[Creative Notes] Heroic Culture is the most vivid, unforgettable and shocking cultural memory of a country and nation
Text/ Yu Rongjun (screenwriter of the drama "Heroic Sons and Daughters")
The original novel and movie provide a good foundation for character relationships and structural foundation, which provides a large creative space for drama creation. While retaining those classic scenes, I re-explored and created the relationships of characters.
Due to the times and history, the original works and movies focus more on the spiritual level of the characters, and do not show the emotional level of the characters too much, which has become the focus of this drama creation. At the same time, I have also added some new characters and plots to make the whole story more full and comprehensive, convey real emotions, and make it easier for the audience to understand the characters.
Hero culture is the most vivid, unforgettable and shocking cultural memory of a country and nation, with specific connotations. So what is a hero? What is heroism? What is the contemporary heroic spirit? This is the question that needs to be answered in the drama "Heroic Sons and Daughters", and it is also the purpose of the script. Shanghai is a heroic city and a place with revolutionary traditions. It has been baptized by artillery fire and left the bright red of the martyrs, which has brought peace today. Today we praise heroes not only to commemorate their deeds back then, but also to promote the heroic spirit, draw strength from them, and learn and live better.
[Exclusive visit] Hero, return again in our tribute to the red classic
is only more than two weeks away from its premiere on October 6, and the drama "Heroic Sons and Daughters" has entered the sprint stage of creating a sprint. This work is adapted from the novella "Reunion" by writer Ba Jin and the film of the same name as Changchun Film Studio, and was created and arranged by the Shanghai Drama Art Center. The creator hopes to lead today's audience through a recap of the red classics, to praise the heroic city of Shanghai and pay tribute to the heroic people of Shanghai.
Why do today's Shanghai artists choose to retell this red classic that is deeply rooted in people's hearts? With this question in mind, the reporter conducted an exclusive visit to the crew on the 20th. Walking into the rehearsal hall on the fifth floor, what is underway is a set of stage multimedia film shooting. When Wang Cheng was photographed writing a letter from home, the filming took a few seconds, and the staff shouted "card" behind the monitor - is the pencil that Wang Cheng used right? "Right! There is a Chinese brand pencil in the movie! Made in Shanghai, China!" The person who followed Wang Cheng's actor and young actor Liu Xuanrui . He said as he rushed to the camera with the words "Shanghai, China" on his pencil, and the proud tone made everyone present laugh. As a "new Shanghai native" from Liaoning, he has already integrated with Wang Cheng, the Shanghai hero, both in and out of the play, and feels sincerely proud of the heroic city that "provides people and money and supplies" back then.
This scene also responds to the previous question - because the people of this city and this city cannot forget, and have never forgotten, "Why is the battle flag as beautiful as a painting, the hero's blood dyed it red; why is the earth always there, and the hero's life blooming flowers." As the screenwriter of the drama Yu Rongjun said: "Shanghai is the city with the most heroic tradition. We want to use this drama to continue and carry forward such traditions, so as to answer from today's perspective, what is hero and what is heroism." Heroes are the brightest coordinates of the nation; heroes are also the most proud spiritual wealth of a city. The spirit of heroism is the return and inheritance from generation to generation as we pay tribute to the red classics and look back at history.
After polishing the "birthplace of the Party", it will make the spiritual coordinates of the hero city shine more
Even today, the novel "Reunion" and the movie "Heroes' Children" are very special existences in red-themed literary works. Compared with other works that praise heroes, although the two works depict fierce war scenes and descriptions of hero dedication, they are more focused on the story of two Shanghai families seeking relatives and reunion on the battlefield. It is this perspective full of humanistic warmth that gives the grand war narrative and heroic praise a solid realistic support. It is also because of this that generations remembered a pair of heroic siblings like Wang Cheng and Wang Fang, which made Wang Cheng shout the strongest voice of Chinese soldiers, "Fire at me for victory" and the theme song " Heroes' Hymn ".
What is more worth mentioning is that through the two works, it deeply demonstrates the contributions of Shanghai from the working class, underground workers, volunteer army soldiers, art troupe soldiers and other forces to the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. Behind the scenes, Ba Jin went to North Korea twice, braved the artillery fire and ate and lived with the soldiers, and wrote it with his life. Xia Yan, a dramatist who promoted the adaptation of the film, was the first dean of the Shanghai People's Art Theater (the predecessor of Shanghai Drama Art Center). In addition, the main actors of the film also come from Shanghai.
It is the profound connection between this work and Shanghai inside and outside, which gives Yu Rongjun the impulse to create. In the past two years, with Shanghai's full implementation of the "Birthplace of the Party" excavation and publicity project, Shanghai's image as a "city of glory" has been rooted in people's hearts. However, after this glorious history, whether it was economic development and the fight against the US aid Korea in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the people of Shanghai and Shanghai made great sacrifices and contributions, and batches of heroes emerged. It can be said that from "Reunion" to "Heroic Sons and Daughters", this heroic city is a microcosm of the extraordinary feat of "there are people, money, materials, and whatever they want" during the period of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. With this pride, Yu Rongjun and the main creator hope to re-salvage and wipe this red puzzle piece that is sealed in the depths of memory in the way of adapting classics, giving the times meaning.
