Many people may not imagine that the classic TV series "Soldier Assault" broadcast in 2006 has been 15 years since today. The classic scene of "Soldier Assault" in 15 years is still in front of our eyes, and the film is still one of the most highly rated and most popular domestic dramas among young people on major online platforms. What is even more valuable is that "Soldier Assault" has always been the best conscription propaganda film, inspiring generations of aspiring young people to defect to the barracks and defend their families and the country. In Oriental Satellite TV's "Drama Yao Oriental DRAMA Quality Ceremony", actors Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Guoqiang, Xing Jiadong, director Kang Honglei and other main creators of the crew reunited to pay tribute to the martyr Xiao Siyuan and his comrades-in-arms who died in the Sino-Indian border conflict. Observer Network interviewed director Kang Honglei, recalled the details of the creation of TV series with him, and discussed various phenomena and problems in today's film and television market.
【Interview/Observer Network New】
"Soldier" is the cultural self-confidence of Chinese
Observer Network: Hello Kang. Although the premiere of "Soldier Assault" has been 15 years since today, it is still very popular and highly discussed on major platforms, and it is a classic that many young friends will revisit and savor every once in a while. As a director, what do you think makes this film so attractive?
Kang Honglei: First of all, I think the success of "Soldier Assault" is a proof of our Chinese cultural self-confidence and cultural revival. At the same time, it is also the full recognition of China's young audiences for their excellent personality.
The reason why many viewers will take "Soldier Assault" out from time to time to relive, because the excellent personality and character that surged in this story are immutable, although it is hidden deeper in this era, but it has always been there.
In today's transition society, such an era of commodity economy, young people will be confused in the face of reality, will also have bitterness, will not find the direction, will also take out the soldiers to look at, in fact, they are looking at themselves, cheering themselves up, so that they have the courage to face yesterday may not want to face everything. I think the charm of the soldier assault is that its spiritual core can help people in difficulties and wandering, especially young people, find their way.
Oriental Satellite TV", "Soldier Assault" tribute to the family of the martyrs of Shubian program video
The character of Xu Sanduo is a portrayal of the Chinese in an agricultural civilization, and his growth is a victory for the excellent culture in China's agricultural civilization, and I think it is also a victory for China as an ancient agricultural civilization that can be compared, competed with and borrowed from other civilizations in the world. The strength of personality displayed in Xusanduo and Gangqilian is our own cultural self-confidence that we can show in the entire world film and television culture.
Observer Network: So there are many people who say that "Soldier Assault" is an "adult fairy tale", it is realistic, it is more freehand.
Kang Honglei: As an artistic expression, film and television works use the truth of art to impress the audience, and use artistic images to infect the audience, everything is for art and for the service of this play, there is no difference between realism and freehand. So all the truth in this play is an artistic reality, but this reality also comes from life.
Xu Sanduo embodies the excellent qualities nurtured by this farming civilization (Source: film and television stills)
Regarded as the "worst recruit", Wang Baoqiang was trained to autism
Observer Network: You mentioned that "Soldier Assault" is an artistic reality derived from life, as an audience we can clearly feel that the "soldiers" in this drama give people a particularly real feeling, from the lead actor Wang Baoqiang to a series of supporting roles such as squad leader Shi Jin, squad deputy Wu Liuyi, seventh company commander Zhang Guoqiang, etc., all give people a strong sense of substitution and the intimacy of the children. How did this work?
Kang Honglei: A good work first comes from a good play. Our screenwriter, Comrade Lan Xiaolong, has a deep understanding of the army and the lives of soldiers. He left the army for more than 6 months to create such an excellent work as "Soldier Assault". Therefore, I think that "Soldier Assault" can write soldiers really and sincerely, first of all, and the greatness of the screenwriter, and the screenwriter's feelings for soldiers.
Secondly, I think that for the creators, to do a good job in the theme of military service, it is necessary to always pay reverence to contemporary soldiers, especially grass-roots soldiers, these most lovely people, to look at them with reverence, to feel that this is a meaningful thing, and from the bottom of their hearts, they are willing to sing praises for them, do things for them, and write for them their lives in the border desert and defending their families and the country.
Moreover, all the actors in our drama are sent down to the grass-roots company to experience life, which is the way that artistic creation must experience. At that time, our group of actors was sent to the special forces, much more rigorously than the training of ordinary soldiers.
As far as I know, Wang Baoqiang was scolded by the cadres who led the team on the first day he went. Because Wang Baoqiang was sent to the recruit company at that time, we did not disclose his identity, so the squad leader did not know that he was an actor, thinking that he was just a recruit trained from another company. As a result, a training found that the quality of this "soldier" was so poor, so the squad leader became angry and embarrassed, transferred him out to train alone, and scolded him for his bloody head. As a result, Wang Baoqiang spent the first day of his army's experience life in extreme humiliation, extreme loneliness, and dazedness.
