In recent years, period dramas can be described as fragrant food in the field of film and television, filming a fire.
From "Great Rivers" and "Mountains and Seas", to the tear-jerking drama "The World" in 2022, to the topical "Our Day" some time ago, every drama is a mess.
Although period dramas are very popular and have a lot of traffic, if they are not filmed well, they will still be complained about or abandoned by the audience.
CCTV's newly broadcast "The Road of Life" is adapted from the classic novel "Life" by writer Lu Yao. The show has a strong lineup, and it has attracted much attention before it has been broadcast. On the day of the premiere, the ratings directly broke 1.
But as the episode was broadcast, the complaining suddenly rose, and the biggest slot was that the plot was seriously tampered with, and there was no half-dime relationship with the original. For example, in the play, the scene where Gao Garin was admitted to college but was replaced by someone did not exist at all in the original work.
The audience complained that this "Gao Garin" was not Lu Yao's Gao Garin, but gold posted for the popularity of the period drama.
Not to mention how the adaptation of the plot ruined the original book and hurt the book fans, Chen Xiao, the actor who played the male protagonist Gao Garin, his acting skills were also "disliked" by the audience, ridiculing him for dressing up black makeup for being close to the role, and also on the hot search for marketing dedication.
In fact, as early as 1984, the movie "Life" starring Zhou Lijing and Wu Yufang was put on the screen.
After its release, because the film showed the sense of distress that Lu Yao wanted to express, it caused a huge response. Until now, the Douban score is still as high as 8.4 points, and ninety percent of netizens have rated four or five stars.
Not only that, Zhou Lijing also exploded for playing the role of Gao Garin, and for a long time, he became the spokesperson of this role.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the editor will compare Chen Xiao and Zhou Lijing, who are also playing Gao Garin, where is their gap?
01. In the face of reality, one has low self-esteem and one is conceited
Lu Yao's novella "Life" tells the tragic life story of Gao Garin, an intellectual youth in rural northern Shaanxi, who has experienced ups and downs and tribulations, and in the end he has lost both love and work.
The same Gogarin in the film version and the drama version, but the characters are very different. They have different interpretations and interpretations in the face of the same reality.
One is high and inferior, the other is arrogant and conceited.
In the movie version of "Life", Zhou Lijing, who played Gao Garin, was a popular star of that era, once more popular than Tang Guoqiang. He has participated in films such as "Night Shanghai" and "Our Field", and has become a rising star in the film industry with his handsome image.
Before the filming of "Life" started, Zhou Lijing went deep into the countryside of northern Shaanxi to experience life in order to play this role well. He ate and lived in a farmhouse, communicated intimately with the farmers, and truly felt and carefully pondered the living environment and psychological journey of Gogarin in that barren area.
Sure enough, under such dedication, Zhou Lijing grasped the character characteristics of Gao Garin well, and he interpreted the stubbornness, stubbornness, confusion, hesitation and helplessness of a rural youth in the face of fate, accurately and in place.
At the beginning of the film, Gogarin, who returned to the countryside, took a hoe to plow the land. He was bare-bodied, his skin tanned, sweaty spots, and his hoe was getting harder and harder each time.
But he did not want to rest, let alone listen to anyone's persuasion, and kept toiling, venting all his anger on the ground until his hands were full of blood blisters.
In this scene, Zhou Lijing will Gao Garin vent his inner dissatisfaction and fight against the injustice of fate, through the fall of the hoe together, vividly interpreted. Across the screen, the audience can feel the anger. I couldn't help but sympathize with him and regret him even more.
There is a scene in the film where Gao Garin goes to the county seat to buy steamed buns, which allows the audience to see Zhou Lijing's solid acting skills.
Carrying a basket, Gogarin walked melancholy on the road, passing by people on bicycles, reflecting his poverty as a clear view.
When he arrived at the county seat, he lowered his head for fear of being recognized by acquaintances. But afraid of what was coming, he was still discovered by his classmates, so he had to lie and say that he came to visit relatives; He came to the market to find a remote corner, put down the basket, wanted to shout but was ashamed to open his mouth, and could only squat there with his head bowed.
At this time, he was in the market, but he was out of place there. Zhou Lijing perfectly interprets Gao Garin's introverted, shy, sensitive and inferior side.
After the release of the movie, Zhou Lijing perfectly portrayed the spirit of Gao Garin, and he achieved a classic image that the role of Gao Garin could not surpass.
On the other hand, in the drama version of "The Road of Life", how does Chen Xiao, who plays Gao Garin, interpret this role?
In recent years, Chen Xiao has completed the transformation from a traffic student to a powerful actor with "Ice Rain and Fire" and "Menghualu". This time he can play the role of Gogarin, and the audience is actually full of expectations for him.
However, at the beginning of the plot, Gao Garin, played by Chen Xiao, rode on the 28 big bar, racing wildly on the rugged ravine, dazzled, and when he arrived at County No. 1 Middle School, the bicycle was casual, the front dart went out, and the people also rushed into the campus.
