《阎瑞生》:从社会新闻到电影——中国第一部长故事片拍摄始末探究

On the First Feature Film of China

1921年上映的影片《阎瑞生》是中国的第一部长故事片。它改编自1920年发生在上海滩的一桩真实命案,影片在中国电影发展史上具有非常重要的意义。但50多年来,诸多电影史材料对该片的某些重要细节描述和价值评判或语焉不详,或互相矛盾。笔者在综合相关史料的基础上,尝试梳理作为一桩社会新闻的"阎瑞生案件"被搬上银幕的历史脉络,并通过考证影片的某些拍摄细节,对既往电影史上与该影片相关的一些既有结论进行质疑和探讨,重估影片的价值和意义。

Released in 1921,Yan Ruisheng is the first feature film of China. It was adapted from a real homicide case of Shanghai during the 1920s; it exerts therefore an extremely important impact of the history of Chinese film- making. However,for more than 50 years in the past,its many important details and its value judgment have either been vaguely or contradictorily presented. By integrating relevant historical data and materials,the essay intends to show how the Yan Ruisheng murder was made into a film,and re- estimate the value and significance of Yan Ruisheng as a piece of social news through questioning and discussing the existing conclusions about this film.