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Chasing the wind to see the red history, traveling around the famous mountains and rivers, exploring the ancient towns and villages, those places that have been seen countless times in Chinese textbooks and read in the poems of the ancients are hidden in the magical land of Jiangxi.
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"Wind Chaser" became iQiyi's first popular drama series to exceed 10,000 this year.
Yesterday, the much-anticipated "Wind Chaser" ushered in the end of CCTV. In March, when ancient puppet dramas were piled up, this Republic of China spy war drama "Wind Chaser" was "crazy and crazy", and the peak real-time ratings of CCTV exceeded 2.6%, becoming the first iQiyi drama to exceed 10,000 in 2024 in just 16 days, with a cumulative effective broadcast volume of more than 1.204 billion.
What is the highlight of this TV series, why is it a "double explosion of online and station"? Why are there so many Jiangxi elements in the play, giving Jiangxi cultural tourism "a big score"? What are the behind-the-scenes driving forces behind the presentation of these Jiangxi elements?
One
Recently, the stalks and topics of each episode of "Wind Chaser" have always emerged in an endless stream, such as "financial milk crocodile" Wang Yibo, "Uncle Circle Tiancai" Wang Yang, and "Republic of China Spelling Xixi" Li Shengda. Savor this drama carefully, there is indeed a pattern to follow for the explosion.
First of all, the perspective of the little people cuts in.
The period from 1929 to 1934 was a well-known piece of red history, and at the same time a financial war that could not be seen but was no less wonderful. The play uses this as the background to tell the story of how Wei Ruolai, a low-level employee of the Kuomintang Central Bank, gradually grew into a red financier who is the sole leader of our party's financial front.
At that time, it was a difficult start for the financial industry during the revolutionary war period of our party. Wei Ruolai, an ordinary person who has just entered the society, leads the audience to follow his footsteps to experience and feel the growth and change of the little people under the turmoil.
Stills from "The Wind Chaser".
His composure in order to be admitted to the Central Bank, his enthusiasm to find the light after seeing clearly the decay and degeneration of the Kuomintang, and his brave recklessness in sneaking up on the show to grab a gun in order to protect his master Shen Tunan, did you see your shadow for a moment, and how could he not be what we looked like when we were young?
Secondly, the expression of youth.
A good screenwriter who is good at "hooking" the audience and making you want to stop after watching an episode. On the one hand, there is a tense stock market business war, and on the other hand, there is a fierce spy war struggle, the whole play is parallel and intertwined, and the fast and ruthless plot setting makes the audience's adrenaline continue to soar.
For example, by linking the Central Bank of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing, established on November 1, 1928, and the State Bank of the Chinese Soviet Republic, established in February 1932, and involving the protagonist in the construction of the two "central banks", the differences in their functions and purposes are clear at a glance. At the same time, the scene was transferred from Shanghai to Ruijin, Jiangxi, and the high-energy financial war between Wei Ruolai and his master Shen Tunan began.
There are even many viewers who said that the historical knowledge they learned has completed the closed loop here, "The 'weakness and compromise of the bourgeoisie' that I didn't understand when I was in school was understood in this drama." The genre narrative method turns this thick and intimidating storybook into a light-hearted "villain book", making the audience more willing to read it, read it, and even start to worry about the fate of the characters.
Furthermore, the configuration of the luxury lineup.
Director Yao Xiaofeng has rich qualifications, including Magnolia Award and Huading Award masterpieces such as "Big Husband" and "Tiger Mom and Cat Dad", and later has the transformation of "Holiday Warmth" Chinese New Year light comedy. The current "Wind Chaser" is the work of his period drama that has been carefully polished for 6 years. With nearly 20 years of precipitation, screenwriter Weng Liangping has handed over many masterpieces such as "Armageddon" and "Ask the Boundless" to the market, which has a tendency to accumulate steadily.
Editor Cao Weijie is from the film team, and his grasp of editing details can be seen in works such as "Evil Does Not Prevail" and "The World". There are also young actors such as Wang Yibo, Li Qin, and Wang Yang, and their acting skills have been recognized by the audience.
The plot is not exaggerated, and the life scenes that are not pretentious or detached from life make the audience seem to have traveled to that turbulent time. When I came back to my senses, I found that their magnificent life had been condensed into a short line and a few words in the history books. For a while, everyone's curiosity was aroused, and they frantically supplemented Capital, learned about the three sisters of the Song family, and went to Jiangxi to take a look, triggering a unique "chasing wind effect".
Stills from "The Wind Chaser".
Two
The continuous mountains and tea plantations covered with blue carpets, and the green on the screen opened the prelude to the Jiangxi period of "The Wind Chaser", and there was also a dialogue between Wei Ruolai and Shen Jinzhen in the play: "This Jiangxi is full of mountains, Lushan, Sanqing Mountain and Longhu Mountain." "Jinggangshan, the place I want to go to the most in my life!"
This dialogue was jokingly called "Jiangxi soft wide implantation" by netizens, not to mention whether it was intentional or not, but the Jiangxi elements in the play are really impressive. These Jiangxi elements embedded in the play are not only the "background board" of the story, but also the historical core of this red financial spy war drama.
As the birthplace of our party's Jinggangshan spirit and the first rural revolutionary base, Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, was "like a great enemy" for the central bankers of the Kuomintang at that time.
In the play, Wei Ruolai continued to work hard in the Shanghai financial circle with tenacity and enterprising energy, and gradually accumulated rich financial knowledge and network resources. But when he saw the corruption and darkness of the Kuomintang's financial sector, he began to rethink his beliefs and positions, and resolutely returned to Ruijin, Jiangxi.
