At 3 pm on March 21, 2024, Beijing time, the Netflix version of "三级" was officially launched on streaming media, and all eight episodes of the first season were released at once. This TV series adapted from the work of the same name by the famous Chinese science fiction novelist Liu Cixin, after burning 160 million US dollars and going through about three years of filming and editing, it finally took off its mysterious veil and met with expectant netizens.
As early as more than a year before it was officially launched, Netflix began to build momentum for its own production of "The Three-Body Problem" and released multiple trailers. Among them, the display of the impressive scenes in the original novel, such as the Red Bank Base, the Three-Body Game, etc., is amazing. With the support of the powerful Western film industry, the expressiveness of the pictures has been greatly improved, and at the same time, Because the characters and plots in the original work are under the control of Western political correctness, there may be drastic reforms and there is a worry that the original charm will be lost.
Can professional film and television practitioners from across the ocean successfully film this science fiction story with a unique Chinese spiritual core?
After about 7 hours of "painful" viewing, I finally got an answer.
Subtraction or addition
Friends who have read the original work know that there are a lot of abstract concepts and character blanks in the novel "The Three-Body Problem", and these must be chosen in the film and television presentation. So how to choose, or what the criteria for choosing are, becomes extremely critical.
The first thing that needs to be made clear is that from the beginning of production, the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" was not aimed at the domestic market. Its target audience is those overseas who do not know much about the original novel "The Three-Body Problem", but are probably just familiar with it. Ordinary people who are slightly interested in science fiction films and television works.
In an interview with the cast of the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" published by "USA Today", Wu, who once served as the producer of "True Blood", said that they knew this was a novel that would be difficult to adapt. In the first few months of discussing the script, the main takeaway was to focus on characters that the audience would care about, and the fact that those characters care about each other.
(In an interview with "USA Today", the producer said that he should focus on the characters and the relationship between the characters)
In other words, the focus should be on the self-presentation of the characters, rather than on the advancement of the plot.
Therefore, while the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" generally retains the main plot of the original work, it has made significant cuts to the main characters who appear in the book.
The simplest one, in terms of quantity, is that Chang Weisi, Shen Yufei, Wei Cheng, Pan Han and Ding Yi all disappeared, while Luo Ji, Zhang Beihai and Yun Tianming, who only appeared in the second and third parts of the novel, , Cheng Xin made a brilliant debut in the first episode, and simplified the interpersonal relationship between them. It was generally attributed to the fact that they (except Zhang Beiwai) were all top students majoring in physics at Oxford University, and had worked under Ye Wenjie’s daughter Yang Dong. Study for further studies.
(From left to right, the adapted prototypes of the characters are: Wang Miao, Cheng Xin, Zhang Beihai, Luo Ji, Yun Tianming and the original character Rich Man)
What needs to be mentioned here is that according to the trailer, previously The conclusion inferred from the content that Wang Miao was divided into five is not accurate. The performance in the feature film is more like Wang Miao's experience of exploring the three-body game was assigned to Cheng Xinhe's original creation by another Oxford Five. She was a rich white man who formed a group, while she focused on her own nano-science research. After witnessing the tragic scene of Operation Guzheng, she shared her nanotechnology patents with the world and went to third world countries to do charity work alone.
One thing that critics often criticize in Liu Cixin's novels is that sometimes in order to advance the plot, many of his characters will behave like outright tool men. Just like Wang Miao in the first part of the "Three-Body" novel, he is often criticized by book fans. Jokingly speaking, its function is just like a camera. However, this way of writing is not a bad thing for changes in film and television, because there is a lot of room for screenwriters to play, such as enhancing the complexity of the characters through character settings.
However, due to the limitation of the number of episodes and the creative ambition of the screenwriter, it is necessary to cram such a huge span of content from "Wang Miao first meets the great history" to "Luo Ji is appointed as the Wall Facer at the United Nations" into about 7 hours of TV series. becomes extremely difficult. Therefore, after reducing the number of appearing characters, the screenwriters had to continue to make subtractions, and directly reskinned the most familiar settings in commercial film and television drama productions and added them to the main appearing characters, which were so few that they could be counted on one hand. On the body.
