Bridge (1949 film)

Bridge (simplified Chinese: 桥; traditional Chinese: 橋; pinyin: Qiáo) (also known as The Bridge) is a 1949 Chinese war film made shortly after the Communist revolution in China; as such, it is considered the first feature film completed after the founding of the People's Republic of China.[1] As a film, Bridge set many of the themes that would dominate the Socialist cinema of post-1949 China, including the glorification of the worker and the conversion of the intellectual to Communism.[2]

Bridge
Traditional	橋
Simplified	桥
Mandarin	Qiáo
Directed by	Wang Bin
Written by	Yu Min
Starring	Chen Qiang Wang Jiayi
Production company	Northeast Film Studio
Release date	1949
Country	China
Language	Mandarin

Plot

During the Chinese Civil War, a railroad factory is commissioned by the Communist army to repair a bridge. Led by a skeptical engineer who does not believe the bridge can be completed in time, the factory workers lack enthusiasm and morale. The project is galvanized, however, by the work of Liang Ruisheng (Wang Jiayi), who inspires his fellow workers to complete the project for the war effort. In the process, even the engineer is converted.

References

1. Berry, p. 32.
2. Zhang, p. 192.

Sources

• Berry, Chris. Postsocialist cinema in post-Mao China: the cultural revolution after the cultural revolution. Routledge (2004). ISBN 0-415-94786-3.
• Zhang, Yingjin. Chinese national cinema. Routledge (2004). ISBN 0-415-17290-X.

External links

• Bridge at IMDb
• Bridge at the Chinese Movie Database