It was the isolation and poverty in the mountainous areas of Jiangxi at that time that gave Wei Ruolai the reason to leave, and it was also the ideals and beliefs of the construction of the Soviet area and communism of the Communist Party of China at that time that gave him the firmness to come back.
Wei Ruolai and others returned to Jiangxi.
Chasing the wind to see the red history, traveling around the famous mountains and rivers, exploring the ancient towns and villages, those places that have been seen countless times in Chinese textbooks and read in the poems of the ancients are hidden in the magical land of Jiangxi.
There is Ji'an "red" in the play. The Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area, the first rural revolutionary base area, opened a new chapter in the Chinese revolution's encirclement of cities from the countryside and the armed seizure of power, igniting the spark of armed secession of workers and peasants. In the play, the male protagonist Wei Ruolai is deeply loved by the audience, this simple and intelligent young man is from Ji'an, Jiangxi, and he represents the vast number of revolutionaries in the Soviet area.
In the play, there is a "silver" in Ruijin. The establishment of the State Bank of the Chinese Soviet Republic in Ruijin, a low-rise two-story building looks simple, but it unites more people with lofty ideals like Wei Ruolai in the play to develop the economy of the Soviet area, lay the cornerstone of the red financial cause under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and consolidate the newly born Soviet power.
There is Ganzhou "tungsten" hidden in the play. The play mentions that two-thirds of the world's tungsten sand reserves are in China, and two-thirds of China's reserves are in southern Gansu. The final climax of this spy war drama also landed on the tungsten sand trade with Germany, the tungsten sand trade negotiations show the shadow of real historical events, the play through the negotiation plot, in-depth discussion of the importance of tungsten sand trade to the Red Army and the Nanjing Nationalist Government, tungsten sand can not only provide funds for the Red Army to buy military supplies, but also bring benefits to the Nanjing Nationalist Government. The re-presentation of this history gives the audience a deeper understanding of this important history.
There are also Jiangxi slang of "ten miles of different sounds, hundreds of miles of different languages", fresh and spicy Jiangxi cuisine, or brave and good at fighting, or wisdom, or loyal and firm Jiangxi old table...... let this drama exude the flavor of Jiangxi, and also let many viewers who follow the drama enthusiastically discuss those things about Jiangxi on the Internet......
"The Wind Chaser" sparked a lot of discussion.
Three
"The Wind Chaser" successfully brought fire to Jiangxi, and a large number of Jiangxi elements in the play surprised the audience. But is it really an unexpected surprise? It's just a foreshadowing.
The behind-the-scenes creation of this drama actually has a close relationship with Jiangxi, one of the investors, Oriental Panorama, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiangxi Film Group, and screenwriter Weng Liangping also has an indissoluble bond with Jiangxi.
Weng Liangping is a native of Anhui Province, and was admitted to Wuhan University with hard work and hard work, majoring in drama, film and television literature. After graduating from university, he was admitted to work in the TV drama production center of Jiangxi Radio and Television Station, and stayed in Jiangxi for more than 10 years.
Take root in Jiangxi and grow up in Jiangxi. Due to his work, he has been exposed to a large number of novels and scripts, participated in various TV drama award ceremonies and industry forums, and even followed the actors into the group.
Screenwriter Weng Liangping
In 2018, Weng Liangping ushered in a turning point in his career, this year he left Jiangxi Radio and Television Station to work in Zhejiang, and in the same year, he received a letter of invitation from Oriental Panorama asking him to write a TV series in the Soviet Union.
However, there are many TV series and movies that show the theme of the Jiangxi Revolution, and the scripts "Yingshan Hong" and "Brothers in the World" that Weng Liangping participated in planning have won awards, so where is the creative direction this time?
Breakthrough is the premise of transcendence. Weng Liangping repeatedly consulted the historical materials of the Central Soviet Region and found that the war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party inevitably needed strong economic support, and the banks played a central role in finance. At that time, the weak Communist Party and the Kuomintang competed, and the game on the financial battlefield was equally fierce. It is a new perspective to write from red finance.
Art comes from life, and inspiration comes from experience. Weng Liangping searched for that period of red history in Jinggangshan and Ruijin. At the former site of the State Bank of the Chinese Soviet Republic in Ruijin, he saw the simple office and the Su coins issued on the wall, and his heart was difficult to calm down for a long time. This "smallest bank in the world" later supported the vast financial system of the Soviet Union, and a few years later developed into the People's Bank of China. The difficulty of this entrepreneurship deserves the respect of the Chinese people.
Weng Liangping fully excavated and used the materials with his unique observation and experience, and those Jiangxi imprints have been deeply rooted in his mind, making the play present a wealth of Jiangxi elements. He skillfully integrated Jiangxi's natural scenery, architectural features, eating habits, and dialect slang, so that the audience could feel the hospitality, diligence and wisdom of the Jiangxi people. The depiction of details not only enriches the plot, but also deepens the audience's impression of Jiangxi.
In Weng Liangping's eyes, Jiangxi is a rich mine, with many historical celebrities, rich red resources, and shiny business cards of Jiangxi, which are all good creative elements, which can be spread through film and television dramas, but the key is to tell the story of Jiangxi well.
Weng Liangping's relationship with Jiangxi is not only an encounter with "The Wind Chaser", but also a deep emotional bond, and he passes on Jiangxi's culture and history to more people as a "new Jiangxi person".
There is no end to the world of Wind Chaser, only a starting point for continuous transcendence. Playwright Weng Liangping's creative path, like Wei Ruolai, is embarking on a new journey and setting off towards a more ambitious goal.