Through such a special experience, the actors can't help but feel the environment of the army, which must be capable, must obey discipline, and must not be left behind.
In the TV series, Xu Sanduo, who has just arrived at the recruit company (Image source: Douban)
In the 15-day experiential life, every actor in "Soldier Assault" was given the kind of psychological experience, environmental experience and skill experience that every actor in "Soldier Assault" - after all, they are not soldiers - in society and in the film and television circle. So when they showed up on my crew, everyone had a soldier's look in their eyes. At least they put on their uniforms like people in military uniforms, without giving the audience a kind of actor who just takes off their suits and puts on military uniforms.
Sure enough, in the later shooting, each of our actors, like Li Chen, Xing Jiadong, Zhang Guoqiang, Not to mention Zhang Yi, he was originally a soldier, when filming "Soldier Assault" or active service, in such a situation, they played the excellent style of veterans in the army. Our film crew is not only a film crew, but also like a paramilitary unit, providing such an environment for the actors, plus the actors experience life, the script itself is also written about these, and several of them are well reflected in the scenes in Lan Xiaolong's script. I think that's the compelling intrinsic factor of Soldier Assault.
Observer Network: So how did you, as a director, learn about military life?
Kang Honglei: We know about it every year. Every year I would find an opportunity to go to the most basic company, even if I had to go for a walk. My purpose is that I want to write about them, I want to praise them, which is something I have wanted to do for many years, and since I want to do it, I have to do a lot of preparation in advance.
Just like the current sino-Indian border conflict in the Galwan Valley, which is the farthest and farthest frontier, what the martyrs Chen Hongjun, Xiao Siyuan, and Chen Xiangrong rely on depends on the excellent spiritual inheritance, collectivism, and responsibility of defending the country Chinese the units of the People's Liberation Army. Without this sense of responsibility and responsibility, without long-term training, you may not be able to rush up at critical moments.
Chinese soldiers are not just a job, but a kind of blood, a kind of courage, and a responsibility integrated into the soul. It must come from long-term training and long-term trust between people, so that you can produce such a courage that allows you to take your hand and stand up at key moments. You can't experience such feelings at the grassroots level, how can you see it, how can you find it? It is certainly not okay to sit at home, you must go to the grass-roots troops, because life there is fiery. When the actors experience life, I'm ready.
"Traffic" is just to make a roar, no quality on what to look at you?
Observer Network: However, we see that in the current wave of entertainment industry business, such a solid creation is becoming more and more rare, replaced by assembly line "fast food" products, do you worry that the working style and literary and artistic work tradition you mentioned above will be abandoned, replaced by a high degree of commercialization, or even a "traffic economy"?
Kang Honglei: I'm not worried at all. I think that with the maturity of commercialization, the industry will need more "craftsman spirit" - ten years of grinding a sword, in order to make the best and most accurate products, it will definitely not be flashy. Nowadays, ordinary people want real things, and the same is true for works of art, especially movies. With the passage of time, the degree of industrialization is getting higher and higher, and the industrialization requirements must be precise, if there is no rich experience, solid foundation and superb craftsmanship, how can you make a work that makes these young people who are nourished by world cinema today recognize? Do you think that by "shaking your wit" you can make young audiences identify with you? That's impossible.
So I think young directors may have a harder time than we did back then. Because they must know more about going deep into life, going to the front line to grasp first-hand information, and then using their technical means to present a Chinese film and television work that makes today's audiences, especially young audiences, and even world audiences recognize.
The phenomena you have just mentioned are, I think, short-lived. Such problems arise when a country moves towards the market during a period of transition. I don't think you should panic, when the Great Depression was in the United States, there were not many shameful things. Our society is developing, we must use the perspective of development to see, deception can not last long, fraudsters will be included in the "list of untrustworthy people", forcing you to be honest.
Artistic creation is the same reason, forcing young directors to grasp first-hand information, forcing young screenwriters to devote themselves to a fiery life, you can collect the life that is closely connected with the depths of our hearts and comes to life. Now that the box office of movies is getting higher and higher, these tickets are bought by the audience with money in their pockets, why watch your movie? By traffic? Not necessarily.
Observer Network: But what we see is that the current TV drama market has become the mainstream, the market has sunk, and the traffic has become the baton. Maybe you spend a lot of energy and a lot of time to make a good work, not as good as a drama with a more childish and brainless plot can make money? It seems that there are more and more "bad dramas", and the frequency of good dramas is getting lower and lower.
