The Paper's reporter Yang Kaiting
In 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, a large number of outstanding TV dramas with related themes have appeared on the TV screen. In many similar genres, the cast of "Big Waves and Sands" is not the most "star-studded", and the production cost is not the most "reckless", but it is still quite outstanding with its unique perspective and narrative structure.
The director of the play, Jana Shahati, said bluntly that when she first received the invitation to the project of "Big Waves and Sands", she actually had some hesitation, "At that time, I knew that this was a group portrait work with a large number of 13 representatives as the main characters, but we all know that among the large representatives, some of them later defected from the party organization, and the positioning and performance of these people should be measured, in fact, I have certain doubts and worries. But later, after we determined the theme of 'big waves and sands', we felt suddenly enlightened. ”
Stills from "Big Waves and Sands"
"Looking for yellow sand and seeing gold"
The story line of "Big Waves and Sands" mainly involves the 26-year historical period from 1919 to 1945, "In the past, there were many film and television dramas that showed this historical stage, so we remade it, and we always hope that this time it will be made, it is a little different." "After establishing the theme of 'big waves and sandstorms', I felt that what we wanted to show was that in the storm of the times, different people face different choices of faith." ”
"When everyone participated in the big meeting, everyone initially established the communist faith, but in the process of pursuing and realizing the ideal, there were different destiny directions, life courses and final endings. Some people deviate, some people betray, some people fall behind, but there are also many people who adhere to their ideals, constantly practice, and finally realize their ideals and create a new China. After this theme is established, it is clearer which historical fragments to choose to interpret, and what kind of thinking runs through the whole narrative. ”
"Panning the yellow sand begins to see gold", but this process of "sand panning" is not just the node of various major events in history, but the various reasons and speculative processes behind the occurrence of major events. However, the latter is often not as much as the former in film and television dramas because of the lack of dramatic watchability. In "The Great Waves and Sands", the origins, causes, and controversies before the occurrence of those historical events are sorted out and shown in great detail.
From the perspective of TV drama creation, a large number of indoor debate plays and meeting scenes are naturally far less attractive to the audience than the externalized "big scenes" and "strong plots", which require the audience to calm down and taste the deep meaning like opening a history book full of footnotes. This undoubtedly puts high demands on the audience.
"No work can be both a fish and a bear's paw, and any work has the problem of where to concentrate the creative force, and there must be gains and losses." You can't ask for a work, and then the 26 years of history, all the major events are all listed, and it is also deeply involved in the fate, emotion, and speculation of the characters. Gu 'quan' cannot be taken care of, so it is necessary to concentrate on playing 'point'. In fact, the characteristics of any work are also its limitations. Jana said.
A female revolutionary in a deep-drawn painting
Screenshot of "Big Waves and Sands", Yang Kaihui's trick play
In addition, as a work with the main theme theme, "Big Waves and Sands" is also a relatively rare work that deeply portrays female revolutionaries. In the play, the awakened female figures such as Gao Junman and Wang Huiwu, who have pursuit and knowledge, have left a very deep impression. "The women portrayed in the play play themselves play a very important social role. Gao Junman's lectures are recorded, Yang Kaihui also gave lectures at the Self-Study University, and actively participated in the peasant movement; Wang Huiwu, as Li Da's wife, gave him great support and help in Li Da's writings and book publishing. In the process of reading the historical materials, we have been moved by these excellent women countless times, so we feel that they should have their own place in this story. ”
Wang Wenna plays Wang Huiwu
Since his career, he has participated in the creation of classic film and television works such as "Red Lover" and "Towards the Republic", and has also directed such masterpieces as "How Steel is Made", "Qia Classmate Boy", "Dark War Before Dawn", "Communist Liu Shaoqi" and other masterpieces, and Jiana has great experience in the creation of main theme works and major historical theme film and television dramas.
"There has always been a more recognized saying that major historical themes are not vain, and small things are not informal. In my understanding, the big things are not vain, the historical facts must be very accurate, and the historical events and character positioning cannot be deviated; the small things are not informal, I think it is after reading a large number of historical materials and confirming the historical facts, in some scenes for its interpretation, it depends on the creator's understanding of the material and what he wants to express. On a large level, to pay attention to the context of the entire historical development, to establish a correct world view, and specific to the details, then I pay more attention to the state of people, in fact, what the audience wants to see is the story between people, the evolution of the relationship between the characters, their inner reaction to events, in fact, drama is about the art of people. ”
Dual-time narrative approach
Another special place in "The Great Waves and Sands" is that in the narrative, it uses the dual time and space of "present" and "past", with the help of the perspective of Chen Qihang, a contemporary young student and the owner of online video, looks back at the history of a hundred years ago, and tells the history of the Chinese Communist Party's arduous struggle to transform China, save the country and save the people in the past twenty years from the beginning of the May Fourth Movement in 1919 to the convening of the "Seventh National Congress" in 1945. This narrative method is quite innovative in the main theme works.
