Food Documentary: Telling the story of China in the air of fireworks

Guangming Daily reporter Niu Mengdi Guangming Daily correspondent Du Fuli

Recently, food documentaries such as "Boiling Bar Hot Pot (Season 2)", "Driving Bar Seafood", "Towards the Direction of Supper", and "Hunan Cuisine of Proud Pepper" have been broadcast one after another, which have stirred the audience's taste buds and set off people's discussion of food documentaries. In this land of China, where "the people take food as the sky", the creation and dissemination of food documentaries have a unique soil, and because of this, a large number of excellent food documentaries have entered people's sights in recent years. Through the narration and presentation of food, these documentary works make the cultural connotation and spiritual temperament of the Chinese nation go abroad and become a window for the world to understand China.

Not only is it a good-looking leather bag, but it also contains an interesting soul

The most eye-catching part of a food documentary is the close-up of various foods: a handful of tender and juicy beef skewers in a boiling hot soup, a fried liver on a charcoal fire and flipped over and grilled until the caramelized drip oil... The variety of cuisines in the north and south of the sky is mouth-watering and addictive.

With the development of technology and the upgrading of equipment, food documentaries have become more and more extreme and perfect in presenting food pictures. In order to capture the subtle changes and real texture of the food, the "Flavor of the World 2" team used ultra-micro photography and microscopy to present images that are difficult to observe with the naked eye in ordinary days, such as how the ice crystals on horse meat continue to condense and spread under low temperature conditions, and how the salt particles slowly melt on the surface of the roe. The microscopic art world in food brings a refreshing visual and auditory enjoyment to the audience.

If the exquisite healing picture is the "good-looking skin bag" of the food documentary, then the character image and character story behind the food provide the inner soul support. In the view of He Tianping, a postdoctoral fellow at Chinese Min University, "people are the creators and enjoyers of food, and the way food is made and flavor and taste often interact with the personality characteristics and spiritual temperament of local residents, and the portrayal of characters reveals the essential reasons for the birth and development of food." In the recent "Boiling Bar Hot Pot (Season 2)" produced by the Daolai Documentary Laboratory, the herders of Inner Mongolia who are bold and cheerful are used to putting almost a whole sheep into a cauldron, and a handful of salt before the pot is all the condiments, and after the pot is shared with neighbors; the Chaoshan people who are well versed in flexibility and flexibility innovatively add seafood to the brine hot pot, realizing the delicious collision of land and sea... People growing up in different water and soil environments have given different souls of the same ingredients, Yang Hongtao, a professor at the School of Drama, Film and Television of the Communication University of China, told reporters: "Characters are the reason for the existence of food. The story behind the food contains the dependence and reverence of one side of the water and soil on the other side of the world and all things. The so-called patron eating mountains and relying on water to draft water is, in a sense, the influence of regional culture on food culture. Therefore, through the stories of food told by the characters, it is possible to find the reason why a particular area produces a certain special cuisine."

On the other hand, food documentaries tell the stories of the characters who are either plain and warm, or witty and interesting, which are the true portrayal of the spiritual qualities of the sons and daughters of China, such as hard work, tenacity, optimism and open-mindedness, and self-improvement, and condense the survival wisdom and philosophy of the Chinese nation accumulated over thousands of years. The roast pig master New Brother in "Flavor of the World 2" gives his daughter who failed the college entrance examination a bowl of bitter melon rib soup, which is not only a clever idea of food, but also contains a simple philosophy of life. In "Boiling Bar Hot Pot (Season 2)", Lu Xiaomei, who is both a Strict Master and a Loving Mother, raised two children alone with the stinky sour hot pot that she is good at making...

Wang Xiaopei, a young teacher at the School of Language and Communication of Beijing Jiaotong University, told reporters: "Food documentaries observe the living conditions of ordinary people, and in the storytelling of different individual lives, they show the audience their positive and enterprising attitude towards life and their unremitting pursuit of a better life, full of profound humanistic care, and also trigger the emotional resonance of the audience." ”

The smell of fireworks forms a living story, and civilization and culture are passed on from generation to generation

The Chinese national food culture has a long history, whether it is the selection and processing of ingredients, cooking skills and flavors, or table manners and eating utensils, which have been passed down from generation to generation in the accumulation of history. While showing the rich and diverse types of food, food documentaries record the inheritance and promotion of traditional Chinese culture and Chinese civilization in the current era with stories full of fireworks.