This cool appearance subverts the character of Gogarin in the original work.
Gao Garin in the original book has a poor family and an introverted and calm personality, but Chen Xiao plays him as an "alternative".
In the play, Gao Garin studied outstandingly, ranked first in the pre-college entrance examination at the county level, and also participated in the college entrance examination oath meeting as a student representative.
He is quick and energetic, not only able to write and martial arts in the class, but also has a flamboyant personality and cheerful personality, and when the father of his classmate Huang Yaping was hospitalized with an acute illness, he drove Huang Yaping through the county town like a gallop, met Huang's father, and chatted with him.
This Gogarin is not simple! Self-confident, sunny and untamed, he gives people the impression that he is a promising young man in the countryside in the new era.
Such a character, which is thousands of miles different from Lu Yao's Gao Garin, the audience is confused, and does not feel the struggle and pain of Gao Garin under the cruel reality.
Moreover, Chen Xiao's grasp of Gao Garin's character is also "not strong enough".
In the play, there is a scene where the Gogarin math exam is not satisfactory and is drenched in the rain.
I saw Chen Xiao sitting on the steps in distraction, allowing the heavy rain to pour all over his body, he was resentful, angry, his face was full of unwillingness and collapse, Chen Xiao rendered that decadent emotion in place, but always felt that he lacked a ruthlessness and stubbornness.
The same is playing Gao Garin, in terms of character, Chen Xiao interprets the conceited and arrogant side of Gao Garin, while Zhou Lijing accurately interprets the inferiority and purity of the character, the character image is more real and the sense of substitution is stronger.
02. Against the background of the same era, one distortion, one vicissitudes
It's just that the personalities of the characters are far apart, and in the context of the era in which the characters live, the two versions also bring different sensory experiences.
The film version is very consistent with the era background described in the original work, and truly and objectively restores the original work. And the environment described in the drama version always makes people feel like they are traveling through, as if "new wine is loaded into an old cup".
The novel "Life" takes place in the early 80s of the 20th century, when everything was in ruins and bicycles were a fashionable item that many families could not afford. Who has a twenty-eight big bar, but also loves and cares like a baby, but the drama version of Gao Garin does not cherish it at all, this unreal performance method makes people instantly lose empathy for this rural baby.
What's more, the heroine Liu Qiaozhen drives a tractor to the west, bold and spicy, fierce and fierce, lacking the gentle, restrained, shy and shy natural beauty of rural women in northern Shaanxi.
These scene settings are far from that era, deviating from the background and economic conditions of the era, making it difficult to have a sense of substitution.
In the play, although the male and female protagonists are dressed very dirty, they are deliberately suspected and very ungrounded. The complexion is too fake, although it is painted black, but the mouth is one, the teeth are frighteningly white, too distorted.
What makes the audience complain the most is that the supporting role in the play is a shui er in the northern Shaanxi dialect, while the male and female protagonists speak standard Mandarin, there is a sense of funny that chickens and ducks talk, and the audience instantly plays.
Not only that, but in terms of clothing, it is also very unconvincing.
Gogarin's clothing is a single blue and yellow color, in line with the characteristics of the times, but the dress is too "decent", there is no patch, and it is completely out of line with the poverty of the family. People do not feel the rural atmosphere of northern Shaanxi at all, but they show a touch of urban ruffianism.
With such an unobtrusive production level, the audience cannot enter the background of the era in which the characters live, and it is difficult to resonate with the characters.
Let's take a look at the effect presented to us by the movie version of "Life", the vicissitudes of the picture have a texture, making people feel a trance in the closed and barren living environment of northern Shaanxi.
At the beginning of the movie, dry land, the sun is like fire, Gao Garin played by Zhou Lijing, standing up with a dark chest, tight pectoralis major muscles, wearing clothes patches with patches, especially the patch on the butt is even more eye-catching, is completely a "post-born baby" who has been baptized by rural life for a long time, in this scene alone, he played the vicissitudes and helplessness of Gao Garin written by Lu Yao.
Because it is real, it is profound and moving.
The rough albatross in the film sounds, and the loess slopes stretch continuously in the shot, giving people a desolate and tragic feeling.
Director Wu Tianming turned Lu Yao's words into classic images through lenses, music and actors' performances, and made a real interpretation of Lu Yao's character states, mountain landscapes and characters' joys, sorrows and sorrows.
For example, in the scene where Qiao Zhen got married, Qiao Zhen sat on the back of a mule with red flowers and a red scarf on her head. The sound of screams, firecrackers, accompanied by festive music, tears dripping from the bright red scarf under the camera, Qiao Zhen used silent crying to portray the sad heart at this moment subtly and movingly.
And Zhou Lijing's grasp of the sad mood of the character Gao Garin is even more accurate.
At the end of the film, Gogarin is reported and sent back to his hometown. He was carrying a futon on his back, and there was a dog skin mattress given to him by Qiao Zhen on the side, and he walked to the place where he had made love with Qiao Zhen, and the song that Qiao Zhen often sang "Ducks in the river and geese in the river, a pair of hairy eyes looking at their brother..." sounded in his ears.
