Under the infiltration of the two major elements of "history" and "revolution", how does the light comedy spy drama "Xiaguang" break the limitations of spy drama?
Statement | universe
In recent years, spy war films have gained a huge number of drama fan groups through the fast-paced and high-tension plot characteristics, and the suspense and mystery in the plot story can always firmly grasp the hearts of the audience, so that people continue to enter the drama in the development of the plot and cannot bear to abandon the drama. With the changes in the public's aesthetics, the main theme of film and television continues to be renovated, and the development of spy dramas is becoming more and more mature and high-quality, and under the penetration of the two major elements of "history" and "revolution", spy dramas have always had certain limitations, and the background of the times and the image of the characters are difficult to innovate.
On the evening of October 8, the 44-episode TV series "Xiaguang", co-produced by the Central Radio and Television Corporation, adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Hao Yan, directed by director Mao Weining, starring Tong Liya, and co-starring Chen Hao, Liu Wei, Ding Jiali, Gao Lu, Li Bo, Li Sibo and others, premiered on CCTV's eight sets of golden files. This historically-set series with the label of "Light Comedy Spy War" starts from the scenes of life, promotes the development of the storyline with a witty and humorous style, and portrays a vivid and real character.
Realistic themes blend with historical stories
The "Special Liberated Areas" have brought about humanistic resonance
Set in Dalian, China's only "special liberated zone" during the Liberation War from 1945 to 1949, "Xiaguang" is a key project supported by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Propaganda Department of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, telling the story of the protagonist Gao Daxia and Fu Jiazhuang, who returned from studying in the Soviet Union, who unswervingly threw themselves into the brutal struggle against the enemy. On August 22, 1945, the Soviet Red Army entered Luda (present-day Dalian) and imposed military control over the Brigade University area, and by October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded, which lasted four years, one month and eight days. At that time, the Soviet Red Army was stationed in Dalian, and both the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang placed Dalian in an important strategic position, and the historical status and role were extremely special, the situation was strange and obscure, and the forces from all sides were surging undercurrents, and no TV series had ever put this history on the screen before.
The story line of the series should not only be rooted in history, but also explore the artistic effect of innovation and eye-catching, and the screenwriter and director are the main backbones that promote the figurative expression of creative feelings. Screenwriter Hao Yan is a native of Dalian, at the beginning of the creation of his own creative direction: although it is a work with humor, comedy temperament, but must pay attention to the positive writing of history, so that "big things are not vain, small things are not informal", any historical event in the play must be well documented, the story must be a real artistic presentation.
With regard to the major historical events that occurred in Dalian during this period, such as our party's action of eradicating the sabotage caused by Kuomintang agents in the "moving movement," Liu Qing was assigned by the central authorities to Dalian as the editor-in-chief to be responsible for editing and publishing the printing of the "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" and the "Communist Manifesto," and the salute and fireworks of the founding ceremony in 1949, which entered Hong Kong from Lushun Port and were transferred to Beijing, and other major historical facts were displayed in front of the audience along with the protagonist's growth process.
Mao Weining, who is jointly evaluated by the industry and outside the industry as "one of the most storytelling directors", is good at the creation of realistic themes. The background of "Xiaguang" is Dalian, but the filming place is in Hengdian, Mao Weining in order to highlight the social environment and humanistic atmosphere of Dalian at that time, led the team to build the main shooting scene, covering an area of more than 12,000 square meters, truly reproducing the capital city of Dalian in a special period. In terms of the portrayal of humanistic characteristics, the play cites many elements to enrich the unique life texture and urban style of Dalian people in the special era. Whether it is Dalian's specialty food, or iconic geographical buildings, or the local slang dialect, dress and dress are all presented in the play.
Many previous spy dramas have chosen the geographical background in Shanghai, the "first intelligence capital of the Far East" in the Republic of China period, and the main line of the once popular "Pretender", "Sparrow", "Blood Island", "Red" and other dramas are all centered on the espionage work of the magic capital, and "Xiaguang" first introduced the historical background of the "special liberated area", with the gradual broadcast of the plot story, constantly improving the public's cognitive portrait of Dalian, and defining the port city during the Liberation War as bold, open-minded, warm and romantic.
Putting cultural creation into the context of history, the main line of realism is crucial. Film and television dramas need cultural nourishment, and then become works with national characteristics, the creation of "Xiaguang" is inseparable from the spirit of craftsmanship, the screenwriter and director of the construction of the series to make the plot more perfect sense of the times, the spread of film and television allows more people to understand dalian's great contribution to the Chinese liberation war, through the pursuit of historical memory, feel the city's unique cultural temperament and style characteristics, so that the humanistic spirit can be extended in many ways.
Anti-routine group portrait traits
The narrative of espionage breaks the shackles
In terms of narrative, "Xiaguang" breaks the atmospheric characteristics of traditional spy films with a light and bright main tone, such as open strife and cold tragedy. The series takes a different approach in terms of narrative style, using a light comedy atmosphere to fill in the revolutionary past, opening up a new way to easily decompress the traditional serious and brain-burning spy drama. Humor and humor are the highlights of the episode's narrative, but the definition of "Xiaguang" is by no means a pure comedy. Since it is a historical drama with revolutionary characters as the mainstay, the portrayal of the group portraits of the characters in the series is inseparable from the depiction of the breath of life and the choice of people's hearts. At the level of the character image, the characters in "Xiaguang" have distinct personalities, and show humorous and unusual character characteristics under the definition of "life anti-special drama".
