Song Yeming serves as the chief director. It is the first major revolutionary historical drama to tell the history of revolution from an economic perspective. After it was broadcast on CCTV 1, it received rave reviews and aroused enthusiastic social response. Some viewers praised the play for its profound sense of historical mission, looking back on the revolutionary past in the low-down stage, and showing the original mission of the Communist Party of China to serve the people wholeheartedly and do everything for the nation.
As a famous director who has filmed many major revolutionary historical dramas such as "Diplomacy", "Marshal Peng Dehuai", "Eighth Route Army" and "Midwater", and almost all the history of the Communist Party of China, Song Yeming frankly said that the unique economic perspective of "The Fire" made him happy , made up for an important lesson in his review and creation of party history. To this end, he spent two years revising the script and returned to the Soviet area for live shooting, focusing on showing the relationship between the Soviet regime and the people. Respecting history and pursuing truth are Song Yeming's consistent creative principles. In his view, historical truth is the charm of major historical themes. "The Fire of the Road" is a historical drama with a red financial theme. Filming this film is not only a review of the three-year history of the Soviet Republic, but also a focus on the present, passing on the fire from generation to generation, and never forgetting the original intention of the Communist Party of China to serve the people wholeheartedly.
Talking about new dramas: Pursue the style of historical dramas, focus on the pursuit and capture of history
Question: What attracted you to direct "The Fire of the Road"?
Answer: First of all, from the perspective of historical dramas, as a director, I started in 1989 Since the filming of the movie "The Battle of Liaoshen", I have filmed almost all the history of the Chinese Communist Party, mainly the history of the first generation of leaders headed by Mao Zedong. Such as "The Midstream" from the founding of the Party; "Ode to Yan'an" and "Eighth Route Army" from the Anti-Japanese War; "Liaoshen Campaign Sweeps the Southwest" from the Liberation War; "Northern Latitude 38 Parallel" after liberation, as well as "Marshal Peng Dehuai" and "Diplomatic Storm" 》. The creation of these film and television dramas almost covers the struggle and entrepreneurial history of the first generation of leaders. The only thing not shown is the history of the Soviet Republic in the past three years. To complete the review and study of the history of the Communist Party of China, I am very eager to catch up on this lesson. In addition, the establishment of the Soviet Republic in these three years was an economic construction focusing on people's livelihood, and it was also a experimental field for the People's Republic of China. For the ruling party, reviewing its original intentions is of great practical significance. So after "Midstream" aired, I spent two years creating this drama.
asked: Did you know anything about the establishment of the Soviet red financial system before? What were the difficulties and challenges encountered in filming "The Fire"?
answered: Before filming this film, to be honest, I didn't know much about it. , because previous creations have basically avoided this period of history. My real in-depth experience is to understand and deepen the drama during the creation process. Why did I choose the financial system to show in "The Fire of the Road"? Because in the past, my filming was basically based on the level of war, and there were very few creations that showed the struggle of the Chinese Communist Party from an economic perspective. Therefore, I am particularly interested in making a film about the financial aspects of the Chinese Soviet Republic. From a creative perspective, every director is eager to explore the unknown. Through this drama, I have a deeper understanding, read historical interviews, and enter this financial system. I think it is very meaningful and valuable for today's real life.
The biggest difficulty in this drama was the second creation after receiving the script. After reading the original script, I decided to find a theme for the story again. The entire series focuses on the establishment and development of the Soviet Republic. This part of economic construction and political power construction is a theme of mine. What is the relationship between the Soviet regime and the people? This is unprecedented in Chinese history. It is people-centered and the people are the masters of the country. This theme is something I admire highly. But this would require a complete overhaul of the original script. The original script started from 1924 when Mao Zedong worked at the Kuomintang Party Headquarters in Shanghai, and spanned ten years of history. For a history with such a span, it is very difficult for me to express the theme. Because you can't write about this play from a thematic perspective, then you still have to write about the process of party history. I don’t like to go through the process. I strongly want to write a theme drama. Then the drama would be focused on the three years of the Soviet Republic, which would be a subversion of the script. So in the second creation, I spent two years revising the script.This is my biggest challenge.
