[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] The period drama "Alley People" starring Yan Ni, Jiang Xin, Li Guangjie, Guo Xiaodong, Fan Chengcheng, Guan Xiaotong, etc. became very popular after one week after its premiere, with a peak ratings of 0.85% and a Douban score of 8.2. This

[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] The period drama " Alley People " starring Yan Ni, Jiang Xin, Li Guangjie, Guo Xiaodong, Fan Chengcheng, Guan Xiaotong, etc. became very popular after one week after its premiere, with a peak ratings of 0.85 %, Douban opened with a score of 8.2. This period drama recreates the family area of ​​the Suzhou cotton spinning factory in the 1970s and 1980s. With its distant and familiar historical restoration and simple and sincere performances, it brings today's audience back to more than 40 years ago. This down-to-earth atmosphere The shortcomings of the parents are the most charming and valuable aspect of such period dramas. At the same time, more and more period dramas are gradually broadening their horizons and focusing on expressing the sense of the times.

Picture source: Official Weibo of the TV series "Alley People"

Faithfully restore the memory of the times

"Alley People" has a total of 40 episodes, each episode is 45 minutes, telling the story of the village and forest in an alley in the family area of ​​​​Suzhou's cotton spinning factory in the late 1970s. The story of two families. At that time, the college entrance examination was resuming. As a teacher, Zhuang Chaoying and his wife Huang Ling made the college entrance examination of their children a top priority in the family. Influenced by this, neighbors Lin Wufeng and Song Ying's family also began to pay attention to their sons' studies. Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling's family seemed to be harmonious and decent, with their children well-behaved and sensible. In fact, because of Zhuang's cowardly, foolish and filial character, his wife silently suffered the harm.

Lin Wufeng and Song Ying's family next door seem to have their own way of doing things, and their son Lin Dongzhe is naughty, but the couple supports and respects each other, and the family atmosphere is more complete. With the reform and opening up, Lin Wufeng and Song Ying followed the changes of the times and moved their families to Guangzhou to look for opportunities. After their childhood sweethearts, the two children of Zhuang Lin discovered their feelings for each other and agreed to be admitted to the same university. When they graduated, they faced the conflict between family and reality. Despite obstacles, you still firmly choose the other party.

As a period drama, "Alley Family" faithfully restores the memories of the times. The ups and downs of life, emotional ups and downs, and personal experiences between the two neighbors of Zhuang Lin are all based on the tremendous changes in China over the past 40 years. It is captured from the first scene. The audience's eyeballs evoke similar memories. Song Ying, played by Jiang Xin, showed off her fierce personality as soon as she came on the scene. The quota for housing allocation in the cotton mill was tight, so she sent her son to the secretary's house. She seemed to be "prickly" and careless, but in fact it was a reflection of the plight of that era.

's daring and courageous temper paved the way for the Lin family to work hard in the south and create a career despite hardships. She represents the "trendy people" who have seized the times. Jiang Xin's fierce and delicate performance makes this character more believable and admirable. .

In contrast, Huang Ling, played by Yan Ni, is more traditional. She is hard-working and tolerant and is often troubled by her mother-in-law in the big family. Her husband, who is chauvinistic and foolishly filial, cannot consider his wife. The conflict finally arises with his nephew. The question of whether to borrow or not arose. Yan Ni interpreted the tenacity of a woman and the principles of a mother, and finally made the husband played by Guo Xiaodong realize the importance of family and children's development, and changed in the later period.

"Distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors"

Although Yan Ni, Jiang Xin, Guo Xiaodong and other actors are not from Suzhou, they relied on observation and imitation to restore the spiritual atmosphere of ordinary Jiangnan people at that time. Old actors such as Liu Wei and new generations such as Fan Chengcheng and Guan Xiaotong They all also gave performances that fit the characters. It can be seen that the creators of "Alley People" tried their best to restore that era in all aspects: the striped shirts worn by people, uniform work clothes, enamel jars on the table, old-fashioned buses on the road, 28 big-bar bicycles, and Jiangnan unique The stone arch bridge, the ping pong table made of blue bricks... The documentary footage from decades ago is not out of place in the play at all.

What moved the audience even more was the harmonious neighborly relationship in the alleys, which is the traditional Chinese saying of "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors": Song Ying not only took care of the banker's children, but also lent Huang Ling the money to buy a bicycle; Huang Ling also makes clothes for the Lin family's children. The two families are as close as one family, supporting and encouraging each other. In order to make this atmosphere more realistic, the creators of "Alley People" also deliberately found a small alley that truly retained traces of the 1980s for real-life shooting. This is no longer common in cities that are changing with each passing day.

The reason why "Alley People" has such a solid texture is also due to the director, screenwriter and other main creators' grasp of the spirit of the times. The script of the play comes from Da Mi's novel of the same name. Director Zhang Zhangzhou's resume includes the costume dramas " Qing Ping Le " and "Do You Know Should Be Green, Fat, Red and Thin", as well as " Old Farmer " and " Qiao". Modern and contemporary works such as "Children of the Family ". As a photographer, he has also participated in classic period dramas such as "Parents Love" and "Wenzhou Family". Therefore, he has considerable experience in photography, props and actor scheduling, and is better at capturing the subtle changes of characters in the environment. .

Of course, even the most ordinary daily life will have ups and downs, and if a TV series is too "plain water" or trivial, the audience will lose the motivation to watch it. The rhythm of "Alley People" balances the strong Drama and the switching of life flows, housing allocation, buying TVs, children's studies and college entrance examinations are the "top priorities" for ordinary Chinese people. Only by telling these pyrotechnic stories well and truthfully can they resonate with the broad audience.

"Basic skills" and "bonus points"

In today's domestic TV drama market, although ancient puppets, fantasy, spy wars, and suspense dramas are emerging one after another, traditional period dramas still have a place, and they are even "seed" to the younger generation of audiences. Grass”, successful attempts at grafting other types.

"The World", " The Glory of Our Fathers " and other "authentic" period dramas in the past two years have shown the struggles of multiple families and generations spanning half a century, and witnessed the changes in modern and contemporary Chinese society. Based on the original work of the Mao Dun Literature Award, and starring Guo Tao, Lei Jiayin, Yin Tao, Song Jia, and Chen Daoming, these period dramas have generally received good reviews, and many "post-00s" viewers have also learned about the experiences of their fathers.

In high-reputation suspense dramas such as " The Long Season ", there are also elements of period dramas: a small northeastern town in the 1990s, a state-owned steel plant facing restructuring, a laid-off model driver who drove a rental... In these eras The feeling makes the suspense building more real. Similarly in "The Lost Child", "Moses of the Plains", "The Returned Daughter", and even "Rush", the audience can find a lot of traces of period dramas. The meticulous atmosphere creates a sense of substitution and also makes the characters in the drama The plot is more substantial and believable, and the fate of the characters is even more touching.

For today's domestic period dramas, restoring historical details and stimulating the audience's nostalgia are already "basic skills", and plots that can meticulously show the simple emotions between urban neighbors in the 1970s and 1980s are "plus points". If you want to further "break the circle", in addition to integrating suspense, criminal investigation and other elements, you can also inject a wider social perspective like the new batch of period dramas such as "Alley People". For the audience, this can not only inspire more resonance, but also trigger thinking about different eras, and send an affectionate tribute to the new era while watching the drama.