The protagonist of the story, Gao Daxia, was originally a member of the Anti-Japanese Arson Regiment, who fled to Mudanjiang to lurk for three years due to the destruction of the organization, and after the liberation of Dalian, she was arranged to return to her hometown, and then accidentally met the CCP member Fu Jiazhuang, the enemy elements Fang Ruoyu, Ma Susu and others. Recklessness, confusion, and tiger spirit are the significant personality traits of Gao Daxia, in the plot, Gao Daxia is greedy for drinking because of the happy reunion with his family, and returns to the wrong room at night; She stews the red sausage hidden in a pot, and when she eats, she realizes that she has made a mistake because of carelessness; She is real and cute, returning to her hometown as a hero, with a modest mouth, but a little pride in her actions. Although the fragmented section of the action section lacks the shrewdness and caution in the public's perception of underground party members, it overflows with a more human and lively feeling.
Different from the previous screen images that are either intellectual or bright, Tong Liya's interpretation of Gao Daxia in "Xiaguang" presents an "atypical" heroine, sometimes smart and sometimes confused, not giving up in the face of difficulties, and indomitable in the face of other people's misunderstandings.
Other people in the series also appear with contradictory and colliding personality colors, and Gao Daxia's "Joyful Enemy" Fu Jiazhuang has both a caring and gentle personality and an arrogant and vicious tongue; Fang Ruoyu, the "old uncle" of the Kuomintang agent, is sometimes calculating and calculating, and sometimes indecisive; The kind-hearted and dark-hearted secret agent "Old Aunt " Ma Susu" is decisive in his work, but is often grabbed by Gao Daxia and becomes a CP with Fang Ruoyu; Gao Daxia's sister-in-law Liu Manli is mean and mean, but she is a classic example of a "knife mouth tofu heart", carrying a kind and delicate character trait.
Each character in the series is vivid and clear, and the plot promotes the development of the life-like struggle between the enemy and ourselves, emphasizes the participation of the masses of the people in the revolution, and also shows the perseverance of women in the revolutionary struggle in the new form of the big female spy war drama.
The plot story is small and big
The smell of fireworks is deeply rooted in people's hearts
The characters in "Kasumi" are miniatures of small people with firm goals and colorful emotions in the big era. Gao Daxia herself is a civilian hero full of life, who never fired a gun during the arson regiment, was brave and brave, and often informal, but behind the seemingly dull words such as "biao", "tiger", "idiot", etc., she obeyed the organizational task in a down-to-earth manner and dedicated her youth to the revolution. The villain Fang Ruoyu faithfully follows the KMT, but he still maintains the ability to distinguish between right and wrong in the torrent of the times, and still has a sober personal position in the face of different forms.
The portrayal of political beliefs makes the characters in the series more valuable, and the character characteristics of "dare to love and dare to hate" give the characters a more vivid and full expressiveness and personality tension. The 31-year-old "older leftover girl" Gao Daxia was thrilled after getting to know the excellent young Fu Jiazhuang who stayed in the Soviet Union, and directly launched a wave of "self-recommendation confessions" on the bus, Fu Jiazhuang could not resist this situation for a while, and could only try his best to escape; As Fang Ruoyu's secret agent superior, Ma Susu, who is in his forties, gradually developed feelings for him in his daily interactions, and he expressed his feelings generously through work and Fang Ruoyu's closeness; Liu Manli was deceived by Kuomintang agents after her husband went out to make revolutionary sacrifices, stole important information, and when she found that she had been deceived all the time, she chose to die with the secret agent Yang Huan and unveil his true face.
Layer by layer character story closely connects the life of the city with the pursuit of revolution, Gao Daxia, Fang Ruoyu, Ma Susu, Liu Manli and other people appear in front of the audience with a big grinning aura, the shell of "easy sofa drama" hides the spiritual core of vivid and three-dimensional characters, the ups and downs of the enemy fight are filled with a strong smell of fireworks, and each character can allude to the light of faith.
"Xiaguang" attracted the attention of many audiences with its light and funny plot atmosphere, and many people expressed surprise and happiness after watching the play, but some viewers did not recognize this narrative style, believing that the expression of this history should be serious and solemn. From the overall point of view, the series takes "comedy + spy war" as the two criteria for positioning, which means that this is not exactly the pure comedy or pure spy war drama in the traditional impression of the public, but the intersection of the two is selected in the expression of characteristics, and it is no longer limited to a single presentation method.
Looking back on the original intention of screenwriter Hao Yan's creation: "I hope that through such works, I can let the audience see how the sacrifices and feats of those ordinary and great communists in China and in the difficult and dangerous moments of our party are giving hope to the masses of the people and how to lead them to a fiery era." Indeed, in the context of the grand revolution, ordinary city characters often resonate more emotionally with the audience. The life, clothing, and housing of the characters outline the homely atmosphere in the special era, and the main tone of humor and relaxation gives special emotional packaging to the suspense mystery, not only to firmly pursue the ideal, but also to live in the present and pay attention to the current time.
Everyone in "Xiaguang" is an ordinary and special existence, in their own life stories, the river of dreams will eventually flow into the sea of home and country feelings, writing the most beautiful chapter in the "fiery red age".