Cinematization of stage play: without presence, there is a story

Author / Xiaobao

Qingming file is coming soon, and the first word-of-mouth premiere directed by Chen Jianbin has won the first eleventh episode.

According to current audience comments, the chapter-style narrative structure used in this film is very novel, and the visual presentation of the dialogue drama in the film is also impressive.

However, looking at domestic and foreign films, the narrative form of chapter structure has been used many times in film works. It is also related to dramas, musicals and other stage plays . The list goes on. In this article, Mr. Intelligence will sort out the recent years of cinematization of stage plays. At the same time, we also ask questions: Why is the cinematization of stage plays outstanding and how to win.

▲ movie " XI back " poster

when the theater was moved On the big screen

It has long been a matter of putting the stage play on the big screen. Among them, the number of adapted musicals and dramas is the most.

As we all know, New York , Broadway and the West End of London are the world’s two major musical mecca, and have produced musicals such as "The Phantom of the Theater", "The Cat" and "Mama". , Broadway Musical or West Side Musical Film adaptations and selections since the last century. Together with musicals, it is a stage play form that has become a frequent candidate for English movies, as well as drama. For example, ": A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), "Twelve Angry Men" (1957) and other important works in film and television are adapted from the drama of the same name, and the masterpiece of "Sea Pianist" is adapted From the theater text "1900: Monologue" created by the Italian playwright Alessandro Ballico in 1994, Spielberg's "Standing Horse" is adapted from the play of the same name by the British National Theatre.

There are not only English films that favor the selection of materials from dramas. Japanese and Korean films, based on the works of Kurosawa Akira , have also left many excellent works. For example, " Spider's Nest City " and "Chaos" directed by Akira Kurosawa are adapted from Shakespeare's tragedies "Macbeth" and "King Lear" respectively. In terms of Korean-language movies, works such as "Memories of Murder" directed by Bong Joon-ho and "Welcome to Dongmocun" directed by Park Kwang-hyun are all adapted from dramas.

In terms of Chinese films, the most frequently adapted drama in mainland China after the founding of the People’s Republic of China should belong to Mr. Span1span Cao Yu ’s masterpiece "Sunrise".According to relevant literature, the play has been adapted into a movie more than ten times, even dating back to 1938. After entering the new century, there are no shortage of commercial masterpieces in Chinese films based on or adapted from dramas. For example, Zhang Yimou's "Full City with Golden Armor" (2006) has many shadows of Cao Yu's classic drama "Thunderstorm". In the same year, Feng Xiaogang's other blockbuster "Night Banquet" should be born out of Shakespeare's drama. The characters and plot in "Hamlet".

However, compared with English movies, Asian films seem to be less adapted to musicals. From a larger perspective, we can also think that musicals are still not popular with audiences in Asia so far, so the production of related themes is also less. In recent years, there are not only Chinese-speaking filmmakers. Production or investment in musicals, even musicals imported from overseas (mostly Indian Bollywood movies or Disney movies) can hardly compete with dramas at the box office. In Japan, only the movie " dance with me " released in 2019 has become popular (the protagonist of the film is Sanji Ayaka who starred in the MV of Jay Chou's "Say Not Cry").

On this point, there have been a lot of discussions and debates in the film academia. Most scholars believe that one of the important reasons for the unpopularity of musicals in Asia is that it is in this region. Traditional stage plays have not developed a form like Ziegfried singing and dancing.

Siegflies, who left his name in "The Wealthy Show",At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Broadway performances at that time were dominated by vaudeville performances and European-style operettas. Song, dance, and comedy were then combined to completely revolutionize the Broadway performances. Since then, these innovative features have not only profoundly affected the presentation of Western stage plays and promoted the popularity of musicals, but also subtly allowed European and American audiences to readily accept musicals.

▲ movie "The King of Song and Dance" (1936), which is also the 9th Oscar Best Picture in China _span4sp1

_span4sp1 In ancient times, opera performances such as Peking opera and Kunqu opera were popular. For a long period of time in modern times, most of the performances on stage were model operas. It was not until the reform and opening up that musicals began to be used as "exotics". Attention and practice domestically. Nevertheless, the broadcast of Hunan Satellite TV's variety show "Sound into the Heart" in 2019 has made a qualitative leap in the popularity of the musical form in China.

practice

Chinese world

Although the musical adapted from the Chinese film few, however, from the field of drama Film practice has gradually increased in recent years, and even produced some pleasant fruits. At the same time, the two-way interaction between movies and dramas is also more frequent.

First of all,Despite the mixed reputation, in addition to classic dramas such as "Sunrise", "Thunderstorm" and "Tea House", there are more new books that can be used as film adaptations. For example, , Deng Chao, and Yu Baimei have successively put the popular work "Break Up Master" and "Span1span Villain Angel" by Baimei Studio on the big screen. The big drama works, Happy Twist, have been right since 2015 Make an orderly film adaptation of his own book.

