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A reel charmed life
By Tan Weiyun |
January 10, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Not everyone is as lucky as Lu Guoliang and he knows it. For the past 30 years he has essentially been paid to watch movies as he has worked almost every job possible at Tianshan Cinema, writes Tan Weiyun
Lu Guoliang loves his job although most of the time he works in the dark, alone. The cheerful 55-year-old has been an usher, waiter and ticket-taker in Tianshan Cinema for exactly 30 years.
Lu saw ticket prices soar from 0.1 yuan (1.5 US cents) in the early 1980s to 80 yuan today. He's seen domestically produced movies from 30 years ago to the blockbuster action films from overseas today. The projectionist has also witnessed the cinema being flooded with enthusiastic spectators and watched as the cavernous space had as few as two customers on occasion.
Film after film, crowd after crowd, Lu says the past three decades has been just like an exciting movie for the country, for the cinema and for himself. "Sometimes I'm the lead actor in this decades-long movie, sometimes a supporting character and occasionally a spectator," he says.
When recalling the days gone by, Lu gets excited and chatty. He is proud that he is the only man who has served the cinema the longest.
He has seen Tianshan Cinema while under construction, on opening day and during good times. He's been there during the tough times to see it survive and eventually thrive.
Thirty years ago, Lu was just a young chap who had retired from the People's Liberation Army in Fujian Province and was assigned to the cinema.
"I was shocked when I arrived for my first day," Lu recalls. "Tianshan Cinema was a deserted, messy construction site.
"My first job was to move the wood to clean the site," Lu says with a bitter smile. He remembers how his new white shirts purchased for the job were always soaked in sweat during the summer.
Lu and four other young men also made about 1,300 chairs for the cinema.
Each day he pedaled a tricycle and transported scrap wool from the nearby Shanghai Weaving Factory and stuffed them into the chair cushions.
"Itchy, itchy, itchy, it was a scary mountain of wool," Lu says, shaking his hands. "I had showers each day to wash those hairs stuck to my body. But we all thought it was worth it when the cinema was built. It felt like giving birth to a baby, hard but sweet."
In October 1979, Tianshan Cinema opened to the public. Lu's job was to borrow movie prints from nearby Changning Cinema. He was given a German-style, 250cc motorcycle to get the job done.
"In those days we didn't have many movies, so some cinemas in the same area had to share one copy," Lu said. "I was the one to fetch the film and then return it."
He set a record of going between the two cinemas 30 times in one day.
After two years, Lu became a waiter and usher in the cinema. He had more time to spend in the projection room and watch films. Part of his job was to monitor the movie projection quality and serve the audience.
The first movie he saw after the cinema opened was Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple," which earned Li an international reputation as a kung fu star.
The first overseas movie introduced from the United States was "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford in 1994. The film created a big public craze.
Having watched hundreds of movies during the past three decades, the high school graduate has fostered his own taste.
"A good movie needs a good story and the director needs the ability to tell the story," he says.
He likes foreign blockbusters and thinks Hong Kong films are average.
Generally he watches movies only once although he does make exceptions.
"I've seen 'Titanic,' 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Gladiator' at least three times each," he says with two thumbs up. "That dancing woman (Nicole Kidman) is a real beauty."
When bored of the dull movies, Lu would sneak out of the cinema to clean toilets or mop the floor.
"Many things have changed since I started working here -- our projection machines have been updated, the cinema is bigger and, of course, ticket prices have increased," he says. "But two things haven't changed -- people's craving for high-quality art and my passion for the job."
Basic facts
Oct 1979
Opening
1986
New facilities, ballroom, video games, cafe, video screening
May 1990
Renovation, new decor, better equipment, management
Dec 1990
Reopening
1996
Expansion from one big screen to three smaller ones; partly digital, partly analog signal; Western fast-food added
1999
Renovation, more floors, expansion to seven screens, all-digital stereo, Japanese fast food
2002
Box-office declines as Metro construction obscures cinema
2007
Opening Cloud Nine Cinema (JV between Tianshan Cinema and Shanghai Film Group Corp)
Lu Guoliang loves his job although most of the time he works in the dark, alone. The cheerful 55-year-old has been an usher, waiter and ticket-taker in Tianshan Cinema for exactly 30 years.
