Yesterday, the TV series "Opponent" starring Guo Jingfei, Tan Zhuo and others ended. The drama Douban scored 8 points, becoming a relatively rare high-scoring drama in recent times. Many viewers say they have never seen such a different spy drama: it has created a pair of spies who came to carry out missions 18 years ago. They do not have a mysterious identity, do not have a miraculous technology, but are ordinary people in a chicken feather in life, unable to return to their hometown to reunite, and have to complete tasks every day for the "funds" that are stretched thin...
The Beijing News reporter exclusively interviewed Wang Xiaogun, the screenwriter of "Opponent". Wang Xiaogun said that spies are not necessarily stealing nuclear submarine intelligence so tall, nor are they the "007" accompanied by luxury cars and villas in the movie, many of which are actually hidden in life. They also have a midlife crisis and will not be able to make ends meet. After watching the play, the audience's most intuitive feeling is that these two spies are too miserable, why should they be spies? If it is really a driver or a teacher, how good should the day be? Sometimes literary and artistic creation is like this, you directly tell the audience that spies are not good, in fact, it is better to use vivid life to show them the truth of spies. We want to mold them into living people, and we want to make people naturally dislike, or wake up, to the 'spy' (this identity). ”
Guo Jingfei and Tan Zhuo play spies.
Every detail of "modern espionage" is useful
In 2018, CCTV's "Focus Interview" broadcast a special program "Dangerous Spy Shadow", revealing some details of more than 100 Taiwan spy cases cracked in the "2018 - Thunder" special operation of the state security department. "Some of the times in the past that were similar to this [in modern espionage] were not mentioned (in public detail)." This inspired Wang Xiaogun.
But it is not easy to write a spy drama in the peaceful era of the 21st century. The first is the poor data. Nowadays, the outside world sees that most of the reported cases that have been disclosed are the results of investigations, but what did the spies do? How many bad things have been done? How? Due to special confidentiality, it is difficult to have information on specific details and cases.
During the creation period, professional consultants with national security work experience also intervened, but most of them were flaws in adjusting the art and shooting. For example, to enter the NSA door and then to the office, there are several bends; whether the staff can take the mobile phone to the office; whether to swipe the card or fingerprint when entering the door; when to wear the police uniform; what is the police car like..." We will have some inquiries, but most of the plot is still fictional. ”
In addition, compared with the spy dramas of the era such as "Mask" and "Secret Envoy" previously created by Wang Xiaogun, "Opponent" sets the background of the story in recent years, which is closer to the audience's life, and every line and every character detail in the play must also achieve a high degree of unity between life logic and dramatic logic, "that is, it must be particularly reasonable." ”
For example, if the story takes place in Harbin in the 1940s, a spy runs in front and a spy chases in the back, the screenwriter can actually set that there is no one on this street, the car is also parked casually, you chase me and no one cares. But the same plot is placed in "Opponent", first of all, we must consider whether there will be traffic jams on the road? If you want to connect, will a taxi driver like Li Tang park his car on the side of the road casually be posted? The streets are full of cameras, how can spies avoid it? "Opponent" presents many such "insignificant" details, such as Li Tang changing the license plate number at any time, and the frequent commissary camera is always bad...
Opponents is very detail-oriented.
In Wang Xiaogun's view, modern spy dramas have a more solid logical self-consistency than the theme of the era, otherwise the audience will definitely have doubts; when the doubts accumulate, the audience will think that the drama is false, even if everyone knows that this is a fictional story. "Every sentence, every detail is useful, which is also the requirement of spy dramas. If it is a pure life drama, there may be some cutscenes, and the male and female protagonists are not idle. But the genre drama should not have any waste drama, even if two people are talking about some seemingly insignificant words, but it will definitely produce an echo after a few episodes or after a few scenes. ”
The poorest spies have a good basis
In the past, most of the modern espionage themes were mainly to crack major cases, and with the blessing of high technology and mystery, the identity of "spy" seems to be magical. But "Rivals" portrayed a poor and miserable "Mr. and Mrs. Smith": under the arrangement of the organization, they became a couple, alias Li Tang and Ding Meixi. As the years passed, Li Tang (played by Guo Jingfei) became a taxi driver, and Ding Meixi (played by Tan Zhuo) became an ordinary middle school teacher. The two still need to continue to perform tasks, but the "funds" are getting less and less; not only to overcome the days of bitter haha, to fight with the national security investigator Duan Yingjiu (played by Yan Bingyan), but also to face rebellious children, P2P deceived, teeth are not willing, sometimes eager to report their own bonuses... There are many brain-hole qingqi discussions on the Internet about "Opponent": "Selling miserable anti-special is too successful, it is recommended to study", "Poor has no way out, a road to black, hurry up and surrender".
Li Tang and Ding Meixi lived a "bitter haha" spy life.
As for why to create a pair of "most miserable spies", Wang Xiaogun admitted that the original intention of the creation of "Opponent" was not to focus on major espionage cases of stealing nuclear submarine intelligence and US satellite positioning, "or a little far away from the people." And most of the spies caught by Guoan in the real news are actually not "007", and even a spy who can be reported and checked has an "annual salary" of less than 30,000 yuan. So Wang Xiaogun thought backwards and molded the spy into a small person in life, who may be a takeaway driver, a taxi driver, a lobby foreman, a writer...
