Stills from the drama "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes". Courtesy of the crew
On June 2, 2009, the revolutionary war historical drama "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes" premiered on the CCTV TV drama channel. Through 50 episodes, the drama tells the story of the three Yang brothers and sisters from the family of officials and eunuchs, who embarked on three different paths of life in the face of the guns of the Revolution. In the division and integration of the two parties, they experienced the test of fierce winds and waves, stubbornly adhered to their respective beliefs, and often fell into the entanglement of the country, class, family affection, and love, and staged a scene of tragicomedy in the world.
The whole work mainly shows the many revolutionary historical events from 1925 to the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, not only with many characters, but also with a time span of twenty-four years. The audience can follow the development of the plot to return to the historical scene - from the Northern Expedition Revolution to the Nanchang Uprising, from the Agrarian Revolutionary War to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, until the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Nanchang Uprising, the "April 12" Counter-revolutionary Coup, the Jinggangshan Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression", the Long March, the Xi'an Incident, the Lugou Bridge Incident, the Anhui South Incident, the Chongqing Negotiations and the Three Major Battles, the Peaceful Liberation of Hunan, etc., not only profoundly showing various important historical events in the first half of the last century and more than 20 years. It also senses their respective choices in the torrent of history as the fate of the characters in the play changes.
The origin of "the right way in the world is vicissitudes" comes from Beijing
In March 1949, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China entered Xiangshan, and Mao Zedong lived in the Shuangqing Villa. Here, Mao Zedong not only commanded the Battle of Crossing the River, but also prepared for the new CPPCC, prepared for the establishment of a new China, and drafted the "Order for Marching to the Whole Country." Especially on April 23, 1949, after the People's Liberation Army occupied Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government, Mao Zedong, who was pleased to hear the news, wrote the immortal poem "Seven Laws: The People's Liberation Army Occupies Nanjing". And "The right way in the world is vicissitudes" comes from the last sentence of this poem, "If the heavens have feelings and the heavens are old, the right way on earth is vicissitudes." ”
Four months later, on August 25, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong moved out of the Shuangqing Villa. Although it has only been half a year, it has witnessed many historic moments in the transition of the new democratic revolution led by the Communist Party of China from the countryside to the cities, the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the preparations for the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It is completely consistent with the historical node before the founding of the People's Republic of China shown in the drama version of "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes".
The first draft was completed in four months
Jiang Qitao's original novel "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes" is nearly 300,000 words, and finally adapted into a 50-collective TV series, and how to put a huge work on the drama stage and express the connotation of the work clearly within four hours is undoubtedly a major problem that was initially placed in front of the screenwriter Yao Yuan. Yao Yuan recalled that since he put it into creation in the second half of 2020, he spent only four months combing through the original works and writing the complicated modern history from the Beiyang period to the founding of the People's Republic of China in the form of art.
After the completion of the first draft, the size of the script is still nearly 70,000 words, but considering the chinese audience's viewing habits, Yao Yuan can only continue to "endure the pain and cut love", "delete the complicated and simplify" in the process of creation and rehearsal, and constantly polish the script. It is also in this process that Yao Yuan is attracted to the "plump and humane" role of "Dong Jianchang" in the play. In Yao Yuan's view, Dong Jianchang was not a communist, but he was a different kind of person in the Kuomintang. He is both an insider and a bystander, and at the same time he is not stubborn and more in line with the trend of the times, so the phrase "the right way in the world is vicissitudes" is relatively complete in this character.
In the end, he and the director established the role of "Dong Jianchang" as the main line throughout the play.
Zhang Zhijian took the initiative to delete a large number of scenes of "Dong Jianchang"
Viewers who have watched the TV series know that in fact, Zhang Zhijian did not play many scenes in the 50 episodes, according to his recollection, there were actually only 60 scenes, and finally deleted one, but the whole process followed the shooting for four months and nine days, which made him remember for a lifetime.
As the first perspective of the drama version of "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes", when Zhang Zhijian first read the script, he found that the screenwriter added a large number of scenes in the TV series to the role of "Dong Jianchang". In the creation, Zhang Zhijian took the initiative to communicate with the screenwriter and director, hoping to subtract for his role and leave a lot of space and share to other high-light roles.