Lu saw ticket prices soar from 0.1 yuan (1.5 US cents) in the early 1980s to 80 yuan today. He's seen domestically produced movies from 30 years ago to the blockbuster action films from overseas today. The projectionist has also witnessed the cinema being flooded with enthusiastic spectators and watched as the cavernous space had as few as two customers on occasion.
Film after film, crowd after crowd, Lu says the past three decades has been just like an exciting movie for the country, for the cinema and for himself. "Sometimes I'm the lead actor in this decades-long movie, sometimes a supporting character and occasionally a spectator," he says.
When recalling the days gone by, Lu gets excited and chatty. He is proud that he is the only man who has served the cinema the longest.
He has seen Tianshan Cinema while under construction, on opening day and during good times. He's been there during the tough times to see it survive and eventually thrive.
Thirty years ago, Lu was just a young chap who had retired from the People's Liberation Army in Fujian Province and was assigned to the cinema.
"I was shocked when I arrived for my first day," Lu recalls. "Tianshan Cinema was a deserted, messy construction site.
"My first job was to move the wood to clean the site," Lu says with a bitter smile. He remembers how his new white shirts purchased for the job were always soaked in sweat during the summer.
Lu and four other young men also made about 1,300 chairs for the cinema.
Each day he pedaled a tricycle and transported scrap wool from the nearby Shanghai Weaving Factory and stuffed them into the chair cushions.
"Itchy, itchy, itchy, it was a scary mountain of wool," Lu says, shaking his hands. "I had showers each day to wash those hairs stuck to my body. But we all thought it was worth it when the cinema was built. It felt like giving birth to a baby, hard but sweet."
In October 1979, Tianshan Cinema opened to the public. Lu's job was to borrow movie prints from nearby Changning Cinema. He was given a German-style, 250cc motorcycle to get the job done.
"In those days we didn't have many movies, so some cinemas in the same area had to share one copy," Lu said. "I was the one to fetch the film and then return it."
He set a record of going between the two cinemas 30 times in one day.
After two years, Lu became a waiter and usher in the cinema. He had more time to spend in the projection room and watch films. Part of his job was to monitor the movie projection quality and serve the audience.
The first movie he saw after the cinema opened was Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple," which earned Li an international reputation as a kung fu star.
The first overseas movie introduced from the United States was "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford in 1994. The film created a big public craze.
Having watched hundreds of movies during the past three decades, the high school graduate has fostered his own taste.
"A good movie needs a good story and the director needs the ability to tell the story," he says.
He likes foreign blockbusters and thinks Hong Kong films are average.
Generally he watches movies only once although he does make exceptions.
"I've seen 'Titanic,' 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Gladiator' at least three times each," he says with two thumbs up. "That dancing woman (Nicole Kidman) is a real beauty."
When bored of the dull movies, Lu would sneak out of the cinema to clean toilets or mop the floor.
"Many things have changed since I started working here -- our projection machines have been updated, the cinema is bigger and, of course, ticket prices have increased," he says. "But two things haven't changed -- people's craving for high-quality art and my passion for the job."
Basic facts
Oct 1979
Opening
1986
New facilities, ballroom, video games, cafe, video screening
May 1990
Renovation, new decor, better equipment, management
Dec 1990
Reopening
1996
Expansion from one big screen to three smaller ones; partly digital, partly analog signal; Western fast-food added
1999
Renovation, more floors, expansion to seven screens, all-digital stereo, Japanese fast food
2002
Box-office declines as Metro construction obscures cinema
2007
Opening Cloud Nine Cinema (JV between Tianshan Cinema and Shanghai Film Group Corp)
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