Recently, a new round of historical war drama "Our Team to the Sun" launched by CCTV Channel was officially launched, which describes the story of the Jin-Cha-Ji border area during the Anti-Japanese War.
But to the surprise of the audience, even though the beginning plot was exciting, the main actor Tang Guoqiang played the role of Mao Zedong, which triggered widespread controversy, and there were many bad reviews, and some netizens even called for it to be taken off the shelves. What does this reveal?
First of all, Tang Guoqiang has long impressed the audience as a "Mao Zedong characteristic actor". Since he first starred in Mao Zedong in 1996, he has played the role nearly 50 times. This undoubtedly establishes him in a unique position in the field.
But as he grows older, his 72-year-old appearance is also far from the historical figure Mao Zedong. What's more, after many performances, his action styling may inevitably be somewhat "stereotyped" and no longer fully reflect the details of the times.
In addition, Tang Guoqiang's micro-expressions as Mao Zedong are often criticized. Some netizens commented that when he was on camera, his eyes drooped and his brows were often locked, giving people a feeling of exhaustion and untamed, which was far from the calm and calm image of the leader in a complex situation. In addition, he is too "fun" in many scenes, such as reading documents and echoing assistants, which distracts the audience.
Moreover, the "old tradition" of Tang Guoqiang's performance habits has also kept pace with the times. For example, the use of Mandarin dialogue throughout the play may not be appropriate for a description of the era. Many viewers said that it would be more authentic and appropriate with a local accent. This also exposes his inadequacy in portraying the details of historical figures.
A relatively small audience also pointed out that as a grand epic, the other supporting characters are just as important. But as soon as most of the old drama bones appear, it will inevitably cause the discomfort of "it turns out that he is also in this drama". This also weakens the presentation of the personality of the characters in the play.
Although there are no obvious flaws in terms of plot and performance techniques alone, Tang Guoqiang's long-term role as Mao Zedong and the superposition of other factors have indeed had a great impact on the audience's psychology and cognition, resulting in a decline in perception. This also makes it difficult for many viewers to concentrate on the plot, resulting in bad reviews.
In this regard, I think the producer and relevant actors need to pay attention: first, when choosing the protagonist, they need to pay attention to the current social cognition and age factors; second, when the actors portray the characters, they must not deviate from the historical prototype and cannot be "stereotyped" too deeply; third, they need to pay attention to the restoration of details and the sense of the times, and cannot stay in simple dialogues or actions; fourth, the new drama should not use too many "veterans" to affect the presentation of the characters' personalities.
Historical dramas should not only render war scenes, but should also pay attention to humanized portrayals, so that the audience can truly understand the internal relationship between individuals and history. This is extremely important to increase the recognition of new works. I believe that as long as the producer and the actor pay attention to it together and devote themselves to the restoration of details, they will definitely win higher evaluations.