In addition to gastronomic exploration, "Supper Jianghu" also opens up in the direction of cultural records, connecting supper culture with urban culture, and developing the mineral deposits of the characters behind food and urban stories. "Boiling Bar Hot Pot (Season 2)" introduces the process of making brine geese by Lao Jin and his mother, and presents this traditional craft to the audience through the mother and son. "Flavor of the World 2" uses the dish of "Sweet Roasted White" to show the audience the traditional wedding customs of rural sichuan. In He Tianping's view, "the content of food documentaries has gradually sunk, and the foothold has shifted from the grand Chinese food culture to the focus on the lives of ordinary people, covering the life scenes of the people, and the lens language has shifted from staring at food to staring at people."

Talking about why hot pot was chosen as the object of recording, Qu Nan, director and producer of "Boiling Bar Hot Pot", said: "We feel that hot pot is particularly in line with the characteristics of Chinese like liveliness and reunion, it is our popular cuisine, it is worth doing." "In fact, hot pot is just the theme, it is more as a perspective to record the city and people. Xiao Yang, director of the episode "Boiling Bar Hot Pot (Season 2)", sighed, "In these fixed ingredient combinations, you can see not only human wisdom and philosophy, but also the city wells and fireworks in the local area."

Starting from "China on the Tip of the Tongue", documentaries on food themes have begun to apply the model of "food + human stories" to explore the deeper emotional connection between people and food. From the "Flavor" series to "Breakfast China", from "Supper Night Jianghu" to "Boiling Bar Hot Pot", it can be seen that these documentary production teams are constantly expanding the boundaries of food documentaries, and continue to try to cross from simple food documentaries to humanistic documentaries.

"Only the vivid story composed of fireworks can impress the audience, and the content full of humanistic feelings can sublimate the core of the documentary." In Wang Xiaopei's view, an important development trend in the future of food documentaries is to explore the humanistic significance of food from the perspective of recording food as a way to record character stories and urban culture, and to dig deep into the humanistic significance of food in a way that is closer to the life scenes of the Chinese people.

Chinese cuisine, which is popular overseas, is a bright business card to the world

At the end of last year, "Flavor Origin Gansu" officially landed on Netflix. This is the third consecutive year that the Flavor Origins series has met audiences around the world. Earlier this year, at the 25th Asian Television Festival Awards Ceremony, "Flavor of the World (Season 2)" won the Best Documentary Series Award. With the release of food documentaries such as "Flavor of the World", "Supper Night", "Boiling Bar Hot Pot" and other food documentaries to many countries, food short video blogger Li Ziqi has gained tens of millions of overseas fans... The influence of Chinese cuisine has gradually expanded, and it is well known and loved by people around the world, becoming a bright business card representing China's image.

Although food culture has a natural international nature and is an excellent subject for international dissemination, domestic food documentaries do not simply present the richness and diversity of Chinese cuisine, but also show the humanistic stories behind food, and convey the profound people's livelihood and people-oriented important ideas, becoming an important window for the world to understand China. Yang Hongtao said: "Making full use of the delicious delicacies of Chinese food culture is a commendable cultural phenomenon. ”

The popularization and promotion of Chinese cuisine in the world has also spread and promoted the Chinese culture it carries, and invisibly consolidated and enhanced the soft power of Chinese culture. More and more food documentaries, food short videos and other content products are building a national image from a civilian perspective, and by showing the living conditions of ordinary people, they record a comprehensive, three-dimensional and real China in a vivid and vivid way.

Documentary filmmaker Chen Xiaoqing once said: "Food is the best ambassador of goodwill." "Food documentaries not only introduce Chinese food with spectacular images and dramatic stories, but also use food as a means to explore the worldview, values and choices of lifestyle and interpersonal relationships belonging to Chinese culture in a way that contemporary audiences and even world audiences can understand.

Guangming Daily ( 2021-04-18 04 edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily