"The moment of remembrance and the extinguishing of the holy flame are the prescribed actions of the Olympic Games, just like propositional composition." Huang Hui, director of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, revealed that these two important "prescribed actions" were poetically expressed in the Chinese style, which can be described as painstaking.
Regarding the "remembrance" of the fixed part of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the funeral was on the Olympic stage for the first time in the form of remembering the deceased. At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea and the Tokyo Olympics in Japan, there were "remembrance" sessions. In this regard, Huang Hui said that although there are often expressions of life and death in Chinese literature, drama, film and television works, it is a big problem to show it in a grand performance.
"In the long creative process, director Zhang Yimou set the tone and expressed it poetically." Huang Hui said that after several rounds of overthrow, he finally mentioned the "monument of light" in the process of constantly running in with the general director Zhang Yimou and the literary chief writer Yu Lei. Since then, the main creative team has also found another symbolic "language" - folding willows, "when the ancients were separated, they would fold willow branches on the willow trees on the edge of the city or by the river to give to their relatives who were about to leave." So we thought of letting the actors hold glowing wicker in their hands and tell the story of remembrance and parting in a Chinese way. Huang Hui said.
At the beginning of the "Remembrance" link, 80 holy girls walked on the floor screen, dragged out a branch of willow under their feet, and at the same time drew an ancient painting of weeping willow on the screen, the breeze blew, the willows flew around the screen, at this time, 365 men, women and children appeared, holding glowing wicker in their hands, slowly walking from all sides to the middle, all the way to the center of the screen. At this time, 105 beams of light soared into the sky, forming a "monument of light", and also reminded Chinese of the scene of sweeping the graves of deceased relatives. Huang Hui added: "Setting up 365 people is intended to be the thought of 365 days, months, months, and years, and the changes of the sun, month, month, and year after year, emphasizing the Chinese the concept of life that is endless." ”
Regarding the choice of music in this link, there have been more than 20 draft changes. Huang Hui revealed that musicians have created different styles of music such as sadness, ethereality and emptiness, but in Zhang Yimou's view, it is more appropriate to choose music that everyone is familiar with. Huang Hui said that after constant searching, everyone's eyes finally locked on the song "Farewell" of "Outside the Long Pavilion, On the Side of the Ancient Road".
Huang Hui revealed that "Farewell" was originally recited by children, but since then it has been majorly modified, looking for poems written in the "Book of Poetry" to write willow trees, and then from the poems of the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, thus forming a cross-era emotional expression. But in the end, because of the difficulty of understanding foreign audiences, Zhang Yimou and the main creative team discussed whether to return to the basics and not recite the words inside. "Don't be realistic, don't sing, don't recite the words inside, point to the end, let everyone fill in the blanks by themselves, and realize the expression of the Chinese view of life and death." Huang Hui said.
In the 3 minutes and 02 seconds of "remembrance" link, the main creators believe that it is not enough to stop at the thought of the deceased, so there is a reversal at the climax of the music, the "monument of light" becomes green, and more than 10,000 square meters of screen spread from the center to the surrounding area into a large piece of green. Winter goes to spring, spring returns to the earth, the Chinese's outlook on life and death is clearly revealed, the deceased rests in peace, and the living must live well. This is also Chinese interpretation of the concept of "community of human destiny" and the sublimation of the Olympic motto of "greater unity".
Source: Beijing Youth Daily