01
At the beginning of the new year, there was a "box office tragedy".
When the biographical film "Zhang Zhidong" was released on the first day of January 7, only two tickets were sold, accumulating 90 yuan at the box office. In the following days, although the number of people on attendance increased, the cumulative box office of the six days was only 2018 yuan, and it had to be eclipsed.
The message conveyed by this "massacre" is intriguing.
In any case, Zhang Zhidong is an important representative of the western affairs school in the late Qing Dynasty, and has experienced many major events in his life, he advocates "middle school as the body, Western learning as the use", developing industry, running education, and doing some useful things in promoting China's modern transformation, but why is it that films with such an influential figure as the protagonist will basically go unnoticed?
Biographical films are a good way to help future generations understand historical figures and get close to history, but in the current Chinese film market, they are in a very embarrassing state.
Chinese important tradition of recording history is the "Ji Chuan Body". The Twelve Books, the Thirty Dynasties, and the Seventy Chronicles in the "Chronicles of History" are actually "character biography films" without the film era. In the section "Hongmen Feast" in "Xiang Yu Benji", isn't the image of each character vivid?
The "Chronicle of History" has constituted an important cultural gene of the Chinese nation, and its influence on future generations cannot be overstated no matter how it is described.
According to records, at the beginning of the founding of New China, Chairman Mao visited the Soviet Union. In between negotiations with Stalin, he intensively looked at soviet biographical films, and Stalin thought about it and sighed, "This is the easiest way to understand history." ”
After the founding of New China, biographical films also had a glorious period.
In 1959, in order to present the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China, the Shanghai Film Studio filmed a biographical film of the same name by Lin Zexu, a national hero known as "the first person to open his eyes in the world in modern times", and the famous actor Zhao Dan played Lin Zexu.
"Lin Zexu" was a great success after its release. To this day, when many people mention "Lin Zexu", the first thing that comes to mind is the image created by this movie.
"Lin Zexu" can become a classic mainly because of these two factors:
The first is to represent historical figures in accordance with the principles of historical materialism and strive to get close to Lin Zexu's essence as a patriot;
The second is to correctly sum up the historical experience of modern times, and through Lin Zexu's gloomy departure and the raising of the banner of the "Pingying Regiment," it is clear that only through the people's revolution and the mobilization of the people's strength can we find the road to national salvation.
In addition, biographical films such as "Dong Cunrui", "Lei Feng", "Doctor Bethune", and "Huimin Detachment" (Ma Benzhai) were also very popular with the audience at that time, and today, they are still classics.
02
The cold reception of biographical films is a new phenomenon that has emerged in recent decades.
The reason for this is that the main creators began to interpret historical figures one-sidedly from the perspective of historical idealism.
Many times, the creators of biographical films do not understand the spiritual state of the protagonist, and the characters in their shots seem plausible or even unrecognizable.
For example, in 2012, the relevant parties filmed the biographical film of the same name by Qian Xuesen, a famous scientist on the mainland and a contemporary national hero.
However, the main creators of this movie simply do not understand Qian Xuesen's spiritual realm, and let them show Qian Xuesen, which is simply as insignificant as Xia Worm's language ice.
At the end of the film, the choreographer let Qian Xuesen, who has entered his twilight years, still discuss with his wife the problem of "no regrets after returning to China", it seems that Qian Xuesen has been entangled in whether to return to China all his life.
Is This really the case with Qian Lao? Of course not.
The real history is that returning to China has never been a problem for Qian Xuesen, he went abroad to return to China from the beginning, and only those who regard the United States and the West as paradise will regard returning to China as a "huge sacrifice."
In recent years, the biographical films "The Musician" (Xian Xinghai) and "Liu Qing" have also had the problem of the separation between the choreographer and the protagonist's spiritual realm to varying degrees.
In the sequence of biographical films, "Shoudao Man" (Wang Jicai), which was released last year and won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film, is a rare highlight.
"The Island Keeper" has earned more than 110 million at the box office, which is not the same as the box office of commercial blockbusters of billions of yuan, but it is difficult for other biographical films to match.
What's more, the box office of "The Island Keeper" mainly comes from the audience's reputation, and there is no bubble at all.
The fundamental reason for the success of "The Island Keeper" lies in the attitude of historical materialism to treat history and characters, grasp the essence of the characters, and at the same time respond to the anxiety of the current times through the story of the protagonist. 【Click to read】
In the history of the Chinese nation, from the great man Mao Zedong to the ordinary soldier Lei Feng, from the outstanding patriot and scientist Qian Xuesen to the teacher Zhang Guimei, who devoted himself to educating the mountain villages, the outstanding figures of various eras and various fields were like stars, and they provided an infinite treasure trove for the creation of biographical films.
May Chinese filmmakers be brave after knowing their shame!