When you mention the 87th edition of "Liaozhai", what do you think?
You'll probably remember the dim lantern at the beginning of the film, which sounds almost like a ghost's cry. Maybe in the middle of the night, the looming figure outside the window of the student still makes your hair stand upright. And some of the bloody and murderous pictures in the film may not pass the trial at all now.
What is Liaozhai?
It is a shadow of childhood.
The 87th edition of "Liaozhai" creates a "terrible atmosphere" that today's "horror films" cannot reach in a "clumsy" way. It has become a "childhood shadow" of a generation by virtue of its strength.
But is it really just a "childhood shadow"?
Why has it not become a classic that has been repeatedly mentioned by the audience like the "Dream of the Red Chamber" of the same era?
01
What exactly is "Liaozhai" talking about?
Ghost Fox Fairy? Human-ghost love affair?
Yes, but that's not all.
The 87th edition of "Liaozhai" excerpts 47 stories from Pu Songling's original "Liaozhai Zhiyi". There are lovers, flower lovers, bookworms, as well as good ghosts, fox fairies, and evil people. But no matter what form it is, the final foothold lies in "people" and "human nature".
As the opening song "Talking about Chatting" sings:
The cow ghost snake god is more adorable than the righteous gentleman.
"Liaozhai" is not "preaching" in the ordinary sense, it is more like 47 fables, and behind each fable there is a "bloody" truth -
For example, "Yun Cui Xian" tells that Liang Youcai was addicted to "gambling", resulting in the dissipation of family wealth and the fall of human nature.
For example, "Xin Fourteen Niang", it is said that Feng Ziping coveted the wine farm, drank excessively, and eventually his family was destroyed.
For example, the mother of "Tian Qilang" told her son that the poor should not be friends with the rich, because the rich can use money to buy feelings, and the poor can only pay back their debts with their only lives.
And "Jia Fengyan" is closer to the core of "Dream of the Red Chamber", saying that "everything turns to empty", and finally "the white expanse of the earth is really clean".
It is not difficult to understand "Liaozhai", but to understand it, it requires a little life experience, as well as the review and reflection of the events after the end of the story.
From this point of view, "Liaozhai", like the "four masterpieces", has the "seriousness" that is most lacking in our time.
02
In the barrage of "Liaozhai", it is often said:
The actresses at that time were so beautiful.
The times are progressing, and medical beauty has even spread to middle school students. And we are lamenting that the actors of 30 years ago were the real "beauties".
Why?
Because the current "face" is the same, and the past "face" has its own advantages.
Now it's an awl face, dry slimming, drawing the same eyebrows, wearing similar outfits. In the past, the actors had their own charm and differences.
At that time, many famous actresses participated in the 87th edition of "Liaozhai"——
For example, Chen Hong's Lian Cheng, Ru Ping's Dou Daughter, He Qing's Flower Sister-in-Law, Li Yuanyuan's Prefectural Niangniang.
There are also many male actors we later know, who also appeared in "Liaozhai".
For example, "Dream of the Red Chamber" Jia Rui's "Lu Gongnu", Lian Erye's "Feng San Niang".
Lin Chong in "Water Margin", meets "Three Niangs" in "Xin Fourteen Niang";
And Xu Shaohua, the "royal brother" that the audience has in mind, played the father and son of Meng in "Qiao Girl".
The "familiar faces" in the 87th edition of "Liaozhai" are incredibly numerous.
Directors Xie Jin, Wang Fulin and Chen Jialin directed "Xin Fourteen Niang", "West Lake Lord" and "Parrot Strange Origin" in the play respectively.
This kind of team that can be called "dream" makes the 87 version of "Liaozhai" full of "highlights".
And who is the biggest contributor to this drama?
03
The audience has long been familiar with the "shooting story" of the four famous works of CCTV, but few people know that the shooting of the 87th edition of "Liaozhai" is also painful, or even more difficult.
Because the 87th edition of "Liaozhai" is produced by local stations.
At that time, Fujian Television Station was short of people and money. It was under such circumstances that Yu Yueting, the newly arrived station director, was still making a decision, with screenwriter Li Dong as the chief planner, shooting an 80-episode TV series that sounded like a fantasy at the time.
You know, CCTV's "Dream of the Red Chamber" only filmed 32 episodes. The rich Shandong Tai filmed 48 episodes of "Water Margin", which took 8 years.
Subsequently, the recording headquarters of "Liaozhai" was listed in a residential building, and 60 shooting titles were finally determined.
In order to ensure the quality of the works, the crew has held several art seminars, inviting Yuan Shishuo, Suri, Wen Huaisha, Wang Chaowen, Feng Zhi, Yang Hansheng, Cao Yu, Fan Zeng and others to "give lessons" to the cast and crew.
(Feng Zhi)
(Yang Hansheng)
The theme song of "Liaozhai" is written by Wang Liping. At that time, he had just finished composing "Dream of the Red Chamber".
When Mr. Qiao Yu filled in this song, it only took a few minutes.
From the idea to the final recording, it cost a total of 800 yuan.
Tell a story in one or two episodes, each story has a different writer and director, and almost every story has its own independent theme song.
In this way, "Liaozhai" was filmed for 3 years, until 1990, when the personnel movement in the station finally stopped the shooting task. And "Nie Xiaoqian", "Painted Skin" and other famous articles that are already in preparation had to be abandoned.
In March 1991, the summary meeting of "Liaozhai" was held, and the whole project was officially concluded.
04
Back to the beginning of the question, why did the 87th edition of "Liaozhai" not become a classic like "Dream of the Red Chamber"?
First of all, because its picture has a "sense of age".
At that time, the "flower screen" effect of the TV set was probably not experienced by many young people. And the stem of "going to the roof to turn the wire" can only be understood by people of that era.
Moreover, the level of finished products is uneven.
47 stories, 34 directors.
According to the review of the crew that year, it is said that one-third of the finished film belongs to the middle and upper level, one-third belongs to the middle and upper level, and the other third belongs to the middle and lower level. There are very few fine products, and there are not many bad products.
This is naturally the "self-effacing" statement of the crew, and the different story units naturally lack the coherence of the overall story, which is probably one of the reasons why "Liaozhai" is "forgotten".
The rough feeling presented by the story picture will also dissuade young audiences who are accustomed to "refinement".
epilogue:
Why are more and more people turning their heads to see "old movies"?
Because the old film looks "rough", but it conveys the most simple emotions.
You can see its "clumsiness", but also can appreciate the deep meaning behind "clumsiness".
You can see its "simplicity", but also feel the rare "sincerity" of the creator.
Strange, why are old films so "enduring"?
Because of the real classic, it is not so easy to be "destroyed".
A true classic that stands the test of time.
Other articles by the author:
Why does Bai Suzhen have to "repay the favor"? "The Legend of the New White Lady" is far from simple
Revisiting "Shanghai Beach", I found that Feng Chengcheng was "not so simple"
What did Hu Meiniang in "The Legend of the New White Lady" do wrong?
The behind-the-scenes story of the "87th Edition of Dream of the Red Chamber" is not only "filmed for 5 years"
"Journey to the West Sequel" "not good"? After 21 years of re-watching, I found that it was not so simple
Pay attention to the "equal division of the past" and look at the classics in a different way.