Professor Ma Jingwu, a well-known electric performance artist in China and a professor of the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, passed away due to illness on November 30, 2023, at the age of 86.
After learning the news, most of the heavyweights in show business exuded a deep sense of nostalgia.
Why is Ma Jingwu loved by so many people?
I think there are three reasons.
First of all, the vast majority of practitioners currently active in the film and television industry are graduates of Beijing Film Academy. Many of them are majoring in film and television, and there are some actors among them, but most of them have not received systematic performance education. Ma Jingwu, as a professor in the performance department of Beijing Film Academy, has participated in the cultivation of a large number of outstanding acting talents. Many of his students were alumni who had studied at the college in the Xi. His students were deeply saddened by the death of their mentor.
Secondly, Mr. Ma Jingwu has participated in many film and television creations during his life, and has established deep friendships with many partners, and his professionalism and artistic accomplishment have also left an unforgettable impression on everyone. His contribution to film and television art is not only reflected in his being a famous screenwriter and director, but also in the strong sense of the times, history and reality in his works. Upon learning of his passing, all the partners were deeply saddened.
The third point is that Ma Jingwu has always been loyal to his original intention throughout his life, like a breeze blowing through the bright moon. His lofty moral character has also won the deep respect of everyone.
Therefore, Zhang Yimou, Tang Guoqiang, Zhang Jiayi, Xie Fei and Feng Yuanzheng all expressed deep condolences.
For movie lovers, they have even more fond memories of the characters he used to portray on movie screens.
Today, let's review the old artist's acting career through the many precious old ** he left behind during his lifetime, as well as his little-known 8 aspects, and witness his ups and downs in 86 years.
1. This handsome young man is an indigenous person from Xinjiang.
In the winter of 1937, Ma Jingwu was born in Urumqi, Xinjiang. His father was an ordinary middle school teacher, and his mother was an art teacher. He has had a keen interest in art since childhood. He loved singing and dancing since childhood, and later became obsessed with acrobatics. Not only was he good at acting, but he also mastered many skills such as calligraphy, seal carving, dancing and clay sculpture through self-study, and each of them reached a superb level.
In 1956, Ma Jingwu, who was only 19 years old, read a news about enrollment in "People's **". At that time, film schools were being built across the country. The Beijing Film Academy began accepting its first batch of undergraduate students. As soon as the news spread, the school suddenly boiled, and many people were running for their future film director. When he learned the news, he was ecstatic, immediately packed his bags, took a truck, changed trains and ships, and after 19 days of hard work, he finally arrived in Shanghai, where the exam was held.
His striking appearance, loud voice, and great acting talent allowed him to succeed in gaining admission.
Since they are the first batch of students in the acting department of the Beijing Film Academy, the school has the strongest faculty in history. In addition to senior artists such as Di Li, Zhang Xin, Zhang Ke, and Ouyang Ruqiu, performance experts from the Soviet Union, such as Kazansky and Pankova, have also taught them.
2. In his Table 56 class, he was one of the most outstanding boys.
After Ma Jingwu was admitted to Class 56 of the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, although he was not the oldest student in the class, he was undoubtedly the most charismatic of all the boys.
In his young days, his appearance was both handsome and stylish, not only was he outstanding in height, but his appearance was also very handsome, which was very suitable for appearances. On stage, he also always performed well and impressed the audience. The most important thing is that once he gets into performance mode, he becomes free. His personality is also very cheerful, and he always behaves lively and cute in front of his classmates, which makes people feel kind and friendly. Therefore, all the teachers had a crush on him.
In the four years of college, he not only starred in two short films, namely "The Dragon Through the Mountain" and "Gold Mountain and Silver Water", but also played the roles of Zhou Ping and Platon in the graduation drama "Thunderstorm" and "Platon Klecht" respectively.
3. He made his screen debut because his appearance was quite similar to Tian Fang.
The most envied thing for the students is that during his college Xi years, he was selected by a well-known film production team to become one of their main actors. In this "I Love My Home", he plays an ordinary rural youth. In their class, he was the first to go out and shoot a film. It was when I participated in the film event for the first time that I was invited to shoot "I Love My Home". This is also his first major film.
The film was named "The Wind Comes from the East". In this work, he played the male protagonist of Wang Demin's youth.
He was chosen because his appearance bears a striking resemblance to Tian Fang, the well-known actor who played Wang Demin in the movie.
One day in 1958, Ma Jingwu, who was a sophomore at the time, was summoned to the office by Chinese director Gan Xuewei and assistant director Shi Lianxing from "The Wind Comes from the East". After a brief conversation, they decided to let him go to the Changchun Film Studio to audition with the young actor Pang Xueqin. At that time, Ma Jingwu felt very anxious, and in some places he even said the wrong lines, but he was finally chosen because his appearance and temperament were very similar to Tian Fang.
