Since the inception of the New China, the Chinese film has experienced numerous ups and downs. And the 60year historical picture of the Chinese film condenses a history of culture, thinking and struggle. Among the many controversial films, Breaking with Old Ideas, as the "political New Year' s film" of 1976 (Starting showing nationwide in January 1st), is an unforgettable film worthy of particular concern. In the book of Film History: an Introduction, Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, two American film historians with the Cold War mentality, use a whole page to introduce this film, considering it "a drama about an agricultural college, illustrates how schematically Mao' s ideas were treated." Strange to say, 30 years later, from time to time, some people utilize the film' s educational thinking and political ideas to criticize the current educational chaos, which indicates that China' s education has almost gone into a dead end. While some propose the modern university' s "big buildings, great masters, and best environments", others use the film' s lines to yearn towards old idealism. For example, "Judging the quality of a school, we must see whether or not this school trains good students instead of seeing whether or not it has big buildings or firstlate professors." Moreover, many people give a positive judgment because the criticized phenomena in the film such as "peasants and workers can not afford university", "one cannot apply one' s education" and "the values of students collapse", seem to become living examples in the current time. Therefore, the author of this essay, who experiences the Communist Labor University of Jiangxi Province and witnesses the 30 years of education reform and film development, have a unique feeling for the film.
