《四万万人民》 The 400 Million (1939)

Credits
USA, 1939 / 53’ / Black & White / sound / 35 mm
Dutch: De 400 Miljoen; Fr.: Les 400 Millions
Direction and script: Joris Ivens; camera: John Fernhout en Robert Capa; editing: Helen van Dongen; music: Hanns Eisler; commentary text: Dudley Nichols; commentary voice: Fredric March; production company: History Today inc.
Copyright: Marceline Loridan-Ivens / Source material: Museum of Modern Art, New York; Filmmuseum Amsterdam, preservation 1994 / Digital restoration 2008: European Foundation Joris Ivens, Nijmegen / With permission of: Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Paris

电影基本信息：
美国，1939/53'/黑白/有声/35mm胶片
荷兰语片名：De 400 Miljoen；法语片名：Les 400 Millions
导演，剧本：Joris Ivens
摄影：John Fernhout en Robert Capa
剪辑：Helen van Dongen
音乐：Hanns Eisler
解说词：Dudley Nichols
解说：Fredric March
发行公司：History Today inc.
版权所有：Marceline Loridan-Ivens
原始资料现存于：纽约现代艺术博物馆。阿姆斯特丹电影博物馆1994年收藏
经伊文思夫人同意，位于奈梅亨的欧洲伊文思基金于2008使用电子技术修复了影片。

Summary content
Documentary about the resistance of the Chinese against the Japanese invasion and occupation from Manchuria. The Chinese had joined forces against this common enemy. The nationalistic Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-sjek and the communist party cooperated, at least on paper.
The film opens with a Japanese bombardment of Hankow, shows all aspects of warfare: the field battles, the refugees, dead and wounded, fear and human suffering. The film also places the resistance in the context of China's ancient culture. With images from a.o. Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-sjek, his wife Song Meiling and the future prime minister Zhou-enLai. Ivens cooperates again with cameraman John Fernhout (Ferno) and with photographer Robert Capa, as he did making The Spanish Earth. The music by Hanns Eisler is the first score composed with the twelve tone technique of Eisler's teacher Arnold Schönberg.

电影简介：
这一部关于中国人民抗击日本侵略占领中国东北的纪录片。中国共产党与当时的执政党国民党联合，协议共同抗击日本对中国的侵略。

电影以日军轰炸汉口开场 ，全片完整的展示了战争全景，战场，难民，死尸，还有伤员，以及人们的恐惧和苦难。影片记录了很多历史人物形象，例如孙中山，蒋介石宋美龄夫妇，以及后来的中国总理周恩来。伊文思在这部电影创作过程中依然保持了在拍摄《西班牙的土地》时与摄像师John Fernhout（Ferno）以及摄影师Robert Capa建立的默契合作， 而影片的配乐大师Hanns Eisler则第一次使用了他的老师Arnold Schönberg倡导的“十二音技法”。

Reviews
电影评论：

Howard Barnes: 'The 400 Million is a brilliant piece of camera reportage in which the inevitably sensational shots of contemporary warfare bulk no longer than the portrait of a people and the statement of a cause. ...The film may be episodic, but in the end it gives one a feeling of wholeness in its subject matter.' (New York Herald Tribune, Wednesday 8 March 1939)

Howard Barns：“《四万万人民》的镜头报道手法十分精湛，将对人的刻画和战争内涵的探究当作重点，而不是过多展现对战争的感性描写。。。这部影片或许展示的整个战争的“一幕”，但是在结尾却对战争的总体进行了阐释。”（纽约先驱论坛报 New York Herald Tribune,， 1939年3月18日周三版）

'This is the picture about China's struggle that we have been waiting to see. Joris Ivens has created a film that touches on China's cultural origins, sweeps through her awakening in the twentieth century, and plunges into the realities of her gigantic fight for freedom. The picture opens with a montage of Japanese bombardments and destruction in China. We have seen this before in the newsreels, but Helen van Dongen's cutting and Dudley Nichols' commentary (narrated by Frederic March) give it a new impact.' (Film News Hollywood, May 1939)

“这部叙述中国战争的影片我们一直非常期待。尤里斯伊文思的这部电影触及到中国文化源头，全景展示东方雄狮在20世纪醒来的过程，并深入探究中国人民捍卫自由和国家独立的精神。影片以日军在中国的轰炸和破坏开场。我们虽之前在新闻媒体上见过这些场景，但是Helen van Dongen的建议和Dudley Nickols的画外评论（由Frederic March撰写）却让我们有新的感触。”（好莱坞电影新闻Film News Hollywood，1939年5月）