Secondly, generalized "dramaers" including screenwriters, directors, and actors are also more actively entering the big screen. Many of them also shine on their own. takes the works produced by happy twist as a typical example. In recent years, there have been actors such as Shen Teng, Ma Li, and Ren Suxi. They also relied on "Charlotte Troubles", "The Unknown", "Donkey Gets Water", etc. Word-of-mouth works gradually cultivated its own audience market. In terms of screenwriters and directors, there are also examples like Rao Xiaozhi , such as steadily and steadily. From "Hello Madman" to "Span1span The Unknown Man " to "The Crowd", the reputation of Rao Xiaozhi's films has been steadily increasing.

Finally, in addition to the one-way output from the drama field to the film field, more film and television actors are also willing to spend time entering the theater to learn in order to hone their acting skills. For example, Hu Ge has long participated in the drama " like a dream " directed by Shengchuan Lai,Ni Ni starred in the same Lai Shengchuan's "Yaoyao Dongba". Recently, there are also official announcements about idol stars participating in classic dramas and so on. In addition, there are even film and television actors who are willing to challenge the need to sing and perform well in musicals. For example, Han Xue has been the absolute protagonist of the Chinese version of the musical "White Night" since 2018.

▲ fun twist recently released movie

no presence in having the story

Nevertheless, looking at the world, whether it is box office or word-of-mouth, cinematic stage play is not a panacea.

In terms of musicals, despite the crowds of stars, the 2019 "Cat" was still full of media complaints during its release period with its shocking appearance and unsatisfactory plot. Similarly, although Du Qifeng directed the film "Gorgeous Office Workers" released in 2015, although it has gathered many big names such as Zhang Aijia, Chow Yun-fat, Eason Chan, Tang Wei, the shooting background is staged and the more amateur actors sing. But it makes this experimental film full of controversy.

In terms of drama,Although high-quality books have passed theater inspections and have accumulated a certain number of fans, they are still far less than the current movie audiences; in addition, the exaggerated body, exaggerated expressions and other performance methods commonly used in live performances are also easy to become in big screen works. Deduction points. Take the production of Happy Twist as an example. "Span1span Charlotte Annoyance", which was first released in 2015, became very popular once it was launched and eventually won 1.448 billion box office; the small-cost film " donkey got water" released in 2017 's word-of-mouth hits both at the box office; since then, "Ice Fist of Shame" has pushed the box office of the happy twist movie to over 2 billion.

From this, we have to think about: the filming of stage plays, how to make it shine and how to win.

Intelligence gentleman believes that an excellent stage play adaptation film does not win by restoring the "sense of presence" of the live performance, but should be distinguished by the story content of the original stage play.

Stage plays and movies, as art that relies on two completely different media forms, are born with "walls". Quoting Rao Xiaozhi’s 2010 interview, the movie is copied and staged on large screens, and the value of the drama is the live-action performance that changes in every scene. For example, "Secret Love in the Peach Blossom Spring", since its premiere in 1986, has not only had countless actors and actresses, but also a continuously updated version of the performance for more than 30 years. Although the film of the same name released in 1992 is also a classic, it is already a different and relatively static appearance.

▲ "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Spring" drama stills 1

Nowadays, more and more creators who try to visualize stage plays are not constrained to restore the "sense of presence", but instead focus more on the control of the content of the story. And because many well-known domestic film and television actors have rich experience in stage plays (especially dramas) in their early years, they also seem to be more confident in leading related creations, just like Feng Xiaogang in " fanghua" and Chen Jianbin In the "Eleventh Chapter".

However, compared with the filming of drama, the domestic prospects for filming of musical musicals are still quite uncertain. However, despite the current small size of this market, the intelligence man still looks forward to one day in China that can produce freshly adapted plays like "In the Heights" and masterpieces like the 2021 version of "West Side Story" , Even an excellent original script like "City of Philharmonic".

In addition, filming is not the only option for stage play. In European and American countries and regions where the stage performance industry has matured, theaters, directors and other practitioners are more willing to choose the form of official video show, like NT Live of the prestigious British National Theatre.

In addition, in order to maintain the attractiveness of live performances for a long time, most stage show producers and producers will not easily open official video exhibitions. Even if they want to show them, they will consider it. Supporting revenue plan. Take the popular musical " Hamilton" that went online on Disney+ last year. Because Disney spent $75 million for the exclusive distribution rights of this movie, according to foreign media reports, "this may be the most expensive in film history." A transaction to buy a film that has already been made.Such a large transaction is a fantasy for the current domestic stage drama imaging market.

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