"The Age of Awakening" entered a new story climax, Zhou Enlai, who returned to Tianjin from studying in Japan, served as the editor-in-chief of the Tianjin Federation of Students' Daily, and called on his classmates to boycott the traitor Cao Rulin as the trustee of Nankai University, and never let the glory of Nankai be tarnished. Since then, Zhou Enlai has become the leader of Tianjin's student circles in the May Fourth Movement and laid the ideological foundation for his future firm belief in communism.
As a work that runs through the New Culture Movement in 1915, the May Fourth Movement in 1919, and the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921, the play preciously shows the image of zhou Enlai, a young man who was still in his student age and Marxist ideas were germinating before the founding of the Communist Party of China. Xia Dejun, a young actor who has played Zhou Enlai four times before, once again has a new understanding of the great prime minister in "The Age of Awakening". "Every time I play Premier Zhou, I feel even more different from before, because he is too legendary and too perfect. The closer such a figure gets to him, the more he admires him and understands why he has such thoughts and achievements. In an exclusive interview with the Beijing News, Xia Dejun said frankly.
By portraying the character in "The Age of Awakening", Xia Dejun once again has a new understanding of Zhou Enlai.
Young Zhou Enlai "Capable of Literature and Martial Arts"
"The Age of Awakening" is Xia Dejun's fifth time playing Zhou Enlai, but this drama is quite special to him. The play shows the ideological progress of Chinese intellectuals between 1915 and 1921, restoring the whole process of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and the young Zhou Enlai at this stage is also slightly unfamiliar to most viewers.
In Xia Dejun's view, compared with the impression that Premier Zhou Enlai gave to the people in the later period with elegance, humility, and civility, when he was young, he was in a period of exploration of Marxist thought, and his youth was enthusiastic and vigorous; and many people only knew that Premier Zhou was full of literary talent, but he did not understand that when he was studying at Nankai School, his sports achievements were also very remarkable, not only was he the captain of the basketball team in the class, he participated in volleyball competitions, but he also won the third place in the high jump competition, and he was a student who was energetic and positive in thinking both inside and outside the school. Therefore, although "The Age of Awakening" does not show many scenes of Zhou Enlai, Xia Dejun still hopes to try his best to show the other side of Zhou Enlai's "able to write and be able to fight" when he was young.
One of xia Dejun's most impressive scenes was that after the official publication of the Communist Manifesto, Zhou Enlai led the members of the Awakening Society to be arrested for organizing a demonstration and petition. In prison, Comrade Zhou Enlai was not humble and fearless, led the students to do gymnastics, and firmly recited the "Communist Manifesto" for everyone. When filming, Xia Dejun did not know how gymnastics of that era should be done. The on-site director found a fitness exercise that the young Mao Zedong had done, taught It to Xia Dejun on the spot, and Xia Dejun went to teach the actors and group performers on the spot. This is an interesting memory, let Xia Dejun sigh at the spiritual realm of Zhou Enlai and his ancestors, "In such an environment, Premier Zhou Enlai can also take everyone to have fun in prison, continue to exercise, and organize everyone to read and study." It is precisely such an energetic person who will write such a sentence as 'the danger is unchanged and should taste the courage, and the moral struggle dares to rest on the shoulders'. This kind of pride comes out of the bones of Premier Zhou Enlai. ”
Zhou Enlai was angry with pride.
Put historical figures in the performance of real feelings, not symbols
The special significance of "The Age of Awakening" to Xia Dejun is not only in the change of the role of Zhou Enlai, but also in the precious expression of the script. The highlight of "The Age of Awakening" is that the play does not simply list historical events, but promotes the development of the plot through the ideological changes of one young revolutionary after another, showing how the revolutionary pioneers found a bright path from the darkness in such a turbulent and chaotic era.
In Xia Dejun's view, great people are also ordinary people, people who come out of ordinary people, with the joys and sorrows of normal people, "as long as the true feelings of the characters are truly expressed, rather than completing the concepts and symbols, I think it will definitely make everyone feel grounded." ”
At the same time, the restoration of historical facts in "The Age of Awakening" is equally accurate and rigorous. Xia Dejun recalled that from the construction of the on-site house set, to the style of buttons and accessories on each person, as well as the usual mantras and vocabulary of the characters in the lines, the crew has undergone rigorous study, "The audience will unconsciously be pulled back to that era by us." ”
This drama is also the first time that Xia Dejun has cooperated with director Zhang Yongxin. In his view, director Zhang Yongxin is meticulous about art, and every frame of audiovisual language presented in the camera must express his historical view and emotion. For example, after a shot is shot, the door in the picture is open two-thirds more or one-third less than he thought, and he will consider whether to do it again.
But director Zhang Yongxin gave the actors great room to play. Xia Dejun recalled that when playing on the spot, the director often helps the actors analyze the background of the times together, and interprets the meaning and emotion behind the lines for everyone. When actually performing, the actor can give full play to his own understanding; even if the performance is biased, the director is more encouraging to help the actor to interpret better, "He will not suppress the actor's play, but in another way, such as: you are great, but you can be better." The actor will have more confidence as a result. ”
Zhou Enlai's role in "The Age of Awakening" is not much, but it is very critical.
In 2012, the preparation of the TV series "Mao Zedong" began, and Xia Dejun was invited to participate in the audition. At first, he only helped the actors to build a scene of Chiang Kai-shek, but his fluent line skills and handsome and upright appearance were considered by the director to have the background of the young Zhou Enlai. This is Xia Dejun's first time playing Zhou Enlai.
"It's a lot of pressure." Xia Dejun confessed his awe for this role, "Because Premier Zhou is too great a figure in everyone's heart." And from a performance point of view, this character is equally easy and difficult. The ease is that the young Zhou Enlai's film and television image is less, and most of the stories presented in the documentaries are the stories of Premier Zhou after the War of Resistance, and the audience has no reference, but allows the actors to have more sufficient creative space. But at the same time, this also led Xia Dejun to understand the origin, growth environment, and experience of the young Premier Zhou Enlai by looking for photos of the young Zhou Enlai, reading a large number of Zhou Enlai's works, biographies, letters, poems, and the evaluations of people around Zhou Enlai, and to perceive the appearance of his inner world from it. ”
The young Zhou Enlai was entrusted with a heavy responsibility.
With more and more plays, Zhou Enlai's image has become more and more cordial in Xia Dejun's heart, and even in life, Xia Dejun will always inadvertently have similar behavior and actions with Premier Zhou. Once Xia Dejun and a friend had dinner, and the friend joked in surprise, "Your current expression, nodding and smiling, how can you be so similar to Premier Zhou?" We all felt like we were having dinner with Premier Zhou. ”
And every time he creates, Xia Dejun will also have a new experience and feeling for Premier Zhou. The closer Xia Dejun got to Comrade Zhou Enlai, the more he understood why Comrade Zhou Enlai had such achievements, such thoughts, and such deeds. "When you play such a great historical figure, you will find that the difficulties you face now are not bitter. In my past works, I experienced the failure of premier Zhou's negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communists, and I thought that after seeing the dawn, I was suppressed by the Kuomintang... But so what? Until now, China has realized modernization, and the suffering and troughs in our lives are completely a dime compared with them. By playing such a character, you will also learn to look at problems and the world with a more open-minded, optimistic and dialectical eye. Xia Dejun said frankly.
Beijing News reporter Zhang He
Edited by Tong Na Proofreader Li Lijun