On February 21, 2020, the China Online Audiovisual Program Service Association issued the Detailed Rules for the Standards for the Review of the Content of Online Variety Shows, one of which clearly stipulates that online variety shows must not be improperly selected from foreign nationals or Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan nationals, which is the so-called "restriction order" that shocked the domestic entertainment industry. For a time, many stars were affected, and many stars tried their best to prove their "innocence", and we who ate melon found that so many stars were actually "foreigners" who had entered foreign nationalities.
In fact, the enthusiasm for going abroad has risen as early as the 1980s, when many intellectuals who returned from studying in the United States passionately described the Western world represented by the United States as a paradise: perfect institutions, equal opportunities, and social civilization. The enthusiasm of students for such speeches is definitely far more than the interest in professional courses, everyone is full of desire and hope for studying abroad or starting a business, and at this time, a TV series that seems to follow the trend but is actually contrary to the trend has turned out, and has triggered a movie-watching boom, and for a time the streets, alleys, print media, radio stations are everywhere to talk, this TV series is "Beijingers in New York".
"North", which was born in line with the hot spots, was a hit
The world is big, and even if we borrow money, we have to go out and have a look
The director of the drama, Zheng Xiaolong, is definitely a big guy in the Chinese television circle, and his representative works "Longing", "The Story of the Editorial Department", "The Happy Life of Poor Mouth Zhang Damin", "The Biography of Zhen Huan" and "The Biography of Mi Yue" are all national-level hot dramas. In the 1990s, with the domestic fever of going abroad, the smell-sensitive Zheng Dao grasped the hot spots, found the hot novel "Beijinger in New York" in the market to prepare to shoot the TV series of the same name (the novel is basically Cao Guilin's semi-autobiographical novel, the characters in the book basically have prototypes), but the story basically takes place in New York, in the 90s, if the funds for shooting abroad are the biggest problem, the producer roughly needs 1.5 million US dollars. You should know that the "Desire", which set a national record for ratings that year, only spent 1.02 million yuan, but in the end, the producer Beijing Television Art Center still lost nearly half, and how could "North" make such a high investment? So others suggested setting up a scene in China, but for the sake of real artistic effects, Zheng Xiaolong advocated going abroad to shoot on the spot, and the funds were loaned to the bank, a bold decision that inadvertently set a record at the time, and the crew also became the first Chinese crew in China to shoot in the United States.
Due to tight budgets, many shots were captured on the street
Jiang Wen's TV debut and the vanished Chen Daoming
The funds are settled, and the next casting also has a twist and turn, and the result has surprises and regrets.
The selection of the actor Wang Qiming as a role is a windfall for the crew, it just so happens that Jiang Wen was preparing to make his film directorial debut "Sunny Day" at that time encountered a little problem in the vacuum period, when he heard that Zheng Xiaolong had a new drama to open, he said that he wanted to star in this drama, on the grounds that "The Story of the Editorial Department" impressed him, and Zheng Director's new drama must try it. At this time, although Jiang Wen has not yet become a big name in the film circle and a director of double blossoms because of "Sunny Days", the previous "Furong Town" and "Red Sorghum" have made him a leader of domestic male actors, an absolute top movie café, and starring in TV dramas is indeed a bit of a bit of a surprise.
