MCLC: the movie man (1)

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the movie man (1)
Lest we over-romanticize the work of film projection teams, I’d like to offer the following paragraphs from Yang Jiang’s 杨绛 Six Chapters from a Cadre School (干校六记) for reflection (G. Barmé’s translation, p. 77-78).
Sebastian Veg 
Even something as innocent as going to see a film became a form of political study and was just like being at school – no one was allowed to be absent. As Mocun had poor eyesight and could not even see the screen he was given ‘cinematic immunity.’
On the evenings when films were shown we would all have to line up after dinner and march off to the open-air ‘theatre’, everyone taking their own folding stool. Each regiment had an appointed spot and we would plant our stools in position and sit in uniform rows. Even if it had been raining we’d have to put our stools down on our assigned places and sit down. If it was still raining we’d take along raincoats – no cancellations due to inclement weather for us. In the summer there would be hordes of mosquitoes to contend with. But there was one saving grace about this part of our ‘education’ – there were no examinations, so when we grew tired I could shut my eyes and have a rest. As there was only a very limited number of films that could be shown you would afford to doze off for a while without worrying about missing anything. There would always be ample opportunity to see the film a few more times in the future. There were thirty people in each dormitory and after each showing there would be endless discussion about the film. I always listened on in silence, not wishing to reveal my ignorance.
by denton.2 at osu.edu on November 13, 2014
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