Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Li Li
The first 4K panoramic Cantonese opera film "White Snake Legend " was officially released today. The film is jointly produced by Pearl River Film Group Co., Ltd., Guangdong Cantonese Theatre and Foshan Cultural Development Investment Management Co., Ltd., with Zhang Jianfeng as the director, national first-class actors Zeng Xiaomin and Wen Ruqing as the lead actors, and Wang Yanfei and Zhu Hongxing co-starring. This guangdong-produced screen masterpiece has not been screened before, not only won honors in major film festivals, but also "went out of the circle" among young people with the beautiful fairy national style. Today, the film has finally unveiled its mystery and officially accepted the test of a national audience.
"We asked ourselves two questions from the beginning: What exactly are we going to make this film, and who are we going to show it to?" Recently, Bai Suzhen, the actor of Bai Suzhen in "The Legend of the White Snake", the winner of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award and the Winner of the China Wenhua Performance Award, Zeng Xiaomin, was interviewed by Yangcheng Evening News and traced the path of creation. She admitted that she is looking forward to "The Legend of the White Snake" to achieve a good box office, because this will prove that the road to inherit and promote traditional Chinese opera culture through film means is feasible.
Whitesnake's "Compromise"
Many viewers who have watched the early screening of "The Legend of the White Snake" did not expect that as an opera film, it actually did a good job of one thing that many movies have not done. That is: tell a good story. The legend of "The Legend of the White Snake" has been interpreted in many versions before, but in "The Legend of the White Snake", this love story may be so easy for young people to understand rather than complain.
Yangcheng Evening News: In the eyes of many young people now, Xu Xian in folklore is a "scumbag". But Xu Xian in "The Legend of the White Snake" has changed a lot, more like an ordinary person with shortcomings and advantages.
Zeng Xiaomin: Yes, every character in "The Legend of the White Snake" has emotions. In the past, you were either strong or weak; either a good person or a bad person. We are not so black and white this time, but allow the characters to have a space of helplessness and powerlessness. Everyone's past impression of Xu Xian was that of a small man, very weak, suspicious of love, and tempted to lover. To tell the truth, that Xu Xian is something that many people, including myself, hate, and even wonder, why does Bai Suzhen like such a person? Even her liking became untenable. So now we shape Xu Xian is a person who dares to face, although he has also hesitated, but he dares to admit his mistakes, and finally has an eternal expectation for love, such Xu Xian is undoubtedly more acceptable to modern people.
Yangcheng Evening News: What do you think of this version of Bai Suzhen?
Zeng Xiaomin: This version of Bai Suzhen, I think it can be said to be very perfect. We might have thought white snake silly before, that she was desperate for a man who didn't deserve it, to sacrifice everything for herself. But now the white snake we have created is a very modern woman, she dares to do, dare to love and hate. The most rare thing is that she not only dares to do everything to fight, even uses the "water flooding the golden mountain" to express her anger, but also can compromise with Fahai in order to return to the human world after a thousand years, and is willing to walk into the Leifeng Pagoda herself. Fighting and compromising, she did both, and I think it's really not easy.
Yangcheng Evening News: Director Zhang Jianfeng once said that "The Legend of the White Snake" also needs to create a more "three-dimensional" Fahai, do you think you have done it?
Zeng Xiaomin: This Fahai is also a new expression. In the past, everyone's impression of Fahai was very strong, and there was a kind of "don't overwhelm you", but this time when Fahai beat the white snake down, you saw that in the movie he actually had a sudden loss. Also, in the end, when the little monk quietly let Xu Xian go, he did not blame, but said, "The benevolent one has a heart, and I don't blame you."
The vanishing "kick gun"
It is not easy to fuse the two of high freehand and realistic, but "The Legend of the White Snake" has done it. As a result, the film has been popular in major film festivals since 2019, and has won many awards at the Pingyao International Film Festival, the Hainan Island International Film Festival, and the Canadian Golden Maple Leaf International Film Festival. Zeng Xiaomin revealed that the most difficult thing in creation is how to make the audience feel "real" on the basis of ensuring the elements of opera. Specific to the details, that is, even an action and a sword have to be tangled and traded off.
Yangcheng Evening News: Opera performance is very different from film performance, after filming this play, what is your experience?
Zeng Xiaomin: One thing is obvious, that is, our expressions and eyes must be slightly restrained. Because we usually perform on the stage, tens of meters away from everyone, we must perform very exaggeratedly, so that the audience can see it. But in the movie, we have a subtle look, and the audience can immediately understand it.
Yangcheng Evening News: There are a lot of "play scenes" in this movie, and the presentation is also very different from what we have seen on the opera stage in the past. How do you choose between opera programming and cinematic language when you create?
Zeng Xiaomin: The fight scenes in the movie require realism and life, and the audience cannot be violated. For example, in the final showdown between the White Snake and Fahai, in the past we would involve a "kick gun" action. This is a more showy expression technique, which is more common on the opera stage. But what shines on the stage may feel "a bit fake" in the movie shots. Especially for audiences who have not had much contact with opera performances, they will find it strange to kick around.
Yangcheng Evening News: Before you decided to give up "kicking guns", did you have any inner entanglements?