"You think about the 26-year process, there are countless major events in the middle, and it is the display of a group portrait, the capacity of the TV series is limited, to complete it, there is bound to be a trade-off; there are many characters to take care of, and there is bound to be a series." Usually this kind of theme will use a calm narration to explain the past, so that the plot quickly enters the state of the characters. But when we started to create, we found that there is a trend in the current society that wants to review and understand that period of history, and many up masters are doing this topic. ”
This discovery reminds the creative team: "We are exactly in the 'future' that our ancestors fought for a hundred years ago, and their 'future' is our 'present', and it is very meaningful for us to look back at their stories at this end." Jiana admitted, "At the beginning, there was also a little worry, worried that a young man to be the narrator could not withstand the weight of such a major subject." But he is not talking nonsense, what he says is conclusive, authoritative. And he also has his feelings, but also a more personal narrative, his feelings and many tv audiences can have a kind of hook-up and communication. ”
Regarding this work, Jiana said that the first feeling she hopes to bring to everyone is that it is too difficult for the first generation of revolutionary leaders to find a revolutionary road that conforms to China's reality. "Second, when you look at the life course of these characters, you will know that it is not easy to persevere, not as easy as the phrase 'I will fight for it when I have established my faith.'"
"The two words 'faith' are very heavy, and the four words of 'fighting for it' must resist countless temptations, constantly temper the will, and even pay the price of life."
In 1988, Jana went to the Soviet Union as a public student to study, and in 1989, she was admitted to the Directing Department of the All-Soviet State Film Academy. In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Jana experienced the process in a way, "From my personal point of view, the information at that time was so mixed, I only knew that the news kept saying this and that, and when we first arrived, there began to be shortages of materials, such as waiting in long lines to buy a piece of soap, a piece of butter, the shelves of the store gradually became less and less, and finally it was empty, and the whole society, on the one hand, was a burst of new ideas, everyone was talking about new things, everyone was talking about politics, But social life has just become a very undeveloped feeling. After I returned to China, I also read a lot of books about the collapse of the Soviet Union, all of which were rational, as if all the events were sorted out of context and logical connection. But in fact, when you are in it, that feeling is chaotic and unclear. All I remember is the shortage of supplies and the state of these people around the teachers and classmates, or the conversation you hear on the bus, you don't know where you're going, what it's going to be. Until now, there have been many articles that have repeatedly explored this question, why the Soviet Union collapsed, what happened at that time, and what had a crucial impact. And even if we look back at history, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, and today, when we look back at the same period of history, our views will be different. ”
Experiencing the turmoil, smallness, chaos, and difficulty in discerning directions of that kind of people wrapped up in the big history has made Jana look at history differently. It seems that when she looks back at the early days of the founding of the Communist Party of China a hundred years ago, she will more easily understand the situation of the patriotic youth at that time, and understand their difficulties in getting out of the fog and finding the right path in the tide of the times. "Finding a way to solve social problems and finding the essence of the problems is actually particularly difficult in the 'present' of history."
In fact, in the hundred years since the founding of the Communist Party of China, it has been practicing its original purpose and program and has made great achievements in the practice of revolution. Especially in recent years, after a lot of things have happened, we look back: each step is a continuous practice, reflection, exploration, and exploration of new possibilities in known situations, and each step is a difficult process of exploration. At that moment, it may have been complicated and unclear, but when you look back now, everything is very clear. ”
Jiana mentioned that after the epidemic in 2020, why China was able to quickly contain and defeat the epidemic in the case of the initial epidemic, "You can feel a trend of thought, and everyone is eager to understand: Why can we do this? When this question is asked, you find that you have to face history, because if you don't know the way, you can't explain the present, and if you don't understand the present, you don't know where the future is going. That's what it means to look back. ”
"The Great Waves and Sands" shows the first step taken by the Communist Party of China in the course of a hundred years, and Jia Na sighed, "The Chinese Communist Party first began its journey in the alleys of Shanghai, on the red boat in Jiaxing, and everyone who gathered at the table at that time did not know what kind of road they would go out in the future, and how many years of struggle would take to see a new and better China." Looking back now, our current history and the history of that moment have a profound intertextual relationship, history is continuing, history is alive. ”
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Luan Meng