(It was only fifteen minutes into the opening that it was hinted that the black man Luo Jisol had a history of taking contraband)
So in the Netflix version of the "Three-Body" TV series, we naturally saw the alcoholic white women Wang Miao and Fei Yezi The black man Luo Ji, the drug-abusing Asian woman Cheng Xin, the white man Yun Tianming who has a crush and the loyal Indian Zhang Beihai.
In terms of plot promotion, the few remaining characters have been fully integrated. Wade transformed into an all-powerful leader, personally handling all matters, no matter how big or small. He was the one who gave instructions to the Grand Historian, and he was the one who recruited Zhang Beihai (yes, Zhang Beihai participated in Operation Guzheng here). He accompanied Wang Miao to watch in the command room. He was the one who cut off the Judgment Day, he was the one who led Cheng Xin and other scientists to the meeting, and he was the one who tested Yun Tianming who was lying in the hospital bed. Apart from that, most of the time, he wore a straight dark uniform, sitting in a large, empty manor room with only a table and a lamp, writing something on the paper vigorously.
(Vade, who does everything by himself, is listening to Da Shi report to him)
Correspondingly, the two leaders from ETO, Ye Wenjie and Evans, have been extremely flattened, both in terms of life experiences and personal beliefs. In the original work, Ye Wenjie, who pressed the button out of despair for humanity, is portrayed in the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" as a "slave" entangled in hatred and revenge, who is still grateful to the Lord at the last moment of his life; and as a Evans, a staunch fighter of species communism, is hastily portrayed as a "believer" who talks a lot about environmentalism.
(Ye Wenjie and Evans kiss passionately on the cruise ship)
(Cheng Xin and Zhang Beihai return home to meet their parents)
What is puzzling is that while the deeper motivations of the characters are so heavily reduced, the screenwriter keeps cutting. Make a big fuss about interpersonal relationships that are still chaotic. Nearby, there is the love triangle between Cheng Xin, Zhang Beihai and Yun Tianming, and far away, there is the mysterious operation of Ye Wenjie first kissing Bai Mulin and then flirting with Evans, not to mention the ambiguous feelings lingering between Wang Miao and Luo Ji.
The only reliable explanation for this may come from a previous interview with the crew of Netflix's "The Three-Body Problem". The producer said that "they should pay attention to the relationship between the characters who care about each other."
(Ye Wenjie explains two-digit addition and subtraction to Yang Weining)
Although this cannot explain why they chose to retain the character of Yang Weining, but made him into a character who cannot understand two-digit addition and subtraction, stealing from Ye Wenjie The theory and leader claimed credit for the fool and the villain, and generously exempted him from the role attribute of Yang Dong’s father (in the setting of Netflix’s “The Three-Body Problem”, Yang Dong’s name is Vera Ye, the daughter of Ye Wenjie and Yiwen Si's daughter) and the fact that she was killed by Ye Wenjie.
Alternative localization
The conclusion about the effectiveness of the localization of Netflix's "The Three-Body Problem" can be summarized in just one sentence, that is, it is the master of stereotypes.
In today's social context, stereotype is already a negative word, but in the context of script creation, this may not be the case. Skillfully using stereotypes to establish the characters in just a few shots can undoubtedly save a lot of shots to achieve the effect of speeding up the pace and compressing time.
For example, the black male Luo Ji in Netflix's "The Three-Body Problem" has many lines about his hobby of flying leaves (even in public). In the Western environment, it is easy for overseas audiences to associate the characteristics of nihilists, and they quickly gave this person who was almost making soy sauce in the first half-constantly persuading Yun Tianming and Cheng Xin to build up in his heart. A basic profile of expectations and roles.
