Xie Jin

Chinese film director (1923–2008)

For other people named Xie Jin, see Xie Jin (disambiguation).

In this Chinese name, the family name is  Xie.

Xie Jin

Born| (1923-11-21)21 November 1923

Shangyu, Zhejiang, China

Died| 18 October 2008(2008-10-18) (aged 84)

Shangyu

Occupation| Film director
Awards| Crystal Globe
1988 Hibiscus Town Golden Rooster Awards – Best Director
1980 Legend of Tianyun Mountain
Best Picture
1980 Legend of Tianyun Mountain
1987 Hibiscus Town
1997 The Opium War
Lifetime Achievement Award
2005

Hundred Flowers Awards – Best Director
1962 The Red Detachment of Women

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese| 謝晉
Simplified Chinese| 谢晋
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Xiè Jìn

Xie Jin (Chinese: 谢晋; 21 November 1923 – 18 October 2008) was a Chinese film director. He rose to prominence in 1957, directing the film Woman Basketball Player No. 5, and is considered one of the Third Generation directors of China. Most recently he was known for the direction of The Opium War.

Xie was a popular director amongst the older generations of Chinese, with six of his films being voted Best Picture in the Hundred Flowers Awards. He was the only Chinese director to date to be a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Directors Guild of America.[1]

## Biography[edit]

Xie Jin plaque in Busan.

Xie was born in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province. He spent his childhood in his hometown, and attended primary school for one year there. In the 1930s, he moved to Shanghai with his parents and continued his education. In 1938, he followed his father to Hong Kong and studied there for one year. When returning to Shanghai in 1939, Xie enrolled in Daxia Affiliated High School and Jishan High School. In leisure time, Xie took courses at Huaguang Drama School and Jinxing Film Training School. His teachers included Huang Zuolin and Wu Renzhi. Meanwhile, he participated students drama activities led by Yu Ling, and acted as Yue Yun in multi-stage play Yue Yun.

In 1941, Xie enrolled in the play department of Jiang'an National Drama School in Sichuan,[2] and was educated by Cao Yu, Hong Shen, Jiao Juyin, Ma Yanxiang, Chen Liting, among other notable figures. In 1943, he voluntarily ceased his study and started working in China Youth Play Agency in Chongqing, and became stage manager, scenario writer and actor. In 1946, Xie reassumed his study at National Drama School in Nanjing, majoring in directing. In 1948, he entered Datong Film Corporation and became assistant director, and associate director.

After establishment of PRC, Xie enrolled in the research institute of politics of North China Revolutionary University. Later, he became an associate director and a director in Changjiang Film Studio and Shanghai Film Studio.

Xie directed more than 20 films in his career. His debut work, Woman Basketball Player No. 5, was the first colored sports film in PRC, which won the silver prize in 6th International Youth Film Festival in 1957, and the Silver Hat Prize in Mexico International Film Week in 1958. He staged the original production of the Chinese revolutionary opera, On the Docks in the early 1960s and also filmed the story in 1972.[3][4]

The Red Detachment of Women won the Best Picture and Best Directing of the 1st Hundred Flowers Awards, and it also won the Wanlong Prize of 3rd Asia-Africa Film Festival in 1964.

Two Stage Sisters was released in 1965 and in 1980 won the Sutherland Trophy at the 24th BFI London Film Festival. It also won prizes in Portugal and Manila international film festivals. However, it was attacked in his home country because it “advocated the reconciliation of social classes.” Xie recalled in the 2002 interview that his parents committed suicide amid the political pressure — his mother jumping off a building and his father overdosing on sleeping pills — and he had to collect their bodies himself.

Jia Zhangke remarked it was still risky for Xie to make films about this traumatic period in the 1980s, which he did, when China had started to open up and implement economic reforms.

On 23 August 2008, Xie Jin's son died of cancer. Two months later, on the morning of 18 October 2008, Xie Jin's body was discovered in his hotel room in Shangyu.[5] Hundreds of celebrities and thousands of other people attended his funeral. After he died, Song Zude, known as the King of Media Hype in mainland China, made a series of derogatory statements about Xie Jin. Millions of people stood against Song Zude in respect of the late Xie Jin.[6]

## Filmography[edit]

Year  | English Title  | Chinese Title  | Notes

|
|
|

1957 | Woman Basketball Player No. 5 | 女篮五号  |
1961 | The Red Detachment of Women | 红色娘子军  | Hundred Flowers Award for Best Director
1962 | Big Li, Little Li and Old Li | 大李，小李和老李  |
1965 | Two Stage Sisters | 舞台姐妹  | Sutherland Trophy (British Film Institute)
1975 | Chunmiao | 春苗  |
1977 | Youth [fr] | 青春  |
1979 | Cradle | 啊！摇篮  |
1980 | Legend of Tianyun Mountain | 天云山传奇  | Golden Rooster Award for Best Director
1982 | The Herdsman | 牧马人  |
1984 | Qiu Jin | 秋瑾  |
1985 | Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain | 高山下的花环  | Nominated - Golden Rooster Award for Best Director
1986 | Hibiscus Town | 芙蓉镇  | Crystal Globe (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
Nominated - Golden Rooster Award for Best Director
Nominated - Golden Rooster Award for Best Writing
1989 | The Last Aristocrats | 最后的贵族  |
1992 | Bell of Purity Temple | 清凉寺的钟声  |
1993 | An Old Man and His Dog | 老人和狗  |
1996 | Penitentiary Angel | 女儿谷  | Also known as Behind the Wall of Shame
1997 | The Opium War | 鸦片战争  | Nominated - Golden Rooster Award for Best Director
2001 | Woman Soccer Player No. 9 | 女足九号  |

