Tribute to Chinese film director

I was saddened to hear of the passing away of director Xie Jin, a giant in the world of Chinese cinema.

Throughout his life, Xie wrote and directed numerous films with topical social themes, including a good number of films that depicted strong female characters in leading roles. His first major success came with Woman Basketball Player No. 5 in 1957, an excellent mix of socialist realism and Hollywood, depicting the lives of athletes in Shanghai before and after the birth of the People's Republic in 1949.

His highly popular comedy Big Li, Little Li and Old Li in 1962 excelled in the casting of well-known Shanghainese stage comics and promoted the spread of Communal calisthenics throughout China. Other internationally acclaimed films included Two Stage Sisters in 1964, Hibiscus Town in 1986, The Opium War in 1997 and Woman Soccer Player No. 9 in 2001.

His films always appreciated of both Western and Chinese dramatic traditions, and an awareness of Russian cinema. Even his work on highly propagandistic 'model operas' of the chaotic Cultural Revolution such as The Red Detachment of Women and Sea Port managed to express his grounding in the real world and his interest in folk culture and history.

Despite having directed such films, he was perhaps not straightforward enough in pushing the political line of the times, and still ended up suffering more than most in the chaos. Both his parents committed suicide as a result of political persecution, and he was banned from making movies for almost a decade.

I had the privilege of interviewing Xie Jin only a few months ago in connection with my recent documentary on Chinese sport movies. He was essentially the doyen of Chinese sport movies as well as an avid sports fan. I was impressed by his wit and sense of humour, but also by his energy. At 84, he told me of his plans to make three more movies before he died.

Before we parted company, he mischievously invited me to follow him into a little alcove in his office where he kept his cache of malt whiskies, brandies and cognacs. He told me that his assistants forbade him from consuming alcohol any more, but, he added with a sparkle in his eyes, they could not stop him having a drink with visiting foreign directors.

Xie Jin is an iconic figure not only in the field of Chinese cinema but also on the world cultural stage. He will be missed.