Inadvertently, the popular costume drama " Menghualu " has set a record: nearly 20 days after its launch, its Douban score is still as high as 8.5, making it the highest-scoring domestic drama in the first half of 2022. There is no suspense . While the ratings have skyrocketed and all kinds of heated discussions are flying, many old fans have begun to wonder: Does this mark the revival of good costume idol dramas?
"Meng Hua Lu" poster
Actually, Yang Yang, the director of "Meng Hua Lu", really didn't think so much. In an interview with reporters, Yang Yang admitted that from the beginning, she did not regard "Menghualu" as an "ancient puppet". She was more concerned about telling a story that modern people can resonate with.
"Meng Hua Lu" is adapted from the Yuan drama "Zhao Pan'er Feng Yue Saves Feng Chen" created by Guan Hanqing the famous opera writer of the Yuan Dynasty. Although it is not a standard heroine drama, the main storyline of the drama still closely revolves around the teahouse proprietress Zhao Paner played by Liu Yifei . After experiencing the breakup of the engagement, she went north to seek explanation and got acquainted with Imperial City Secretary deputy envoy Gu Qianfan. This main line unfolds. "This is a female theme." Director Yang Yang told reporters that the mutual help and support between Zhao Pan'er and sisters Sun Sanniang and Song Yinzhang was exactly what he wanted to film at the time.
director Yang Yang has been in the industry as early as the 1980s. In the past nearly 40 years, she has brought the audience many high-reputation dramas such as " Holding Hands ", " Proof of Memory ", " Intentions ", etc. He has also won the " Feitian Award " and the " Golden Eagle Award " in the "Excellent/Best Director Award" competition. This time, Yang Yang got the script of "Menghualu" in August 2020. The first thing she noticed was the mutual help of the women in the story. "We often say that a good man values friendship and goes out of his way to save his friends. In fact, the same goes for women. This kind of emotion is actually very desirable for modern people."
The CP composed of Chen Xiao and Liu Yifei has received a lot of praise. After Duo
was confirmed to start filming, Yang Yang discovered that the "difficulties" really began. The first thing is to determine the visual style of the whole play. She revealed that for more than half a year, she and her crew members read a lot of books about the Song Dynasty, went to many museums, and saw a lot of ancient paintings that reflected the scenery of the Song Dynasty. In her opinion, ancient paintings have inspired her a lot.
"For example, in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", you can see the living conditions of people in that era and the fireworks of life." Yang Yang said that after reading the script of "Menghualu", he felt that the female characters in it were very vivid Yes, she thinks this kind of life is based on the fireworks of urban life. In addition, Yang Yang also went to several places that were particularly developed during the Song Dynasty: Kaifeng, Wuxi, Shaoxing, Jiaxing, etc.
Liu Yifei's appearance is still one of the most eye-catching topics.
"This group of CPs is so awesome." "'Sister Immortal' is still 'Sister Immortal'!"... There is no doubt that "Menghualu" has contributed a lot since its launch. Among the hot searches, "the actor was chosen right" was the most mentioned point. Some netizens bluntly said that coupled with Liu Yifei's label of acting in a costume drama again after 16 years, it would be difficult to think about whether it would become popular.
When talking about the choice of actors, Yang Yang confirmed that indeed Liu Yifei and Chen Xiao made their own decisions. It's just that what she values may be a little different from everyone's imagination. "Liu Yifei is indeed very beautiful." Yang Yang said, but he did not like the fact that she is the "fairy sister" in everyone's impression. "What impressed me more was her inner sense of strength." Yang Yang said that after starting to contact her, she discovered that Liu Yifei had her own ideas about the role of Zhao Pan'er, which could be transferred to her performance. "We have a high degree of tacit understanding in this regard. I think the role of Zhao Pan'er must be hers."
And Chen Xiao moved Yang Yang with his eyes. She recalled that her first impression after meeting Yang Yang was that his eyes were very special. Yang Yang said with a smile, "Profound, melancholy, heavy, firm, innocent and bright, Chen Xiao has everything that should be in Gu Qianfan's eyes."
Liu Yifei's professionalism and improvisation surprised director Yang Yang
Of course, he The two did not disappoint Yang Yang.In addition to having the professionalism that an actor should have, Yang Yang was also surprised by their improvisation. For example, in the tea fight scene, what everyone saw Zhao Paner playing with the fan was the action design that Yang Yang temporarily asked Liu Yifei to add. "I didn't expect that she could play the fan so beautifully."
Also, after defeating her opponent and herself, and letting go of the past tea fight, Zhao Paner's solo dance on the small pavilion was actually a temporary performance by Yang Yang. "Try it" comes to mind. Liu Yifei did not prepare in advance at all and improvised very well.
Yang Yang admitted frankly that he has no experience in filming ancient costume idol dramas, and he did not shoot "Menghua Lu" as an "ancient idol". She said that no matter what kind of drama she is filming, she would rather study human nature. In her opinion, dramas produced in this way can resonate more emotionally with current audiences.
upstream news reporter Qiu Jinyi