Kang Honglei: I'm not worried at all, I think we have to allow this phenomenon. Our society is developing, the Internet is a new type of carrier, you always have to allow a beginning, there must always be "traffic"; but do not forget, fight to the end, into the "endurance race", the fight is always personality, is the character, is the story. Just like a new product comes out, there will be a lot of advertising, but the most important thing to survive depends on quality.
Now it's just the beginning of an era, and we always have to open it well, make a shout, and attract everyone to look here. Web drama has only just started a few years, whether the Internet will completely replace the traditional media we have to see, but there is no doubt that the Internet is a platform for young people, young people also want to get something nutritious, and this nutrition should be continuous. An artistic product must be nutritious because it is a spiritual product.
In addition to raising eyeballs, you also have to cultivate your thoughts, your heart, and your personality, right? It must be so. Now young people are very hard, who wants to do 12 hours of work in 996, go home and lie on the bed with wifi, pick up a tablet to look at one or two things, and the result is still messy - your suffering in this is not as good as in my life, why should I look at you? Your exposition of life is not as good as my freshman's understanding, why should I look at you?
So the traffic must be temporary, and in the end, do you still have to rely on real talent? Aren't all the actors and comrades like this? How many years can you flow the youthful appearance of an actor, and can you live with you for a lifetime? In the end, we still have to rely on strength to speak. What is strength? It is your perception of a rich life, the mastery of your artistic skills, and the harmony of cooperation between your actors and actors.
The phenomenon of "traffic economy" does exist, but we are not in a hurry, we should have tolerance. But I especially believe that it will eventually return to the content, to the nature of artistic creation. So we don't have to collide with traffic, we always bow our heads and walk on the road of realism, when we come back, we can tell a more pure and beautiful story, and the technique will be more refined.
"Soldier Department" Why Cows? Because we only choose the right one, not the expensive one
Observer Network: Let's go back to "Soldier Assault", this drama not only brings you a classic of the times, but also sends a large number of outstanding actors to the Chinese film and television industry, not only the protagonist Wang Baoqiang, but also a number of supporting roles such as Chen Sicheng, Zhang Yi, Duan Yihong, Zhang Guoqiang, Xing Jiadong and so on, which also became popular and became the backbone of the Mesozoic male actors, who were known as the "soldier department". What do you think has created the "soldier" male actor group, and what are their commonalities and personalities?
Kang Honglei: These actors who became famous through "Soldier Assault", I think their commonality is first of all that they have interpreted the chinese cultural self-confidence through their superb acting skills, won the highest recognition of countless Chinese audiences, and became their fans. To speak of personality, each of us actors has a personality. When choosing actors, we insisted on "only choosing the right ones, not expensive ones".
"Soldier Department" has become the common name of a group of outstanding actors (Image source: Network)
For example, Wang Baoqiang, the actor we provided to the casting director team at that time asked for a sentence of "red lips and white teeth, a smile and a mouthful of big white teeth", so Wang Baoqiang came. Second, Wang Baoqiang's growth experience and Xu Sanduo have a very high degree of similarity, so when the actors and characters suddenly approach at a certain node, this is a terrible thing, the floodgates of art and the floodgates of life will suddenly open at the same time, and the two torrents converge in a channel, becoming a nutritious trickle of spring water that everyone wants to see. Xu Sanduo was born in this way, and the actors and characters were extremely well-matched, so Wang Baoqiang contributed such a good character, a very high-level performance.
There are many such textbook high-level performances in Soldier Assault. For example, Wu Liuyi of the Seventh Steel Company, his leg was broken during the training, such an excellent soldier in that era of professionalism means that so many years of hard work are completely finished, his friends around him together to help him think of a way, under the mediation of Gao Cheng, the commander of the Seventh Steel Company, let him be a director. It was said to be a good thing, but as a result, Wu Liuyi did not buy it, he believed that "there are crippled soldiers in the army", insisted on leaving, and was unwilling to smear the troops. So there was a fierce conflict, and finally Gao Cheng hit him in the face with a big mouth, and the two of them hugged and cried. In reality, this scene touched many people, and many viewers said that they liked this kind of iron bone. There is also a scene, when Wu Liuyi is injured, and the short Xu Sandu carries the tall Wu Liuyi step by step to the end, the feeling is called a friend.
For example, the character of Chengcai also left a deep impression. In fact, Chengcai and Xu Sanduo are the same person, they are the AB side of a person. They come from a village, but their personalities and personalities are completely different. Chengcai is full of contemporary "technicality" and superficial sociability, while Xu Sanduo is full of primitive, authentic and even unconfident taste, but he has a lot of excellent cultural genes and personalities hidden in his body, which slowly ignites the excellent qualities bred in the long river of culture in the military environment, and the "technicality" of Chengcai is becoming more and more inseparable with the development of human interaction. In society, in what way we exist and what kind of way we deal with people, is a problem that every young person must face in every young person.
