Cinema in October, very lively.
First of all, the National Day file, a "Chosin Lake" supported the entire file period, although the National Day has ended, but the residual heat of the movie is still there.
Up to now, the total box office of "Chosin Lake" has exceeded 4.1 billion.
And this is only the prelude to the cinema film in the whole October, and the next half of the month, the cinema is really lively.
There are not only the strong appearances of Hollywood blockbusters "007" and "Dune", but also the new domestic directors that fans have been waiting for for a long time, and the first to take over the baton is the fantasy epic film released on October 15, directed by Zheng Xiaolong
Turandot: The Origin of the Spell.
Compared with the name of film director, Zheng Xiaolong is more familiar with his title of "godfather of TV dramas".
From the crowded "Longing" to "The Story of the Editorial Department" to "Beijingers in New York", "Never Give Up", "Golden Wedding", and "The Biography of Zhen Huan", which has won numerous awards and is popular all over the world, there is no doubt that Zheng Xiaolong is very good at making TV dramas.
But he's actually very good at making movies.
Before "Turandot", Zheng Xiaolong had only one film work, that is, "Gua Sha" 20 years ago.
The film takes the misunderstanding caused by the Gua Sha therapy of Chinese medicine as the main line, telling the story of the Chinese people abroad due to the conflict between Eastern and Western cultures, and finally because of people's sincerity and love, the dilemma is finally broken.
Zheng Xiaolong invited Liang Jiahui and Jiang Wenli to shoot this story of the collision of Eastern and Western cultures, and received 3 nominations.
After many years, Zheng Xiaolong has once again directed the movie, from the actors to the story, this movie has shown great ambition, Zheng Xiaolong is going to be "fierce" this time!
Those who are familiar with director Zheng Xiaolong know that the reason why his works often explode is that he has caught three "life doors".
Good actors, willing to spend money, script line.
Let's talk about it one by one.
First, the actors are good.
"Turandot: The Origin of the Spell" has been released since the first version of the trailer, and the cast is the most discussed by everyone, because it is too hard to believe.
First of all, the supporting cast, there is the French rose Sophie Marceau who became popular overnight with the youth romance film "First Kiss";
French lover Vincent Perez, who has been nominated for the Palme d'Or several times;
There are also heavyweight big names Jiang Wen and Hu Jun, Jiang Wen has not cooperated with director Zheng Xiaolong for many years after "Beijingers in New York", and this is also his first time to appear in a film directed by Zheng Xiaolong.
Hu Jun's joining is his second cooperation with Zheng Xiaolong after 11 years after 2010's "Golden Wedding".
And Guan Xiaotong, who has been selected by nearly 9,000 actresses in the global audition, in order to meet the role setting.
Princess Turandot, played by Guan Xiaotong, is a princess who is haunted by magic and needs some aura and a divine form.
Judging from the trailer, she did portray a cursed princess in a similar way.
Whether it is a sword with "blue eyes" or a picture of weaving cloth in the palace, she will show a contradictory princess very well.
Second, be willing to spend money.
As we all know, Zheng Xiaolong's works are expensive.
When filming "Beijingers in New York" in the 1990s, in order to ensure the authenticity, the entire drama was filmed in New York, and the cost budget of $1.5 million spent on the filming of the series was still Zheng Xiaolong's own bank to get it.
In the 2007 filming of "Golden Wedding", tens of thousands of props were used in the play, and the newspaper alone produced a total of 100 photos of two sheets a year, and the heroine Wen Li's clothes were as many as 120 pieces.
The costume drama "The Biography of Zhen Huan", exquisite costume modeling, intricate jewelry headdress, the total price of up to millions.
In "Red Sorghum", Zhou Xun played more than 30 sets of Jiu'erguang costumes.
This time the fantasy epic blockbuster "Turandot: The Origin of the Spell" is the same.
The film tells the story of Princess Turandot being cursed by a three-colored bracelet, and in order to rescue the princess who is possessed by the spell, the emperor searches the world to find someone who can break the spell.
