Today's film and television drama production is more and more exquisite, the special effects are becoming more and more mature, but the good stories are getting less and less.
Where do good stories come from?
Excellent screenwriter, of course.
The screenwriter's story is not worthy of high-level, high-budget production, which cannot but be said to be a big regret.
Why are good stories rare? Why is it rare to see a good screenwriter?
"Nanhai Thirteen Lang", which was released 24 years ago, may allow us to peek into the leopard.
At the 1997 Golden Horse Awards, Zhang Guorong was nominated for the film emperor with "Spring Break", but eventually lost to Xie Junhao, precisely because of "Nanhai Thirteen Lang".
Up to now, many people still regret that my brother missed the movie emperor (including me), but I have to admit that "Nanhai Thirteen Lang" is also a rare masterpiece, and Xie Junhao is a commendable actor.
"Nanhai Thirteen Lang" tells the story of the bumpy life of Nanhai Thirteen Lang, a gold-medal screenwriter of Cantonese opera.
The legendary experience of Nankai Shisanlang is widely circulated, and was originally adapted into a stage play by Du Guowei and later adapted into a movie.
Nanhai Shisanlang in the stage play and movie is played by Xie Junhao.
Because the stage plays are constantly performed, Xie Junhao has played this role more than a hundred times.
With such a deep run-in with a character, his control of the character's feelings and experiences is difficult to surpass.
On Douban, "Nanhai Thirteen Lang" has a rating of 9.3, which is known as the best movie in Xie Junhao's life.
This film is admired, not only because of the actors' acting skills, the storyline, but also because of the feelings that are placed in it.
When we crave a good story and call for a good screenwriter, watching this film again, we can't help but feel a lot of emotions.
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The film borrows the mouth of a storyteller to tell the story of the floating life of Nanhai Shisanlang Yihai.
Nanhai Shisanlang was originally named Jiang Yujun, because his birthplace was Nanhai County, and he ranked thirteenth in his home.
So the stage name is: Nanhai Thirteen Lang.
Nanhai Shisanlang's grandfather was a tea merchant, and his father was Hanlin during the JiaWu period, known as "Taishi Gong".
Tai Shi Gong loved to entertain guests, and often invited the opera class to sing during the banquet; he married a total of 12 wives, most of whom came from brothels and usually loved to sing opera.
The influence of the family atmosphere gave Nankai Thirteen Lang the earliest enlightenment.
As an adult, Nanhai Shisanlang meets Miss Qianjin Lili (Wu Qili) from Shanghai at a charity dance and falls in love with her at first sight.
When Lily left, he impulsively followed her to Shanghai. In Shanghai, the two had a wonderful time together. Later, Lily went abroad, and the relationship ended without a problem, and the deeply injured Nanhai Shisanlang lived on the street and did not return home until two years later.
This relationship became a hidden pain for Nanhai Shisanlang, and it also became one of the reasons for his later fate.
After returning to Guangzhou, Nanhai Shisanlang made a living as a teacher, and in his spare time, he went to listen to plays and began to try to write scripts at the same time.
At that time, the most popular celebrity in Hong Kong and Macao was Xue Juexian.
Nanhai Thirteen Lang understands drama, every time he listens to Xue Juexian's play, the other party sings well or badly, which board is wrong, he is clear, and he can also correct it offstage.
Once, he gave the script he wrote, "Snow Fishing in the Cold River", to Xue Jue to read first.
After Xue Jue first watched it, he was like a treasure, like a mountain flowing water looking for Zhiyin, and invited Nanhai Thirteen Lang to join his troupe.
The two agreed: Xue Jue would first sing the drama of Great Ren and Great Righteousness, and Nanhai Thirteen Lang would make a sentient and righteous word.
The two were united and achieved each other, opening a period of stormy years.
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What are good screenwriters and what are the criteria? Nanhai Thirteen Gave an answer when he was a disciple.
Nanhai Shisanro is a screenwriter genius, he is quick-witted and exports.
When writing the script, he said alone that three people recorded it, and he couldn't keep up with his thinking, which often made him very angry.
Later, a young man finally appeared, who could not only remember all the lyrics he had said, but also give his opinions in due course.
The young man is smart, hardworking, ambitious, and dreams of becoming a famous screenwriter like Nanhai Shisanro.
The young man's name was Tang Disheng.
Tang Disheng gave Nanhai Thirteen Lang the worshipper tea, but he spit in the tea and let Tang Disheng drink it himself.
Unexpectedly, Tang Disheng endured the humiliation and was really willing to drink.
Nanhai Thirteen Lang's insults to Tang Disheng were false, and the test of him was true.
Tang Disheng's quality of daring to love, dare to hate, and daring to do and dare to act impressed him, and he finally relaxed his mouth and accepted the disciple.