Jiang Wen and Chen Daoming finally completed their first cooperation in "The Great Undertaking of Building the People's Republic"
The so-called regret refers to Chen Daoming's absence. Originally, the actor of the male number two David in the film was originally set to be Chen Daoming, who was famous in the television circle at that time, at this time, Chen Daoming had won two "Flying Sky Awards" for best actor with "The Last Emperor" and "Siege of the City", which was a red horn in the TV circle, and Chen Daoming had begun to make full preparations for "North" at that time, and even wang Ji, the actor of the female number two Ah Chun in the film, was found by him, but this time he met Jiang Wen, who was known for his domineering. Jiang Wen proposed to the director that the American should play David, which can better reflect the cultural conflict between the Chinese and American peoples, if the role is set as a Chinese can only show a kind of ideological conflict between the Chinese people, it is not dramatic and profound enough. Whether it is the movie café bullying TV cafes or completely for the needs of artistic creation, anyway, in the end, David's role chose the "China Pass" personally recommended by Jiang Wen, the American Dai Bo starred, and we regrettably missed the scene of the same drama "Biao Opera" of Jiang Wen and Chen Daoming, two big names, many years later in "The Founding of the People's Republic" We saw the first cooperation between the two who had already achieved fame, although wonderful but the role was really pitiful, to be exact, the "Double Male Society" that fans hoped to see could no longer be staged.
Yan Xiaopin and Wang Ji, who play the roles of the female one Guo Yan and the second Ah Chun in the film, have both had the experience of moving to the United States in reality. Yan Xiaopin, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, had a prosaic and non-famous acting career before, and in 1989, she went to the United States with her husband to accompany her, she studied in the United States while working as a program host on a local Chinese-language television station, and Guo Yan's similar life experience in the play allowed her to successfully win this role, which became the highest moment in her acting career.
Yan Xiaopin's performance in "North" is the highest light moment of his career
And the selection of the classic role of Ah Chun is called a twist and turn, ah chun this role has both a variety of styles and the courage of a strong woman, the key is a completely Westernized way of thinking, the earliest time Zheng Xiaolong considered Hong Kong and Taiwan actresses Hu Huizhong and Hui Yinghong, and Wang Ji's advantage should be her rich life experience. Wang Ji, who graduated from Beijing Renyi, has also starred in many film works before, but they are only inconspicuous supporting roles, and the main business of drama has been suppressed by many big names (Wang Ji's classmates have such gods as Song Dandan and Liang Guanhua), so after acting in the drama "Beijingers" in June 1987, Wang Ji left Renyi to go to the United States, and at the beginning of life was quite embarrassing, and could only rely on part-time work to survive, until the boyfriend Gao Gao came to the United States at the time, they opened a company life and gradually settled down This experience is quite similar to Ah Chun's experience. In 1993, Wang Ji returned to China to deal with the company's affairs just happened to meet Chen Daoming, a conversation Chen Daoming recommended him to the crew, under the push of director Feng Xiaogang Wang Ji conducted an audition, because Zheng Xiaolong's first choice at that time was Hu Huizhong, so he did not make a decision on the spot but let her go back to wait for the news. During the repeated several times, finally can't help Wang Ji a phone call past scolded Zheng Xiaolong, may be this fiery personality and Ah Chun's personality is more in line with it, Zheng Xiaolong finally made a decision, Ah Chun is Wang Ji!
Ah Chun's style is unforgettable
The pain and joy of going abroad to work hard
In the early 90s of last century, we knew very little about the Western developed countries such as the United States, and we could only see a scale and a half claw from the few imported films such as "Garrison Death Squad", "Detective Hunter", and "Growing Pains", and more just listened to the godly oral descriptions of those returnees, which seemed to be heaven, and our people seemed to have a chance to get close to each other by watching "Beijingers in New York", but all this was very different from our inherent impressions. The opening line of the TV series, "If you love someone, send him to New York because it is heaven; if you hate a person, send him to New York, because it is hell" is particularly emotional. The drama is a history of personal struggle, we see the novelty brought about by the clash and collision of Eastern and Western cultures, the joy brought by the success of personal careers, but it seems that it is more painful, helpless and wandering, the experience of China's first generation of "going abroad to pan for gold", the sadness and joy of which also belong to that generation, but there are also narrow problems.