The movie "The Wind Comes from the East" provides Ma Jingwu with an extremely precious platform for practice. In his life, there are many things to recall and summarize. He absorbed a great deal of acting art and life wisdom from Tian Fang and other veteran actors. When he finished filming in Russia and was about to return to China, Tian Fang specially found him and solemnly warned him not to be too conceited and complacent, and that only by continuing to work hard can he achieve continuous progress.
What Tian Fang said made Ma Jingwu remember his whole life.
Fourth, although he aspired to become an actor, he finally chose the career path of teaching.
When Ma Jingwu graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, he recorded two units on his volunteer form: Beijing Film Studio and Changchun Film Studio. The nature of these two jobs is completely different, but he chose the former. As a "top student" who has participated in the filming of many films, he has already clarified his most suitable career direction, which is to become an actor. Because of his important role in the film, this is undoubtedly a rare opportunity for him to learn Xi. In addition, he also thought deeply and prepared for this matter. In his opinion, film is a very comprehensive art. He is convinced that he has the ability to play a variety of different roles perfectly.
Despite this, he was interviewed by the senior leadership of the Beijing Film Academy, hoping that he would remain in the academy as a faculty member.
Although this was in conflict with the wishes of the individual, in those days there was a tendency to follow the distribution of the organization. "If I don't become an official, I won't do this business!Therefore, Ma Jingwu didn't say anything more and agreed directly.
Since then, he has continued to work hard in the field of education.
In fact, his most suitable career is still to become an actor. He is an actor with solid basic skills. However, when the academy decided to hand over the responsibility of nurturing the next generation to him, he did not hesitate to accept the responsibility. In addition, his performance is very good, and he has cultivated a large number of outstanding talents for China's acting team, all over the world.
When he was five or 36 years old, he became famous for playing the role of Zhang Jinfa in the movie "Cotai Boulevard".
After becoming a teacher, Ma Jingwu missed a lot of film and television shooting opportunities. Because he has always been a more honest and responsible person, there is no chance of making good films, so few people are willing to cooperate with him. However, he also occasionally receives an invitation to a film. In the process of contacting the actors, he found many interesting and interesting stories, among which he was most impressed by the profession of "director". For example, in 1962, in the process of directing the film "After the Armistice", Cheng Yin, the director of Beijing Film Studio, resolutely decided to loan him from the Beijing Film Academy, and specially arranged for him the role of Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Ping.
In this film, Ma Jingwu shows a natural and relaxed acting skills, and the cooperation with senior actors Zhang Ping, Xiang Kun, Zhao Ziyue and others is undoubtedly complementary to each other. His acting skills not only show a solid foundation, but also have a fairly high artistic quality and strong stage performance. Director Cheng Yin gave high praise to his performance.
However, in the time that followed, his living situation was not very good. With the advent of this special period, the Beijing Film Academy suspended its teaching activities, and at the same time, the film studio was also faced with the dilemma of having no films to shoot, which made Ma Jingwu feel extremely depressed, but helpless.
During this time, he and other teachers in the acting department were assigned to work in Dongxiangyang Village in Baiyangdian. His father was a carpenter and owned a carpentry shop in the village, and his mother was an old teacher. He worked very hard and soon became an expert in the field of farming. Under his leadership, several young men in the village soon became well-known "crop men".Once he went to pull cow dung outside the village, and happened to meet an old man, so he asked the old man for payment. He never expected that it was precisely because he portrayed himself as a "farmer" that he unexpectedly won the opportunity to play two film roles.
It wasn't until 1973 that Changying Studio became the first unit to resume feature film shooting, and director Lin Nong planned to bring Haoran's work "Sunny Day" to the big screen. In the process of selecting actors, Lin Nong sensed a rare "laborer" trait from Ma Jingwu, so he decided to entrust him with the role of Ma Laosi.
His acting skills in the movie "Sunny Day" are so natural and simple that director Lin Nong is very happy. Therefore, in the second year, when Lin Nong planned to adapt Haoran's other ** "Cotai Boulevard" into a movie, he was chosen again and played the role of Zhang Jinfa in the movie.
This time, Ma Jingwu showed his excellent acting skills and successfully portrayed the role of Zhang Jinfa vividly and with a distinct personality.
In 1974, after the release of the movie "Cotai Boulevard", Ma Jingwu quickly emerged. At that time he was an actor and singer. In that era, whenever he walked on the street, he would be surrounded by crowds, and his popularity was on par with today's traffic stars. Under his influence, many people began to learn to be a Xi director and soon embarked on the road to success. People affectionately call him "Zhang Jinfa", and he is very happy with it.
Sixth, strictly implement the whip and show the vitality of youth.
