Criticized for "no talent", he used the classic to punch Wang Shuo in the face, buried the pain with wisdom, and walked through a difficult journey
"A director without talent, seriously unreliable... Completely ruined the characters... Xue Baochao has been screwing... I almost threw up again." In public, Wang Shuo, the "thorn head" of the literary world, criticized Wang Fulin and the 87th edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber" as useless.
Wang Shuo was already a well-known novelist at that time, while Wang Fulin was not famous. In the face of this fierce criticism, Wang Fulin only responded that whether the film is good or not must not only be evaluated by the national audience, but also must be able to withstand the test of time, and it is not too late to comment in ten years.
In the past 35 years, "Dream of the Red Chamber" has been replayed more than 1500 times, which has become a classic among classics, but even so, the controversy about this drama has never stopped.
"Although it is not a knife mountain and a sea of fire, this "Dream of the Red Chamber" is enough to make me panic all the time." From Wang Fulin's words, we experience his determined state of mind.
Looking back on this drama, it took three years, from obtaining filming approval to meeting the audience, the difficulties and hardships of this may only be known to him!
1, "Wang Bold" is simply bold
Most of Wang Fulin's life is full of "variables", in the face of career ups and downs, he never gives up lightly, as if waiting for a "pie" to fall from the sky.
The successful shooting of the 1987 TV drama version of "Dream of the Red Chamber" seems to be a reward from heaven.
Looking back at the twists and turns behind the preparation of this classic, Wang Fulin still remembers it vividly.
The reason why I wanted to make this classic stemmed from a magazine survey of students Chinese departments at a prestigious university in the early 1980s.
In interviews, many students said they had not seen the four masterpieces. In addition to being shocked, Wang Fulin, as a television worker and cultural disseminator, felt that he had the responsibility and obligation to popularize China's classical masterpieces and traditional culture, so that everyone could understand the essence of them.
In 1982, the opportunity finally came!
At an internal meeting of CCTV, Wang Fulin expressed his thoughts.
He believes that now is the early stage of tv station reform, and it is necessary to change the face and provide some new dramas to the audience.
He put forward his own opinion that it could learn from the practices of well-known overseas broadcasters, who put their country's masterpieces on the screen. In particular, Shakespeare's works have high ratings, and we can also follow suit.
At that time, except for director Yang Jie who was preparing to shoot "Journey to the West", the other three famous works had no plans to prepare for filming. Thinking of the lack of shooting conditions, Wang Fulin proposed that most of the indoor scenes of "Dream of the Red Chamber" can be filmed first.
For a time, everyone was in an uproar, and whether to shoot "Dream of the Red Chamber" became the topic of discussion at the meeting. Both opinions are basically half half each. The focus of the debate was nothing more than the feeling that the conditions were not ripe for all aspects at that time, and if the filming was not good, it would be counterproductive.
The deputy director said: "There are many characters in "Dream of the Red Chamber", there are hundreds of female characters alone, each woman has distinct characteristics, as long as one of them is not well grasped, the whole drama will be pulled down..."
But several other leaders were very much in favor, firmly saying, "Even if you take a career, you must let such a good play land!" ”
Finally, the arduous task of filming "Dream of the Red Chamber" was taken down by Wang Fulin. After the colleagues knew, they gave him a nickname called "Wang Bold"
The play was taken down, but in the preparation stage, it began to be difficult.
Wang Fulin wanted to invite Fan Cen, the director of the Yue opera "Dream of the Red Chamber", to invite him to join the filming of the TV series, but was rejected by director Fan Cen. So he invited director Chen Yinda of the Beijing Film Studio, but soon, director Chen Yinda died of a heart attack, so he went to find another director on the stage, and the other party thought that the shooting cycle was too long and refused.
In desperation, Wang Fulin decided to take the lead alone. He thought to himself, anyway, everyone has already called me "Wang Bold", just be bold.
In 1982, Wang Fulin found an advisory group composed of more than 20 authorities in the field of red science, including Shen Congwen, Wu Shichang, and Zhou Ruchang. This advisory group is like a barrier, bringing protection and support to Wang Fulin and the crew.
