In 2018, on the twentieth anniversary of the release of the CCTV version of "Water Margin", director Zhang Shaolin was invited to participate in a variety show. When he saw Zang Jinsheng, who once played Lu Zhishen, standing on the stage, he lost control of his emotions for a while and burst into tears. Director Zhang Shaolin said with tears: I have not apologized to you for twenty years!
Hearing this, Zang Jinsheng immediately choked up, why would the director who shot the most classic version of "Water Margin" and bring fire to many unknown actors because of this play be so sentimental twenty years later?
Stills from Water Margin
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > take on the shooting task</h1>
In 1986, a "Journey to the West" became popular all over the country and became the most replayed TV series on TV stations so far. Since the beginning of this year, the four masterpieces of Chinese classics "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" have also been filmed and released. Until 1994, there was only one "Water Margin" left, as the last Chinese masterpiece to appear, CCTV attached great importance to it, and after careful consideration, Zhang Shaolin, who had been the sub-director of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", was used as a director. However, because Zhang Shaolin's education and ability have been questioned by many people, everyone is not optimistic about handing over the last of the four famous works to him to shoot, but Zhang Shaolin still took over the arduous task of filming "Water Margin".
At that time, "Journey to the West" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" had been released, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" had been basically filmed, and the strong response of several other works gave Zhang Shaolin unprecedented pressure. In this way, Zhang Shaolin began to accompany "Water Margin" for nearly four years.
In order to better present this work, Zhang Shaolin spent a lot of effort to make a lot of preparations. He read the original works, commentaries, comic strips, operas and other art forms of "Water Margin", and even invited Tian Lianyuan, an expert in book review, to be an art consultant. In order to let the screenwriters feel at ease, Zhang Shaolin even put them under "house arrest" in Qinhuangdao. After some adaptation, the top-heavy shortcomings of the original work have been compensated, and the storyline of the main characters of Liangshan has also been processed.
Tian Lianyuan
However, the script changed the hero's freedom and heroism needed martial arts scenes to be blessed, and the other three famous works that were popular at that time, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Dream of the Red Chamber", and "Journey to the West", in addition to "Dream of the Red Chamber", there was no martial arts drama, and the other two film and television works were not wonderful enough, leaving the audience with a lot of regrets. Zhang Shaolin decided that he must make up for this shortcoming in "Water Margin", so he fell in love with Yuan Heping, who was known as "Hong Kong's first martial arts instructor", who had become the industry's leading martial artist with works such as "The Legend of the White Snake", "Drunken Fist" and "Huo Yuanjia".
Yuan Heping
Zhang Shaolin found Zhang Jizhong, the production director at the time, and entrusted him to invite Yuan Heping no matter what the price. Therefore, Zhang Jizhong and the entire production team had to ask Yuan Heping again and again, and finally, they finally touched him with sincerity. It can be said that the success of the 98th edition of "Water Margin" is inseparable from Zhang Jizhong's three Gu Maolu to invite this big coffee.
Yuan Heping's requirements are very high, and he also strives for authenticity, coupled with the difficult shooting conditions, which also makes the actors suffer. Looking like fleeing from a distance, looking like asking for food up close, this has become a true portrayal of the 98th edition of "Water Margin" in the filming process.
Under the guidance of Yuan Heping, the martial arts scenes in the play are wonderful, and the 108 good men are all armed with special skills. The "good men of Liangshan", who originally had no martial arts experience, can be said to present the most wonderful martial arts scenes in the mainland TV series at that time, which is absolutely indispensable for the success of the entire "Water Margin".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > very demanding role</h1>
However, we do not know that behind these wonderful scenes they have worked hard and hard. The "good men of Liangshan" in the play were asked by Zhang Shaolin to train three months before the start of filming, and the crew specially prepared a gym and fitness equipment for them to exercise their muscles and gain strength. In addition to the particularly dangerous actions in the play, the actors themselves are on the battlefield, so it is inevitable that they will be injured during the filming process.
When filming the bridge section of "Wusong Fighting Tiger", Wusong almost became "Meat Pine". Originally, the crew wanted to use a fake tiger, you know, Wu Song is a legendary celestial being, a hero who occupies ten times in the hundred times of "Water Margin". However, the fake tiger did not achieve the expected effect at all, so Zhang Shaolin and other directors had to borrow 2 real tigers from the circus after repeated consultations: an adult Siberian tiger and a Bengal tiger. Although the circus tigers have been trained, no one can guarantee that these tigers will not hurt people. However, in order to make the plot more realistic, Ding Haifeng did not say a word and launched a close hand-to-hand fight with the king of ten thousand beasts. However, the tiger will be treated as a sick cat if it does not threaten, Ding Haifeng was still overturned on the ground when riding on the tiger to prepare for shooting, and was slapped on the face, and the people next to him looked scared and frightened, but Ding Haifeng also wiped the blood on his face while comforting everyone that "it is okay".
This is the role played by the actor with his life, and it is this spirit of excellence and fearlessness that allows us to see the more flesh-and-blood Wu Erlang.
And at that time, when choosing the actor of Wu Song, Zhang Director also struggled to think, in the previous works, the most classic Wu Song actor is Zhu Yanping, but in Zhang Dao's view, Zhu Yanping's version of "Wu Song" is too heavy. According to his vision, Wu Song is a character that all men are jealous of and many women yearn for, and his image is not only rough and tough, but also sunny and handsome, making people feel that they are full of righteousness.