In 1978, the Beijing Film Academy restarted its enrollment activities, which made Ma Jingwu extremely happy. At the time, he considered himself one of the youngest teachers in the school. In order to nurture more acting teachers, he suggested that a teacher training course should be added to the existing undergraduate curriculum. This idea was supported by the leadership of the hospital. The College agreed with his proposal.
Therefore, in this year, not only Zhou Lijing, Fang Shu, Zhang Fengyi, Zhang Tielin, Shen Danping, Liu Jia and others walked into the door of Beijing Film Academy, but Cui Xinqin, Huo Xuan, Li Keji, Liu Juzi, Cheng Xiaoying, Liu Jian and others also became a student in the teacher class. Subsequently, this group of students successfully cultivated many stars such as Na Renhua, Huang Xiaoming, Chen Kun, Jiang Qinqin, Jia Nailiang, etc., and their talents and talents were passed on.
7. Regarding Ma Jingwu, what well-known stars has he successfully cultivated?
In 1978, Ma Jingwu became a teacher in the teaching class of Beijing Film Academy and successfully trained a large number of star students. Among them, Cheng Xiaoying starred in "Sakura" and "Midnight", Cui Xinqin starred in "Lilies" and "Bamboo", Li Keji starred in "Miao Miao" and "Spring in the Desert", and Liu Jian starred in films such as "Wilderness" and "Legend of the Pear Garden".
In 1981, Ma Jingwu, as an undergraduate student of the 78 Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, successfully directed a teaching practice film called "The Girl Who Served the Plate". In this film, he gave in-depth and detailed guidance to famous actors such as Guo Jing, Yuan Munu, Yang Xiaodan, and Wang Yue.
In 1985, a series of well-known film stars in the film industry, such as Tang Guoqiang, Guo Kaimin, Song Chunli, Jiang Lili, Zhao Jing, Wu Yufang, Song Xiaoying, Zhao Yue, etc., all joined the cadre training class of Beijing Film Academy for Xi. During the rehearsal process of their graduation drama "Zhao's Orphan", Tang Guoqiang provided very patient guidance and help. After years of hard work, they finally succeeded in creating a series of characters with distinct personalities. It was through his profound inspiration that Tang Guoqiang was able to explore the secrets behind historical figures.
In 1987, he was appointed as the head teacher of Class 87 of the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, and successfully cultivated a number of stars, including Chen Bing, Hu Xiaoguang, Xing Minshan, Qian Yanqiu, Liang Jie, Liu Min (later renamed Liu Yijun), Zhang Jianxin, Zhang Xiaotong (later renamed Zhang Jiayi), Wang Quanan, Jin Tiefeng, Reheman, Tao Qing, Kong Lin, Wang Chang'e, Xu Lin and Guo Xiao. He is known as the "father" of all the students in the class of 87.
In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned people, the number of celebrities who have been guided by Ma Jingwu is simply innumerable.
8. Ma Jingwu has successfully created a series of impressive film and television roles
Ma Jingwu has not only achieved fruitful results in the field of education, but he has also made great achievements in film and television performances.
Among all the teachers who teach acting at the Beijing Film Academy, he is the one who has the most rich character creation on the screen.
He is undoubtedly a man who excels in both teaching and acting.
He has portrayed many classic movie roles, including Wang Demin in "The Wind Comes from the East", Xue Ping in "After the Armistice", Ma Laosi in "Sunny Day", Zhang Jinfa in "Cotai Boulevard", Captain in "Beacon Boy", Long Chang in "Fire Baby", Niu Yusheng in "Traitor", and Chen Zuoqian in "The Red Lantern Hangs High".
In addition, the blind Taoist Quan Zhenzi in "Green Snake", Zhou Jian in "The Shadow of Ping", the pigtail Liu in "The First Floor of the World", Master Hao Ming in "Seven Swords", the Bodhi Patriarch in "New Journey to the West", He Sifang in "Beijing Youth", Mr. Meng in "Mengfu on the Sea" and Uncle Zhao in "Anju", these characters have left a deep impression.
In 2020, he participated in the film "Eight Hundred" directed by Guan Hu, in which he played the role of the head of the drama troupe. The character he plays is not only distinct but also very personal, and he is an actor full of charm and intelligence. This role is the final scene he portrays on the big screen.
Throughout his 86-year journey, he has always been steadfast in his pursuit of the true essence of art, and has always maintained the qualities expected of an artist: tenacity, integrity and accessibility. He was a very special person, his life was full of legends, but at the same time there were many untold stories. Therefore, after his death, there will be many people who are full of reluctance and deep regret for him.
People often say that life is perfect, but in fact, this is actually it.
Here, I wish Mr. Ma Jingwu, you have a safe journey!
Teacher Ma Jingwu passed away due to illness