In many Journey to the West theme film and television dramas, the most classic, or the 86th edition of "Journey to the West" filmed in the 1980s, although the film and television special effects technology at that time was far less powerful than today, but under the leadership of director Yang Jie, the entire Journey to the West shooting team, overcoming many difficulties and arduous efforts, finally put this mythical story on the screen, and since then more than thirty years, the drama has been replayed more than 3,000 times in various television stations, and to this day, it is still the favorite of primary and secondary school students in winter and summer vacation entertainment.
It can be said that the 86th edition of "Journey to the West" not only achieved the six-year-old children Zhang Jinlai, Xu Shaohua, Ma Dehua and Yan Huaili who played the Tang monks and apprentices, but also let many actors who participated in the drama embark on the road of brilliant acting on this star path, although in the following decades, remakes of famous works prevailed, but this TV series has always become an insurmountable immortal legend.
It is said that as the general conductor of the 86th edition of "Journey to the West", director Yang Jie is like a mother who has cultivated her children into talents, and should be proud and proud of the great success of "Journey to the West", but in an interview more than ten years later, in front of the camera, she said: If I can start again, I really hope that I did not shoot "Journey to the West", because it is a lifelong pain in my heart, and in the past ten years since its release, every time it is broadcast on TV, I will change the station.
(Stills from Journey to the West)
So, what did Yang Jie, the general director of "Journey to the West", who went through all the hardships and hardships to shoot "Journey to the West" with her life, go through that made her so disgusted with her own masterpiece?
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As the daughter of Yang Bokai, the "Martyr of the Twelve Bridges of Chengdu", Yang Jie, who was deeply influenced by her father, was very able to endure hardships and has a very stubborn personality since childhood, as early as before taking over the filming of "Journey to the West", she was already famous and had directed the Spring Festival Gala in 1979.
After entering the 80s, television sets began to enter thousands of households, the lack of film and television dramas on the mainland TV screen, filled with a large number of Japanese and American cartoons and soap operas, even one of China's four famous works "Journey to the West", was also adapted into a TV series by the Japanese side, but the four Tang monks and apprentices in this mythological drama, not only did not completely conform to the original tradition, even Tang Monk also became a woman, starring Japanese actress Masako Natsume, which greatly destroyed people's reverence for Journey to the West novels, so China decided to shoot its own "Journey to the West".
When the taiwan leader asked Yang Jie, a 52-year-old theater director, whether he dared to take over the filming of this classic masterpiece, Yang Dao replied without hesitation: What dare not, if you have money, you dare! In the end, Taili pulled out 3 million yuan as a shooting fund and appointed him as the general director, responsible for bringing the first four famous works "Journey to the West" to the screen.
In March 1982, in order to shoot a real scene that fits the storyline, Yang Jie led several staff members to travel all over the country, and after the real scene was determined, she did not stop and began to escape the role in the play.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="75" > two, the selection of actors is a twist and turn</h1>
In "Journey to the West", the most important role is naturally the miraculous Sun Wukong, Yang Jie first found the famous peking opera monkey opera li wanchun, but the other party refused to reflect the artistic value of only Peking opera, after which she found Li Wanchun's son Li Xiaochun, and Dong Zhihua, who played Sun Wukong in the movie "Westbound Ping Demon", but in the end, both of them rubbed shoulders with the role due to the performance time conflict.
("Journey to the West" starring team)
Finally, Yang Jie finally thought of the Southern Monkey King "Six-Year-Old Boy", but at that time, the other party was old, and could only be selected among his apprentices, although Yang Dao had a special appreciation for the eleven-year-old child Liu Jianyang, but the six-year-old boy always recommended his son Zhang Jinlai, although the Sven youth in the photo was far from the image of the Monkey King in his mind, but he could not resist the insistence of the six-year-old child, And Yang Dao could only set him as the starring role of Sun Wukong after Zhang Jinlai made a few strokes.
The actor of the Eight Precepts of the Pig was determined by the Kunqu opera actor Ma Dehua himself, Yan Huaili originally played the demon dao in the Country of Wuji, because the appearance was not suitable for fat, and he was able to stay after changing into the costume of a sand monk, and also became one of the four masters and apprentices with more drama.
The selection of Tang Monk was also a twist and turn, the earliest Yang Jie from the film school to see Wang Yue, but after only three episodes, because someone invited the movie Wang Yue chose to leave, so Yang Jie found a more handsome Xu Shaohua.
At that time, these actors were all actors of the state-owned troupe, all of whom had fixed monthly salaries, so when they heard that they could be seconded to the "Journey to the West" crew, they were all very excited and said that they did not want money, but at that time, an episode had to be filmed for several months, a long time, under the unanimous requirements of the actors, they began to pay salaries according to the set, of which Wukong and the Eight Precepts were more difficult to stick to the face, one episode was 80 yuan, Tang Monk and Sha Monk did not make faces, one episode was 60 yuan, and the rest of the actors were lower, at least only 30 yuan.
(Director Yang Jie played for the four masters and apprentices)
But Xu Shaohua thought that Tang Monk's role was more, taking 60 was too little, and finally he rose to 75 yuan, but it was 5 yuan less than Sun Monkey and the Eight Precepts, and finally Xu Shaohua also left the crew, and under Yang Jie's almost pleading, he finished filming the royal brother in "Taking the Daughter Country" before leaving.
Fortunately, the third Tang monk, Chi Chongrui, also performed well, and persisted to the end, all the way to the true scriptures, and also won the heart of the richest woman, Chen Lihua, and embarked on a happy life.
