Our special correspondent in Hong Kong Ye Lan ●Han Lin
In recent years, the works of Hong Kong female writer Yi Shu have become a "rich mine" for mainland film and television drama adaptations. This month, the drama " Cheng Huan Ji " adapted from Yi Shu's novel of the same name was launched. While the drama gained attention, it also encountered word-of-mouth controversy - whether it was a "magic modification" that went against the spirit of the original work, or a "modification" that catered to the audience's taste. "Second Creation"? Looking back on " my first half of life " " golden years " " Xibao ", Yishu girl, who carries the label of "independent" and "modern", why is it so difficult every time she appears on the screen in recent years? Satisfy the audience?
became "The Overbearing President Falls in Love with Me"
was born in Hong Kong in the 1990s in the novel "The Story of Cheng Huan". After being adapted into a TV series, the story is set in Shanghai today. The play tells the story of a girl from an ordinary family, Mai Chenghuan ( Yang Zi), who was originally going to marry her boyfriend Xin Jialiang ( Niu Junfeng) at the urging of her mother, but the gap in their family backgrounds led to the two eventually breaking up. Afterwards, Cheng Huan met Yao Zhiming (Xu Kai), a professional hotel manager. The two parties worked hand in hand in their careers and gradually warmed up emotionally. Adapted from a novella into a 37-episode drama, "The Story of Cheng Huan" follows the framework of Yi Shu's original work, but has made major changes in the character identity, workplace environment, character relationships and narrative focus. For example, Cheng Huan's mother played by He Saifei and Wu Yanshu's grandmother in the play are both more "amiable" than in the novel. In the original work, Yao Zhiming, who appeared very late, has been played much earlier and more intensely, and his relationship with Cheng Huan is also more interesting. "CP sense". However, this seemingly down-to-earth change has caused dissatisfaction among many fans of the original work. They believe that the show not only fails to truly reflect the freedom and independence of the women in Yi Shu's works, but instead falls into the cliché of "the overbearing president fell in love with me".
A review from Taiwan's United News Network said that "The Story of Cheng Huan" is a modern drama with an urban workplace theme. With the love story and good looks of the male and female protagonists, it seems to be able to meet the needs of young audiences. But it failed to present the essence of the original novel. The series only focused on one main story line - a rich kid fell in love with me, I fell in love with a company executive, and I accidentally became the heir to a huge fortune. "The narrative mode makes the plot too cliche." ". Moreover, there are no poor people in "The Story of Cheng Huan". "Such a plot setting makes the plot divorced from reality and presents a suspended state."
loses its luster after filming a drama?
In fact, the previous "My First Half of Life" starring Ma Yili and Yuan Quan, Liu Shishi, Ni Ni "Golden Years" also had high ratings and topicality, but the character creation was also criticized. The ratings of the two dramas on Douban stopped at 6.4 points. As for the movie "Xibao" starring Guo Caijie, it received a super low score of 3.3. It is difficult to say that the wave of film and television adaptation of "Yishu Girl" in recent years has gained public recognition and has not truly "established itself".
Yi Shu's novels were mainly written from the 1970s to the 1990s, a period during which Hong Kong's economy took off rapidly. At that time, more and more women entered society to participate in production. With economic independence, their social roles, marriage concepts, reproductive choices, etc. changes in aspects. "Yishu Girl" is a vivid product of this era. And if this kind of "Hong Kong girl story" that dares to fight and does not rely on men is to be moved to today's mainland, it will inevitably have to be changed. If you are not careful, it will appear "suspended" and "materialistic". At the same time, most of Yi Shu's novels are not long and focus on using dialogue to highlight the "aura". They are very enjoyable to read, but if they are really to be adapted to the screen, a lot of details and foreshadowing need to be added. However, some adapters "showed their timidity" when encountering workplace scenes, and after adding and changing them, they turned into childish idol drama plots and "boss boss cool articles", which greatly compromised the "Yishu girl" image they originally wanted to establish.
Take the 2020 drama "Golden Years" starring Liu Shishi and Ni Ni as an example. "Is Yi Shu's novel eclipsed by the drama?" Hong Kong 01.com said that as early as 1988, Maggie Cheung and Chung Chu Hong starred in the movie version of "Golden Years". The mainland drama version is led by Liu Shishi and Ni Ni, but there are too many family ethics and romance scenes, which somewhat dilutes the core theme of "friendship".Some commentators said that the slogan of the series "Golden Years" is "female growth", but the adaptation deviated from the trajectory of the original work, and the heroine's emotional line was confusing. "It is better to choose a man to fight for your career, so how can you talk about female growth?"
Don't let "Yishu" "Dialogue" is only an empty shell. In contrast, "The Story of a Rose", "Morning Blossoms Picked Up at Dusk" and "Love in Peace" filmed in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s are more consistent with the sense of the times and the region. Of course, looking at the popularity of "Cheng Huan Ji", "The First Half of My Life" and "Golden Years" in recent years, "Xibao" has a high box office of 110 million yuan that does not match the ratings, and the upcoming broadcast starring Liu Yifei The new version of "The Story of a Rose" shows that Yi Shu's works are still very attractive to contemporary audiences, especially female groups.
This era needs works that reflect the female perspective. The key lies in how the adapter can truly capture the values of the characters and accurately reflect the independent spirit at both the "speech" and "action" levels, rather than just saying a few words such as "lost" "Things, in fact, have never truly belonged to you, and there is no need to regret it." "The person I admire most is myself." Such dialogues in Yi Shu's works turn around and fall into the arms of "two women chasing one man" and "a billionaire boss" Among them, it not only chilled the hearts of book fans, but also felt sorry for Yi Shu's "sincere teachings" for nearly half a century. ▲