Nowadays, things are different, and Qiao Zhen is no longer waiting for him. Gao Garin's eyes were full of regret and pain, and he pursed his lips, suppressing all the emotions in his heart.
Zhou Lijing interprets the forbearance, despair and pain to the point, making people feel sorry for him and feel that he deserves it.
In this way, in "The Road of Life", Chen Xiao's Gao Garin is far from the environment in the original work, lacking a sense of vicissitudes and heaviness, while Zhou Lijing plays the tragic characteristics of that era.
03. In the background color of the character, one yields, the other is more real
In the original work, Gao Garin's ancestors faced the loess and turned his back to the sky for generations, he was proud and stubborn, and after failing the college entrance examination, he finally got a job as a private teacher, but he was replaced and went home to become a farmer.
Originally, the return of the second uncle brought a turning point for Gao Garin, he returned to the county again and had a decent job, but because he really wanted to change his fate, he faced temptation, abandoned Qiaozhen, and "intervened" in the feelings of others. As a result, it was self-defeating, he was denounced as "going through the back door", and he was once again beaten back to his hometown.
He has the tragic color of that era: because he wants to escape fate, he loses his bottom line and self.
Gogarin's tragic life is both sympathetic and hateful, he is unwilling to be tricked by fate, tries his best but backfires, and is repeatedly defeated by cold reality.
He is very "scum", a realistic version of Chen Shimei, but his fickle and weak is the tragedy of that era, which resonates strongly with the audience.
For such a character, the film version and the drama version interpret a completely different style, one succumbs to the struggle of reality, and the other dares to fight fate.
In the film version, Gao Garin, played by Zhou Lijing, has a strong imprint of the times, he struggles in pain, survives in the mud, as long as there is a glimmer of light, he wants to work hard to capture and try, he wants to break free from the shackles of fate, but always makes wrong choices at critical moments.
Zhou Lijing played the climax of Gao Garin's life in the real environment, which makes people love and hate this role. From this point of view, Zhou Lijing perfectly interprets Lu Yao's Gao Garin, who is struggling between dreams and reality.
But in the drama version of "The Road to Life", the characters in the play just borrowed the name from Lu Yao's original "Life", and the entire character setting has undergone earth-shaking changes.
For example, Gao Garin's life began to interpret from the college entrance examination, he is a "champion" of ten miles and eight towns, full of poetry, intelligent and frank; In the original work, Ma Shuo, who married Liu Qiaozhen, not only became his classmate, but also added the character of "Gao Shuangxing" as his hair boy and classmate, and replaced him in college after the college entrance examination, stealing his life.
From the current plot progression, the character of Gao Garin, played by Chen Xiao, has changed a lot, and the degree of restoration with the original work is extremely low, which is the biggest reason why the original fans do not buy it.
In the play, Gao Garin was tricked by fate one after another, first replaced by his friend Double Star and lost the opportunity to enter the university. Then he lost his qualification to be a teacher because he took the student to the county town and got into a car accident.
Bold speculation that the choreographers of "The Road of Life" want to present a different Gogarin to the audience: change their fate by their own efforts. If nothing else, Gogarin awakened in setbacks, found his position in awakening, and found the value of life in hard work.
In summary, it can be seen that Chen Xiao interprets the more sincere spirit of Gao Garin not succumbing to the arrangement of fate, which may be an adaptation made by the screenwriters to cater to the current values; And Zhou Lijing interpreted Gao Garin's helplessness of "heart is higher than the sky and life is thinner than paper", loyal to the original work, so that the audience can accept it more.
In fact, the former is not a bad adaptation, if you look at an ordinary period drama, this drama still has its own characteristics, but once the title of IP adaptation, coupled with pearl jade in front, such a large change, can only make people feel that they do not respect the original, do not respect the author, and do not respect history.
04. Conclusion
The drama version of "The Road of Life" and the film version of "Life" are far from each other in terms of plot, character or ending, and the two actors who played Gogarin also showed different character characteristics.
Zhou Lijing's performance of Gao Garin is high, forbearing, and inferior, with a sense of vicissitudes consistent with that era; And Chen Xiao interpreted Gao Garin's conceit and unwillingness, he did not compromise with fate and actively made changes.
Character determines destiny, and because of this, the two Gogarins made different choices in different versions.
Lu Yao once wrote in a book: "Although the road of life is long, there are often only a few steps at the critical point, especially when people are young. ”
Whose life does not hesitate. Life is like a play, some choices, one wrong step.
Lu Yao's "Life" tells us that life cannot go smoothly, but there is no complete desperate situation, and some are just people who are stuck in a desperate situation and cannot find an exit.
Now that the drama version has reappeared, no matter how effective it is, I hope that this spirit will still bring us inspiration and motivation.
As for whether Chen Xiao can "whitewash" Gao Garin? Let's wait and see!
——END——
【Author|Yixuan】
【Editor|Zhiyu】
![Novel Serial - "Life" Sequel (1)[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)