There are many myths about Shanghai Translation Studio, and Qiu Yuefeng is one of the most divine.
His voice is not very pleasant among voice actors. Some people say that he has a hoarse voice, but he has poured his skills in manipulating his voice into a deep understanding of human nature and art, and the role he plays can even show Brilliant beyond the original. When his unremarkable voice in daily life is transformed into a character, he can be low and powerful, noble and perverse, and he can freely shuttle between calm and elegant, humble and cowardly, fierce and ruthless.

Qiu Yuefeng

He is the surly and affectionate Rochester in "Jane Eyre", the devious Andardier in "Les Miserables", the Doctor Donta who "melts into the blue sky" in "The Hunt"; The free-spirited Monkey King Monkey King in "Havoc in Heaven" is the Dragon King of the East China Sea in "Nezha Naohai", and the fat-brained Master Bai in "The Story of Avanti"... He has many masterpieces, but none of them are. The works are enough to represent Qiu Yuefeng.
Chen Danqing once wrote an article evaluating Qiu Yuefeng, "It seems to be more Rochester than Rochester, and even more Chaplin than Chaplin. When I watched Jane Eyre and Mister Verdue in the United States later, the true voice of the original version was It sounds like a fake, I helplessly (conditioned reflex) miss Qiu Yuefeng..."
Qiu Yuefeng is the first-generation dubbing actor of Shanghai Translation Studio. In his nearly 30-year dubbing career, he has dubbed more than 400 Chinese and foreign feature films and other films, and has brought out a group of talented and dedicated people. The younger generation has made significant contributions to the art of translation in our country. He has been named "the first male voice of Shanghai translation" by many fans of translation films.
However, this peak of China's dubbing industry is also a wound that has not been healed for nearly half a century. Qiu Yuefeng was depressed all his life and committed suicide by swallowing sleeping pills three times. On March 29, 1980, he took the medicine for the third time and passed away. Behind this, there is a grievance that makes people unable to argue, it is the depression of a family that is helpless, and it is the absurdity of an era that has been attributed to silence.
May 10 is the centennial of the dubbing artist. In the years when the translated film gradually faded out of the historical stage, the memory of Qiu Yuefeng has never been absent. When it comes to the golden years that belonged to dubbing, Qiu Yuefeng and the characters he created have always belonged to the brightest part.

Qiu Yuefeng

Not a gorgeous voice, but a kaleidoscopic face
Qiu Yuefeng was born on May 10, 1922 in Hulun Buir, nickname Husheng. His grandfather was a military attache stationed on the Sino-Soviet border, and his father married a Belarusian woman, so he was born with a mixed-race face, which also created a "unique" advantage for him to become an actor in the future.
Watching movies was a great pleasure in Qiu Yuefeng's life when he was a child, when he was separated from his parents. He also liked to imitate the voices and emotions of the characters in the movies since he was a child.
At the age of 20, Qiu Yuefeng was introduced to a theater company in Tianjin as a set worker. He explained the experience after that in the "Cultural Revolution": "I had the idea of becoming an actor. After a lot of hard training, secretly memorizing the scenes and reciting lines, and often secretly imitating the expressions of actors, I finally became an actor. Acting comes from hard practice. Influenced by art for art's sake, my world is dry play."
In the following 8 years, Qiu Yuefeng has participated in nearly 20 performance groups, ranging from troopers to protagonists, from chores to directors and group leaders. He has played all roles, but he has not settled down in this industry. The troupe that travels the rivers and lakes often faces breaking up when they are performing. It was not until the liberation of Shanghai in 1949 that Qiu Yuefeng ushered in the real starting point of his life. In the memories of his son Qiu Bichang, this turning point is described as, "Father ushered in the day of the liberated area, a bright day."
After that, Qiu Yuefeng was introduced to the translation team of Shanghai Film Studio. With a mixed-race background, coupled with his experience in the drama stage, Qiu Yuefeng participated in the first translation film of Shanghai Film "The Son of the Head". Dub.
This is the first time for him to become attached to dubbing. According to the recollection of dubbing artist Su Xiu, Qiu Yuefeng has the most solid performance foundation in the cast because of his rich experience in drama before liberation, and is known as the "master of expression".
Fans who love dubbing and filming will be familiar with the voice characteristics of each dubbing star of Lao Shangyi, such as Bick's fortitude, Shang Hua's witty, Tong Zirong's timelessness... The voices of most dubbing actors are God's reward. "The Voice of China" for food. In contrast, Qiu Yuefeng's voice was a little hoarse, and his vocal range was not wide. At that time, some people joked that he had a "drake voice".
Originally, when he performed the "civilization play" on the stage, with the excellent performance of his movements and expressions, the shortcomings of his voice were not obvious. But when he first stood in the silent recording studio and uttered words into the highly sensitive microphone, he couldn't help blushing because of his unpleasant voice.
The voice is not good, can't hide his talent. His characters are lively, energetic, and always captivating. "Police and Thieves" in 1957 is strictly a "work" dubbed by Qiu Yuefeng. In this work, Qiu Yuefeng has his own distinct personal style for the first time: cynicism, brutality, melancholy, and the lingering weariness of his life. Su Xiu commented that Lao Qiu made the original film actor's quick-talking and blurted feeling so delicious, she even said to her friends: "Qiu Yuefeng's thief is Italian."
There are countless stories about his dubbing.
For example, his most "popular" role - Rochester in "Jane Eyre". He combined the noble upbringing and contradictory affection of this British upper-class gentleman into a natural harmony.
This role, although the old factory manager Chen Xu wanted to belong to Qiu Yuefeng from the beginning, but when the list was reviewed at that time, some people raised objections, thinking that Qiu Yuefeng was still supervising labor, and it was not suitable for such a big male protagonist. However, this kind of rhetoric was quickly dismissed by Chen Xuyi's clever use of "serving the proletarian headquarters and ensuring the quality of translation".