Zhang Zhijian believes that TV dramas can present more content through lenses, music and various means of expression, and the audience will not look too annoyed, but if there is no communication with the characters on the stage, the audience will not be able to sit still. After receiving the approval of the creator, Zhang Zhijian deleted as many as seven or eight pages of his own scenes on the script.
The stage reunion of the TV series "Original Class" is reunited
It was the crew that first invited Zhang Zhijian, the actor of "Dong Jianchang", to join the drama "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes", and he himself successively issued invitations to Huang Pinyuan and Shi Wenzhong, the actors of "Fan Xiliang" and "Chu Cai" in the TV series, and the three "original class" lineups of the TV series version of that year appeared heavily.
It is worth mentioning that among the three "original cast actors", Zhang Zhijian's father was a cadet of the Eighth Branch of the New Fourth Army against Northern Jiangsu in his early years, and later worked in the Cultural and Labor Corps of the New Fourth Army; Huang Pinyuan's grandfather was Wu Zhenpeng, a revolutionary martyr who was buried in Nanjing Yuhuatai, and it can be said that both of them have red genes flowing through them.
Powerful people and star actors create wonderful performances
In addition to Zhang Zhijian, Huang Pinyuan and Shi Wenzhong's three TV series "Original Class", the joining of star actors such as Zhang Tong, Zeng Li, Wang Jinsong, Niu Piao, and Shi Jingming has also become another major attraction of the drama version of "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes".
With the popularity of the TV series "The Age of Awakening", the image of "Li Dazhao" played by Zhang Tong has been deeply engraved in the hearts of every audience. As a "drama fan" of the TV drama version of that year, after receiving the invitation from Zhang Zhijian, Zhang Tong did not hesitate to agree to play the role of "Yang Liqing". For Zhang Tong, this is the second time in his life to appear on stage to perform a drama, and he can share the stage with so many predecessors, which he said is a rare learning opportunity.
In the drama version, the two "drama bone" level actors who were also specially invited by Zhang Zhijian were Shi Jingming and Wang Jinsong, who respectively starred in the AB group of "Qu En", and at the end of the first half, after the communist party member "Qu En" heroically became righteous, the red light symbolizing the blood of revolutionary heroes soaked the entire stage, making many audiences shed tears.
As a powerful actor of the National Drama Theatre, "Yang Tinghe", played by Niu Piao, vividly interpreted the evaluation of the role "The old man is a man of great wisdom". When a family is torn apart and the country is torn apart, the increasingly old father shows on the one hand the freedom and wisdom of the status quo, and on the other hand, he does his best to embrace the integrity of the family. Zeng Li played the eldest daughter of the "Yang family", "Yang Lihua", in the face of the cruelty and contradictions of the revolution, she wavered and hesitated, the revolutionary enthusiasm gradually withdrew, and finally the family and reunion replaced the class position, she always tried to help her father maintain the success of the family.
More than 300 costumes were used in 57 scenes
As a drama created to "celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China", "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes" is a sophisticated large-scale production. A production team of 120 people, 57 scenes, more than 300 costumes, and more than 200 props complete the narration of the history of the Chinese revolution in the 20th century.
Above the stage, three "fragments" symbolizing distant memories continue to rise and fall with the plot, and in the center of the stage, a turntable with a diameter of 13 meters will constantly change time and space, just as the reflection of the trend of the times, "The right way in the world is vicissitudes" Seven large red characters descend from the "sky", and the stage is full of visual shock.
In terms of costumes, because the plot spans many important historical periods, in order to fully reflect history and restore history, the costumes in the play are as large as a cape and as small as a hat emblem, which reflects the age, occupation and social status of the characters in the play as much as possible.
According to reports, "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes" has more than 200 sets of costumes and more than 300 pieces, and the role of "Yang Lihua" alone has 6 sets of clothing, and some of the costumes also use silk fabrics, adding su embroidery and other handicrafts, from the details to achieve perfection. Due to the compact plot and the rapid pace of time and space transition, the rush to dress up for the whole drama has also become a difficult task, and the costume department composed of 10 people ensures the dressing and appearance of many actors in the play.
Beijing News reporter Liu Zhen
Edited by Tian Kaini Proofreader Zhai Yongjun