There is no traffic star, let alone big IP, "That City Family", which landed on Hunan Satellite TV on December 2, has gained word-of-mouth and hot discussion as soon as it was broadcast with realistic creative concepts and carefully crafted details, not only ranking among the top on the Weibo TV series topic list, but also receiving a lot of Douban five-star short reviews.
Set in 1976's Tang Dynasty, the drama tells the story of a restructured family of nine who support each other and rebuild their homes on the rubble after the earthquake. Through the tragic and joyful clutch of the fate of the little people, while witnessing the vicissitudes of the entire era, it silently conveys the healing feelings of "life has its own way, and the rest of the way is dependent on each other". As the male protagonist, Ma Yuan played the young Wang Daming from a miner's family in the play, a down-to-earth and dignified man who lost his wife and children in the disaster, but was reborn in the haze, and the self-improvement and tenacity of this small character touched many viewers in front of the TV.
Playing such a complex role, it can be said that the actor must achieve the double pass of technology and life accumulation to be competent, Ma Yuan, who has been moving forward in a low profile for many years, has amazed everyone with his delicate and life-like acting skills in the play, which has caused many viewers to sigh "really unlocked a strong faction".
The greatest "hero" among ordinary people
At the beginning of the series, "The City family" slowly unfolds a harmonious and enterprising Picture Scroll of Tang City for the audience, with a photo wall with a picture frame, a feather duster, a square old-fashioned table and chair bench, a text sprayed on the street brick wall, and the details of the branches and branches that bring the audience back to the small northern city of the 1970s and 1980s.
And Wang Daming is one of the most ordinary young people in this small city, he has a generous appearance, and can give people a sense of security and wide arms, single-mindedly care for his pregnant wife and support the whole family, gentle and determined, can be said to be a first-class model husband. However, such seemingly perfect happiness was destroyed after a natural disaster, and overnight, Wang Daming lost his wife and children, his life was fragmented and difficult to recover, and "suffering" also reached its peak at this time, and his mourning and heartbreak made many viewers feel empathy and triggered strong emotional resonance. "It's really sad to watch, the tears never stop, and it's hard to imagine how much hurt someone who has experienced it has to do."
But the reason why Wang Daming's role can "circle fans" is not only because of his "bitter feelings", he is a very ordinary little person, but he is indeed the greatest "hero" in the impermanent life, he was not knocked to the ground by the huge disaster, but chose to continue to move forward indomitably. For the two nephews of different surnames who became orphans, he also chose to take on the responsibility, "Pulling you two to grow up is the responsibility on my Wang Daming's shoulders." Calmly and calmly not giving up in the face of suffering, full of responsibility in the face of relatives, and boundless love are the core elements of this character, and they Chinese one of the connotations of the national spirit since ancient times.
Ma Yuan said frankly that in order to better enter the inner world of the characters and experience the true feelings in this extreme situation, he not only consulted a lot of materials, but also went to the Tangshan Earthquake Site Memorial Park to photograph the situation at that time and watch it repeatedly and speculate. Even in the mind to replace themselves in, the feelings are constantly amplified, little by little to determine the basic tone of Wang Daming's character and all the small details. It is also this kind of hard work that can give the characters a shining arc of characters, so that after watching the play, the audience can fully believe that in that place in that era, there may really be such a flesh-and-blood person.
Impress the audience with the true feeling of "life flow"
It can be said that the creation of the whole play with the real "life flow" is the most typical trait of "The City Family", and this happens to be Ma Yuan's method and characteristics in the performance, this high fit makes people feel as if rooted in a fertile soil, with sufficient nutrients, and naturally flourishing, especially moving.
So what is the acting of "life flow"? Nature is to implement the word "true" to the extreme, grounded and without any trace of performance. For example, after learning that his wife Lin Zhiyan was pregnant, a scene in which the couple talked warmly at night, Wang Daming fanned a fan for his pregnant wife, while incarnating as a warm man, and his wife jointly envisioned the happy future after Tianding, so that many netizens shouted "too sweet" after watching it. And this kind of "sweetness" is not the "saccharin" of the current sweet pet idol drama, but the real realist creative foundation - zero distance to get close to and express life. As Ma Yuan himself said, "true is false when false is also true", although the story comes from fiction, but the actor must come up with the "true feelings" extracted from the accumulation of life, in order to give the audience a "sense of reality".
Just like the first small climax of the play, the earthquake came, Wang Daming and his wife were buried under the rubble, and as the aftershock raged, they were trapped in the ruins for seven days, all supported by glucose and normal saline. Ma Yuan used solid and accurate acting skills to present all the emotions of a man who was about to face life and death, he tightened his eyebrows, trembled his hands, and called and comforted his wife with a loud voice, with tears in his words. The despair and fear of survival, the worry and reluctance of his wife, a variety of emotions intertwined in his eyes, this kind of unrelated skills, from the heart of the performance makes many audiences feel extremely shocked while empathizing, "really feel the pain and contradiction that he is not willing to give up and is powerless to save himself", thus falling into the plot and unable to extricate himself.
Actors have a responsibility to pass on "positive energy"
Different from the current stars who are accustomed to maintaining high-profile heat, over the years, Ma Yuan has been moving forward with the enthusiasm and initial intention of acting, silently showing his respect for the profession of actor with one work after another, and under his ingenuity, he has brought many wonderful and unique characters to the audience.
Zheng Tong in "Blood Romance" wears a pair of glasses and spends all day with Zhong Yuemin, played by Liu Ye, and Yuan Jun, played by Liu Tingzuo, who is mischievous. After going to the countryside to join the team in northern Shaanxi, he was lost, confused, and helpless, but in the end he picked up books, became the first batch of college students to resume the college entrance examination, and did historical research, Ma Yuan vividly interpreted the literary and artistic youth in the background of a big era, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Liu Ermu in "The Great Southwest Bandit" is also a famous university graduate, but in order to pursue love, he will not hesitate to go up the mountain as a bandit, only to stay with the woman he loves, he will intersperse his wisdom and scheming in the life of the bandit, usually take the pen hand to pick up the gun, learn to fight, and make a lot of interesting stories. The accurate grasp of the character's highly contrasting personality has also allowed Ma Yuan's acting skills to be appreciated by many people in the industry.
Although Ma Yuan does not play much in "The Hunting Ground", he vividly shows a comedian who brings happiness to others every day, who is sincere but in a difficult situation.
In today's "pan-entertainment" environment, film and television works from script to shooting, pay attention to "time grab, efficiency", "fast food goods" emerge in an endless stream, coupled with a lot of "digital miss", "stand-in students", cut-out acting, abuse of dubbing and other industry chaos is frequently exposed, the public's trust in actors has suddenly dropped to the freezing point. However, as the entire industry continues to develop in a healthy and orderly direction, a real "clear stream" actor like Ma Yuan will surely be more recognized and respected by the audience.
But for Ma Yuan, "the self-cultivation of actors" is not only to play every role conscientiously, but also to speak for the whole society and pass on positive energy. This is also one of the most important reasons why he took over "The Family of that City", the spirit of Tang City, in fact, the spirit of the whole of China, is a tenacious quality, and it is the best choice to comfort those who died in the disaster with such a story.
In the future, it is not known what surprises Ma Yuan will bring to the audience in his performance, but we believe that he will always move forward against the wind with a sense of responsibility.