coincides with the 32nd Chinese Film Golden Rooster Awards. Speaking of the development of Chinese film, it is really endless for three days and three nights, but has anyone ever learned about "Xiqu movies"? Speaking of the origins of Chinese movies from development, Xiqu cannot be avoided in any case. From the first movie shot in China to the first sound film, and then to the first color film, there are operas.
Opera is China’s ancient mass entertainment culture. It originated in the Qin and Han dynasties, formed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and matured in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It has a history of more than two thousand years. In the society at that time, opera was the mainstream entertainment method. After a long period of evolution, Xiqu has formed a unique artistic expression method that can integrate lyrics, music, art, and performance.
Opera movie
In 1905, "Dingjun Mountain" starring by the Chinese Peking Opera artist Tan Xinpei is considered the birth of opera movies.
also opened the history of Chinese cinema. Xiqu movies and Chinese movies were born together, writing down the most glorious stroke in the history of Chinese cinema in a century. From that moment on, Xiqu has become associated with movies.
1933 Peking Opera drama "Shi Lang Tan's Mother" is my country's first feature sound opera;
1948, Mr. Mei Lanfang starred in China's first color Peking Opera feature film "Life and Death";
1948 Yue Opera drama "Xiang Lin Sao" "Equally noticeable.
From the mid to late 1950s to the first half of the 1960s, the creation of opera films was unprecedentedly active, and many representative masterpieces appeared: "The Female Generals of the Yang Family", "The Wild Boar Forest", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", " "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Qin Xianglian" and so on.
From 1964 to 1976, the trend of modern drama reached its peak: "Taking the Tiger Mountain Out of the World", "Red Lantern", "Shajiabang", "A Raid Attack on the White Tigers", "Harbor", "Ode to the Long River", "Red Detachment of Women" and "Azalea Mountain" are "eight model operas" that have to be mentioned in modern drama films.
From the 1979 Peking opera drama "Iron Bow", the creation of opera movies has entered a new era, and the creation of stories has begun to be added, mainly new and re-arranged historical stories. While achieving results, there will also be a new era. The problems of the series, in terms of creative conceptual changes and new creative techniques, have not brought some new aesthetic changes to opera films, and even in a sense, there are some retrogressions.
Looking at every key moment in the development of Chinese film, it is inseparable from "Xiqu". A century of history has proved that Xiqu and Xiqu movies are indispensable to Chinese movies! Where does
go?
In the current Chinese film market, there is an overwhelming over 80% of Hollywood superhero blockbusters. Many niche films are difficult to survive, just like the recent release of "Into the Capital" directed by Hu Mei and written by Zou Jingzhi Based on the famous story of "The Huiban Entering Beijing" in the history of Peking Opera, it is a genre of "Xiqu Movie" rarely seen on the big screen. If
is not starring Fu Dalong, Ma Yili, Wang Ziwen, etc., which increases the topic and exposure of the movie, the movie "Into the Capital" is likely to become a movie of "theatre day trip". After all, this movie was in May. Released on the 10th, there are also more topical movies such as "Detective Pikachu", "Rome" and "A Mother's Revenge".
"Into the Capital" is a film with a deep sense of history, whether it is the theme or the plot itself. Even so, referring to the current situation of the domestic film market, its situation is still a bit embarrassing. At that time, "Reunion 4" was almost finished. However, there is still remaining warmth, and there is not much room for film arrangement for "Into the Capital".
does not go far, only talking about the opera movies in the past ten years (excluding movies that contain opera elements such as "Farewell My Concubine" and "Mei Lanfang" directed by Chen Kaige), basically there are no specific box office records, so It shows that these movies are all "day trips", and the opera movie with a little bit of success is the Cantonese opera movie "Wang Hua Buying Father" released in 2014, with a box office of 6.122 million.
The classic Chinese opera movies like "The Legend of the White Snake" and "Mu Guiying Takes the Commander" that we are familiar with have a box office of less than one million. It can be said that the number of movies is also declining. On the other hand, the poor box office results are all hitting hard. The confidence of the creator.
regaining confidence
Chinese opera films have set a record of 140 million viewers, that isIn 1956, the Huangmei Opera movie "The Goddess";
, the same Henan opera movie "Mulan" also reached 114 million people, and the most popular feature films at the time such as "White Haired Girl", "Reconnaissance across the River" and other movie-watchers .
Entering the 21st century, with the development of China’s entire film and television industry, communication channels have become more abundant. The younger audience is a good thing, but it is also a bad thing. Some people like "Xiqu", while others hate it, but there will always be youth. People want to pass on the classics. In May 2014, the 3D version of "Farewell My Concubine" premiered in the United States, and the response was good. Unfortunately, the film did not spread widely in China; the 2015 Kunqu Opera film "A Dream of Red Mansions" lasted four years Completed, the domestic theaters did not even arrange films.
From various data, we can see that Xiqu movies have a very narrow path in the domestic film market, and there is no stage for them to develop, so where should the audience go to watch it? We must have confidence in our own culture. The art of opera was once mass entertainment, which enriched the lives of Chinese people, so our attitude towards opera should not be "disgusting." The
stage is the original dissemination space of Xiqu, and Xiqu movies have just expanded this space. Now every household has a TV series and everyone has a mobile device. Although on the surface, Xiqu movies have entered more communication channels. In fact, this exacerbated the road of "marginalization" of Chinese opera. How to say
opera movies have a history of a hundred years, and their rich resources are enough to amaze the younger generation. There are 63 film opera movies shot by the Central News Documentary Film Studio alone, with as many as 320 (of which mainly Peking Opera, At the same time, it involves more than ten types of opera, such as Henan Opera, Ping Opera, Sichuan Opera, and Yue Opera).
As of 2009, there were nearly 400 Chinese opera films produced in China. For so many opera films, the only channels of dissemination in the past were theaters and television stations. However, theaters were subject to schedule restrictions, and television had a "one-off" broadcast format, resulting in many operas. Movies don’t have names. Nowadays, the digital form of dissemination can also make opera movies no longer a film in the warehouse, which is a good thing.
There are many possibilities for the future of Chinese opera and Chinese opera films. Facing the unavoidable living environment such as new technologies and new media, like many art forms, the creators of Chinese opera and film should put aside their attitude of avoidance and resistance. To face the challenge, I believe that more young and promising young people will join the ranks, which will definitely bring new vision and possibilities to the inheritance and development of Chinese opera films!