"Jane Eyre" stills

After studying the script carefully, Qiu Yuefeng fell in love with the character Rochester, and even fell into deep contemplation in order to match this character well. He saw that under Rochester's unreasonable arrogance, there must be a huge hidden pain caused by his unfortunate encounter. If he only expresses his ridicule, reprimand and oppression, he will not be able to arouse people's sympathy for the characters.
At that time, the dubbing director Sun Yufeng, who was still a newcomer in the factory, was fortunate to observe Qiu Yuefeng's live dubbing. The superb skills of "even breathing and the characters are completely appropriate" made Sun Yufeng amazed. When Rochester found out that Jane Eyre had left the manor, he cried out in pain, "Jane...Jane...". After a scene was translated, Qiu Yuefeng was sweating profusely and his voice was hoarse. Later, he told Sun Yufeng: "In the past few years, I have rarely encountered such a good show. I was afraid that I would not be able to stand it, so I gave up my life to buy some ginseng to improve my spirit!"
Another time Qiu Yuefeng gave himself "qi" for the purpose of dubbing, in order to match "The Great Dictator". The climax of the film is a few minutes of Chaplin's impassioned speech, which is completed in one go, and the dubbing is quite difficult. At that time, Qiu Yuefeng's wife was worried about his health, and squeezed some money out of the small living expenses to buy ginseng and stewed chicken soup to nourish Qiu Yuefeng's body. In the end, this speech was lively and impassioned. In addition to the idealism of the lines themselves, Qiu Yuefeng's performance also gave a layer of sadness hidden in the agitation, which also became a highlight of Qiu Yuefeng's dubbing career.

"The Great Dictator" stills

Perhaps it is precisely because of his own voice that it is not so bright and gorgeous, but instead gives Qiu Yuefeng a higher plasticity in terms of sound and color. Thinking of the visionaries in "White Nights", the tenth-class civil servants in "The Long Road", the Verdus in "Monsieur Verdu", the Jewish barber in "The Great Dictator" and other little people who are always vivid, it seems that It can be considered that Qiu Yuefeng is in the market; while he played Tropic Kardashov in the early Soviet film "Lenin in 1918", the shopkeeper Denardier in "Les Miserables", The priest in "Notre Dame de Paris" and the profiteer in "The Golden Ring Eclipse" make it impossible to ignore how intrusive he is when he breaks down. And those witty, willful, cunning, flying imaginative images in art films are even more difficult to categorize.
Chen Danqing commented that Qiu Yuefeng is a poet with a voice, a "Mozart" who is omnipotent in the art of dubbing. "Gentle, noble, lazy, sarcastic, lingering, cunning, cynical, and rude... He transcends the plot and the role, and now that I think about it, we who listen greedily and fascinate in Qiu Yuefeng's tone are actually the living voice of language. Temperament: That's human affection and humanity."

