Recently, the movie "A Dream of Red Mansions" directed by Hu Mei was released, triggering a heated discussion among the audience: Is a long masterpiece like "A Dream of Red Mansions" suitable for adapting into a movie? What kind of casting is in line with the original characters?

Recently, the movie "A Dream of Red Mansions" directed by Hu Mei was released, triggering a heated discussion among the audience: Is a long masterpiece like "A Dream of Red Mansions" suitable for adapting into a movie? What kind of casting is in line with the original characters?

The previous film and television adaptations of "A Dream of Red Mansions" have attracted attention again. In addition to the well-known 1987 and 2010 TV series, the 1989 version of the movie "Dream of Red Mansions" shot by Beijing Film Studio and directed by Xie Tieli has a total of 6 parts and eight episodes, lasting more than 10 hours. Shanghai actor Xia Jing reprises her role as Jia Baoyu in the film. She was only 18 years old when she joined the cast.

How was this blockbuster film that took three years to shoot and cost tens of millions of yuan to be shot? What is the special charm of the movie version of "A Dream of Red Mansions", and why is it so little known today? Recently, a reporter from Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News conducted an exclusive interview with Xia Jing to reveal the story behind this classic work.

From Yue Opera to Movies

“I grew up in Yue Opera in primary school, and my profession was Hua Dan, not a niche.” Xia Jing’s mother is a Yue Opera actor, and her uncle works in a band. When she was 11 years old, she followed her sister to apply for the Hongkou Yue Opera Theater and was admitted under exceptional circumstances. . "When I was a child, I lived in an alley in what is now Zhangyuan. I grew up listening to Jiangnan opera, and I would hum along with the arias. But what attracted me more was the costumes. I would often put a sheet on my body and imitate Opera actors' water sleeve movements."

Xia Jing’s calendar girl photos

At that time, three Yue Opera troupes from Hongkou, Jing’an and Luwan jointly trained a class of students at the Shanghai Opera School. They taught blanket skills, opera postures, and also had cultural classes. At that time, whenever there was a movie to be shot, the assistant director of the crew would go to art schools and theater troupes across the country to select suitable actors. Just after studying in drama school for a year, 13-year-old Xia Jing was spotted by an assistant director from Guangxi Film Studio who was looking for actors. She took the train for two days and nights to Nanning to shoot the first movie in her life. The movie "Chunhui".

Xia Jing’s calendar girl photos

""Chunhui" means a lot to me. It was the first time I left Shanghai alone, the first time I took a train, the first time I saw the mountains and rivers, and the cattle and sheep plowing in the fields. The beautiful scenery only described in textbooks broadened her horizons. "It was also during that filming that Xia Jing had a basic concept of film acting. She began to learn to get rid of the stylized things in opera, act as real people, and learn to speak Mandarin.

No need to audition for a female role, you are Baoyu

When the filming of the movie "Dream of Red Mansions" started, there were people inside and outside the industry who were "sweating" for director Xie Tieli. In addition to the TV series Zhuyu First, the casting of Xia Jing disguised as a man to play Jia Baoyu also caused some discussion.

More than thirty years have passed, and Xia Jing can still find the makeup test photos of "Jia Baoyu" back then. In the photo, she is covered with a pink embroidered robe, her forehead is combed up, and she wears a large pearl crown, which makes her eyebrows look heroic. In fact, when she was a girl, she had a round face and a pair of childish almond-shaped eyes. Others thought she could dress up as Baochai, Baoqin or Xiangyun. However, the crew's makeup artist Fan Qingshan took a look at the silhouette and directly used the clothes of an opera student. Said, "You don't have to try out for female roles, you are Baoyu."

Photos of Jia Baoyu's makeup tryout

When trying out her makeup, Xia Jing didn't believe she would be chosen, so she just had a fun mentality, "I guess I'm more relaxed, and the effect looks more natural and naughty." She heard that the director took a fancy to her right away, but she was still doubtful, "Am I really the one playing Jia Baoyu?" At that time, Xie Tieli unfortunately fell down and was hospitalized, which delayed the production of "Dream of Red Mansions". Xia Jing received an appointment as the heroine of "Yellow River Hero" from Xi'an Studio and rushed there immediately. After shooting two scenes, the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" suddenly came to the set to ask for someone. It turned out that the filming of the movie was about to take place, and Xie Tieli was reluctant to give up Jia Baoyu, who had already been selected.

Jia Baoyu’s makeup test photos

After several negotiations, director Zhang Xinyan agreed to release her, and Xia Jing was also moved by Xie Tieli’s recognition and persistence of her."When I first started filming, as someone who came from Yue Opera, I didn't feel surprised or pressured by women dressing up as men. But as the controversy over the choice of an actress to play Jia Baoyu came, I felt a little pressured, but I had no choice but to I can do my best," Xia Jing said with a smile.

She later learned that Xie Tieli had decided from the beginning that Jia Baoyu would find an actress to play the role. Because this huge production will take three years to shoot, if a male aged thirteen or fourteen is chosen to play the role, the image of the actor may have changed greatly in the later stages of filming. However, a seventeen-year-old woman has basically been finalized in all aspects such as physiology and is suitable for long-term filming. .

