The author | Congyi
Editor| Zhong Xiaobao
The operational | is remarkable
Designed | winter snow
Zhang Ailing, a woman who wrote "Life is a gorgeous robe and crawled with fleas" at the age of 19, is a "water-lining flower person" in the Republic of China era, and a controversial writer in the history of Chinese literature... The topics and stories surrounding her are confusing. And about her novels, in the film and television adaptation, there is always a layer of confused aura, gorgeous but difficult to approach, Hou Xiaoxian said that "Zhang Ailing's novels can not be filmed, it is a trap", Ang Lee also mentioned that "the anger against Zhang Ailing contributed to my shooting of "Color Ring".
Image source: Network
However, picturing Zhang Ailing has not stopped.
Recently, Xu Anhua's "First Burning Incense" was released, and from the beginning of the casting, it was shrouded in the works of "Camel Shoko and Tiger Girl", and now the results can be said to be big on the street.
The film belongs to the big IP + big production, adapted from Zhang Ailing's famous work "Agarwood Crumbs , The First Burning Incense", with a gorgeous behind-the-scenes team: screenwriter Wang Anyi, photographer Du Kefeng, costume and Tian Emi, music producer Ryuichi Sakamoto... But it was the first feature-length film in Xu Anhua's career to drop below 6 points. Maoyan Pro predicted that its final box office would be less than 55 million, and the producers lost money.
Image source: Cat's Eye
In the end, why, most of the film and television dramas adapted from Zhang Ailing's novels have been thrown on the street?
Zhang Ailing, the "magic curse" of the novel film and television
At the end of the 1970s, Zhang Ailing was "rediscovered" in the mainland academic circles, and a "Zhang Ailing" fever also arose in society, everyone read Zhang Ailing, and the critics also widely discussed Zhang Ailing. With the development of film and television culture, the adaptation of Zhang Ailing's works has been put on the agenda.
Zhang Ailing's three words are a big IP, and the theme of her story is never outdated, as she herself said, "I found that people who make literature have always paid attention to the flying side of life and ignored the stable side of life." In fact, the latter is the foundation of the former. ”
The film and television adaptation of Zhang Ailing can be divided into two parts: film and TELEVISION series.
Zhang Ailing's novel was first made into a movie, "Love in the Fallen City" by Xu Anhua in 1984, with Zhou Runfa as Fan Liuyuan and Miao Qianren as Bai Liusu. After the release, the film's reputation was general, the media badly commented, and the response was limited to the circle of film fans. Even Xu Anhua herself has "introspected" more than once, lamenting that Zhang Ailing's novels about the film, she did not find a suitable way to display, "The biggest lesson of "Love in the City" is that I did not grasp the spirit of the work, the spirit of that work is actually very Western, very ironic, not a big tragedy. But at that time, I still had the concept of a romantic novel, and I thought it should be very romantic. ”
In 1988, Taiwanese director Dan Hanzhang adapted Zhang Ailing's novel "The Grudge Girl", with Taiwanese actress Xia Wenxi playing Yin Di. But the film is very niche and rarely mentioned. On the one hand, "The Grudge Girl" itself is relatively unpopular in Zhang Ailing's works, on the other hand, the adaptation itself is also decent, and the Taiwanese accent full of screens deviates from the tone of the work itself.
In the following years, the trend of adapting Zhang Ailing weakened slightly, and 6 years later Guan Jinpeng directed "Red Roses and White Roses", which was a relatively successful adaptation of Zhang Ailing, with Chen Chong playing Wang Jiaorui, Ye Yuqing playing Meng Yanli, and Zhao Wenxuan playing Tong Zhenbao. It scored 7.7 points on Douban, close to 28,000 people.
In 1997, Xu Anhua put Zhang Ailing's "Half Life" on the big screen, with Li Ming playing Shen Shijun and Wu Qianlian playing Gu Manzhen. The film was recognized by some Fans, douban scored 7.9 points, more than 72,000 netizens scored, and for a long time after that, "Half Life" was regarded as a monopolistic interpretation of Zhang Ailing's works.
In addition, there is also a "Sea Flower" that cannot be regarded as a real adaptation of Zhang Ailing's novel. The film was directed by Hou Xiaoxian in 1998, based on Zhang Ailing's translation of "The Legend of flowers on the sea", when Zhu Tiantian, who was also one of the writers of the "Zhang Pai" and one of the writers of the "Zhang Pai", said: "Who can resist Zhang Ailing's words? Without her words, there is also her content. ”
From 1994 to 1998, in just four years, 3 famous directors walked into Zhang Ailing's works, which seems to have laid the background for the adaptation of Zhang Ailing as "Zhang Ailing + Famous Director". For the next 9 years, no one dared to touch it.