Qiu Yuefeng

"inevitable" death
Fans who love translation and production are happy to mention Qiu Yuefeng because every one of his characters is so wonderful that it is hard not to talk about him; and people don't want to mention him too much because he belongs to the literary and art circles. An unforgettable sad past.
He died in the early spring of 1980. On the evening of March 30, CCTV broadcast a newly translated Japanese film "Girl in White", and Qiu Yuefeng was the director of the translation. At that time, it was a golden age when audiences were crazy about dubbing films, and many audiences stayed in front of the TV early to watch movies. But no one could have imagined that on this day, Qiu Yuefeng bid farewell to this world forever.
On March 29, Qiu Yuefeng and his wife had a big fight because of rumors. When they got home, their children had noticed Qiu Yuefeng's abnormal behavior. At that time he had already taken the medicine, and he was silent. On March 28, he also discussed dubbing skills with his student Zhu Ling. In Zhu Ling's memory, Qiu Yuefeng once said to her: "I am very tired and in a bad mood."
Rumors and quarrels are the fuse. People who are familiar with Qiu Yuefeng can understand it even though they are shocked. Qiu Yuefeng's departure seems to be inevitable. "The reason for my father's death is actually quite clear. He can't stand the unfair treatment of him." Qiu Bichang said.
For most of his life, he was unhappy. Everyone who knows him sees him. He is introverted, deep, and he loves face. Knocked out teeth and swallowed blood, rarely showed anger, and was suffocated by too many things in my heart. The cause of the tragedy goes back a long, long time.
One day in 1957, a leader of a translation factory approached Qiu Yuefeng with a very serious attitude and asked him to think carefully about whether he had done anything harmful to the people. Qiu Yuefeng couldn't remember, and even called his wife, who was an actor in the Hangzhou Repertory Theatre, back to Shanghai to think about it together. Facing the pile of materials that had been signed and stamped by others, he had a hard time defending himself. The material mentioned that he had participated in the experience of the Kuomintang army arresting the Communist Party. He was puzzled and had no basis for it. Once the "historical counter-revolutionary" hat was buckled, it weighed on him for the rest of his life.
Although it is fortunate in misfortune that Chen Xuyi, the old factory manager of Aicai, always protects him when someone is in trouble, and his work has become a safe haven for him, but this grievance has always haunted him like a nightmare.
Qiu Yuefeng committed suicide three times in total: the first time was in 1957, when he was designated as a "historical counter-revolutionary"; the second time was during the "Cultural Revolution"; the last time was the third time he attacked himself. A colleague from the past recalled that when Qiu Yuefeng got off work every day, his wife would carry his young son and pick him up at the No. 45 bus station to walk home with him. He was afraid that the people close to him knew his condition best, so he was so worried.
Until New Year's Day in 1980, a young actor in the factory bumped into Qiu Yuefeng, who was already a "great god" in the factory, and hid in a corner and cried sadly. It has been a long time since the "Gang of Four" was smashed, and his comrades in the same case have been rehabilitated, and he has been running again and again, the "historical issue" still cannot get Zhaoxue, even the "advanced" honorary recognition that has already been confirmed, also because he still belongs to "Internal control" personnel are temporarily replaced.
Dubbing artist Zhao Shenzhi once said, "I really don't understand. He has survived those days of being a ghost, a ghost, and sweeping the streets. Seeing that he has turned over and let him be a director, how can he die?"
Qiu Bichang recalled his father's death many years later, saying: "Actually, my father's death is a necessity. His situation, experience, and character all determine that he is very likely to embark on this path. Because he is not only an artist, but also an artist. A good father, his heart is very romantic and rich, but the reality is very unfavorable to him. It can be said that it is too difficult and tortuous, and his personality is too introverted, so he has no way to free himself, but can only find this kind of destination."
In addition to the mental humiliation, the embarrassment of the real situation brought about by his own situation and the guilt towards his family are also the straw that crushed Qiu Yuefeng.
Sun Yufeng remembered that Lao Qiu and him had a dream about a study: "If I had a study, it would be so beautiful." But the reality was that at that time, their family of seven could only squeeze into a small house of 16 square meters, which was cramped. Depression is predictable. And his salary was 103 yuan according to the rating when he first entered the factory. After 30 years, when he died, the salary was still 103 yuan.
According to the system at that time, suicide was equivalent to "extinguishing oneself from the people", and it was by no means a glorious thing. Therefore, the most popular star of the Shanghai studio could not even hold a memorial service in the name of the studio. At that time, a few cast members such as Su Xiu and Li Zi formed a funeral committee, and the factory stipulated that "only colleagues who did not have production tasks that day can attend the memorial service." To everyone's surprise, there were more than 1,000 people who went to Longhua Funeral Home to bid Qiu Yuefeng farewell that day, and most of them were ordinary citizens and movie fans who came spontaneously. Originally, only 300 paper white flowers were prepared, and they were sent out early. No mournful music was played at the memorial service, and the theme music of "Jane Eyre" was the last background sound of the dubbing master's life. He died with his beloved translation film.

