"Big Waves and Sands": Take a new step in the party history tribute drama

Author: Yao Han

After "The Age of Awakening", how the next party history tribute drama will meet the audience has been quite exciting. The same theme key works created by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the popular "Big Waves and Sands" and "The Age of Awakening" are in the same vein, but they have their own advantages.

On the timeline, Chen Duxiu founded "New Youth" in "The Age of Awakening", confirming that Marxism is the story line of the road to national salvation, and continuing to tell the story of the indomitable and arduous struggle of the Communist Party of China in the past 20 years or so from the beginning of the "May Fourth Movement" in 1919 to the convening of the "Seventh National Congress" in 1945. In terms of the style of the play, the two works "blossom two flowers, one branch each". In the words of the audience: "After watching "The Age of Awakening" and then looking at this, it can be coherent." ”

A positive and complete portrait of the first generation of Communists

The whole story is a group portrait of Mao Zedong, represented by Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Dong Biwu, He Shuheng, Li Da, Chen Tanqiu, Wang Gemei, Li Hanjun, Deng Enming and other early Chinese communists.

"Southern Chen, Northern Li, Meet to Build the Party" is a good story in the founding period of the Communist Party of China, and it is also the starting point of the century-old party history. The story of "The Great Waves and Sands" began with the revolutionary friendship between Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, the "giants of the Red Chamber". Mao Zedong, the core leader of the early days of the party, was an important object of writing "The Great Waves and Sands". From the appearance of a long shirt to educate students that "axioms cannot be lost, public power cannot be disgraced", to entering Beijing to petition for "driving out Zhang", to the historic meeting with Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong in "The Great Waves and Sands" left a deep impression on the audience.

Group portrait shaping, whether the actor's performance can stand, let the audience into the play, is very critical. The performances of major actors such as Bao Jianfeng and Cheng Taishen are remarkable, and each has its own style. In terms of appearance, costumes and makeup restore the archetype of the role to the greatest extent, giving the actors a lot of confidence, performing, and convincing the audience. In the group portrait depiction of the important figures of party history represented by Mao Zedong, the major party history events in the broad cross-section of history in the more than 20 years from 1919 to 1945 are also presented to the audience one by one.

An effective dialogue with the times

The need for young expression in the tribute drama is a consensus and a difficult point. The narrative of "Big Waves and Sands" is grand, the theme is serious, the aesthetic is young, and the audience is broad. In terms of expression, it has made a positive attempt to achieve resonance with the heartbeat of young audiences.

Unlike other tribute dramas on the theme of party history, the story of "The Great Waves and Sands" unfolds in the narration of the modern young Chen Qihang. The whole TV series is actually the "teaching handout" of the post-90s video blogger. In addition to telling this story of party history from an omniscient perspective, he also shares the inspirations drawn from major events in party history from the perspective of party history learners from time to time. On some level, "The Great Waves and Sands" is more like a visual party history education learning textbook. In terms of identity, Chen Qihang is not a witness to the history of the party, but he provides a learner perspective that is easy for ordinary young audiences to enter. In the process of Chen Qihang's two-time dialogue with the revolutionary martyrs of a hundred years ago, the young audience's understanding of party history has reached a higher level. The purpose of party history education has been achieved imperceptibly.

In terms of lineup, Bao Jianfeng, Cheng Taishen, Haiqing and other powerful actors starred, which is the guarantee for "Big Wave Taosha" to stabilize the mature TV audience. The joining of young actors such as Chen Ruoxuan and Mengziyi is an effective way to attract young audiences.

A gift for 40,000 people in 4 years

It took 4 years of preparation, 4 seminars before and after, referring to nearly 100 million words of historical materials, 1:1 restoration of Shanghai Yuyangli, Jiaxing Red Boat, Beijing Beida Red House, Xinhuamen, Yan'an Cave and other landmark buildings, set up a studio of 30,000 square meters, spanning Hengdian, Jiaxing, Shanghai, Yan'an and other places of real scene shooting, shooting locations of more than 600 places, more than 5,000 custom costumes, more than 500 roles, more than 40,000 extras, shooting after 122 working days... "Big Wave Sands", It is a tribute work that strives to restore the real situation of party history.

Here, I like a few details in the first few episodes: Chen Duxiu was imprisoned, Li Dazhao sent Mao Zedong's "Xiangjiang Review", the camera was taken, and the "Xiangjiang Review" in the hands of Chen Duxiu's actor Cheng Taishen, the layout, the layout, the font, and the original "Xiangjiang Review" that were preserved were basically the same. Mao Zedong played the narration of Bao Jianfeng: "The government never has the courage to execute Chen Jun, even if he dies, it cannot damage Chen Jun's supreme spirit." Chen Junyuan said that when he left the laboratory, he went to prison. Out of prison, that is, into the laboratory..." Word by word, I could not find any discrepancies with the original text of "Chen Duxiu's Arrest and Rescue". In Chen Qihang's narration of restoring history, some interspersed pictures quote the real black and white image data of that year, which is contrasted with the TV picture, and the shocking power is not lost to the historical documentary.

"Although it is hard work, blowing out the wild sand begins to reach gold", this is the solution to the title of "The Great Wave of Sand", and it is also an annotation of the revolutionary spirit of the first generation of communists. But perhaps, it is also a motto for this TV series, and even for the subsequent party history theme tribute drama. Under the boom of "blowout" party history theme gifts, more "gold products" are needed in this way. (Yao Han)

Source: Hunan Daily