Until 2007, Ang Lee brought "Color Ring" played by Liang Chaowei as Mr. Yi and Tang Wei as Wang Jiazhi, which is the most successful adaptation of Zhang Ailing's novel to date. Industry recognition and numerous awards, including the Golden Lion Award at the 64th Venice Film Festival. The public also welcomed, caused a wide range of discussions, broke through the film circle itself, into the knowledge circle layer, the work in the Douban score of 8.5 points, more than 600,000 netizens scored, which is also the highest score of all Zhang Ailing's works in the film and television and the number of ratings fault.
The most recent film adaptation is Xu Anhua's "First Incense", which currently has a Douban score of 5.6.
The film adapted from Zhang Ailing's novel has basically formed a pattern directed by well-known big directors. In contrast, the TV series adapted from Zhang Ailing's novel are more inclined to "popular adaptations", and the director also has rich experience, but his popularity is slightly inferior. And the drama version of Zhang Ailing's novel, the audience is even fewer.
In the 2003 TV series "Half Life" directed by Hu Xueyang and Wang Chongguang, Lin Xinru played Gu Manzhen, Jiang Qinqin played Gu Manlu, and Tan Yaowen played Shen Shijun, with a Douban score of 7.1 points and 22,000 netizens. In 2004, Mu Deyuan directed "The Book of Golden Locks", played by Liu Xin as Cao Qiqiao. Although "The Golden Lock" is one of Zhang Ailing's most prestigious novels, this version of the TV series has few audiences, with no more than 1,000 Douban ratings and a Douban score of 7.7 points. In 2009, Mengji directed "Love in the Fallen City", Chen Shu played Bai Liusu, and Huang Jue played Fan Liuyuan. Compared with the movie version, the drama version is more recognized, but there are not many viewers who have watched it, and although the Douban score is as high as 8 points, the scoring base is only 10,000 people.
In 2020, Yang Yaya's "Deep Love" was also adapted from "Half Life". Liu Jialing plays Gu Manlu, Jiang Xin plays Gu Manzhen, and Zheng Yuanchang plays Shen Shijun. This adaptation is seriously fluttering, and the Douban score is 3 points. If it is not adapted from Zhang Ailing, this drama may not be so popular, after all, the adapted content is far from the original work.
It is also revealed that "The First Incense" will also be changed to a TV series in the near future, and the actor selection has once again triggered everyone's discussion.
Since the 1980s, there have been 10 film and television dramas adapted from Zhang Ailing's novels, of which the novel "Half Life" is the most popular and has been adapted 3 times, followed by "Love in the Fallen City" adapted twice. All film and television works, there are 2 Douban 8 points and above, 5 Douban 7 segments, 1 6 segments, and 2 failed.
Judging from this rating, it seems good. But you know, Zhang Ailing's novels are basically high scores of 8 points and 9 points or more on Douban, but after adaptation, they have low scores. Moreover, the number of people rating some "high-scoring" film and television adaptations is only a few million or thousands, and the high rating is inflated.
In general, the success rate of film and television dramas adapted from Zhang Ailing's novels is very low. Either the reputation is not good, or it becomes a niche drama with a small audience.
The "Zhang Flavor" that is difficult to restore
Why would even a big director fold on Zhang Ailing's work? This is mainly due to the specificity of Zhang Ailing's works, and many subtleties in the text are difficult to convert into images.
Zhang Ailing is good at using strange metaphors and unique imagery, and in her novels, she tirelessly mobilizes various senses to depict scenes and shape spaces, constructing a world full of details, implying symbols and metaphors. The sense of lens that directors have been diligently seeking is even more everywhere in Zhang Ailing's pen.
For example, the moon, the sun, rain, mirrors, etc. are common imagery in Zhang Ailing's novels, and undertake important functions such as character shaping, style composition, and theme expression. In the novel, the imagery can be repeatedly strengthened, but once it is filmed, the essence of the image will be "lost".
For example, the moon in the novel "The Golden Lock" runs through the whole text-
Thirty years ago in Shanghai, one night with the moon... We may not have caught up to see the moon thirty years ago. The young man thought that the moon thirty years ago should be a red and yellow wet halo the size of a copper coin, like a teardrop on The Cloud Xuan's letterhead, old and confused. The moon of thirty years ago recalled by the elderly was joyful, larger, rounder, and whiter than the moon in front of him; but looking back at the hard road after thirty years, even the best moon color could not help but be a little desolate.
