Recently, the TV series "South to North" ended with Ma Kui's heroic sacrifice and many tender moments. As an emotional drama of the times, "South to North" focuses on the railway police and witnesses the development of the motherland and the progress of the times through a train and a group of neighbors. During the broadcast of the series, the popularity hit new highs. On the closing day, the ratings of CCTV’s eight sets broke Kuyun’s highest peak, reaching 4.0335%; Weibo topics such as #南来北来# were read more than 7 billion times; The topic has been played more than 16 billion times on Douyin.
From the perspective of series creation and behind-the-scenes production, why is this show so popular? Is it a luxurious cast? Unique subject matter? Heart-touching friendship? Or is it a vision of the progress of the times? There are different opinions on the reasons. Listening to the behind-the-scenes stories shared by the creators and starring actors may give you the answer.
Unique theme:
Observe the changes of the times through the eyes of the railway
"South to North" uses the railway police in the public security system as the entry point to tell the story of the steam train from Ningyang to Harbin in the late 1970s. On the train, young policeman Wang Xin (played by Bai Jingting ) was on duty among the bustling passengers. He mistakenly regarded the old railway policeman Ma Kui (played by Ding Yongdai) as a fugitive, and the two began a master-disciple relationship of "falling in love and killing each other" .
From tit-for-tat to mutual sympathy, Wang Xin and Ma Kui fought side by side on the front line of railway police. They fight against pickpocketing, anti-trafficking, anti-narcotics, patrol lines, and crack down on theft and fraud. They always put the safety of every passenger first in their work and selflessly protect the safety of trains traveling from north to south.
"South to North" is based on the railway, looking at the various aspects of life and the changes of the times. In the behind-the-scenes documentary released by the crew, screenwriter Gao Mantang introduced the theme of the series. "South to North" reflects the 40-year process of China's railway police, criminal police and railway employees from steam engines to internal combustion engines, to high-speed trains, and then to high-speed rail. , as well as the stories of passengers who boarded and alighted from various stations over the past 40 years and their changes in fate.
He added: "Everyone also travels south and north in the journey of life. The audience will find their own shadow when watching "South and North"." Because of this, the audience can also better understand the meaning of watching "South and North". The play resonated.
"People get on the train at every station and get off at the terminal station. 40 years later, in the high-speed rail era, they will be old people when they get on the train again. They have witnessed the development and changes of the motherland and the long history of life. "Gao Mantang shared.
Just as Cai Xiaonian (played by Song Jiateng) said with emotion when he stood on the last shift in the play, he has been working from the age of 20 to today, and has worked all his life, witnessing the ups and downs of life. Cai Xiaonian said that an old lady he met on the train 40 years ago was in rags and was poor. Now she is a famous entrepreneur in the Northeast. "The train is running faster and faster, running towards the red sun in front of it. What fell was yesterday’s dusk.”
Touching friendship:
Deep love between master and apprentice, inheritance of police spirit
The touching master-apprentice friendship between the two generations of railway policemen Wang Xin and Ma Kui runs through the whole play, but their relationship does not end there. Gao Mantang explained: "The relationship between the older generation of criminal police and the younger generation of criminal police is not a simple master-apprentice relationship, especially in terms of railway police criminal police. This is a kind of spiritual inheritance and echo."
In the play, Wang Xin and Ma Kui's first meeting When they met, they staged a wonderful martial arts show. They kicked and punched each other in the small train toilet. Ma Kui injured Wang Xin and escaped from the carriage. Later, they solved their misunderstanding at the police station, but the two still refused to give in to each other. After filming this scene, Ding Yongdai laughed and said: "I'm ready to cross over and switch to martial arts."
In the process of following his master Ma Kui to solve the case, Wang Xin gradually accepted Ma Kui's guidance and cooperated tacitly during the outing. Although there is still "mutual communication", they gradually become sympathetic to each other. Talking about this master-disciple relationship, Gao Mantang said: "When setting up the character Wang Xin, I first looked for his shortcomings and set up his self-confidence, humor, and arrogance. He often shows off himself. After finding the shortcomings, I will write How did he overcome his shortcomings? It was his master who educated him and his wisdom defeated him. Although he was not convinced, he was more convinced mentally."
