【Famous Dialect Culture】
Beijing needs theatre brands with international influence
——Visiting Zhang Xian, Professor of the Department of Dramatic Literature of the Central Academy of Drama
Author: Li Fangzhou
Zhang Xian, Director of the Department of Drama and Literature of the Central Academy of Drama, Member of the Chinese Dramatists Association, Vice President of the China Dramatic Literature Association, Specially Invited Expert, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education. His personal works include "The Essentials of Screenwriting" and the drama work "Alive" (adapted from Yu Hua's novel of the same name). He won the 2003 China Federation of Literary and Art Criticism Awards, the 2004 China Cao Yu Theater Criticism Excellence Award, and the 2005 China Drama Literature Creation Gold Award. 2011 Golden Lion Award for Chinese Drama.
Reporter: You have been deeply involved in dramatic literature for many years, and a large number of works have come out, how did you get involved with this discipline? Has Beijing, a historical and cultural city, played some part in this?
Zhang Xian: I have been teaching and researching in drama at the Central Academy of Drama since 1982, and I have been teaching and researching drama for nearly 40 years. I've always believed that age and experience don't mean anything, and as a scholar and teacher, the key is to always pay attention to the development of the entire theater industry.
From my point of view, the connection between theater and Beijing's urban cultural development is very close, in large part because Beijing has been the capital of our country for hundreds of years. An important feature of the capital is that it is a gathering place of national culture, and theatrical activities are relatively developed. Peking Opera in the past was also formed in Beijing as a national influence. Since the 1950s, our country's cultural system has begun to promote drama, and the prosperity of drama is marked by the establishment of a series of theaters and troupes represented by the Beijing People's Art Theater and the China Youth Art Academy. At the same time, China has also established a systematic drama talent training base in Beijing, that is, the Central Academy of Drama. It can be said that Chinese drama has completed the overall basic construction in Beijing and then radiated to the whole country. Up to now, troupes from all over the world still regard coming to Beijing as an honor and recognition, and the Beijing audience is also the most active group of drama audiences in the country.
In the future, the capital Beijing will continue to play such a leading role in the development of China's drama.
Reporter: There is a view on the Internet that China now lacks nothing, and it lacks good film and television screenwriters.
Zhang Xian: This is a very interesting question, because I teach writing and screenwriting, and many of the students I teach are in the industry after graduation. Screenwriters who graduated from the Department of Chinese Drama and Literature, such as He Jiping, Wang Wanping, Lan Xiaolong, Shen Jie, etc., can also be regarded as China's current gold medal screenwriters.
But I can understand that the audience says that we now lack good film and television screenwriters, and it is also reasonable to ask for this. Why? I think the primary reason is that the audience's vision and literacy are really high now. In the past, our audiences could not contact any film and television works, and the standard was relatively low. Now that life is better, young audiences are more familiar with foreign countries, and what they usually see are the best film and television works abroad, and compared with these works, we do have a certain gap in China.
Another reason is our production system. Take the film and television industry as an example, in fact, our government's policy in this regard is very open, the degree of commercialization is relatively high, as long as you shoot well, private companies are willing to invest, TV stations are willing to buy. But our current investors may still be relatively backward in concept, not enough respect for the screenwriter such an industry, a line, the producer can change, the director can change, the actor can also change, the script may not be able to express the original intention of the screenwriter. However, in fact, we look at european and American counterparts, and we have great respect for the screenwriter, and if you want to change the lines, the screenwriter has to go to the scene to confirm. If the film can also be said to be the art of the director, the TV series can be said to mainly depend on the level of the screenwriter, and the impact in this regard is even greater.
In addition, film and television works are the result of a team collaboration, some of the scripts I know, could have scored 90 points, but maybe the director here did not shoot well, the actors did not act well, or where the lighting and makeup were worse, so the final shot, that is, 60 points.
Under such a system, many screenwriters have slowly become producers how to say how I write, directors how to say how I write, and the enthusiasm for creation has also come down. I think this problem, with the gradual maturity of China's film and television market, will be solved to a certain extent. When our market produces one or two "blockbuster" works with high-level screenwriters and respect for screenwriters, it will naturally cause thinking and change in the industry.