The male protagonist Wang Qiming went to New York, the United States, to see the mercantilism and worship of the strong, so that he found that Chinese the universal concept of talking about human feelings, looking at face, and talking about relations seems to be invalid, relatives do not have to talk about love, even if they borrow money from their lovers, they must be repaid. Under this scenario, the emotions of each Chinese audience have specific projection points, and resonance naturally arises. After a short adjustment, Wang Qiming quickly adapted to Western thinking, and he began to have his own business along the way from the small kitchen dishwasher worker in the Chinese restaurant, but when he faced the unexpected death of his wife Guo Yan leaving him, his daughter rebelling, and his friend Lao Li, the traditional concept of Chinese in his bones resurfaced. He was able to face his debt crisis with an American mindset, but he could not face the death of his daughter and old Li, and at that moment he began to have emotional doubts and confusion about the United States.
Ah Chun, Wang Qiming's confidante, is a Chinese who truly integrates into the United States in the whole play, whether it is ability or cultural identity. She is Wang Qiming's mentor in the United States, and through her mouth, the audience can understand the American way of thinking, and through Ah Chun, we can see the cultural roots of Chinese frustration in the United States.
In the play, Ah Chun is eye-catching, but Guo Yan, who seems to be screwed, has a broader representation. She is obviously one of the most unsuitable characters in American culture, and even if she later divorced her ex-husband Wang Qiming and married David, she could not achieve the "distinction between public and private" like americans. Out of guilt for her ex-husband, she inadvertently revealed the trade secrets of her current husband David's company to her ex-husband, which led to David's bankruptcy; and after divorcing David, she "angrily" did not want any of David's property to prove that she did not marry David for money. In the final subtitles to the people in the play, she chose to return to China to work after completing her degree, and her efforts to integrate into American society ended in failure, which was helpless and realistic.
Ma Xiaoqing, who plays her daughter, is actually only 5 years younger than Jiang Wen
And Ning Ning, the daughter of Wang Qiming and Guo Yan, is another point of alienation from American culture by the author Cao Guilin. Ning Ning, played by Ma Xiaoqing, came to the United States because she could not accept the divorce of her parents, so she began to give up on herself and retaliate against her parents with an American-style indulgence, although the main creators did not cruelly give this role a tragic ending, but she wanted to marry the father of her American boyfriend, which was enough to make us bad.
zoetrope?
There are only two Americans who play important roles in the play: david the second male and anthony, the supporting character, who represent almost the entire United States in the play, but there is no trace of the growth of the role, it is so facial, they are just used to create different types of Chinese the catalyst for the conflict between human sophistication, cultural habits and individual personalities in the Western context. But today, our country has a more comprehensive understanding of the United States, on the one hand, it is rampant in guns, serious conflicts of values, racial discrimination is always serious, the gap between rich and poor is serious; on the other hand, the United States has high-quality educational resources, a considerable number of people here are equally enthusiastic, kind, helpful, and they also have the common good sentiments of mankind.
Therefore, "North" is not a realist work, which is essentially similar to the Chinese portrayed by some Western films with spectacle or even demonization, and its real concern is still the excavation of the national character of Chinese and the sadness and joy of ordinary people in the torrent of the times. At that time, "North" hit a super high rating of 67%, but compared with other classic works over the years, its replay rate was not too high, which had a lot to do with the development of the eyes of the Chinese people, everyone learned to look at the matter of going abroad in a comprehensive way, a relatively one-sided point of view can not give us more resonance. In fact, nowadays, of course, going abroad does not mean that it is a way to immigrate, and there is also a huge base for studying and working, and what kind of situation it is to study, live or settle abroad is almost a new topic.
Talking about the "North" drama, imagine that with the development of China's economic construction, the current second- and third-tier cities of young people who come to the first-tier cities in the north, Shanghai and Guangzhou to work hard encounter problems such as survival, development, cultural concept conflicts, etc. are no less than going to Western developed countries, and the return of returnees has gradually become a trend, so the drama has long been unable to keep up with the pace of China's development, and it is inevitable that everyone will slowly forget it. However, just like the lyrics of the song "Life has no road in vain, every step counts", without accumulating steps, it is impossible to go thousands of miles, and this masterpiece of a specific period should not be forgotten.