Reeling in the years

By Zhao Xu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-17 18:23

With a camera on his shoulder, Robert Carl Cohen stands in front of the Buddha Statue in Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan province in 1978.

With a camera on his shoulder, Robert Carl Cohen stands in front of the Buddha Statue in Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan province in 1978.

"My guess is that someone in a very senior position within the Chinese Foreign Ministry - possibly (premier) Zhou Enlai himself - was interested in enabling me, and the other group members working for the US press, to report to our public back home."

Whatever the source of his good fortune, the credentials given to Cohen carried him far and wide. The rare black-and-white footage, shot with a 16mm hand-wound Bell and Howell Filmo, was later edited into a 50-minute documentary film narrated by Cohen and titled Inside Red China. It can now be seen on YouTube.

A dashing Cohen opens the show, asserting his and his fellow countrymen's right to know, while admitting that without living in China for years, "even the most observant reporter cannot experience the daily joys and sorrows which are most important to the average man".

However, he made a determined effort to delve into those lives and to share their stories, happy or sad. With the tender heart and unfailing eye of a curious young man, Cohen captured on film moments and details that elude even the most seasoned journalist.

On several occasions, small children reached over and pinched the hair on his forearm. Cohen was told they were wondering if he was "some sort of monkey". And everyone wanted to see the monkey - in the film, laughing children can be seen besieging Cohen's car as he beats a hasty retreat.

Other touching images include an old man proudly showing how his smoking pipe worked in front of a bemused audience, and fully-clad bathing beauties "shy of the sun", on the beachfront in Dalian.

Cohen was surprised to see the Peking Opera-going public dressed "in a more proletarian manner", while "when it visited London or Paris, people wore diamonds and furs".

"In the West, white is the color for purity, while in Chinese theater, a patch of white makeup in the center of the face represents dishonesty or foolishness," says Cohen, whose journey at times turned into a crash course in Chinese symbolism.

In the documentary, a classic Peking Opera in which a rebellious Monkey King triumphs over heavenly gods, is shown as an intended metaphor for "the people's victory".

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