Wang Fulin gathered them at the China Conservatory of Music, and it took two years and two months just to discuss the adaptation of the script.
At this time, the film industry spoke up, suggesting that CCTV abandon the shooting plan, because some qualified film directors were preparing to shoot "Dream of the Red Chamber".
Compared with the film industry at that time, the TV series was still just a "small character" and did not have the appeal at all.
In the face of pressure from all directions, "Wang Bold" did not flinch, but felt that these pressures could motivate himself and "Big Brother" to compete.
On February 9, 1984, the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber" was test-filmed at the Xiangshan Dry Rest Center in the western suburbs of Beijing, and on September 10 of the same year, filming officially began in Huanshan, preparing to shoot 25 episodes and planning to invest 5 million yuan.
In the spring of 1985, beijing film studio announced the production of the movie "Dream of the Red Chamber", a total of 6 films and 8 episodes, and the funds obtained were 20 million yuan.
In the face of the "big brother" who has the upper hand in all aspects and is pressing forward step by step, Wang Fulin does psychological work for young actors, so that they can relax their mentality and play their own roles well, there is no need to have too many concerns.
And he himself, in fact, did not have any bottom in his heart, Wang Fulin recalled: "At that time, every day was like stepping on a landmine, carefully taking every step."
Wang Fulin decided to calm down, suspend all the work at hand, rent a guest house to live in, and devote himself to "Dream of the Red Chamber", read it carefully, and ask Mr. Cao Xueqin for advice. This reading took a whole year.
2. In the face of classic masterpieces, "Wang Bold" is very cautious
After concentrated research, Wang Fulin began to grasp the soul of "Dream of the Red Chamber". He wants to portray the character of the character through detailed description, and highlight the feudal family rules of Jia Fu as a tycoon.
This requires the overall shooting style to be delicate, lyrical and natural. Taking Daiyu's first visit to Jia Mansion for dinner as an example, Wang Fulin used many shots to render her careful and cautious. How does she see others take chopsticks? See how others rinse their mouths and wipe their mouths after eating, and see what it's like for others to drink tea...
Wang Fulin said, "If you think these are small details of life, it is not much interesting, it is not an important thing? That is to forget the style of "Dream of the Red Chamber"! ”
In the selection of actors, he is more cautious, time-consuming and laborious.
On February 23, 1982, several media published the news of the preparation and shooting of the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the protagonist of the play became the focus of the people of the whole country.
At this time, Wang Fulin made a bold decision--- fully use new people!
The crew sent three teams to all parts of the country, which lasted more than a year, and finally selected 153 actors from more than 10,000 people who signed up. The actors of each role are truly one of the best.
Wang Fulin applied for 100,000 yuan in funding from Taili to let all the actors hold study classes in Beijing's Yuanmingyuan and conduct closed training. Every day, I get up early to practice, listen to lectures by red scholars in the morning, and learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting in the afternoon, ancient life customs and film and television performances. He felt that all actors had to eat the original book thoroughly.
These actors, young and inexperienced, are mostly outsiders, from all walks of life, including shoe factory workers, mall salesmen, and clerks.
Regarding the use of new people, Wang Fulin has his own ideas. In order to get closer to the role, he asked the actors to be pure, to be true, to be good, to be beautiful.
After three months of ear grinding, the newcomers began to slowly approach the characters in "Dream of the Red Chamber", and to this day, his sentence "You will not perform, I am not afraid, the key is that you have to be like this character" can still bring inspiration to the industry.
It is precisely because of Wang Fulin's "caution" in casting that although a group of young people with no acting experience were enabled, and even many ordinary people who were not actors, after the broadcast, it left people with the admiration of "this role is him/her".
Now, more than 30 years later, Wang Fulin still remembers the name of each of the main actors and the scenes of the encounter with them.
At that time, the biggest headache for Wang Fulin was that the crew started up immediately, but the right person to play Jia Baoyu had not yet been found.
Boys who are too delicate to look at, as weak as girls, this feeling does not match, some boys are too clever, and they will look greasy, like a stupid boy... All in all, not satisfied.
Some people also proposed to let the actress reverse Jia Baoyu, but Wang Fulin resolutely refused.