## References[edit]

1. ^ "The People's Director by Leo Goldsmith - Moving Image Source".
2. ^ Da Huo'er (March 1989). "Interview with Xie Jin". Jump Cut, No. 34. pp. 107–109. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
3. ^ Donald, Stephanie (2000). Public Secrets, Public Spaces: Cinema and Civility in China, p. 7. Rowman & Littlefield
4. ^ Daily Telegraph (23 October 2008). "Xie Jin, Chinese film director who survived the Cultural Revolution to create several box-office triumphs". Retrieved 3 July 2004.
5. ^ "Xie Jin Died" (in Chinese). Sina.com. 2008-10-18. Retrieved 2008-10-18.; [1]
6. ^ 宋祖德回应"害群之马"缘起诽谤谢晋 (in Chinese). Xinhuanet. 2008-10-29. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-30.

## External links[edit]

* Biography of Xie Jin
* Xie Jin at IMDb
* Xie Jin at AllMovie
* Xie Jin at the Chinese Movie Database
* Xie Jin at Film Reference
* "Two stage sisters: The blossoming of a revolutionary aesthetic," by Gina Marchetti Jump Cut, no. 34, March, 1989, pp. 95–106

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Xie Jin

* Woman Basketball Player No. 5 (1957)
* The Red Detachment of Women (1961)
* Two Stage Sisters (1964)
* Chunmiao (1975)
* Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980)
* The Herdsman (1982)
* Qiu Jin (1983)
* Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain (1984)
* Hibiscus Town (1986)
* The Last Aristocrats (1989)
* Bell of Purity Temple (1992)
* An Old Man and His Dog (1993)
* Penitentiary Angel (1994)
* The Opium War (1997)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Rooster Award for Best Director

1980s|

* Xie Jin (1981)
* Cheng Yin (1982)
* Wu Yigong (1983)
* Tang Xiaodan (1984)
* Ling Zifeng (1985)
* Yan Xueshu (1986)
* Ding Yinnan (1987)
* Wu Tianming (1988)
* Wu Ziniu (1989)

1990s|

* Li Qiankuan/Xiao Guiyun/Xie Tieli/Zhao Yuan (1990)
* none (1991)
* Sun Zhou/director group of Da Juezhan (1992)
* Xia Gang (1993)
* He Ping (1994)
* Huang Jianxin/Yang Yazhou (1995)
* Wu Tianming (1996)
* Wei Lian (1997)
* Hu Bingliu/Sai Fu/Mai Lisi (1998)
* Zhang Yimou (1999)

2000s|

* Zhang Yimou/Chen Guoxing (2000)
* Huo Jianqi (2001)
* Yang Yazhou/Chen Kaige (2002)
* Zhang Yimou (2003)
* Peng Xiaolian (2004)
* Ma Liwen (2005)
* Qi Jian/Yin Li (2007)
* Feng Xiaogang (2009)

2010s|

* Chen Li (2011)
* Peter Chan (2013)
* Tsui Hark (2015)
* Feng Xiaogang (2017)
* Dante Lam (2019)

2020s|

* Wang Rui (2020)
* Zhang Yimou (2021)
* Chen Kaige / Tsui Hark / Dante Lam (2022)
* Er Cheng (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Rooster Award for Lifetime Achievement

* Tang Xiaodan (2004)
* Xie Jin/Xie Tieli (2005)
* Zhang Ruifang/Lu Zhuguo (2007)
* Chen Qiang/Zhang Jian/Yuan Naichen (2008)
* Yu Lan/Qin Yi (2009)
* Yu Yang/Tian Hua (2010)
* Fu Zhengyi/Xiang Junshu (2011)
* Wang Weiyi/Yan Jizhou (2012)
* Yu Min/Liu Xueyao (2013)
* Chen Jihua/Wang Xingang/Pang Xueqin (2014)
* Wang Xiaotang/Zhang Liang (2015)
* Ge Cunzhuang/Tao Yuling/Xie Fang/Liang Xin (2016)
* Liu Shilong/Malqinhu/Niu Ben (2017)
* Zheng Guo'en/Zhu Xijuan/Zhang Yongshou (2018)
* Shichang Da (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Hundred Flowers Award for Best Director

* Xie Jin (1962)
* Wang Ping (1963)
* Xie Tian (1980)
* Yin Li (2006)
* Feng Xiaogang (2008)
* Feng Xiaogang (2010)
* Feng Xiaogang (2012)
* Zhao Wei (2014)
* Wuershan (2016)
* Dante Lam (2018)
* Frant Gwo (2020)
* Wen Muye (2022)

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Spain
* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* Israel
* United States
* Australia
* Korea
* Netherlands

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