I have been a "tomboy" for three years

"Actor is a role model. In life, I am a girl. When I take on a boy role, I have to lean into the role in every aspect and bring out the tomboy side of myself." In the past three years, Xia Xia has been a "tomboy" for three years. Jing cut her hair short and flattened her breasts during filming, forgetting that she was a girl and consciously becoming masculine in her life. Xie Tieli likes to drink a little wine every day, and Xia Jing also drinks a few drinks with him from time to time and talks.

Xia Jing's masculine dressing life photos

Xia Jing's masculine dressing life photos

In her eyes, Xie Tieli is a great person. He is always gentle and elegant on the set, speaks slowly and calmly, and he is also inspirational when directing, and never gets angry. "During the free time on the set, Director Xie would chat and joke with us young actors." At that time, the crew invited experts on Red Mansions to give them lessons. Even with the guidance of famous experts, Xia Jing admitted that as a teenager, she could not really understand "Dream of Red Mansions". If you can understand 10% of the textbook, it’s pretty good. It was difficult to read the original work, so she read the vernacular version and the easy-to-understand comic strips to grasp the sense of the picture and refer to the shapes in the comic strips in terms of form and posture. "You can play freely as an ordinary person, but classic masterpieces are restricted by the rules in the minds of the audience. I was young at the time and it was difficult to grasp the superficial understanding. I gave myself more to the director, and 30% was my performance. 70% is the director's interpretation. Film is a comprehensive art, and the final result is the result of the joint efforts of Director Xie and all creative departments and actors. "

"A Dream of Red Mansions" stills

Baoyu was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy when he appeared. In the first two episodes, Xia Jing focused on capturing the pure and naive parts of the characters, without deliberately distinguishing between genders, and showed the process of a developing teenager understanding the world. From the age of 18 to 21, Baoyu gradually matured, and Xia Jing also continued to improve. She always remembered the purity of this character, and the emotional scale in her eyes, reminding herself not to go too far, as if it was too much, it would be "obscene".

Stills from "A Dream of Red Mansions"

Tao Huimin, who plays Lin Daiyu, is two years older than Xia Jing. They are both opera actors and they work well together. The novel says that Jia Baoyu's "face is like the moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, her color is like the flowers of spring dawn, her temples are like knife cuts, and her eyebrows are like ink paintings", while Lin Daiyu has "two eyebrows that look like frowning but not frowning, and a pair of eyes that look like weeping but not weeping." ". In order to achieve Baoyu's look, Xia Jing shaved off a circle of hair on her forehead. After putting on the hood, her forehead was fuller and her eyebrows were specially glued together, making her appear more heroic. Tao Huimin's Lin Daiyu makeup has thin, low eyebrows, really "brow-tips". There is a scene where the two of them read Wang Wei's poems side by side. The scene is so beautiful that the audience exclaimed that Bao and Dai seemed to have stepped out of the book. The two makeup masters from Beijing Film Studio, Wang Xizhong and Fan Qingshan, styled the characters for the movie. Their makeup philosophy was not based on beauty, but on resembling the characters.

Stills from the movie "Dream of Red Mansions"

"Dream of Red Mansions" lasted nearly 13 hours and cost 12 million yuan. A total of more than 6,000 shots and more than 620 scenes were shot, setting a record for Chinese movies at that time. For three years, Xia Jing and Tao Huimin lived on the set as if they were in college, traveling to studios in Beijing, filming locations in Hangzhou and Suzhou, and in and out of the Grand View Garden in Shanghai. They were only able to go home for a few days during the Chinese New Year. In order to maintain Baoyu's condition, she did not take any other roles for three years, and earned a total of 1,000 yuan for the entire movie.

Xia Jing is doing makeup on the set of "Dream of Red Mansions"

Made in traditional style, the peacock fur was specially made in a garment factory in Zhenjiang, and the "Rongguo Mansion" was built in Beijing at a cost of 3 million yuan. These genuine investments gave the movie version of "A Dream of Red Mansions" a higher artistic quality, and major scenes such as the crab banquet and Jia Mu's birthday banquet more restored the bustle and luxury in the book.

Scene design drawing of "A Dream of Red Mansions"

After the movie was released, writers Xia Yan, Chen Huangmei, and red scholar Feng Qiyong all gave positive comments. Xia Jing's portrayal was also recognized. Red scholar Li Xifan praised: "The characters stand up. I was worried about Jia Baoyu." , now it makes people feel at ease. She cooperates well with Daiyu and performs the role well. "

"I try my best not to let down the director's trust, but also hope to gain the audience's love and recognition," Xia Jing said. .

The only thing she regretted was that the slightly masculine "Xia Qin" she temporarily used was used in the movie title. At that time, the director did not want the audience to pay attention to the fact that Jia Baoyu was played by an actress, so he asked Xia Jing to choose a boy's name. The name Xia Qin was chosen with the help of Lin Moyu, who plays Jia Mu.

Xia Jing celebrated her 18th birthday in the "A Dream of Red Mansions" class

None of the actors in the movie version of "A Dream of Red Mansions" were bound by their roles. After Tao Huimin played Lin Daiyu, she became more familiar to the audience, such as "Little Baicai". Nowadays, Xia Jing and her still keep in touch and meet each other. "She sometimes calls me Master Bao." Later, Xia Jing starred in different female roles in films such as "Afu Brother's Love" and "Fateful Love", and also acted in the TV series "Shanghai Story" that showed the style of contemporary Shanghai. Her artistic expression and modeling skills gradually matured. . "After filming, I wanted to get rid of Baoyu's shadow for many years. An actor must step out of the role and return to himself before he can take on the next role.”