What Wang Fulin needs is a boy who must have both the appearance of Yushu Linfeng's brother and some naïve and playful boys, he can't be too young, he needs to have a certain experience and mature mentality, in order to grasp the scale of the role. But where can such a person go to find it?
At this time, someone recommended Ouyang Fenqiang to him, and when Wang Fulin met him for the first time, his eyes lit up, and his heart could not help but burst with joy, "This is the treasure jade I am looking for!"
At that time, Ouyang Fenqiang was 21 years old, had certain acting experience, had a mature mentality and a baby face, had good skin, and looked like seventeen or eighteen years old.
When they saw him standing with Chen Xiaoxu, the crew all exclaimed: They were like Bao Yu and Dai Yu!
Unlike Jia Baoyu, it was much smoother to choose the role of Lin Daiyu.
At that time, there were many candidates for the role of Lin Daiyu. And Chen Xiaoxu is the only actor in the crew who was selected by writing a cover letter and successfully played the heroine.
Speaking of his encounter with Chen Xiaoxu, Wang Fulin recalled that "knowing Xiaoxu was a kind of chance."
At that time, Wang Fulin received a letter from Anshan, written by a drama actor named Chen Xiaoxu. She said that she wanted to play Lin Daiyu, and analyzed the character, she talked about her own characteristics and strengths, but also talked about her own weaknesses and deficiencies. Not humble, not profane, eloquent.
The letter also included a photograph of himself and a small poem. After seeing the letter, Wang Fulin felt very rare, so he told her that he could come to Beijing to attend the study class.
In this way, on a rainy day, a thin girl appeared in front of Wang Fulin's eyes, and during the conversation, Wang Fulin found that her temperament and feeling were Daiyu.
Wang Fulin recalled that "Xiaoxu's eyebrows have Lin Daiyu's cool temperament, her body is weak and willowy, including her low eyebrows and shy appearance when she speaks, almost like Lin Daiyu, if other actors rely on acting skills to win, then Xiaoxu is made by talent." ”
In this way, Chen Xiaoxu's role as Lin Daiyu was fixed.
Chen Xiaoxu is lucky, but the finalization of many roles is not so smooth, full of dramatic reversals.
When mentioning the selection of Wang Xifeng's actor ---- Deng Jie, Wang Fulin said that Deng Jie's role selection once made everyone very entangled.
Deng Jie is a Chongqing girl, and she has a crisp energy in her. Sister Feng runs a large family, while Deng Jie helps her grandmother to manage the house after going to school, and also manages her younger siblings.
Everyone unanimously felt that she looked a little spicy, played a, had a big temperament, and played a lady and a lady who was not tall enough. Not only did she not look pretty, but her skin was still dark, and for a moment and a half she didn't know whose play she should try.
However, when Deng Jie put on makeup and walked to the camera to perform, everyone exclaimed, "Too much." When Wang Fulin saw Deng Jie performing in the videotape, he said that after Deng Jie was photographed, he could be described as stunning.
At that time, in addition to Deng Jie, Wang Xifeng's candidates had two other candidates, one was a drama actor, tall and had acting experience, and the other was a Yue opera actor with a good image.
In the face of two more advantageous competitors, some director team members once advised Deng Jie to have self-knowledge and retreat from difficulties. And Deng Jie still decided not to give up until the last moment.
When the actors were finalized, the crew was inevitably another argument. And those who are inclined to Deng Jie are only Wang Fulin and screenwriter Zhou Lei.
Wang Fulin said: "Her eyes are very energetic, making people's eyes light up. Deng Jie likes to read books, is willing to study, is not impetuous, and the person who plays Wang Xifeng cannot be without culture, otherwise he cannot play Wang Xifeng's multi-faceted nature."
In this way, Wang Fulin persuaded others to let Deng Jie play Wang Xifeng.
Years later, his decision proved to be the right one. With the role of Wang Xifeng, Deng Jie won the Best Supporting Actress Award of the Feitian Award that year.
Overcome one difficulty, and the next difficulty awaits him.
At that time, the preparation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" can be described as a collection of difficulties and dangers, and in terms of funds alone, the crew has been stretched thin.