Chengcai and Xu Sanduo are the AB side of human nature (Image source: video screenshot)
Therefore, this group of actors can get the recognition of the audience, it is the characters who help, rely on the characters, rely on the story, rely on their temperament close to the characters to be remembered by people, have fans. If the actor is close to this character, he can come, and if he is not close, he cannot come.
You can't look at the "traffic" like many actors who choose to play now, as long as the actor has traffic, whether it is suitable or not, people have to come; as a result, people come, but they destroy the work. A play, not to be self-congratulatory, always have to be "advanced". "Traffic" does represent value today, but there are some characters he is not suitable for. Many young people have not learned the pace of costume dramas, you let him put on a robe to play the ancients, he will not walk, although we have not experienced ancient life, but we have perception, it is not that taste, it weakens our experience of watching movies.
In "Soldier Assault", for example, Wu Zhe, played by Li Chen, is a highly educated naval technician with a city background. Li Chen himself likes to study industrial technology, machinery, automobiles, and models, and likes new things. Zhang Yi himself was experiencing leaving the army at that time, and was struggling with whether to stay in the army as a cadre or leave the army to continue his career as an actor. At that time, he was very entangled, and the scene where he played Shi Jin's retirement happened to be his retirement on the same day, and when the car passed through Tiananmen Square, Zhang Yi cried loudly, and the helplessness and attachment could not be said whether it was himself or the character. This scene became one of the most classic and tear-jerking scenes in Soldier Assault.
All in all, the actors are right, and a play is half successful.
Shi Jin's last wish before retiring from the army was to see Tiananmen Square (Image source: video screenshot)
Engage in CP? Delay the drama? I love the soldier fans
Observer Network: Soldier Assault spawned a series of interesting phenomena after the fire, many of which may be beyond your expectations. For example, this drama without emotional drama and full male characters has attracted a large number of female fans, brought a large number of online fandom creations based on this film, and even many authors have formed CP of the characters in it to create a "beautiful" theme story. Recently, it was reported that a fan fiction originally based on the relationship between the characters of "Soldiers", "Kirin", will be tv-seriesed, what do you think of this?
Kang Honglei: I think the biggest market for film and television works is unique. There are no female characters in the environment and the course of the story in which "Soldier Assault" is located, so I did not think of human intervention, I had to join female characters, I think it is more important to conform to the laws of artistic creation, to be natural.
As for being loved by so many female audiences, I didn't expect it at first. In fact, in my eyes, whether it is a male audience or a female audience, it is the same audience. Analyzing what male audiences and female audiences like to see, I think it is the matter of the theorists, as a creator, we must respect the audience, but in the process of creation, we should not think too much about the audience.
For the secondary creation and adaptation you mentioned, I think as long as it is conducive to the development of Chinese film and television, as long as the adapted things have nutrition, promote the needs of the audience, and promote the beauty of the united states, CP, such as how to adapt I think it is a good thing. When we were in school, the teacher also asked us to adapt famous works, because these works are very literary. Strong literature, good character portrayal, why not adapt? Whether you say CP, online literature, or beauty, including "Qilin" are derived from this, it is the public's understanding of the characters from the perspective of further, on this basis to adapt some excellent works, more in line with the current taste, there is nothing wrong.
I took the initiative to ask for "Winter and the Lion", Lan Xiaolong's script is so beautiful
Observer Network: The last question, which is also very much looking forward to by the majority of film fans, what is the current progress of the TV series "Winter and lions" on the theme of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that you and Teacher Lan Xiaolong have cooperated with again, and what kind of story will be presented to the audience?
"Winter and the Lion" tells the story of the Volunteer Army to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (Source: Douban)
Kang Honglei: This drama started on February 20th, in fact, last year we were almost ready, because the epidemic was too serious, we were forced to postpone it until after this year. Due to the requirements of the producer, the specific details are not easy to disclose too much, but there are a few aspects that I am very willing to share with you.
First of all, this is a war drama, I am full of confidence in this drama, and I have done a lot of desk preparation. Teacher Lan Xiaolong's script was very beautifully written, and I took the initiative to ask Miao to get this opportunity to direct. Secondly, I think this TV series is the most difficult TV series to make in China at present, because it is a highly industrialized TV series, testing from producers to producers, to directors, to the entire team, and even to our actors, testing the industrial consciousness and industrial synergy of each of us. Only when these links are passed, can this TV series be filmed well.
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