In addition, the play also lays a lot of space on daily life, and the portrayal of Li Tang and Ding Meixi is really left in the trivial matters. For example, Li Tang was knocked out of his teeth while performing a mission, and the next day after the dentist made a quote, Li Tang turned his head and left. Ding Meixi was reported for privately holding cram classes, and the two-month bonus was adrift, so she impulsively purchased P2P products and was deceived, and Li Tang also used espionage skills to collect debts for her. Ding Meixi found that her daughter had cigarettes in her bag and indiscriminately "judged" that the child was going to take drugs next...
In Wang Xiaogun's view, the audience is now very disgusted with the suspension of realistic themes, and many works are clearly portrayed as courier brothers, but they live in houses with a monthly rent of tens of thousands, so that it is difficult for the audience to empathize with the characters. "So no matter what kind of identity a person writes, first of all, it has to be real." Wang Xiaogun said that everyone will face different life choices at different stages, whether it is marriage, family or work. If Li Tang and Ding Meixi are ordinary people, when they are middle-aged, living poorly, opening a rental does not make money, it is a big deal to change jobs, and weekends are enough to take children to visit the park and the next restaurant. But they are spies, and under this identity, they are doomed to two people who can no longer get off the boat and can only keep going forward. "So I think this kind of pyrotechnic gas may be more empathetic to the audience: when a person has no control over the uncertainty of life, and is in a small middle age, it is already quite miserable for ordinary people, but spies may be more miserable."
Although Duan Yingjiu, deputy head of the special case team of the National Security Bureau, plays a positive role, he is bent on his work, often leaving her husband and children behind in order to handle the case, and the husband can only use the "divorce" method to see her. Wang Xiaogun said that whether it is Li Tang, Ding Meixi or Duan Yingjiu in the play, the essence is a living person. In particular, Duan Yingjiu, a workaholic, a mother who does not care about home, a wife who feels guilty about her husband, a daughter with a weak heart, and a strict and generous boss. "We didn't write 'I am a national security warrior' directly on her head, or we reduced her to a real ordinary person, so the role is richer, no longer a facetious, single identity." 」
——Details revealed——
1. Where does the name Li Tang & Ding Meixi come from?
Wang Xiaogun: Li Tang, first of all, "Li" is a big surname in China; "Tang", many places in the world related to China are called "Chinatown". And Ding Meixi actually came from the Book of Poetry. Duan Yingjiu, meaning "nine nine to one". Li Xiaoman, "Xiao Man" is actually only Chinese only says 24 solar terms, there is Xiao Man.
The names of Li Tang and Ding Meixi are the same as the names of Li Chunqiu's son and the daughter of Ding Zhanguo in "The Mask", and this has no special significance. Because these two plays are written by me, it is my personal little emotion.
2. Always eating dumplings?
Wang Xiaogun: I just wanted to design some so-called props, which Chinese can empathize with. For example, there is a spy called "Mi Chicken", and he also opens a mahjong hall. The same is true, including dumplings, because Chinese pay special attention to eating dumplings for the New Year and reunion. Including the grand finale of the story, it is also set to take place on the day of the Chinese New Year's Eve. If there is a deeper meaning to this, it is equivalent to us and them being essentially "family".
Dumplings are a common prop in the show.
3. "Report yourself" for 500,000 yuan?
Wang Xiaogun: This was deliberately designed. Because reporting a spy is 500,000 yuan, this is not fiction, it is publicly reported in the news, and Beijing will reward 500,000 yuan for reporting a spy. Then Li Tang walked under the road sign, hanging a red banner with the 12399 reporting telephone number written on it. I think this picture creates a huge contrast, that is, such a miserable spy, walking past such a big slogan encouraging the report of spies.
4, P2P debt collection, humorous lines... Add funny elements?
Wang Xiaogun: Yes, the funny part is specially designed by us. Because the play is like a musical note, high and low, you can't keep [the audience] stretched and give a little breath. The whole play is still quite depressing, so we add a little black humor so that everyone can breathe.
5. Ding Xiaohe and Xiaoting have an emotional drama?
Wang Xiaogun: Because this is a spy war drama, two of them do nothing, purely engaged in objects, which does not seem to be a spy war drama should have. So we certainly don't deal with the relationship between the characters completely emotionally.
6. Are Li Tang and Ding Meixi in love?
Wang Xiaogun: I don't think it's possible to locate this section alone. It's like when we reach middle age, our understanding of marital relationships is not the same as when we were young. When your life or marital status has been filled with the trifles of life, both husband and wife should not talk about love, and may even sit down and talk for a day, 90% of the content is about which school the child goes to and how the work is.
Li Tang and Ding Meixi are of course more special, both are spies, and also involve their triangular relationship with Lin Yu 18 years ago, and Li Tang and Ding Meixi are combined by the organization. In this case, the emotional relationship between Li Tang and Ding Meixi is even more special. But in general, their relationship is still like a middle-aged couple, with more affection, and two people are dependent on each other. In the finale, we will sublimate their emotional relationship, and everyone can look forward to it.
Zhang He, a senior reporter of the Beijing News
Senior Editor Tong Na Proofreader Wu Xingfa