The East Is Red (simplified Chinese: 东方红; traditional Chinese: 東方紅; pinyin: Dōngfāng Hóng), is a 1965 Chinese film directed by Wang Ping. It is a “song and dance epic” dramatizing the history of the Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong, from the beginnings of the May Fourth Movement, to the Civil War against the Nationalist Party, to the victory of the Communists and the founding of the People’s Republic. The musical is commercially available today on both CD and video, as well as online with English subtitles.
The film is also known as The East Is Red: A Song and Dance Epic.
Plot:
The musical depicts the history of the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong from its founding in July 1921 to the establishment of “New China” in 1949. Detailed in the musical are several key events in CPC history such as the Northern Expedition (taken up by the Kuomintang (KMT) National Revolutionary Army with Chinese Communist and Soviet support), the KMT-led Shanghai massacre of 1927, the Nanchang Uprising and formation of the People’s Liberation Army, the Long March, guerrilla warfare of the PLA during the Second United Front (during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression), the subsequent overthrow of the National Government of the Republic of China on Mainland China by the PLA in the decisive phase of the Chinese Civil War, and the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949.
Singers in the film include Wang Kun, Tseten Dolma, Hu Song Hua and Guo Lanying.
Soundtrack:
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – Overture: “The East is Red” (with dance)
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Northern October Winds”
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Over The Snowy Meadows”
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Workers, Peasants and Soldiers, Unite!”
Orchestra, ensemble, choirs and lady duettists – “(For the Red Army) Wooden Hunan Shoes”
Orchestra, ensemble, and male choir – “Three Rules and Eight Notices” (Adaptation of the military anthem of China)
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Looking at the North Star”
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Crossing the Dadu River” (with dance)
Orchestra, ensemble and lady soloist – “Song of the Yi People”
Orchestra, ensemble and male choir – “The Armies Have Reunited (Long Live the Red Army)”
Orchestra, ensemble, choirs and male soloist – “The Long March”
Orchestra, ensemble and soloists – “Along the Sungari River” (Ballad of the Northeasters)
Orchestra and ensemble- “March of the Volunteers” (1st performance)
Orchestra, ensemble and choir – “Song of the Military and Political University of Resistance Against Japan”
Orchestra, ensemble and choir – “Song of Guerrillas”
Orchestra, ensemble, ladies choir and soloist – “Nanniwan”
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Defend the Yellow River” from the Yellow River Cantata
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Unity is Strength”
Orchestra, ensemble and male choir – Military Anthem of the People’s Liberation Army
Orchestra, ensemble, choirs and duettists- “The People’s Liberation Army Captures Nanking City” (One of Chairman Mao’s poems)
Orchestra and ensemble – “March of the Volunteers” (2nd performance) (National Anthem of the People’s Republic of China, played at the beginning of Act 6, in the Tiananmen Square scene)
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China”
Orchestra, ensemble, and male soloist – Paean
Orchestra, ensemble, ladies choir and soloists – “Song of Liberated Tibetan Serfs”
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – Finale: “Ode to the Motherland”
Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – “The Internationale” (Words by Eugène Pottier, music by Pierre Degeyter, Chinese translation by Qu Qiubai) Only the first verse is sung at the finale scene.
中文: 八一电影制片厂、北京电影制片厂、中央新闻纪录电影制片厂English: August First Film Studio, Beijing Film Studio and Central News Documentary Film Studio [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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