Zeng Xiaomin: At that time, everyone was very entangled, on the one hand, they felt that "kicking the gun" was inappropriate, on the other hand, they were also worried that without the "kicking gun", they could not find a better means of performance. The director was also afraid that I would not be able to accept it, so he carefully asked me: Do you think you can take away the "kick gun"? I said: As long as there is a better alternative, I can accept it. Later, everyone came up with a new presentation, with 18 monks holding sticks to fight the white snake. Under the rendering of the language of the film, these 18 monks will bring a great sense of oppression, and the white snake will appear even thinner and weaker in comparison. Moreover, my performance at that time also used long water sleeves, one soft and one rigid, which could highlight the feeling of resistance against the strong.
Yangcheng Evening News: Is there any other example of the balance between the language of opera and the language of film?
Zeng Xiaomin: There are many more. For example, the gongs and drums of Cantonese opera, we will use more appropriate amounts in the movie, especially when we should let everyone calm down to watch the plot, we will slightly weaken the sound of the gongs and drums. Another example is the Kunlun Mountain "Stealing Immortal Grass" scene, originally our stage version of the design is to let the white snake and the two fairy children fight with the long spike sword. The use of the long spike sword requires a relatively high level of stature on the body of the opera actor, and the main point of action is not to be fast, but to reflect the flexibility between the two moves. It's more of a performance, so again, it feels a little unreal in the shots. To make the audience feel immersed, we had to play more realistically, so we replaced the long spike sword with a real sword with a very heavy weight. Martial arts movements also incorporate more martial arts elements and a stronger sense of strength.
Yangcheng Evening News: From opera action to martial arts, is this transition difficult?
Zeng Xiaomin: We opera actors have an advantage, that is, everyone's basic skills are still relatively solid. (Laughs) So although there are some difficult moves, we don't need a stand-in, and we can do all the moves by ourselves. There are some vacating movements that need the help of Weiya, so we practice while shooting, and practice a dozen or twenty times a move.
Young people who are being won over
How to make an opera film, the exploration and discussion in it are not overnight. This time, "White Snake Romance" may be able to set a model for the industry. In Zeng Xiaomin's view, retaining the essence of opera and winning the love of young people have never contradicted each other.
Yangcheng Evening News: Are you worried that some fans say that this work sacrifices the elements of opera for the expression of the film?
Zeng Xiaomin: In fact, we have never given up the elements of opera from beginning to end. For example, in this movie, we always follow the performance method of opera, including eyes and body, but we will adjust to be closer to life. Then in terms of presentation, we use a highly technical film method to package. The things of opera are still there, and the beauty of opera will only add points, not subtract points.
Yangcheng Evening News: According to industry evaluation, "The Legend of the White Snake" marks the beginning of the "blockbuster era" of opera films, which brings a good start to inheriting the traditional Chinese opera culture. At present, it seems that there are indeed many young people who have become interested in Cantonese opera because of their attention to "The Legend of the White Snake". Is it your intention to attract this audience?
Zeng Xiaomin: Yes, we asked ourselves two questions from the beginning: What exactly do we want to make this movie, and who do we want to make it for? If it is filmed for traditional opera audiences, they can actually watch it in the theater; if you want to make a stage documentary-style movie, you don't have to spend so much money on special effects, you can directly shoot a high-definition version of the DVD can be saved. We spend so much effort to make a movie, that is, to face the public, to all the people who like to watch movies. This group is large, and most of them are young people, and many of them may not have seen opera. We just want to show them, let them know how our opera is expressed, let them know how beautiful our traditional culture is. (Please enjoy the film MV "Fulfill My Wish" ↓↓)
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Yangcheng Evening News: Judging from the voices of the audience before the release, there are already many young audiences, including audiences outside the Cantonese-speaking area, who have taken a strong interest in "The Legend of the White Snake".
Zeng Xiaomin: I have always felt that our traditional opera culture has a very thick foundation, it contains too rich content, and the birth of this work is actually the natural burst after this accumulation of this background to a certain extent. Now I see that the feedback from the outside world is relatively warm, and I am also very happy. If the next film is also good at the box office, it proves that we are indeed doing the right thing, and we will be more confident in the continued innovation in the future. In the past, everyone had been afraid to take that step, and they were all struggling to make a dramatized movie or a cinematic opera, so our opera film could not go out.
Yangcheng Evening News: "The Legend of the White Snake" is about to be released, what do you want to say to those audiences who have already known you?
Zeng Xiaomin: Usually, when you watch my performances, you may feel that there is still a sense of distance. You may not be able to see every look in the actor's eyes, every subtle emotion and expression of emotion. But now through the movie, you can clearly see our expressions, and you can further feel the appeal of that kind of performance. And as I said before, our performance this time, including the opera program, the opera action and the opening move, are all adjusted while shooting, making it more suitable for cinematic presentation. So even if the audience who is familiar with me, when watching this movie, the look and feel will be very different from the stage performance in the past.
Yangcheng Evening News: What do you want to say to those audiences who were unfamiliar with Cantonese opera and opera movies in the past?
Zeng Xiaomin: In fact, as early as the "White Snake Legend " on the stage in 2014, there was already a phenomenon of "breaking the circle". Later, we put it on the film, and made cross-border breakthroughs in performance and film technology, which was loved by many young people. So for those who have never been exposed to Cantonese opera or opera movies in the past, I am very confident, and they will definitely like it after watching it.