Qiu Yuefeng Memorial Service

In the 1980s, Qiu Yuefeng was buried in Suzhou after his death. It was not until 2009 that his cemetery was moved back to Shanghai Fengxian Bay Garden, where he was buried next to the cemetery of Chen Xuyi, the old factory director. Qiu Yuefeng's tombstone was designed by painter Chen Danqing. Chen Danqing said that there is no need for any introduction on the tombstone, the three words "Qiu Yuefeng" are enough.
The pinnacle of dubbing art has never been forgotten
"Qiu Yuefeng is the pride of our dubbing actors. It is his talent, persistent pursuit of the dubbing career, and achievements that have raised our country's dubbed films to a higher level." Su Xiu once summed up Qiu Yuefeng's achievements. His contribution to the Chinese dubbing industry and dubbing art is well-known.
It is worth mentioning that Qiu Yuefeng is the only person in Shanghai Translation Factory who sticks to the "filling" position all his life.
"Filling" is an extremely critical and laborious process before the official dubbing, also known as "lip-synching". When the original film is cut into small rolls tens of feet long and displayed on the screen in a loop, the loader needs to read the Chinese script while watching the screen from time to time, while listening to the sound of the original film, and reading out the lines according to the rhythm of the original language. , timely judge whether the length and rhythm are consistent, and ask the translation for trimming until they are completely consistent. If there are three or five people talking in a scene, the loader must simulate the opposite words at the same time, and it is more difficult to master the lines when the lines are tight.
Qiu Yuefeng's foreign language foundation is good. He keeps improving his dubbing skills. Therefore, the factory also likes Qiu Yuefeng's rich experience and superb ability to quickly enter and accurately grasp various roles. This step of his work can help other actors. Bring more help with less effort.
Qiu Yuefeng also spared no effort in cultivating and influencing the younger generation. Sun Yufeng is the "little grandson" in Qiu Yuefeng's mouth. He has repeatedly mentioned in his articles Qiu Yuefeng's influence on him when he first entered the field of dubbing. When he first arrived at the factory, he was fortunate enough to watch Qiu Yuefeng's "Strictly" dubbing for "Jane Eyre". His "ceiling" level skills gave him a new understanding of this technology. When a young man becomes a director and wants to direct these veterans, Qiu Yuefeng encourages him to express his ideas with confidence and boldness, "Don't be burdened, and execute boldly." Even if a problem is really discovered, Qiu Yuefeng will follow the director's wishes first. Once again, give his own suggestions, re-enact a version, and when he was on the editing stage, Sun Yufeng clearly and intuitively understood Qiu Yuefeng, the old ginger.
"The old comrades of the Shanghai Translation Factory have a good habit: they have done a lot of preparation before the show, they are very serious when they arrive in the studio, and no one has ever pointed fingers in the studio. I have worked with Lao Qiu many times, and he wants to find out. Any problems, such as reading names, sending lines, grasping emotions, etc., will be weighed by the executive director after a soft exchange of opinions with me." Sun Yufeng has always been grateful for the words and deeds of his predecessors.
Qiu Yuefeng's influence is far-reaching. Later, Li Yang, who dubbed the six-year-old boy Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West", repeatedly said that he imitated Qiu Yuefeng's Monkey King. The original intention of the actor's road was to become a voice actor like Qiu Yuefeng...
Starting from Qiu Yuefeng, he and his contemporaries Shang Hua, Bi Ke, Su Xiu, to the younger Qiao Zhen, Tong Zirong, Liu Guangning, Ding Jianhua, the above-translated dubbing actors have really made dubbing into a brand with a distinctive era. Art that has stood the test of time. A batch of translated classics has opened a window to the world for the once closed Chinese audience.
Qiu Yuefeng left too early, and many people regretted that he failed to keep Yun Kai to redress his injustice and live a happier and more prosperous life. But his life is fixed in the most glorious era of translation and production, and he does not have to see the career he has worked hard for his whole life, and has no choice but to go to the end of an era.
Today, we commemorate Qiu Yuefeng, not only because we miss and appreciate that unique and fascinating voice, which shaped the throbbing of the ever-changing characters touching the heart, but also because we are looking back at the regret left by a ridiculous pain in this world. A declining art, once experienced glory and sadness.