The same character is played by a white female Wang Miao (although her name sounds like Spanish, so she may be Latina), and her multiple sexual orientations are hinted at in just a few scenes in the opening scene, which makes people have negative opinions about sexual minorities. Audiences with a maverick impression quickly labeled her as unshakeable, so that when the plot progressed to the point where she openly confronted the company boss and shared the impermanence of nanotechnology with the world, the audience would not feel a sense of disobedience.
(Wang Miao, who just shared the nanotechnology patent with the world with his leader)
If such an adaptation based on politically correct stereotypes can still make the Chinese audience laugh bitterly while making complaints, then for eto The religious transformation of this organizational form may leave some people shocked and confused. In the original work of
, the conflicting ideas between the salvation and advent factions disappear in this version of Netflix's "The Three-Body Problem". Although from a few lines, the audience can still see them calling each other gay, the behavior they show in daily life is more like the communication and love between devout believers.
The audience can then appreciate: Ye Wenjie, who was suddenly attacked during a meeting at ETO headquarters, would persuade others to stop resisting and said, "If this happens, it will be our Lord's will"; when Evans failed to escape and was about to face death, Sometimes, he would hold the hard drive containing information to his chest, kneel down and murmur to himself, "Forgive me, my Lord."
(Ye Wenjie who ordered everyone to give up resistance)
(Evans praying to the Lord before dying)
Similar religious scenes can be found in the plots of this drama involving ETO. After Ye Wenjie was released, she went home and knelt down to confess to the Trisolarans. After Evans learned that Ye Wenjie was arrested, he told others, "This is the Lord's arrangement." Also, before Ye Wenjie returned to Hong'an Base and prepared to jump off a cliff to commit suicide, she was After the members of the organization informed the Trisolarans that they had restarted contact with the earth, they happily sighed, "The Lord has forgiven me."
In some scenes, too much religious content may even interfere with the audience's understanding of the plot.
For example, when Ye Wenjie was packing up Yang Dong's belongings, she found a book called "Game Theory" and a copy of "Fermi Paradox". So she had a flash of inspiration and found Luo Ji, a black man whom she had only met once before, and began to give him Teach the secrets that may solve the current crisis. Ye Wenjie first came up and told a joke to black logic: Einstein went to heaven after his death. Because he played the violin and angered God who liked the saxophone, he was kicked in the crotch by God. Finally, he came to the conclusion: Don’t play with God. . (There is an English homophonic joke here. The word "play with" means to play with someone, and also means to play with)
(Ye Wenjie is telling Luo Ji a joke about loving God and Einstein)
Facing the black man Luo Ji With a look of "I don't understand", Ye Wenjie calmly explained that humor is a very subjective thing, some people understand it, some people don't understand it, some jokes are too personal and only two people can understand them, but jokes are very important, no Joke we can't survive. Then I said, I hope my joke won't cause you any trouble, and walked away.
For a moment, people couldn't tell whether the person sitting cross-legged in the middle of the round platform when being detained at the ETO headquarters was Ye Wenjie, the ETO commander in "The Three-Body Problem", or the cult member in " Weekly Elimination of Three Evils" The leader is the Venerable Lin Luhe.
This kind of adaptation is based on the production team's safety considerations that the audience living overseas has grown up in a strong religious atmosphere for a long time and is more likely to understand this kind of mindless fanaticism, or is it based on the screenwriters' extremely high degree of organization? We don’t know the natural vigilance of political organizations, but for the audience, wanting to see the golden line from the original book in the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem", "Eradicate human tyranny, the world belongs to the Three-Body Problem" is purely Wishful thinking.
Polarized word-of-mouth
Twenty-four hours after its launch on the streaming media platform, the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has received very polarizing reviews at home and abroad. Looking only at the ratings, some platforms gave the answer that the quality is acceptable. But a closer look at the comments reveals serious polarization.