(PS: There is no evidence that the two are masters and apprentices in reality)
In the process of teaching Tang Disheng, Nanhai Shisanlang elaborated on his own screenwriting ideas.
He forbade Tang Disheng to imitate him, nor did he allow him to write cheesy scripts that catered to the audience, but let him draw nourishment from traditional classics.
He told Tang Disheng that the reason why he wrote popular scripts was because the vast majority of people who watched his plays were illiterate, so they should be easy to understand.
But in the era of Tang Disheng, the audience's standard will be higher and higher, and he must be forward-looking when creating.
The most important thing is that "those who learn from me are born, like those who die like me", he told Tang Disheng to integrate what he learned into his own, if he blindly imitated, there was only one more Nanhai Thirteen Lang in this world.
In addition to the creative concept, Shi Sanlang warned Tang Disheng: "Thinking about fame all day long cannot write a good script." ”
Tang Disheng is indeed desperate to become famous, but his pattern is far greater than obtaining private fame and fortune.
He wanted to prove that the article was valuable.
What is the value of an article?
Tang Disheng explains:
In another thirty or fifty years, gold stocks, world events are all passing clouds, but a good script, even after fifty years, a hundred years, there are still people who appreciate, even if he dies, his name, his play, no one will forget.
What Tang Disheng wanted to prove was the value of words.
This is a screenwriter's sentiment, not a city servant who is attracted to fame and fortune.
This plot shows the audience the criteria for a good screenwriter:
Originality, profound cultural literacy, no bending of the heart, reverence for creation.
According to these standards, and compared with reality, how many people can do it?
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Although Shi Sanlang threw himself into the pear garden, his arrogance dried up and his righteousness did not diminish.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the drama class was disbanded, and he left Guangzhou to participate in the anti-Japanese war.
In the anti-Japanese army, he put his enthusiasm into the text and wrote a script for the labor army.
He hoped that these scripts would boost morale, inspire patriotism among soldiers, and have the courage to kill the enemy.
But when performing, the soldiers' emotions have just been mobilized, and they are attracted by the flamboyant dance music next to them.
At present, some people are corrupting the army with beauty, and of course Nanhai Thirteen Lang can't see it, and in a fit of rage, he will beat the initiator violently.
When he was dragged away, he shouted: "Drama is also a person, drama should enlighten a correct path in life, my plays are all about guiding people to goodness, teaching people to stand up to the sky from beginning to end." ”
What he said was obviously so meaningful, but people only thought he was crazy, and his cries were crazy.
At this time, Nanhai Thirteen Lang had already shown a trait that was incompatible with the world.
Although the lessons were fun, after the news came out, his colleagues who had a festival with him began to orchestrate him to look down on people, resulting in no one daring to use him again.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the drama class resumed normal performances, but the formerly sought after Nankai Thirteen Lang was ignored, and even maintaining a life became a problem.
It was hard for someone to find it, but what the other party wanted was not what he was willing to write.
For example, a brain-opening drama class made up a "beast version" of "Agarwood Saving Mother":
The orangutan robbed the people's daughter, and then the zhu fetus secretly gave birth to a small orangutan, and eighteen years later the little orangutan split the mountain to save the mother.
As a result, Nanhai Shisanro changed the plot to a group of women incarnating as heroes, persuading orangutans to fight baboons with themselves and fight heroically to defend their families and defend the country.
For Nanhai Thirteen Lang, even the plot of the orangutan playing baboon was made up randomly, which was already the bottom line he could accept.
But the troupe owner was not satisfied.
For the boss, pleasing the audience is the most important thing.
The audience wants to see a relaxed drama, he has to arrange, it doesn't matter whether the story dog blood is dog blood or not, whether it is in line with common sense, whether it can play a role in educating, making money is the king.
As a result, the two sides fell out.
Later, someone asked Nanhai Shizoro to write a war romance.
After the film was made, Nanhai Shizoro found that the script had been changed by the director.
He told the director that the script is the basis of a play, but the director said: he loves to change it as much as he likes.
In a fit of rage, he wanted to grab the negatives and forbid the film from being released, but he was beaten up by the other side.
People who deliberately cater to the audience and make money as the primary goal can certainly not understand the persistence of Nanhai Shisanlang's "self-proclaimed qinggao".
After several disputes, Nanhai Shisanlang lost his last foothold in the industry.
Is there something wrong with Nankai's persistence? Apparently not!
Creating works with artistic value, promoting beautiful virtues in works, and letting art play a role in educating was also the mission of this industry.
Unfortunately, the most important value of art often gives way to profit.
Needless to say, look at today's film and television market, isn't it still the case?
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Disheartened, Nanhai Jushiro tries to escape, but on the way he encounters Lily, the woman who has been hiding in his heart for many years.
At this time, Lily was already married, not only did she not recognize him but she also regarded him as a tramp, and her eyes were full of fear when she saw him.