Reporter: Now we have a lot of film criticism and drama reviews app are using the scoring mechanism to judge the quality of the work, if you are asked to score a film and television work or drama, from what aspects will be judged?
Zhang Xian: I think the current scoring is more of a social behavior than a matter in the creative field. People's approval and opposition on the Internet are often affected by the overall environment, and the more people who scold, the more people come out to say good things, and the more people who say good things, some people will jump out of the "black", so the score formed cannot correctly judge the quality of a film and television work.
In addition, each of our current software has its own scoring system, the algorithm is opaque, it is easy to be manipulated by all sides, thereby misleading the audience, which involves a fair and objective problem. And people's viewing purposes are different, some people enter the cinema just to cry, some people just to watch the big scene, which is difficult to give a unified standard. As a film and television creator, you still have to believe in your own works, don't stare at the Douban rating reviews.
If I had to judge a film from a professional point of view, I would focus on these four aspects. First, it should be a film about people; second, it should be able to arouse people's feelings; third, a film should have a unique perspective and tell a unique story; fourth, there needs to be some good actors who really assume the role of the film.
Reporter: As an experienced literary and art worker, how do you think we should tell the Chinese story well and further enhance the cultural self-confidence of the people?
Zhang Xian: I think that to tell the Chinese story well, the most important thing is to tell the current China well, and to put the master of our country in the first place of our creation. Who is the master of our country? It is the people, a literary and artistic work, that can only be great if it truly writes about the lives of ordinary workers, the lives of ordinary teachers, and the lives of grass-roots civil servants. What we should show is the story of the ordinary people who are crowded around in the subway every day, and it is their joys and sorrows that can move people and truly reflect the spirit and face of our China today. We may always want to shoot some blockbusters and shoot some heroes now, these themes are very good, but we must also pay attention to the fact that we can't follow the trend and only shoot these, or we must do a good job in the creation of realistic themes.
Reporter: What deficiencies do you think beijing has as a national cultural center and a leading city of Chinese theater? How can we develop better in the future?
Zhang Xian: At present, our troupe revenue mechanism is not very perfect, mainly relying on the national "blood transfusion". In foreign countries, in general, one-third of the troupe's income depends on the box office, one-third of its income depends on the sponsorship of art foundations or enterprises, and one-third depends on government subsidies. The government will sign a contract with the troupe and require the troupe to participate in many social activities. For example, in order to receive government subsidies, Hong Kong theater troupes need to provide drama therapy activities and drama counseling for surrounding communities and schools while performing, and also go to prisons and psychiatric hospitals to do charity performances to help prisoners and patients make psychological adjustments. At the same time, in order to encourage enterprises to support cultural activities, the government will also give preferential tax treatment to sponsoring enterprises.
From a professional point of view, these theatrical activities are called "applied dramas", which are quite effective in alleviating social contradictions and improving the cultural literacy of the public. In this regard, our country started relatively late, but there are some attempts at present. For example, some teachers in our department organized a rehearsal of the drama for the group of nannies at an activity station in the Dongcheng District community, and wrote the daily activities of the nannies and the various lives in the employer's home into a script, and many nannies had a deep touch in the process of acting and watching, and the response was very good. Later, the activity station also invited the nannies' employers to watch the play, and the two sides enhanced their understanding of each other through such a platform and formed effective communication. I think that if Beijing wants to develop drama well, it must have the ability to do it.
In addition, we need some theater brands with international influence. Now Beijing has the Beijing Youth Drama Festival, the Taihu Film and Doll Art Week, and the National Drama Theatre also has an original drama festival, which is very large in scale and has a certain influence, but the repertoire is not too exquisite, lacks overall planning, and there are not many top dramas in the world that can be seen, which is also unfavorable to the improvement of our own drama level.
Moreover, we should still vigorously develop private drama. There are many private theaters in Beijing now, such as the Basil Theater next door to our school. As a small theater with a house renovation, the Basil Theater can only accommodate 100 people, but since 2008, it has been performing here, and now it can perform hundreds of performances a year, and even has a certain reputation internationally. I think these small theaters are a good clue to Theatrical activities in Beijing, the epitome of the booming development. Beijing has the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the National Drama Theatre, poly, Mei Lanfang Grand Theater and other theaters, but also need the folk power of the Basil Theater, only when the participation of the people is high, the drama can really develop.