Wang Xin once introduced himself in the play: "We are number one in the police academy. We have perfect scores in arresting, shooting, and investigation, especially shooting. People give us the nickname "Little Gun King". After being transferred to the Hongyang Railway Station Police Station, Wang Xin, who had made meritorious deeds, often asked the director to praise him in front of his master, which showed his love of showing off. Bai Jingting commented: "Wang Xin is very motivated in doing things. Will consider too many other issues and not be careful enough. "
has a deep lineup:
powerful actors have gathered together, and their acting skills are overwhelming
"South to North" is directed by Zheng Xiaolong and Liu Zhangmu, starring Bai Jingting, Ding Yongdai, Jin Chen, Liu Guanlin, Liu Jun, Zuo Xiaoqing, Jiang Yan, Hu Ke , Song Jiateng, Li Naiwen starring, Ni Dahong, Wang Jinsong special guest starring, Wang Xun , Bao Beier , Wang Xiaoli , Tu Songyan special guest starring. Among the cast, there are new talents such as Bai Jingting and Jin Chen. , there are also senior actors such as Ding Yongdai, Hu Ke, Li Naiwen, Ni Dahong, Wang Jinsong, etc., who are very powerful and have superb acting skills.
Among them, the most discussed actor is Bai Jingting. He has been in the TV series " You Are My City Fortress" He played the role of SWAT elite Xing Kelei, and was nominated for the Best Actor at the 16th Seoul International TV Festival for this role. In the play, Wang Xin, the character he played, grew from a high-spirited young policeman to a mature and steady public security leader, requiring 40 years of performance. span of time, which is not easy for a young actor.
The producer of the show Guo Xianchun said: "At the beginning, everyone was a little doubtful about whether he could grasp the role well, but Xiaobai (Bai Jingting) in order to perform well This character has done a lot of homework in private, including in-depth study of public security knowledge, watching a large number of documentaries to learn how public security leaders speak, etc., and has won unanimous recognition and praise from everyone with his own efforts. "
It can be seen from the behind-the-scenes footage released by the crew that Bai Jingting was very attentive during the filming process. During a scene of interrogating a prisoner, Bai Jingting recorded it once, reviewed the video to adjust the shooting status, discussed the character's emotions with the director, and proposed He gave his own suggestion: “This scene needs to have emotional changes during the process. "During the second filming, Bai Jingting interrogated him harshly at first. After the prisoner confessed and his attitude improved, Bai Jingting's tone became gentler.
In the last episode, Ma Kui, Wang Xin and drug dealer Jia Jinlong ( The confrontation on the train with Li Naiwen (played by Li Naiwen) was gripping. When Wang Xin found out that Ma Kui had been stabbed, he cried to the point of collapse, which showed the explosive power of Bai Jingting's acting skills. When discussing the details of this scene, Bai Jingting tried to figure out Wang Xin's feelings and scenes. The emotion should be: "Be patient, because in the environment of Infernal Affairs, you cannot show emotions, but you must be anxious, because it is my dad (Ma Kui) lying here. "After the filming, Bai Jingting was still immersed in the play, and his emotions could not calm down for a long time.
In addition to the outstanding performance of the actors, the director's role behind the scenes should not be underestimated. Guo Xianchun once shared the behind-the-scenes production story on social media: "Director Xiaolong is very good. Dedicated, he first took the main creators to read the script for a week, going through the lines and logic at each scene, sorting out and polishing the script. During the "Two Sessions" in 2022, he and teacher Gao Mantang were still discussing the script during the break. After the actors joined the group, Director Zheng, Director Zhang Mu, and the actors read and adjusted the script again, leading the actors to experience and figure out the characters in the script. As a director, he also cares for the actors very much. He will patiently explain the play to the actors sentence by sentence, analyze the prescribed situations and explain the characters' psychology. "
text | Reporter Zhan Xiwei
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