So, how can new content continue the spiritual outlook of two classics? While retaining the classic scenes, Yu Rongjun carefully sorted out the clues that can be generated in the novel, and then searched for real stories from historical documents and field trips to enrich them, and also incorporated more Shanghai voices and Shanghai power. For example, the new character "Little Sichuan" is the orphan of an underground worker in Shanghai. Wang Wenqing's guard Liu Zhengwu is from Wusong, Shanghai. He recognized his fellow villagers with Wang Fang and "connected" a nursery rhyme in Shanghai...
's creative technique is the inspiration that Yu Rongjun got from the process of adapting novels in the movie. The classic line in the film, "Breaking fire at me for victory" does not come from Ba Jin's original novel, but the story found by director Wu Zhaodi and screenwriter Mao Feng based on the novel clues. It is this original plot that is faithful and boldly adapted that makes the original book "He bravely sacrificed on the hill" concretely transform it into a vivid hero image on the screen.
The group portrait of Shanghai heroes standing on the stage was not intentional by the creator, but there are real historical facts to follow. For example, "Little Sichuan", Yu Rongjun found out after reviewing the information that after the liberation of Shanghai, a group of children joined the army from orphanages and later became volunteers. Behind him and Wang Cheng, there were more than 18,000 young Shanghai people who participated in the volunteer army and 1,683 people died in North Korea.
, and Wang Fubiao represents the power of the Shanghai working class. They are not only the fathers of heroes, but also heroes. During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Shanghai workers rushed to prepare supplies day and night to support the war. Through the oral narration of the veteran, Yu Rongjun realized that a Shanghai-made enamel cup printed with "dedicated to the cutest people" is not only a place for the volunteer soldiers, but also a strong spiritual support for the motherland and the people.
"There is no place or person out of this war that has won by the whole country! This city of Shanghai is like this, and our ancestors are like this.Heroes, children, they are you, and me! "Liu Xuanrui's simple insight reveals the historical necessity of Shanghai becoming a heroic city.
The "life and death agreement" between the art troupe and the frontline soldiers shocked the "post-90s" Wang Fang
However, she was in a peaceful era for too long. Classic lines and songs seem to be condensed into a strange and familiar symbol for the younger generation. "That memory is too far away! "This is a sentence of emotion that all young actors were unanimous during the interview. This sentence also reveals the pressure and concerns of their role in the red classic - how to play a fearless hero in a peaceful era? In just one month after joining the group, through military training party class, director Hu Zongqi talks about the play, and the veterans of the Central Art Troupe recalled, they salvage the heroes in the deep memory little by little and set them on the stage. At the same time, they also experienced a spiritual baptism that rekinds the feelings of the country and the original intention of art.
Liu Xuanrui still remembers the scene in which he played Wang Cheng, who was playing the role of comrade-in-arms, covered his feet for his comrade-in-arms "Little Sichuan". Hu Zongqi believes that his handling is "too hurried", "If the lines are spoken too quickly, the audience may miss it as water lyrics, losing the touching power. "It was also the crew invited a party class from Xu Xuetong, a professor at the Shanghai Municipal Party School, to teach him , which made Liu Xuanrui realize the lightness of his previous performance. "The teacher talked about a veteran's recollection. When the charge order sounded, he failed to respond immediately, because he could only shoot on the spot because of frostbite. The veteran felt very guilty about this. I felt very uncomfortable after hearing this. With such difficult conditions, what else can we ask for them? ! "It is this story that allows Liu Xuanrui to "become" Wang Cheng on the stage little by little. Later, he no longer needs to think about how to "play" a hero, but becomes a true expression, so that "I have been acting for nearly 12 years and have almost never acted like this kind of scene that has been crying in the rehearsal hall! "In his opinion, although the true stories learned behind the scenes cannot be told to the audience on stage, they have become the support for performance - I am not empty, there will be a show on stage.
The same transformation also happened to Wang Fang's actor He Mengjie, a "post-90s" actor. What role can the art troupe play on the battlefield? Even if she is both a literary and artistic worker, she was confused. It was not until the "contract" sent by Song Guanghua, a retired cadre of the Shanghai Drama Art Center and a soldier to North Korea, that she made her brother in the play. The plot of Wang Cheng forming a "pair of red" and signing a "life and death agreement" has a deeper understanding.
precious historical information provided by Song Guanghua
In the "Contract", the art troupe soldier Wang Xi and Gao Zhiben, the red flag bearer of the first squad, squad, and the second group of the first squad, which attacked the 865th squad, agreed, "As long as Comrade Gao Zhiben planted the red flag on the high ground, I will spread the whole heroic deeds... If Comrade Gao Zhiben hung flowers or sacrificed gloriously, he must spread it like Huang Jiguang's hero, educate all troops, and keep the name in the world. "This paper "contract" does not talk about the exchange of interests, but the life and death of a person, the glory of a force, and the destiny of a nation. This also makes the post-90s literary and artistic people understand that the art troupe is not only responsible for boosting morale on the front line, helping the wounded and ensuring logistics, but also using literary and artistic works to keep the heroes and heroic spirits forever in people's hearts.
On weekdays, she can't help but hum "The smoke of war rolls in the heroes, and listens to the green mountains on all sides". After singing the Broadway musical for a long time, she is shocked: "The melody deep in our own national blood is really nice, and the more she sings, the more powerful it becomes! ”
Author丨Huang Qizhe
Picture丨Shanghai Drama Art Center for
Edit丨JohnnyQ
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