Can we make "The Three-Body Problem" well?
Since the last one was officially published in 2010, in the past 13 years, countless readers and science fiction enthusiasts have asked this question: Is it really possible for Liu Cixin, a Hugo Award-winning science fiction masterpiece, to be filmed and filmed well?
It is also because of this that the TV series "Three-Body Problem", which was broadcast on CCTV eight sets and Tencent Video on January 15, aroused extraordinary attention: in one hour of its launch, the popularity of Tencent Video Station exceeded 25,000, becoming the fastest drama to exceed 20,000 popularity, and also broke the record of the first-day popularity value of platform dramas in one fell swoop. At the same time, discussions about the "Three-Body Problem" TV series also frequently appear on social platforms. Audiences from all walks of life participated in the discussion, and more than 150 hot search topics such as plot, characters, and special effects proved that people's expectations and desire for discussion of this work were extremely high.
So, is there an answer to that question that haunts everyone's mind?
After brushing 5 episodes, we will explain it in detail for you.
Faithful to the original, book fans are relieved
IP dramas are difficult to shoot, and world-class high-attention IP such as "The Three-Body Problem" is even more difficult to shoot - a huge number of book fans will first chase the drama with questions: Is the adaptation reliable?
Judging from the 5 episodes currently aired, the TV series is rigorous enough, and it is almost filmed word by word according to the original work. Whether it is the classic line "physics does not exist" left by the bizarre suicidal scientist, or the terrifying picture of the countdown in front of the eyes of nanoscientist Wang Miao, and Wang Miao's witness to the grand scene of "the universe flashing for you", every scene in the play can find an accurate correspondence in the book, and lines such as "don't answer" and "evil will have ghosts at home" also make book fans boil instantly. As a Douban high praise comment said, the TV series made the "wisest choice", "directly cut the book, the lines and scenes are all in order." The original fan breathed a sigh of relief".
At the same time, for those viewers who have not seen "The Three-Body Problem", the TV series is not obscure. In the first episode, Wang Miao was invited to the Special Operations Center, and the news of the suicide of many famous physicists immediately aroused the curiosity of the audience. Immediately afterwards, the "shooter hypothesis" and "farmer hypothesis" presented in the animation are also concise and easy to understand, making people unconsciously follow the plot to start a deeper thinking: If there really is an alien civilization with scientific and technological strength that completely crushes the earth, how should human beings deal with themselves?
In addition, many details in the play also enhance the audience's sense of closeness: from the various publicity on the eve of the 2007 Beijing Olympics, to the Nokia straight mobile phone used by Wang Miao and Shi Qiang, and the simple dress of the young and middle-aged Ye Wenjie when working in the construction corps, who doesn't praise a sentence of "grounded"?
From this point of view, the performance of the "Three-Body Problem" TV series so far can be called "quite stable", which not only allows fans of the original book to immerse themselves in it, but also opens the door for more audiences to enjoy science fiction works.
The casting is good, and the acting skills are all online
With a good adaptation foundation, the next question is, how are the actors performing?
Wang Miao, a nanoscientist played by Zhang Luyi, is the heaviest character in the current series. In the time of five episodes, Zhang Luyi has established a sensitive and fragile but rational and strong image with superb acting skills. From the confusion at the beginning, to the panic of the sudden countdown in front of him, to the determination to bravely face and break into the "scientific boundary" organization, Zhang Luyi grasped Wang Miao's mental change just right, and the classic scene of "the universe flashes for you" was also restored with a sense of immersion.
Yu Hewei plays Shi Qiang, which is more breakthrough. In the original work, this is an old policeman who is five big and three thick but delicate, and many people have worried that Yu Hewei is an ordinary figure, can he really restore the history of "full of flesh"? Not to mention, Yu Heweizhen restored the spirit of the characters and connected the work with earthly qi. Especially in a scene where Shi Qiang and Wang Miao eat breakfast at a pop belly restaurant, he fills Wang Miao with three cups and two pots, unceremoniously complains that the shopkeeper "sesame sauce is too salty", and his calm and relaxed posture suddenly pulls people back from the fear of the unknown to the hot fireworks life.
Although Ye Wenjie, the young and old people who have attracted much attention, do not have many scenes, they are definitely the most eye-catching existence. Ye Wenjie, a young man played by Wang Ziwen, calmly deciphered the "don't reply" message at the beginning, but she still pressed the red button of the launch coordinates, and the cold, desperate and complex setting made people think. And the elderly Ye Wenjie, who has always been considered the "best casting", has also achieved a very high degree of completion under the interpretation of powerful actor Chen Jin: she looks out the window indifferently, and her deep performance of almost a tear at her daughter's funeral is amazing.
In addition, the serious Chang Weisi (played by Lin Yongjian), the mysterious Shen Yufei (played by Li Xiaoran), and the desperate Yang Dong (played by He Dujuan) also have their own characteristics. Especially Lin Yongjian, who is usually known for his comedy works, his interpretation of Chang Weisi is deep and restrained, not angry and self-threatening, and has also won the audience's recognition.
There is ingenuity and patience
The difficulty of creating science fiction works is not only in adaptation and casting, but also in whether it can truly create a vast imaginary world and lead the audience to open their brains together.
Judging from the content that has been broadcast so far, the "Three-Body Problem" TV series has worked the sense of atmosphere. On the one hand, the main creator makes extensive use of real scenes, observation towers, observatories, laboratories and other scenes give the audience a strong sense of immersion; On the other hand, scenes that highlight the imagination, such as the "Three-Body Problem" game, are produced using dynamic capture and CG, and have a texture that is not inferior to a blockbuster movie.
Judging from the trailer that has been exposed, there are still many big scenes in the TV series waiting for the audience to review. For example, the "Guzheng Action" of using nanowires to instantly cut a ship is a difficult picture that has never been shown in previous film and television dramas. It is revealed that the main creators first used an extruder to extrude the steel piece by piece, and then combined it for welding. What kind of visual spectacle the TV series will present is exciting.
Of course, the steady performance of the "Three-Body Problem" TV series is also worth thinking about in the industry.
The first time the outside world heard about the filmization of "The Three-Body Problem" was at the 2016 Tencent Video Film and Television Annual Release. Since then, the play has spent three or four years of preliminary preparation and script planning, and has more than a dozen versions of revisions before finally establishing the creative direction. After that, the crew spent more than a year polishing and preparing the script, and even did it for three years in the post.
Also adapted from Liu Cixin's work, a "The Wandering Earth" has brought Chinese science fiction movies to a new level, will the "Three-Body Problem" TV series open a new stage of domestic science fiction drama creation? Perhaps, we can wish so.