The whole network argues for "Ask the Boundless"
On January 4, the 32-episode TV series "Ask the Boundless" ended on CCTV 1 and Mango TV and other platforms. Hunan Satellite TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV are still on the air, and at the same time, CCTV has arranged for rebroadcasts. Since the launch of CCTV on December 12, 2023, the show has a big data share of 10.835% in the CVB General Administration, ranking first among all channels in the country, Hunan Satellite TV has ranked first in provincial satellite TV, with a total of 597 million broadcasts on all ports of Mango TV, and 600 million viewers across all media. The high degree of media attention, the heat of the topic, the good response from all walks of life, and the high score of the professional platform have formed a trend of annual phenomenal dramas. Xinhua News Agency listed the drama as the first TV series in the 2023 annual review of propaganda, ideological and cultural work, and more than 1,800 reports and comments were published by major mainstream media. Experts and scholars such as Zhong Chengxiang, Wang Yichuan, Lv Fan, Yang Chenghu, Leng Song, Chen Liqiang, Yang Yi, Zhang Bin and other experts and scholars have written articles for affirmation. In particular, in addition to the mainstream media and elites, the show has gained super high attention on the Internet and among young people, and many online creators and UP owners have left the stage, with 4 billion topics read on the whole network, including 1.1 billion on Douyin and 440 million on Weibo. #Look at the vast sky and don't dare to fast forward for a second#,#Tonight's tears are given to ask the boundless#,#The family affection in the vast is so touching#...... Young people spontaneously chase, comment, and push dramas to form a craze, which can be called the whole network to argue for "Ask the Boundless". Zhihu has a score of 9.0 and a Douban score of 8.7, ranking second in the Weibo drama list......
Why did you want to shoot "Ask the Boundless"
"Asking the Boundless" is a work planned and produced by Hunan Radio, Film and Television Group (Hunan Radio and Television Station), invested and controlled, and produced by Dangran Pictures, Xiaoying Group, a subsidiary of Hunan Radio and Television. In 2021, when the various activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China were still going on, we thought that December 26, 2023 is the 130th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong. But which part to shoot is quite difficult to consider. Mao Zedong's life was magnificent and vigorous. The film and television works that reflect Mao Zedong are full of sweat and good works. In the end, we decided to write about Mao Zedong after the founding of the party in 1921 and before he went to Jinggangshan in 1927. During this period, Mao Zedong went from a believer in Marxism to an experienced professional revolutionary, from a revolutionary idealist to a revolutionary doer, from an ordinary party representative to a leader who embarked on the road of "encircling the city from the countryside and seizing power by force". The existing film and television works have not been written in the past six years, so "Ask the Boundless" has the role of filling in the gaps and completing the puzzle in Mao Zedong's film and television works. Many netizens said that "Ask the Boundless" is a sequel to "The Awakening Age". In fact, this is also a conscious pursuit when we plan.
What kind of Mao Zedong does "Ask the Boundless" want to portray
Mao Zedong was one of the 13 representatives of the party, but the founders of the party were later sharply divided, and only Mao Zedong created immortal achievements and grew into the leader of the party. Why? This is what "Ask the Boundless" wants to reveal.
Mao Zedong, who returned to Hunan from the first congress venue, had three notable characteristics, in addition to his firm belief in Marxism and lofty revolutionary ideals: First, he took root downward and grew upward. He was deeply rooted in the land of China, obtained abundant nutrients, and at the same time continued to grow and advance, standing out among the early Communists. The second is the unity of knowledge and action, and the execution is super strong. He actively fulfilled the mission entrusted to him by the party and brilliantly fulfilled all tasks. Chen Duxiu's praise at the party's three major congresses that "only comrades in Hunan can be said to have done a good job" is a high summary of his ability and achievements throughout this period. At the same time, he thinks independently and never blindly follows. The third is to regard official positions and money as dung, and be loyal to revolutionary ideals. Mao Zedong was elected as an alternate member of the Central Executive Committee and acting Minister of Propaganda at the First National Congress of the Kuomintang, with a monthly salary of 120 oceans. What a firm belief and what a tenacious will and what a quality of indomitable will this requires! All these are of great enlightening significance to the young people of today.