In addition, these three years of the Soviet Republic were the darkest political moments in Mao Zedong's life. Due to the influence of Wang Ming's left-leaning thoughts at that time, Mao Zedong was marginalized and lost his leadership position within the party and the military. The whole play must focus on the work of the Soviet Provisional Government led by Mao Zedong, so line struggles within the party cannot be avoided. Zhou Enlai was the direct leader sent by the Provisional Central Committee to the Soviet Area. When he implements the central decision-making, he will inevitably have conflicts and differences with Mao Zedong's military thought and left-leaning line. Should I write it based on historical reality or make it up? This is also a challenge I encountered in my creation. I don't want to avoid it. If I avoid it, there will be no point in filming this movie. To write truthfully, one must challenge and take certain risks. Will the audience be able to accept it? This makes me uneasy. This is the biggest difficulty and challenge I encounter in my creation, which is whether I dare to face and respect history.
asked: It is also a drama with a major revolutionary historical theme. What are the highlights in the production of "The Fire of the Road"?
answered: In the previous creations of major historical themes, we mostly used the historical process as the main line to reproduce history. But in this creation, we used the creation and development of the Provisional Central Government of the Soviet Republic and the three-year history as the background to shape the older generation of leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De, and to establish a people-centered and people-centered system in which the people are the masters of the country. In the new regime, they worked hard to adhere to the truth and find a correct revolutionary path as the main line. They used Mao Zedong's firm belief in Mao Zedong, regardless of personal gains and losses, to serve the people wholeheartedly as the theme.
For this reason, in our second creation, we compressed the ten-year span of the original script and focused it on the first major event of the Soviet Republic, focusing on the shaping of the main characters related to the construction of the Republic, and focusing on the exploration of the relationships between the characters. Present all aspects of regime building as event stories. Economic construction related to people's livelihood is the main line of the whole play, while military struggle and line struggle are secondary lines in this play. In terms of image expression, I pursue the style of historical drama, focusing on the pursuit and capture of history. Therefore, when choosing the locations for this drama, we all went to the environment where our predecessors had walked and lived, and we went to all the counties in Changting, Fujian, Ruijin, Ganzhou and other places in Jiangxi. Before shooting, we all walked around and inspected each one. We visited all places including tungsten mines. We shot 90% of the scenes in "The Fire" in real locations, and only 10% were shot in Xiangshan and Hengdian Film and Television City.
asked: Which scene in "The Fire of the Road" is the most unforgettable for you?
answered: I think it was the scene when Zhou Enlai arrived in the Soviet Area and arranged to attack Ganzhou. This scene is difficult to grasp and handle the characters. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De have always been close comrades-in-arms in the history of the Communist Party of China. But in the early days of the establishment of the Soviet Republic, Zhou Enlai represented the Shanghai Provisional Central Committee in laying out the offensive routes for large cities, which was a bit of an extreme leftist route. Mao Zedong firmly opposed the attack on Ganzhou, and Zhu De was between these two characters. The inner activities of the three of them at this node were very complicated. When Mao and Zhou's opinions conflicted, what was Zhu De's attitude? Strategically, he did not agree to attack Ganzhou because he understood the military strength of the Soviet area and troops at that time. But in terms of personal emotions, Zhu De and Zhou Enlai had a deep personal relationship and were in a dilemma. Therefore, the relationship between these three people was very complicated. It was a big difficulty to grasp the characters in the Ganzhou scene.
asked: This is another collaboration between you and your son. He plays Mao Zemin in the play. How do you evaluate Song Yu’s performance this time?
answered: I have been cooperating with Song Yu for more than ten years, and we are watching each step step by step. He grew up. He has created a series of different characters over the years. In "Original Heart", he played Gan Zuchang's eldest son, a farmer; in "Marshal Peng Dehuai" he played Peng Dehuai's godson, a soldier; in "The Diplomatic Storm", he played a Kuomintang agent; in "Marshal Peng Dehuai" he played a Kuomintang agent; , he plays Chiang Kai-shek, and these characters have their own characteristics, including farmers, soldiers, and politicians.
Mao Zemin is a very important character in "The Great Road". He leads the entire red financial management. The character of this character is relatively introverted and very stable, which is quite different from the previous roles played by Song Yu.Especially since he has just played Chiang Kai-shek, a character with exposed ambitions. The huge change in the character's mentality is a challenge for the actor. But judging from the actor's role completion, he met my requirements. His stability and restraint fit the character of Mao Zemin very well. Through so many different types of characters, I feel Song Yu's progress every year, and he has also matured. Facing different roles, he can get closer to the role and get deeper into the role, instead of always playing himself, and his performance gradually matures. This is something I'm quite satisfied with, and I'm also quite reassured about his future performances.
asked: How do you understand the title of the play "The Fire of the Great Road"? What is the practical significance and important value of this play today?
