"It's better to be broken than to be ruined."
"You can choose who you want to be, but I am Chinese."
Have you heard about the Beijing-style legendary drama?
It’s been a while since the Spring Festival season ended, but this year’s Chinese dramas are starting the new year and it’s not lively enough.
CCTV's "South to North" has good ratings, but it is not out of the spotlight.
"Hunting Ice", led by Zhang Songwen, was out of the circle, and it was popular enough, but its Douban score was 4.5.
Even suspense dramas like "Tang Detective 2" didn't make much of a splash.
In a word, there is a missing piece of Wang Zha, which is the beginning of the new year for national dramas. It's time for it to appear -
Among domestic dramas, there is a category with strong regional characteristics - Beijing-style legendary dramas.
This kind of special Chinese drama that has both strong Beijing characteristics and a legendary color has produced many masterpieces.
After 80, I have watched "Four Generations Under One Roof", "The Bell and Drum Tower" and "Xiaojing Hutong".
html After 90, I have seen high-scoring dramas such as "The Mansion Gate" and "Tea House".
But in the new century, with the full control of capital, the market has been ceded to popular artists. The themes of domestic dramas have become increasingly biased towards ancient puppets and sweet pets, and Beijing-style dramas have gradually disappeared.
There is only one satellite TV station left, and from time to time it releases a few legendary period dramas with a Beijing flavor to satisfy the audience's cravings.
Beijing TV.
Just tonight, 41 episodes of the legendary period drama "Xuanwumen" will be aired. Tencent video webcast.
The drama was filmed in 2017. It originally had 60 episodes, but the Beijing Satellite TV broadcast version has 41 episodes. Comparing the original footage, it can be seen that the deleted parts are mainly in the contemporary part.
However, this deletion actually turned the drama into a purer period legend drama after removing many contemporary urban drama segments.
Speaking of Xuanwumen, many people immediately think of Niujie food.
The bursting belly, Yibao lotus leaf steamer cake, Baiji rice cake, Dashunzhai sugar fire roast, Jubaoyuan hotpot mutton, the food is authentic.
This rare period legendary drama is airborne, whether it tastes authentic or not, let’s try it first?
1. Story: Rooted in Niujie, a family has been protecting treasures for decades. It is a legendary drama of the era with feelings of family and country.
html Legendary dramas of the 00s mostly had two story backgrounds, either the Northeast or old Beijing.Because this is fertile ground for stories.
Speaking of Xuanwumen, it is naturally the story of old Beijing.
In the early years, the inner city of Beijing was about nine miles long from north to south and six miles long from east to west, so it was called "Six-Nine City".
"Four Nine Cities" refers to the four gates of the old Beijing Imperial City and the nine gates of the inner city.
Everyone is familiar with the four gates of the Imperial City;
The nine gates of the inner city are Zhengyang Gate, Chongwen Gate, Chaoyang Gate, Fucheng Gate, Dongzhimen, Xizhimen, Anding Gate, Desheng Gate, and Xuanwu Gate.
This drama tells the story of jade carver Li Yunjin (played by Zhang Fengyi) who was ordered to create a jadeite pomegranate, which symbolizes the prosperity of the country, and dedicated it to Cixi.
Later, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty was crumbling, and Li Yunjin's family was also involved in the turmoil.
When the Revolution of 1911 broke out, the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty was completely overthrown. In order to protect the national treasure, Li Yunjin sacrificed his life.
The mission of protecting the national treasure was passed on to his son Li Tianshun (played by Ren Chong).
The Anti-Japanese War broke out. Facing the guns of the Japanese invaders, Li Tianshun vowed to die unyielding.
He said the soul-stirring sentence in the previous article and was later killed by the Japanese invaders in the street.
Several generations of the Li family, in order to protect this jade pomegranate, which symbolizes the prosperity of the country, with the help of the neighbors, fought against the evil spirits and snake gods of all walks of life, encountered the danger of family destruction several times, and finally used the unique tenacity and stubbornness of the old street to protect the statue. To protect the national treasure and protect the dignity of Niujie.
Judging from the trailer, the story of "Xuanwumen" has at least three major highlights:
First, the ups and downs of the family's fate.