Simply put, this is a main scene in the Central Plains, but it involves a huge story of countries around the world, and there are more than 20 countries involved in the film alone, and these characters have their own national costumes and costumes.
In the trailer, the scene of the coming of the nations can be seen that the movie spent a lot of money.
In addition, in the construction of the main scenes, the crew also did a very fine job.
As an important scene in the film, the main hall of the imperial palace almost restores the columns and stairs built entirely of pure wood, and the unique Chinese bucket arch structure is used in it.
These designs are a little bit of the director and crew to figure out, since Turandot is telling an Oriental story, then the presentation must be the oriental aesthetics, not the western golden splendor.
Therefore, it can also be seen in the trailer that in the natural log hall, brick by brick, wall and screen are all integrated with the beauty of traditional classical.
There is also this show of the way the loom looks when working, which is also extremely shocking.
Third, the story line.
Of course, in the final analysis, whether it is a movie or a TV series, whether a film and television drama work is good or not, the key is still in the story.
The screenwriter of "Turandot: The Origin of the Spell" is Zheng Xiaolong's old partner and wife Wang Xiaoping.
The story was conceived by the two of them very early, as early as the filming of "Gua Sha", a friend proposed to the two that the opera "Turandot" could be adapted to the big screen in the form of an oriental story.
But at that time, Wang Xiaoping and Zheng Xiaolong felt that the whole story lacked logic and was not suitable for the big screen, but they did not completely abandon the story.
Until one day, they found the key item "Tricolor Bracelet" and decided to use this object to connect the whole story, which led to the story prototype of "Turandot: The Origin of the Spell", "Tricolor Bracelet".
Although the film shares the same name as the opera Turandot, one of the works of the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, the plot framework refers to one of the world-famous "One Thousand and One Nights", "The Story of Caraf and the Chinese Princess".
The story of the film has two main lines, one is the struggle around the humanity of the "tricolor bracelet", and the other is the love line between the princess and the "blue eyes".
The tricolor bracelet comes from an exotic land, corresponding to these three puzzles, the princess of the khanate mistakenly wears the tricolor bracelet, unfortunately caught in the evil curse.
The three bracelets represent the beauty, wisdom and power that everyone craves.
If three bracelets are worn on a person's hand at the same time, it will produce unimaginable divine power, but the spell will also be awakened.
The bloodthirsty tricolor becomes more and more rampant, and when the spell is demented, the princess will fall into madness and there is no medicine to save.
Calaf, an orphan who had wandered to the khanate since childhood, met and admired the princess, and because of sympathy for Turandot's plight, Karaf spared no expense to save his sweetheart, but did not know that the spell was closely related to his mysterious origin.
Outside the love line between the two, the imperial royal family also set off a bloody storm because of the spell.
The murderous general wants to use the power of the tricolor bracelet to seek power, and the monarch is on the verge of breaking out, and several forces are gradually swept into the center of the vortex because of the curse of doom.
Although it is a fantasy movie, Wang Xiaoping and Zheng Xiaolong have not given up the "realistic attitude" that they have always maintained in their previous film and television works, and the two story lines in the film are saying that they are "pursuing the glory of human nature".
Therefore, behind the scene that seems to be the prince saving the princess, it is actually a depiction of the eternal theme of love, which is also an exploration of human nature and desire.
This is also the core that this oriental fantasy fairy tale love story wants to convey.
It should be emphasized that, in addition to the fact that although there are foreign actors in the cast, Turandot: The Origin of the Spell is not a co-production.
The reason why this is mentioned in particular is because the core of the story is still a story about the collision of Eastern and Western cultures.
Such a story really deserves the luxurious lineup of this movie.
For the fantasy epic blockbuster, there are few pure Chinese products in China, and this time "Turandot: The Origin of the Spell" has made a good start, and I believe it can bring us surprises.
Bluestone Film Editorial Office | Old Meng
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