Ding Haifeng
However, according to this standard, it is really difficult to find a matching actor, just when Zhang Shaolin was anxious, by chance, Zhang Director saw Ding Haifeng's TV series "Bitter Sun", this tall and clear actor quickly attracted his attention. At that time, Ding Haifeng was because he had no resources and no connections, and he once planned to withdraw from the circle because of the loss of confidence, so Ding Haifeng, who had no popularity and was already ready to withdraw from the circle, picked up the pie that fell from the sky.
After that, whenever people mentioned Wu Song, the first thing that came to mind must be Ding Haifeng. It can be said that the role of "Wu Song" has made him, and it can also be said that Zhang Shaolin discovered the Wu Erlang in our hearts.
Although Ding Haifeng also starred in "The Name of the People" Zhao Donglai, "Wolf Warrior 2" Naval Captain such a very good role, but when Ding Haifeng is mentioned, people first think of "Wu Song". Later, in an interview, Ding Haifeng also said this: He is very grateful to director Zhang Shaolin and the shooting experience that will not be seen in any other crew in the future.
In addition, when filming the bridge section of Lu Zhishen's upside-down Yang Lou, in order to present it more realistically, Zhang Shaolin asked the staff to find a stout real tree to bury in the soil for Zang Jinsheng to pull, and then use a crane to help. At that time, it was not easy to find a crane, and director Zhang Shaolin asked for a one-time success. At that time, the crane was not as safe as it is now, in the process of pulling the tree, the wire suddenly broke, only about a foot away from it to be smashed on his head, fortunately, the branch blocked the wire rope at that time, otherwise Zang Jinsheng's head would blossom, which was really very thrilling.
Moreover, when determining the role of Zang Jinsheng as Lu Zhishen, Zhang Shaolin felt that Zang Jinsheng,90 kilograms of Zang Jinsheng's appearance was not appropriate enough, so he issued a military order for him to gain weight within two months. If you can't do it, go away!
Zang Jinsheng's process of gaining weight is very difficult, he has to eat more than a dozen eggs a day, in order to quickly increase muscle, he cannot drink water, but can only drink milk powder. And that wasn't enough, you had to eat lamb and beer at night, and when you ate, everyone else was a small bowl, and he was a big bowl. Although the final result is that kung fu pays off, Zang Jinsheng increased his weight from 90 kilograms to 130 kilograms within the specified time, which is in line with the image of Lu Zhishen of the Water Margin, but Zang Jinsheng's friends broke the news that Zang Jinsheng slept and undressed at night, and even suffered from heart disease.
There are too many such pictures, teacher Li Mingqi, who plays The Princess, broke his knee and bled and suppurated because he wanted to shoot the picture of kneeling during the shooting; there was also Liu Tang's actor Tai Zuhui, who had three stitches on his hand; Liu Weihua, the actor of Ruan Xiao'er, had six stitches on his eyes. These scenes can be seen everywhere during the filming process of "Water Margin", because Zhang Shaolin has always adhered to the original intention of shooting fine products, every shot, he strives for excellence, and the actors are never perfunctory. It is the dedication and desperation of the whole crew that has made the heroes of the Water Margin one by one vivid figure.
Because of love, so especially care; because of care, so more effort; because of hard work, so that we can see so many vivid characters today!
The reason why a classic can become a classic is that it has experienced the precipitation of time and the baptism of wind and rain, and it can be renewed for a long time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > classic in the hearts of the people</h1>
On New Year's Day 1998, the crew held a grand opening ceremony in Wuxi Water Margin City, and "Water Margin" was filmed for nearly four years, and finally landed on the big screen in the anticipation of everyone. You know, 1998 can be said to be the most classic year in the history of Chinese tv dramas, this year, "Huan Zhu Gege", "Ji Gong", "Deer Ding Ji" and dozens of other works have been released. However, once "Water Margin" was broadcast, it still triggered a viewing boom in the country. Because it was too real, an audience member in Hunan even smashed the TV because he was too emotional when he saw the plot of Song Jiang being recruited, and this TV series also won almost all the awards in the field of TV dramas later.
Although in our view today, the "Water Margin" released in 1998 has some blurry pictures and unclear voices, but the sincerity, love, and persistence have long been overflowing, deeply touching every audience.
The 98 version of "Water Margin" began filming in 1994, although there were only 43 episodes, but it took a full four years, the crew spanned 7 provinces and cities in China, however, in such a long time, they set a record - during this period, all the actors were fully engaged in the work, did not participate in any activities, did not shoot any other works. And in the past four years, except for one year when the Spring Festival took a few days off, there was almost no rest.
Zhang Shaolin is also known as "Desperate Sanlang", which is simply incredible in the current view, so Zhang Shaolin will sigh in the show: he was so harsh at that time, so that when he saw the actors injured, he also felt that it was their share as an actor, and he never apologized and cared for them.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" will be ></h1>
What is touching is that after more than twenty years of time, those good men of Liangshan who were righteous and cloudy and righteous and awe-inspiring at that time also began to become old, and zhang Dao, when looking back at the years when everyone had struggled together, apologized for being too harsh:
To our brothers and sisters of Water Margin, I would like to express the director's deep apologies. I am really sorry for you, in this life and in this life, we have become brothers, all from the "Water Margin", we will have a period later!
However, life is easy to grow old, classics are not old, it is precisely because of Zhang Dao's persistence and intentions, so that this version of "Water Margin" set off a ratings frenzy at that time, caused a sensation in thousands of families, and made the heroic pride of many good men in Liangshan reverberate throughout the land of Shenzhou!
Follow the curtain Sir, there will be a period later!