But these "moons" are powerless to be presented in TV dramas.
In the novel "Agarwood Crumbs: The First Incense", the "snake" is an important image that appears in the aunt's home, symbolizing the temptation of danger, and the movie is just a snake raised by Georgie Joe, symbolizing his "beloved thing".
Zhang Ailing's novels pay great attention to the description of psychological activities, sensitive and meticulous, complex and detailed. In almost all film and television adaptations, this has been saved.
Under the lens of director Ang Lee, the narrative threads of the novel are all disrupted and completely become the narrative of the film, through the supplement of information such as Wang Jiazhi's life, the character psychology is transformed into an action choice with a succession.
In "Red Roses and White Roses", Guan Jinpeng added a large number of monologues and narrations to highlight the linguistic charm of Zhang Ailing's novels, but this practice was mixed. Guan Jinpeng once revealed that Zhang Ailing actually did not like this movie: "It was Zhang Ailing's agent, Mr. Song (Song Qi), who told me, of course, she told me personally, and I accepted it." ”
Since she was a child, Zhang Ailing has been deeply influenced by the beauty of classical Chinese literature and her personal growth experience, and her understanding of the world is pessimistic, as she said, "The times are rushed, it is already destroyed, and there is still greater destruction to come." One day our civilization, whether sublimated or flashy, will become a thing of the past. If my most common word is 'desolate,' it's because there is this threat of confusion in the background of my thoughts." Therefore, her words have a unique migration, transfer, and movement, and inject an old and spicy, tragic charm.
"Zhang Wei" is actually a kind of "desolation".
Throughout the film and television works adapted from Zhang Ailing's novels, a large number of plot changes and character settings that do not conform to the original style often make "desolation" into dog blood, funny and outrageous.
For example, the TV series "The Golden Lock" sets the non-existent love between Cao Qiqiao and Jiang Jize as the main line, and adds a large number of house fighting dramas to turn the TV series into a dog blood drama.
In the TV series "The Origin of Love", Gu Manzhen and Shen Shijun became the male and female protagonists of the idol drama, Shen Shijun shouted the slogan of "The Great Qing is dead" against the arranged marriage of his parents; when Gu Manzhen was opposed by Shen Shijun's family, and after the distance between Shen Shijun, Shen Shijun directly shouted and complained.
This time, "The First Incense", although there is still "desolation", but the novel is wrapped in desire, sober and depraved desolation, and the movie has become the "painful youth" of "love me, marry me"... Without looking at the main film, just watching the frivolous TikTok marketing of "First Burning Incense" can spy on the ideas in the film.
The desolate sense of fate also influenced Zhang Ailing's character shaping. Her protagonists often carry a fallen personality, they are imperfect, incomplete, hurt, self-destructive and destroy others, "so unclear, obscene, embarrassing, faceless submission, but in the end it is still desolate."
However, after the film and television adaptation, the indifference, selfishness, viciousness, and filthiness of her characters have been simplified, deleted, and even reversed to varying degrees.
For example, the white tassel in the novel "Love in the Fallen City", her selfishness, work in the heart, she only knows how to take care of herself, but whether it is Xu Anhua's movie, or the TV series of Mengji, the white tassel has become everyone's bridesmaid, "revolutionary woman"; Fan Liuyuan also has no "playboy" atmosphere, a decent gentleman style, the story of the two has become pure love.
In "The Origin of Love", Gu Manlu's "private prostitute" persona in the novel was changed to the "big sister" of Shanghai Beach, and the appearance was windy, and there was no tacky, glamorous, and demonic atmosphere of a dusty woman.
Even Ang Lee's "Color Ring" turned Mr. Yi's outright "play" with Wang Jiazhi into the mutual "affection" of the hunter and the prey in the end. Although this is a successful film work, it is no longer the original intention of Zhang Ailing's novel.
It can be seen that Zhang Ailing can't shoot.
Most of them are magic changes, changed beyond recognition; relatively successful, but also only restore the charm of the novel 70% or 80; very few with the director's strong ability, did a new "interpretation" - but how many people can be Ang Lee?
Although Zhang Ailing's novel is a big IP, there is no diamond diamond to do porcelain work, otherwise capital will get a painful lesson from the market.
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