Overseas, the show received a score of 3.4 (out of 10) on the Google search page, a 74% Tomato Index (professional film critic score) and a 64% Popcorn Index (audience score) on Rotten Tomatoes. ), it received a score of 7.3 (out of 10) on imdb.
(Screenshot of Google search)
(Screenshot of imdb)
(Screenshot of Rotten Tomatoes)
In China, although the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has not yet been released, it is not difficult to see it in the comment area where the discussion is fierce. A similar A c-shaped, polarized rating histogram is taking shape. Most of the discussions among
netizens focused on the visual effects, rhythm control, character creation and plot advancement, and then further discussed in depth whether the "Three-Body" TV series produced by a Western streaming media company on a commercial line can be successful. Restore the ideological essence of the original work?
Therefore, the question is further directed to, can literary and artistic creators from the West understand humanistic thoughts with unique Chinese characteristics? Judging from the quality of the current TV series, it is difficult. The creators tend to take care of the tastes of overseas audiences to the greatest extent from the perspective of commercial operations, such as the bloody emotional dramas and the simple religious ETO organization we mentioned above.
This is a typical narrative dependence. After years of hard work in the industry, script creators have formed a complete set of commercial creation paths for Western audiences. The author of the Washington Post wrote in a recent review praising the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem", "From our traditional understanding, this TV series has no interest in creating a world view. and depth outline the emotional landscape that the characters occupy. The network of interpersonal relationships is almost instantly legible, showing the authenticity of intimate feelings. Even despair."
This is exactly the same as the previous creation of the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" The rhetoric of the authors coincides with each other. In their creative thinking, this kind of commercial film and television works should pay more attention to people and the mutual caring connections between people.
It is worth mentioning that the screenwriters of the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" are the same screenwriters of the previously popular but ultimately unfinished "Game of Thrones". They have previously been criticized for lack of richness in the adaptation of the script without the blessing of the original work. ’s dialogue and well-crafted characterization, only amazing but childish character growth, and a lot of visual spectacle built to attract attention.
The editor of the "Daily Mail" disliked the plot's progress in explaining the world view too slowly, and complained even more viciously in the review of the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem"; "It took two hours for us to begin to understand the story. The content is about the threat of alien invasion." He changed the subject and started criticizing the screenwriter: "Before then, many viewers will give up and be confused by these unlikable characters and clichéd plot designs. I often think about this Are these two screenwriters visionary geniuses, or just two dumb idiots who just happened to get lucky when they adapted George R.R. Martin's epic "Sex and Dragons" (in this case, "Game of Thrones")."
Regardless of whether we compare Netflix to The adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem" is due to the deep-seated arrogance of Western creators, innate prejudice, or the spectacle-style appropriation of mysterious Orientalism. One thing is clear, that is, now there are More and more Western audiences hope to see a film with real Chinese characteristics.
Among overseas viewers, many long reviews with low scores wrote similar sentences: I have read the original work, but I don’t like this adaptation. It does not reflect the unique ideological connotation and humanism of China contained in it. I want to see film and television adaptations with Chinese characteristics.
(low-scoring film reviews and discussions from outside the Internet)
What is Chinese belongs to the world. It not only means that Chinese cultural works can go out with an inclusive mentality and produce more diversified interpretations, but also means that they are unique to China. The ideological connotation can be understood and accepted by more diverse people.
By the way, on the same day that the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" was released, the Tencent version of "The Three-Body Problem" also launched an anniversary edition, which reduced some of the procrastinating plot and made the rhythm more compact.
A year ago, when Chinese audiences saw the trailer of Netflix's "The Three-Body Problem" full of cool special effects, they were still worried whether the domestically produced "The Three-Body Problem" had fallen behind in terms of quality, and whether we would lose our respect for China. The right to interpret a science fiction masterpiece? Nowadays, the reset domestically produced "Three-Body" was put on the shelves the day before, openly shouting that it wants to compete in the arena.
Isn’t this a kind of cultural confidence?
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