"Asking the Boundless" takes Mao Zedong as the protagonist, but pay attention to placing him in the torrent of the times and the group portrait of the characters who will meet the wind and clouds to shape. Chen Duxiu, Sun Yat-sen, Li Dazhao, Zhou Enlai, Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei, Cai Hesen, Zhang Guotao and other influential figures who have intersected with Mao Zedong have appeared one by one, and there are many scenes, among which a large number of historical details are presented for the first time, and a large number of famous scenes have been created between Sun Yat-sen and Mao Zedong, between Chen Duxiu and Mao Zedong, between Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek, etc.
In addition, the love between Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui during this period was also heart-pounding and heart-wrenching. The two are not only the soul mates and revolutionary couples of "counting the world's confidants and you", "heavy wings, and clouds", but also the emotional misunderstanding and ice release of the past suspicions of "knowing the misunderstanding of the previous book" and "the whistle has been broken, and the end of the world is lonely from now on", which is no different from the children in the current love marriage. The passionate revolutionary narrative and the touching love narrative in the play are organically integrated, and many people are deeply teary-eyed by the picture of Mao Yang taking a family photo in the play, Yang Kaihui cooking birthday noodles for Mao Zedong's birthday, and finally Mao Zedong launching the Autumn Harvest Uprising to bid farewell to Yang Kaihui.
"Ask the vast earth, who is the master of ups and downs", this is the soul torture of young Mao Zedong in "Qinyuan Spring, Changsha", and his voice has passed through a hundred years and hit people's hearts. The title of the play "Ask the Boundless" is the abbreviation of "Ask the Vast Earth", which does not deviate from the original meaning of Mao's words, but also draws on Du Fu's sentence structure of "independent and boundless self-poetry", which has a unique meaning.
How "Ask the Boundless" was made
In the past three years, Hunan Radio and Television, as the organizer, with a deep affection for Chairman Mao and a firm determination to create a masterpiece, has come up with a topic, set the direction, set a team, formed a team, raised funds, grasped scheduling, and has been firmly grasping, guiding and checking the whole process, and fully trusting the production team of Dangran Pictures. Finally, on the basis of the launch of "So Many Delicate Rivers and Mountains", "Hundred Tempered into Steel", "Ideal Shines on China", "Song of the Foothills" and "The Bottom Line" in the past few years, we will go to the next level and climb the peak.
The success of this drama is due to the professional and dedicated creative team. Chen Jin, one of the chief screenwriters, is the former deputy director of the Central Literature Research Office, a well-known expert on Mao Zedong, who is both a university scholar and a confidant. A large number of his works on the history of the Party have the unique vision of a thinker, the rigor of a historian, and the talent of a writer. Another chief screenwriter, Liang Zhenhua, is a middle-aged powerhouse who has created a lot in recent years and has become more and more mature artistically, and he has devoted infinite enthusiasm and all his skills to creation. The main creative team consulted nearly 100 authoritative historical books, had many discussions with party history experts, conducted three collections, and visited dozens of places such as Changsha, Shaoshan, Anyuan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Wuhan to carry out "immersive" experiences. The young director Wang Wei is talented and meticulous in his artistic requirements. The cinematic image texture, perfect narrative rhythm and wonderful character performances make the whole play of extremely high quality. The dedication of the artists has made such a TV series with a certain viewing threshold receive almost unanimous praise, and the more it goes to the back, the more popular it becomes, in the words of the Internet big V, "Eat sugar cane, the more you eat, the sweeter it is", and in the words of netizens, "This drama has great stamina".
In the process of creating and broadcasting, "Ask the Boundless" has received great attention, care and support from the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China Central Radio and Television, and the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Hunan Provincial Party Committee listed it as a key work to commemorate the 130th anniversary of Comrade Mao Zedong's birth. It is the strong joint efforts of all parties that have made such a phenomenal work possible.
(Written by Gong Zhengwen)
Source: Hunan Radio and Television Office