When he met the person he loved the most, Nanhai Shisanro's pride shattered to the ground.
The collapse of his career, the frustration of his feelings, the double blow made him collapse.
He couldn't think straight, and jumped out of the window while riding the train.
The tragedy of Nankai Thirteen Lang is not the tragedy of him alone, but the tragedy of an era and the people of that era.
He is talented, principled, dare to do, and has a sense of awe.
However, it was abandoned by the times and the people of that era.
It's a shame.
The Nankai Thirteen Lang who jumped out of the car did not die, but his spiritual world had been destroyed - he was crazy.
Later, Nanhai Shisanlang was exiled to Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, he wandered the streets all day, living in a homeless place, disheveled and smelly.
Xue Juexian, who had already settled in Hong Kong, found him first.
I think that when the two first met, they stirred up the storm in the Cantonese opera industry with great vigor, how dashing and arbitrary?
Unfortunately, fate has made people!
When talking to Xue Juexian, Nanhai Thirteen Lang's reaction was intriguing.
Xue Juexian looked at the dirty and delirious Nanhai Thirteen Lang and said, "I see you like this now, and my heart is really uncomfortable." ”
Nanhai Thirteen Lang said, "What you see with your eyes is not necessarily true." ”
Xue Jue first wanted to change a pair of glasses for Nanhai Shisanlang, because his glasses did not have lenses.
But he refused, saying: "In fact, you don't need to see too clearly as a person... It was painful to see everything clearly. ”
Such philosophical words came out of his mouth, making it unclear whether he was really crazy or pretending to be crazy because he didn't want to see the world anymore.
Xue Juexian wanted to take him in, but he panicked and said that he went to the toilet to escape over the wall, preferring to be a tramp rather than a normal person, and the reason was probably only known to him.
Once in the tea house, Nanhai Shisanlang met Tang Disheng by chance, and the two masters and apprentices sang each other across a screen, which was touching and heartfelt.
Before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Nanhai Thirteen Lang endured the pain and drove Tang Disheng to Hong Kong and let him break into the rivers and lakes by himself.
See you again, the former apprentice is already a famous screenwriter, just as popular as he was then.
For the teacher, Tang Disheng was grateful.
Between them, it is the sympathy of Zhiyin, and it is also the cherishing of one genius to another genius.
With Tang Disheng's encouragement, Nanhai Shisanlang finally decided to see people again, but when he freshened up and went to see Tang Disheng the next day, he saw that he was sent away by ambulance.
That day was the day of the premiere of Tang Disheng's famous work "The Red Plum Of rebirth".
It was also on this day that the 43-year-old Cantonese opera screenwriter died young.
Nanhai Shisanlang tried to get close to Tang Disheng, but was stopped by the police, and because he was making a big fuss at the gate of the police station, he was sent to a mental hospital as a mentally ill person.
As soon as he lived in a mental hospital, he spent five years.
After being discharged from the hospital, he worked as a tour guide at a temple, and because he was proficient in English, German, and French, he was responsible for receiving foreign tourists and earning a lot of foreign currency for the temple.
Just when his life was at peace, he learned that his father had died, and he died of hunger strike.
Since arriving in Hong Kong, Nanhai Thirteen Lang has never contacted his family again, and when he got the news again, it was such bad news!
Devastated, Nankai Jusanro left the temple, and for the rest of the day he stayed in a mental hospital twice, staying in the temple for three years, the rest of the time wandering the streets until he froze to death.
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In fact, with the brilliant talent of Nanhai Thirteen Lang, as long as he is willing to merge with the world, his life will not be bad.
However, he chose a different path.
Those who are not as talented as he is, whose character is not as good as his, but who live a prosperous life.
This may also be the fate of genius.
At the end of the film, the storyteller says, "Anyway, he's a genius." ”
At the same time, he instructed the hearers:
"Don't think of yourself as a genius, because a true genius has only two endings, one is to die early, just like Tang Disheng; the other is crazy and ends in tragedy." For genius never compromises with the world. ”
In this life, Nanhai Thirteen Lang has enjoyed prosperity, but he has exiled himself in the fall; he has talent, and he has been judged by the world to lose value in adhering to principles. His fate is lamentable.
At the end of the film, the sentence at the end of the film, "Dedicated to the screenwriters of Hong Kong, encourage each other" is even more emotional.
Every industry needs people who stick to the bottom line and don't forget their original intentions, they are the foundation and value of an industry.
Especially in a materialistic society, this persistence is even more precious.
But when you hear the storyteller's last words, "This is a sloppy screenwriter telling another sloppy screenwriter's story," it is ironic.
After all, when faced with the pressure of survival and material temptations, how many people can hold on?
If nothing else, look at the current film and television circle that is kidnapped by capital and traffic.