◎ Chen Jianxin
"A good actor is to let people enter the drama for a second, looking at this timid and timid Zhou Bingkun, who can think that Lei Jiayin has also played the brave Zhang Xiaojing?"
"Let's just say can we come up with a non-narrated version?" It's really dramatic..."
"The pace is slow, the slow motion and the card head are too much... I understand that the director estimated that he had pondered the language of the lens, and the farm yard was filmed like a stage drama set, clear and straight but suspended, and the period drama still pondered the plot and dialogue. ”
Somewhat unexpectedly, after the TV series adapted from Liang Xiaosheng's novel "The World of Man" (won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award) was launched, it was so "hot", and the Douban score has reached 8.1. Considering that it focuses on telling the story of small people, away from the current focus of the topic, and settles on the "civilian position" of "being a good person", it is difficult to call it "profound", and it is not easy to achieve such results.
Is this a triumph of realism, or a triumph of idealism? Does it prove that there is still a market for "writing the sublime" and "writing about civilian heroes", or does it prove the vitality of secular morality?
I am more inclined to think that film and television dramas are film and television dramas, and one of its functions is mental massage. Popularity, indicating that it meets the needs of the audience. After all, needs are diverse and constantly changing. Today, analyzing needs and grasping needs is also the basic skill of creators.
It's written again as a "face"
The story of "The World of Man" is not complicated, it tells the joys and sorrows of a family in a provincial capital city in the northeast.
In the old industrial city named "Jichun", there is the so-called "light character piece", which was originally a temporary dormitory for workers, and gradually developed into a community, which was dilapidated due to lack of planning, coupled with the low social status of the occupants, formed a "word of mouth" of "good women do not marry light character pieces". The family of Zhou Zhigang, an old worker, lives here.
In the 1970s, Zhou Zhigang supported the construction of the "Great Third Line" and went to the southwest. According to the policy at that time, only one child per family could stay in the city. Zhou Bingyi (Xin Baiqing), the eldest son of the Zhou family, went to the countryside, and her daughter Zhou Rong (Song Jia) was supposed to stay, but out of romantic ideals, she followed the poet Feng Huacheng (Cheng Taishen), who was beaten as a "rightist", to the countryside of Guizhou, while the zhou family's younger son, Zhou Bingkun (Lei Jiayin), was dependent on his mother in the city.
Three children, three destinies. The story of "The World of Man" has been told until this century, through major social changes such as going to the mountains and going to the countryside, returning to the city, reform and opening up, and restructuring of state-owned enterprises, showing the difficulties and growth of individuals in the sowing of destiny.
From the framework point of view, "The World" belongs to the typical realism, which was once a highly respected aesthetic standard. It should be noted that there is a very big difference between the realism of the East and the West.
In foreign countries, realism generally focuses on the individual, in-depth portrayal of the protagonist's spiritual growth, in order to reflect the waves of the times, involving only a few characters. In China, realism is often a "group portrait", by showing a "face", to present the individual's giving and floating.
It's hard to say which of the two ways of writing is better, the former may be deeper and the latter may be broader.
Writing "noodles" is related to the traditional aesthetic concept of the East. Chinese authors define people as "people in relationships", do not pay much attention to psychological descriptions, barely write, but most of people's psychological activities are irrational, so Chinese writers write psychology, often make readers feel unreal. However, if the characters are placed in a specific environment and subtle changes are written, such as expressing inner activities through actions, language, expressions, etc., it is often interesting and thoughtful.
"The World" is no exception.
Each character comes in with opposites
"The World of Man" is written about people through "contrast".
The eldest son, Zhou Bingyi, and the younger son, Zhou Bingkun, constitute a pair of contradictions: the former is full of responsibility and thinks about his obligations as the eldest brother; the latter is young and crazy, hanging ErLangdang, first as a sawmiller, because of the uneasy work, he waited for the eldest brother to pave the way everywhere, and went to the soy sauce factory before finding the direction of life.
Zhou Rong's two husbands also constitute a pair of contradictions: her ex-husband Feng Huacheng is a poet, full of romantic spirit, can share hardships, but can not be happy, after returning to the city quickly corrupt, Zhou Rong was forced to go to France, staying for more than ten years, only to find that Cai Xiaoguang, who was rejected by himself, was more reliable. Cai Xiaoguang is a high-ranking cadre, his identity can not be compatible with the romantic spirit of Zhou Rong's youth, after some setbacks, true love finally surpasses everything.
Feng Huacheng and Zhou Bingyi's attitude toward love also constitute a pair of contradictions: Zhou Bingyi's girlfriend Hao Dongmei also came from a high-cadre family, when he joined the team, his father was knocked down and became a "bourgeoisie", Zhou Bingyi would rather give up the opportunity to enlist (everyone yearns for at that time) than betray his feelings; Feng Huacheng, on the contrary, after returning to the city, worried about Jiang Lang's talent, gave up writing to mix society, and became an exquisite egoist.
Zhou Bingyi and Qu Xiuzhen, Jin Yueji, etc. also constitute a pair of contradictions: Qu Xiuzhen, Jin Yueji, etc. came from the war years, their hearts were full of revolutionary passion, for the ideal, they willingly handed over independent judgment, began to repent in their later years, and returned to the fireworks of the world; Zhou Bingyi, on the contrary, he experienced absurd years, cherished every tiny insistence in life, and later he became an official, the idealistic side still shone, he refused to use his power for his brother (Zhou Bingkun) for personal gain, and voluntarily threw himself into the urban transformation of "light character films".