The casting of the monster is not simple, the male demons are wearing masks and sticking to the hair, as long as the acting skills are in place, but in order to let the audience have a sense of beauty, the female demons must not only act well, but also be beautiful and feminine, especially the white bone essence in the three dozen white bone essences, and must perform the character's seductive charm,
At that time, Liu Xiaoqing, who had just finished filming "Little Flower", volunteered to play the white bone essence, but asked the girls, the old woman and the old man's family in the play to be played by themselves to fully show their role width and acting skills.
In the end, Yang Jie found Yang Chunxia of the Beijing Theater, because the other party's appearance was charming, which was very in line with the image of the white bone essence in her mind, but Yang Chunxia was unwilling to accept this villain role, believing that this was a scandal to herself, unless the king of the daughter country also let herself play, in order to start the drama smoothly, Yang Jie, who has always said one thing and one thing, had to use the strategy of delaying the army to temporarily agree.
(Yang Chunxia, who plays the white bone essence)
But when the daughter country drama began filming, Yang Jie chose Zhu Lin, who was more in line with the image temperament of the king of the daughter country, to play this role, and finally, with her excellent performance, Zhu Lin became the first beauty of "Journey to the West" in the audience's mind, and Yang Chunxia, who felt cheated on herself, was very angry, although Yang Jie apologized to her many times in public, she was always unwilling to forgive the other party, and even at the memorial service after Yang Jie's death decades later, she did not appear, and this also became a knot in Yang Jie's heart before she died.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="76" > third, insufficient funding is difficult to shoot</h1>
Although in the filming process, in order to save money, the actors are multi-role, director Yang Jie also took the production of the work, let his husband Wang Chongqiu, alone as the filming of the entire series, but when "Journey to the West" filmed 15 episodes, the funds have been spent, in order to shoot the remaining 15 episodes, Yang Jie returned to the stage to ask for funds, but at this time there were rumors in the stage, "Journey to the West" crew deliberately delayed the shooting time, more than a hundred people everywhere to play in the mountains.
In this way, the leadership will no longer increase funds, the shooting is facing interruptions, fortunately, Li Hongchang, the production director who plays the "centipede essence", borrowed 3 million from the railway eleventh bureau, and the shooting was able to continue, and at that time, the price soared under inflation, and the original shooting attractions also circled the scenic spots to collect tickets, making the crew funds more stretched, and finally, Yang Jie had to endure the pain of cutting love, after cutting five episodes, the formation of 25 episodes of "Journey to the West", hastily ended the shooting, and the rumors and leaders in the stage at that time were not trusting. As well as the deletion of episodes due to the shortage of funds, director Yang Jie felt very aggrieved and regretful.
(The shooting scene of "Journey to the West")
In addition to the lack of understanding of the funds and actors, the fingering from above also made Yang Jie feel pressure, at that time, the composer Xu Jingqing's "Journey to the West" theme song was accused by the upper level of using Western electronic music, deviating from the traditional culture of our country of the four famous works, requiring correction, it was Yang Jie who resisted the pressure and persevered, so that this magnificent theme song could be retained.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="77" > fourth, success and fame will be disputed</h1>
After the hit "Journey to the West" in 1986, Tang monks and apprentices quickly became popular and began to perform privately in various local stations, while Yang Jie was in a hurry to post-process the unaired episodes, at the end of 1987, the composer xu Jingqing's friend invited the crew to singapore to perform, which was a great thing to promote "Journey to the West", and the station leaders also agreed to let Yang Jie choreograph some new programs and lead the team to Singapore in June of the following year.
In the Spring Festival of that year, those actors who came to Beijing from other places insisted on rehearsals while eating instant noodles, while the actors who played Wukong, the Eight Precepts, and the Sand Monk took sick leave, and the rehearsal had to stop, but within a few days, news came from Shandong, and the three apprentices and Xu Shaohua were engaged in commercial performances in Jinan, which made Yang Jie very angry, so when the three returned, they criticized them fiercely, but the three did not take it seriously, and also jointly reported the director to the stage, and said that as long as Yang Jie led the team, they would not go to Singapore.
In the end, Taili disbanded the entire rehearsal team, and the next year, only four Tang monks and apprentices appeared in Singapore, and even Xu Jingqing, who promoted this matter, failed to make the trip. Director Yang Jie, who was vacated, later said: "In the future, whether it is heaven or hell, I will not be with them."
(Four masters and apprentices participating in the commercial performance)
Therefore, the difficulty of casting and not being understood, the rumors about the crew and the lack of funds to delete the series, and the ungratefulness of the master and apprentice after the success of the broadcast, all made director Yang Jie heartbroken, which made director Yang Jie say in an interview that Journey to the West is an eternal pain in the heart, preferring it not to succeed.
Until 1998, the four people who played the Tang monks and apprentices jointly applied to Taili to continue filming the journey to the west, and ran to Yang Jie's home to sincerely apologize to her, the heart knot between the two sides for many years was opened, and director Yang Jie, who was nearly 70 years old, once again led the team to renew the love affair with the west, this time not only had sufficient funds, stunts and equipment were more advanced, the actors were also able to innovate, considering that Ma Dehua and Yan Huaili were old, the second and third brothers were replaced by Cui Jingfu and Liu Dagang.
However, the broadcast of the sequel was uneventful, perhaps because there were too many good dramas in the new era, or people may have tired of "Journey to the West" replaying for many years, in short, the children squeezed their heads around the black and white TV set, competing to see the grandeur of "Journey to the West" never returned.
On April 15, 2017, the 88-year-old director Yang Jie passed away, and the actors of the Journey to the West crew went to mourn and said that without Director Yang Jie, there would be no "Journey to the West" and their success.