Anyuan.
The interviewees in Red Art are obviously relaxed. Only Zhou Jineng never smiles. This leads to the most poignant moment in the film much later, but the others are completely at ease; Li Tangtao maintains the plastic smile of the Joker throughout; Liu Chunhua never bothers to take off his insulating vest over his long-sleeved sweater; his body molds itself comfortably into the couch he’s sitting on and he smiles and laughs frequently. In the segment immediately following, Li Xianjing, Curator of Beijing Songzhuang Art Gallery leans forward on a couch as he speaks, dressed casually in an outer shell over a sweater and collared shirt, and smiles occasionally.
From 10:42-11:42 Hu and Ai play period revolutionary music over fast-changing imagery: Mao waving to Red Guards atop Tiananmen; said Red Guards, male and female, weeping in frisson, the lyrics “Great Teacher, Great Leader, Chairman Mao” in the background. In the middle of this segment a brief, bizarre sequence occurs, which I hope I accurately attribute to Hu and Ai’s sense of humor. At 11:23, the chorus sings,
“Clear the fog and the clouds,”
over footage of a clearly communist, clearly non-Chinese parade. At 11:24 a statue of Stalin, surrounded at base by children, appears on a float in the parade. Then, at 11:26, the imagery abruptly changes. As the chorus sings,
“The sunny blue sky reveals,”
a stage set appears in an empty auditorium. A man is at a podium on the stage and a few others are seated to his right and left.
At 11:27, the camera focuses on the man at the podium. He is holding a mask of Stalin on a stick in front of his face and comically jiggles it back and forth.
“Clear the fog and the clouds,”
over footage of a clearly communist, clearly non-Chinese parade. At 11:24 a statue of Stalin, surrounded at base by children, appears on a float in the parade. Then, at 11:26, the imagery abruptly changes. As the chorus sings,
“The sunny blue sky reveals,”
a stage set appears in an empty auditorium. A man is at a podium on the stage and a few others are seated to his right and left.
At 11:27, the camera focuses on the man at the podium. He is holding a mask of Stalin on a stick in front of his face and comically jiggles it back and forth.