"Seeing the big from the small" is a magic weapon for winning in period legendary dramas.
Take a look at the popular legendary drama of the past few years: "Pearl River Family"...the camera almost focuses on the fate of the family, and the audience can witness the changes of the times in the ups and downs of the family.
The story of "Xuanwumen" begins with the Reform Movement of 1898 in the Qing Dynasty and revolves around historical events such as the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China and the Anti-Japanese War.
is in the form of a chronology, using major historical events as nodes to describe the fate of the family on Niujie Street.
Although the time span is very long, because the play focuses on the life of a family, it uses a story line to protect the national treasure "Jade Pomegranate" to connect the nearly century-old history of Xuanwumen Niujie.
Generations of the Li family have sacrificed themselves to protect the national treasure. Their personal fate and the fate of the family make this drama enough to catch the audience's attention.
The second is the feelings of family and country and the drama of the Anti-Japanese War.
The story ranges from the Guangxu period, the end of the Qing Dynasty, to the Republic of China and the Anti-Japanese War, and to the beginning of the founding of New China.
The fate of the national treasure can also be seen in the fate of the country.
In the drama, there are not only the hardships of the Anti-Japanese War, but also the tragedy of craftsmen protecting the national treasure. There is no shortage of war scenes, family and country dramas, and action scenes.
An anti-war drama, a family drama, and ultimately a century-old Chinese dream.
It is hard not to be touched by this strong feeling of family and country.
The third one is the real era texture.
The play focuses on Xuanwumen, Old Street, and various traditional Beijing cultures.
For example, he used aerial photography and large-scale atmospheric shots to shoot scenes of different characters entering and exiting Xuanwu Gate in different eras many times.
The Eight-Nation Allied Forces entered.
Japanese invaders also entered.
For example, I have repeatedly photographed Niujie, a wonder place with historical and cultural value.
There are also different costumes, styles, etc. of the characters from the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, the Anti-Japanese War to the liberation and founding of the People's Republic of China.
For example, during the Anti-Japanese War, there was a scene where Peking Opera students wielded Guandao to assassinate Japanese army officers, and eventually shed blood on the stage.
This kind of era quality with the feelings of family and country can produce works with a strong flavor of the era.
2. Actors: Leading by Ren Zhong, supported by Zhang Fengyi and Siqin Gaowa, a gathering of talented actors
If you want to revitalize a period drama, the performance of the actors is also crucial.
Especially since this drama spans a long period of time, two points should be taken into consideration when selecting actors.
The first is suitability, that is, whether the actor's age, status, and experience are suitable for the role;
The second is acting skills, whether the actor can portray the spiritual outlook of that era.
"Xuanwumen" spans a hundred years and has higher requirements on actors' acting skills, because each of the leading actors has to play two roles.
Judging from the cast of "Xuanwumen", the main actors include Ren Zhong, Wang Zijian, Zhang Fengyi, Siqin Gaowa, Tong Lei, Li Guangfu, Tian Hua, Li Chengru, Li Yixiao, Ma Jingwu, Li Mingqi, Lei Kesheng, Zhao Yi, Yu Bin Wait, there are many talented actors, focusing on the suitability of an actor.
The five actors are particularly worthy of attention.
One, Zhang Fengyi
The jade carving craftsman Li Yunjin played by Zhang Fengyi is only a supporting role, but he is probably the most outstanding character in the whole drama.
First of all, Zhang Fengyi’s role in a period legendary drama is so right.
His masterpieces when he was young, "Camel Xiangzi" and "Farewell My Concubine" are actually legendary works of the era.
His works have decreased in recent years, and his representative work is Sha Ruijin in "In the Name of the People".
However, there are still many period dramas.
Then the characters are outstanding. The jade pomegranate that appears throughout this play was created by Li Yun Jindiao.
This character is grand and elegant. When facing Cixi, he is neither humble nor overbearing.
Faced with the guns of foreigners, he is not afraid of danger.
Even if he was eventually shot and killed by foreign soldiers, his fallen body would still be hard.
is not good at playing a role like this. He tends to use too much force and becomes greasy.
But Zhang Fengyi plays this kind of role easily.