In "The World of Man", Qu Xiuzhen and Jin Yueji, Zhou Bingyi and Cao Debao, Sun Xiaoning and Zheng Juan... Both constitute a pair of contradictions. Through complex relationships, the multi-faceted expression of the character has almost become a creative consciousness - when you don't know how to flatter the protagonist, add another character.
Interestingly, the real protagonist in "The World of Man" is not Zhou Bingyi, who has no shortcomings, but Zhou Bingkun, who has repeatedly struggled and has a changeable personality.
Why the protagonist must be Zhou Bingkun
Focus on Zhou Bingkun, because he has attached the creator's value ideal: the spirit of civilians.
The author obviously believes that the moral fanaticism of Qu Xiuzhen and Jin Yueji is not trustworthy, and the "tall and complete" of Zhou Bingyi's style is too rare, but Zhou Bingkun is like this, cowardly by nature, as an "old son", contaminated with many bad habits, but because of sincerity and kindness, he finally cultivated positive results.
Zhou Bingkun is different from the romantic sister Zhou Rong, who after seeing the truth of life, can jia Yuyong again, stay in the west in middle age, and become famous for novels after returning, and eventually become the boss. Zhou Bingkun is also different from his righteous brother, who has amazing judgment, almost all choices in life are correct, and although they have experienced setbacks, they will inevitably lead to "destined success".
The difference between Zhou Bingkun and Zhou Bingkun is that he is more like an ordinary person. Zhou Bingyi and Zhou Rong both love to read, after resuming the college entrance examination, they went to famous schools and realized class transitions, Zhou Rong can be desperate for freedom; Zhou Bingyi can sacrifice everything for responsibility. Culturally, they have already completed the transformation from workers to intellectuals. And Zhou Bingkun has always been an ordinary person, including later going to magazines and doing business, which is also the result of chance.
If Zhou Bingyi is more like the 70s, Zhou Rong is more like the 80s, and Zhou Bingkun is more like today's young people - all shortcuts have become old roads because too many people have walked, and each old road is so crowded, then how can you find yourself?
It is through Zhou Bingkun that the creators convey their own thoughts: be a good person.
Therefore, qu Xiuzhen and Jin Yueji's path of repentance is to return to the charity of the neighbor's aunt; Zhou Rong's romance eventually finds herself in business; Zhou Bingyi's lifelong persistence is transformed into repaying the former neighbor... And Zhou Bingkun's wandering, ideal, and unwillingness also found a home in the self-congratulation of "good people".
In order to emphasize "being a good person", "The World of Man" does not hesitate to repeatedly strengthen the stereotype of "fighting righteousness every time there are more slaughtered dogs, and the negative heart is more than a reader", but Zhou Bingyi and Zhou Rong clearly change their fate by reading, so they understand the author's painstaking heart: they were born in a poor home, because children who are born well have their own immunity, and they will not be negative after reading.
The audience likes, is the king's way
The setting of "The World of Man" is not lacking in twists and turns, and in order to highlight idealism, a lot of discussion has been added, which has become a major burden on the TV series. These golden sentences are mostly bipolar structures, through the correspondence between right and wrong, sun and night, ideal and reality, crows and pigeons, etc., to create the so-called "sonorous power", but to transform the original gray life into black and white. It is not that Teacher Chen Daoming's voice is not beautiful, but that those who can't hold back are still too naïve.
It is not difficult to understand the passion of "The World".
The old northeast industrial cities are mainly immigrants, closer to the small family society. On the one hand, the community, public opinion, etc. have little constraint on individuals, and the space for individuals to choose freely is large; on the other hand, the industry is single, employment is difficult, family members can only be competitive if they are organized, parents have both absolute authority and unlimited responsibility, and children only have absolute obedience to have opportunities.
The small family society superficially attaches importance to family affection, but in fact it has a form. Because it is impossible to fundamentally cover up the conflict of interest, we have to emphasize the number of etiquette - the father should be like the father, the big brother should be like the big brother, and the children should understand what they should say and what they should not say.
When the competition is small, the small family society is easy to maintain, after all, "everyone is the same". Under the impact of the commodity economy, the gap between the family and the family has widened, and the children's marriage, employment, schooling, etc. have become the responsibility of the parents, while the children are rarely recognized by society, and passively attached to the fathers, then self-comfort becomes the externalization of family standards into social standards. As a result, "be a good person" is sought after. But is there no difference in how different people understand "good"? In a normal society, what to do when the conflict between "good people" and "good people" becomes mainstream?
The solution-level "Human World" has huge shortcomings, but compared with the traditional clan society and the complete atomic society, the small family society still has a certain universality at present, so in the sense of communication, "Human World" is accepted. People feel "real" because the plot is placed in a similar environment, and similar characters can be found around many viewers.
The social structure has not changed fundamentally, and the "Human World" style of writing will always get applause in the name of realism, although the creators have long ceased to go deep into the grassroots to collect style, but only based on the understanding of the past, coupled with reasonable imagination, they have completed the creation, which is the most opposed way of creation of realism.
Like it or not, this is the truth: to be a good person, still have such an audience.