3. Under difficult conditions, present the classic
The reason why "Dream of the Red Chamber" was filmed for three years, in addition to the rigor and loyalty to the original work, there is also a reason is that there is insufficient funds, often facing economic crises, and occasionally needs to be stopped and postponed, and has to pull sponsorship while filming.
At that time, the funds raised were 6.8 million, which was all the expenses of the crew to shoot 36 episodes of the TV series, including the clothing, food, housing, travel, clothing, makeup, shooting, and post-production of more than 100 people in the crew.
For a crew that has been shooting for three years and has more than a hundred people, eating and drinking Lasa is a daily expense, plus shooting, this money is far from enough.
At that time, all the actors lived in a tube building, there were only two bathrooms, one for boys and one for girls, and everyone could imagine how inconvenient it would be for dozens of people to share a bathroom? But I never heard anyone complain.
Because of the tight budget. The food of the crew is naturally not too good. In the process of filming, there are many scenes of chatting and eating, because of hunger, the actors often eat the props while chatting.
The production director in charge of finance gave advice, and later, unless it was necessary for the plot, the actors never took the initiative to eat props once.
More than a hundred people go to a certain place to shoot, if they happen to meet the crew actor's home, everyone has the opportunity to improve a meal, you can have meat to eat, there is wine to drink, everyone is very happy.
It is under such difficult conditions that the actors use the most perfect state to present us with a version of the classic "Dream of the Red Chamber".
Not only can everyone agree on frugality in life, but also agree to spend money on the blade in the process of shooting.
In the treatment of architectural cuisine and the makeup and costumes of the actors, Wang Fulin is very generous.
He produced more than 70 costumes for Wang Xifeng, more than 40 costumes for Lin Daiyu, and also paid for the construction of "Ningrong Street" and "RongGuo Mansion"...
In "Dream of the Red Chamber", there are many big scenes, among them, Qin Keqing's funeral and Yuan Fei's provincial relatives are the two largest scenes. Each show requires thousands of people, and the props also need hundreds.
Qin Keqing's funeral is the first big scene of Jia Fu in "Dream of the Red Chamber", and this scene needs to show the glory and wealth of Jia Fu.
In the case of not only achieving the effect of approaching the original work, but also saving the cost of funds, manpower and material resources, Wang Fulin adopted the method of filming documentaries, and organized personnel to spend a week practicing over and over again according to the steps of the scene.
When the filming officially begins, everyone is like a formal performance, and it only takes one time to pass.
When filming the big scene of Qin Keqing's funeral, it only took one afternoon, and two cameras completed the full shooting of the panorama, the middle scene, and the close-up, and then re-shot some close-ups, the technique is simple, but the lens is coherent and compact.
After more than three years of passing through obstacles, nearly 10,000 shots were shot, and it has been to 10 provinces and cities, 41 regions, and finally cost 6.8 million. On May 1, 1987, the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber" was officially unveiled, accompanied by the song "Frowning", singing the land of Shenzhou.
In the past 30 years, despite controversy, doubt, and criticism, the status of the 87th edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber" in the minds of the audience has never been surpassed.
It is not only hailed as a classic among classics, but also carries the collective memory of hundreds of millions of TV drama viewers, and also records the most beautiful youth time in life for hundreds of cast members.
In March 2010, the China Television Drama Directors Working Committee awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award for the first time, and Wang Fulin was the only male among the six honorees.
"We salute Director Wang Fulin. Because of him, whether it is too illusory realm, or the Tiger's Den Dragon Pond, whether it is Bao Daichao's Song Final Dispersion, or Liu Guanzhang's Yi Bo Yuntian, it has become a memory that we cannot forget. In the face of the past of ancient China or the new China, the expression of faith and creativity has brought pleasure to the aesthetic. We thank Director Wang Fulin! ”
"Wisdom Buries Pain," is the title of a biography written by his best friend Kang Zheng for Wang Fulin.
These six words summarize the difficult journey that Wang Fulin has gone through by virtue of his own talent and perseverance to continuously resist interference and resolve difficulties in the development of mainland movies and television dramas!