Zhang Fengyi today is even more suitable for this kind of emotional and difficult role than when he was young.
Secondly, Siqin Gaowa
Siqin Gaowa doesn’t have many dramas. Mainly focus on the opening.
Unfortunately, the main antagonist role happens to be with Zhang Fengyi, my old partner in "Camel Xiangzi" when he was young.
Siqin Gaowa's performance peak period also caught up with the peak period of domestic historical dramas and period dramas.
Especially Xiaozhuang in "Kangxi Dynasty" and Grandma Bai in "The Mansion Gate" are both generous and wise characters, calm and well-planned when faced with difficulties.
She has a sense of drama when she plays this type of character, and she feels it right when she appears.
In recent years, she has gradually faded out of Chinese dramas. The audience can watch her and cherish her role as Cixi.
Thirdly, the protagonists of the play, Li Tianshun and his son, are re-enacted.
Ren Zhong has a long history of acting. He became famous early with "Emperor Wu of Han" when he was young.
caught up with the trend of urban dramas again, starring in "Home, nth power" and "Beijing Youth", and became a popular niche actor.
In recent years, his roles in "That Year the Flowers Bloomed and the Moon Was Full" and "The Wind Blowing Pinellia" are also influential, but his roles are not the same as those back then.
participated in "Xuanwumen". His role is not light. I hope Ren Zhong can return to the top.
Fourth, Tong Lei
Tong Lei also became famous immediately after her debut, starring in Haiyan's drama "Deep Prison". Later, he participated in major dramas such as "Bright Sword" and developed well.
has come back after nearly ten years of retirement. She still plays supporting roles in major dramas such as "The Star", but the leading role no longer belongs to her.
She plays the heroine in this drama and has a lot of roles, and she plays from young to old. I hope she can make the audience see her glory again.
Fifth, Wang Zijian
Speaking of Wang Zijian, many viewers think of talk shows.
When "Tonight's 80s Talk Show" was booming, he was almost synonymous with talk shows.
Li Dan and Wang Jianguo are both the stars of this show.
Later, "Tonight's Post-80s Talk Show" was stopped. Wang Zijian focused on acting, and his reputation was not as good as during the talk show period, and many viewers were sighing.
Unexpectedly, time has passed again. Domestic talk shows have lost the glory of the previous two years. On the contrary, Wang Zijian has been steadily working on his career as an actor and has no shortage of acting roles.
In the drama "An Jia" starring Sun Li, he played the chatty character Wang Zijian, which was very lovable. He played Zhang Zhi in "Only Thirty", and he turned out to be a lovable character who was originally annoying.
Wang Zijian is a natural comedian, and his lines are not bad. He does not need to act ugly, he can amuse the audience with his words, and he is not too talkative. This unique way of acting has given him enough to gain a foothold in the entertainment industry.
In this drama, he plays a tragic character. The last king, grandson, nobleman, will inevitably rise and fall with the times. Let’s see if Wang Zijian can prove his acting skills in serious dramas.
3. How can a Beijing-style drama that has spanned a century become a dark horse? This drama may be a model.
mentioned at the beginning that most of the domestically produced Beijing-style legendary dramas with good reputations were concentrated in the 1980s and 1990s to the beginning of this century.
During this period, most of the Beijing-style legendary dramas were played by senior actors. The stories were authentic, and the actors could also perform the charm of different eras.
The cast in "Xuanwumen" is a mix of old and new.
Screenwriter Yang Guoqiang's masterpiece is "Teahouse" with a score of 9.3. He is definitely good at writing about old Beijing.
director Wang Xiaokang has both good works and low-scoring dramas.
Judging from the trailer, the period quality of this drama is quite good. Some of the scenes and atmosphere during the Anti-Japanese War look very real, and you can immediately be transported to that era.
Judging from the story, main creative, cast and other configurations, it still has the potential to be a hit in the legendary drama of the era. The biggest feature of
is that the whole play spans a hundred years, from the garrison reform, the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the warlords' melee, the Anti-Japanese War, and the War of Liberation, telling the story of the treasure-protecting legend of three generations of a family.
has really experienced tremendous changes and ups and downs.