answered: According to the theme of our play, "The Great Road" is the flag held by the Communist Party of China. They serve the people and fight bloody for the liberation of the working people of the world. This flag is faith and the road. Spark, Mao Zedong said that a single spark can start a prairie fire, this is the kind of fire. With such a banner of seeking the interests of the people leading the way, this fire will inevitably spread. Therefore, this play adopts such a name, which means the relationship between the Communist Party of China and the people and its original intention. Through an experiment conducted by the Soviet Republic in the past three years, the short history they experienced in this experimental field can make the audience feel the original intention of the Communist Party of China. Today's Communist Party of China is people-centered and has not changed its original intention. From this point of view, we wanted to make this film to pay attention to the present moment. We can look back at the first generation of leaders represented by Mao Zedong and how they did it, that is, they did not forget their original intentions.
Talking about creation: One of the principles that I cannot do without in every work is respect for history.
Question: You have previously directed major revolutionary historical dramas such as "Diplomacy", "Marshal Peng Dehuai", "The Midstream" and "The Eighth Route Army". For dramas with major revolutionary historical themes, how do you differentiate and grasp their differences in directing creation?
Answer: I have filmed many major historical themes, and one criterion I cannot do without in every work is respect for history, that is I want to grasp the historical reality very accurately. The difference between different works is mainly the theme and type of shooting. For example, "Ode to Yan'an" shows the history of Yan'an from a macro perspective, focusing on the theme of the formation of Mao Zedong Thought; "Eighth Route Army" is about the unity of the Chinese nation, through the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, emphasizing the cohesion of the Chinese nation and jointly facing the outside world. theme.
But the main prerequisite is to respect history. What is the connotation of digging into this period of history? Characters determine the direction of this history, and who are the real characters? If you grasp these things accurately, the works of different historical periods will have different differences. In addition, in terms of creation, the style must keep pace with the times, that is, to express according to the aesthetic needs of the current audience. I think that in creation, there must be an expression of the creator's thoughts, that is, on the premise of respecting history, it is necessary to give today's ideological pursuit and its practical significance thinking. Different works will find their relationship with the present, which is the most important thing.
asked: How do you think the creation of major themes can be both meaningful and beautiful? What is your experience as a director?
answered: The creation of major themes is very meaningful in itself, because it is historical reality. Regardless of whether it is a middle-aged or older audience or a young audience, as long as your work is authentic, this is its charm. When you show something that is intrinsic to history and is consistent with reality, it will look good, rather than changing the historical figures from the external form. I have always believed that truth is the foundation and cannot be false. Of course, on the basis of historical truth, a work can be given more freehand and romantic renderings from an artistic perspective, and make important subjects beautiful. I think we still need to support it and work hard.
Discussing plans: I am most eager to shoot daily life dramas and emotional dramas.
Question: In addition to major revolutionary historical themes, what themes do you most want to try? Do you plan to direct modern dramas?
Answer: What I am most eager to shoot now are daily life dramas and emotional dramas. I have always wanted to shoot dramas with themes that truly explore from a humanistic perspective, and I want to shoot modern dramas even more.For many years, I have been filming major historical themes. In fact, I am a person who longs for change. I don’t want to film repetitive things. I am willing to dabble in and explore unknown themes and works, so I am particularly eager to film modern life dramas at the moment.
asked: Now more and more young traffic actors are beginning to participate in the main theme of revolutionary historical dramas. What do you think of this phenomenon? Will you use traffic actors to attract young audiences?
answer: I think traffic actors can actively participate in the main theme of film and television dramas Creation, this is a good phenomenon, and I welcome them to actively enter this type of creation. But traffic actors cannot be generalized. My rule is that if this traffic actor matches the character in my play, I will very much welcome it and will actively use it. If this popular actor has a lot of traffic, but he doesn't fit the character, then I will still reject it. I want to see if you meet it, rather than simply choosing from a traffic perspective. Young popular actors can shape characters and enter the characters instead of playing yourself. I will very much welcome such actors and I will use them.
asked: What new work plans do you have next?
answered: The script you are currently preparing for is a modern-themed work about ecology, man and nature. This is a drama with the theme of the construction of Miyun Reservoir, from the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1958 to today, and how three generations have paid for the construction of the reservoir to protect water sources. This play focuses on showing the evolution of the relationship between man and nature in the process of our country's "rising toward the sun" and how people's ecological awareness has improved, step by step towards a more environmentally friendly and scientific development path.
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