Qiu Tang
opinion feed
In recent years, although forensics, forensics, psychoanalysts, network technicians, etc. have all played leading roles in criminal investigation dramas, how to innovate criminal investigation dramas has increasingly become a topic worthy of discussion.
If it only shows the difference in form of different police types in the public security system, and the plot setting, telling skills and spiritual core are highly homogenized, it will eventually make the road of domestic criminal investigation dramas more and more narrow.
Curiosity, adventure, and excitement may be an instinct of human beings driven by endorphins, and it is the dream of many people to explore the truth and uphold justice.
Therefore, criminal investigation dramas that can take audiences to immerse themselves in solving crimes and arresting bad guys have always been a mature and strong force in TV dramas.
The halo of the first new criminal investigation drama that can arouse heated discussions in 2022 obviously belongs to the "Hunting Crime Guide" that has the upper hand.
As a type of drama, criminal investigation drama has a profound background and history.
Divided by the strictest standards, with a "Documentary of the September 18th Case" that turned out, 1994 can also be regarded as the first year of the undisputed domestic criminal investigation drama.
In the nearly 30 years since then, domestic criminal investigation dramas have always been in the ascendant and excellent works have emerged one after another. Compared with other industry dramas and even genre dramas, their performances are particularly dazzling, leaving behind many classic works such as "Six Groups of Serious Cases".
And this time "Sin Hunting Illustrated" can successfully come out of the circle, there must be something, at least at the skin level.
The most intuitive and most iconic, of course, is the innovation of the theme.
Shen Yi, the first male protagonist of "Hunting Crime Guide", is a police portrait artist. He presents the working situation of a portrait artist, a type of work that is usually not paid attention or even known to the public. Focusing on their work can play a role in solving crimes and chasing murderers. To how the key role, this is a rather ingenious plot setting.
After all, in the past criminal investigation dramas, we are used to seeing criminal police, forensics, forensics, and even psychoanalysts, network technicians show their skills in the process of solving cases, and "The Hunt for Crime" obviously found a new excitement for the audience. .
I don't know since when, domestic criminal investigation dramas have formed an extremely embarrassing but extremely stubborn tradition, that is, after every tortuous or bloody case is solved, there will always be a sermon or sensationalism to forcibly sublimate it.
Due to the particularity of the subject matter of "Sin Hunting Guide", the portrait artist "painted the skin-painted the bones-painted the heart" three-level character, successfully rationalized this tradition, deliberately still deliberate, but it seems not so abrupt, after all, it is still It's talking about the painting and at least it's not completely separated from the main plot.
As for the character setting of the two male protagonists in the whole play, they are addicted to work and have no love, which avoids the protracted emotional line outside the investigation, and therefore only has a length of 20 episodes.
All of the above have made "Sin Hunting Illustrated" a certain success in various statistical and network volume levels.
But that's just the success of the TV series as a commercial product; the question is, what about the play as an art form?
To borrow the words of the people in the play: Is the TV series just painting the skin or trying to paint the heart?
In my opinion, "The Hunt for Crime" still lacks substantial innovation in terms of subject matter.
Excellent portrait artist Shen Yi, relying on his amazing painting skills, has a wonderful experience of detecting one after another twisted and bizarre complex cases - looking at the "skin" is a new look, no one has paid special attention to the group of portrait artists before; but The narrative structure of "heart" does not break through the usual routines of the audience: it just emphasizes the special role of a specific lesser-known occupation in solving cases.
To put it bluntly, there are too many plots of simple police arresting bad guys, and the audience is tired of it, so "Forensic Record" began to show the forensic work of physical evidence technicians, "Forensic Qin Ming" depicts the important contribution of forensic doctors to solving cases, and now "Hunting" "Criminal Guide" also allows the audience to see the existence of the portrait artist in the police station.
The reason why it is still a routine is that since I don't know when, the genius is arrogant, and the burden of the past and secrets has become the "standard" of the protagonist of this type of criminal investigation drama.
Shen Yi has magical skills such as looking at the bones and painting faces and painting the old at the age of three. He looks at the overall situation in terms of insight and analysis, but when he was young, he was involved in the former criminal police captain Lei Yifei. In the murder case, until now, the mirror will show mysterious and strange eyes... Compared with the "standard", it is all in.
So, what is the essential difference between such a portrait artist Shen Yi, and forensic doctors Qin Ming and Ming Chuan, and forensic experts Gao Yanbo and Lin Jiayuan?
Although it looks confusing, is this kind of switching between different occupational groups an innovation?
There are only a limited number of different types of work within the public security department. What should I do after the filming is over?
Do you want to continue filming criminal investigation dramas?
How to shoot?
It just shows the difference in form of different police types in the public security system, but the plot setting, telling skills and spiritual core are highly homogenized. After all, it is to make the domestic criminal investigation drama more and more constricted and unable to develop sustainably.
The bigger flaw is the script itself.
TV series will always have a protagonist halo, but Shen Yi's halo is too big.
Not to mention that all important criminal cases can only be solved by relying on the portrait of the murderer who belongs to the criminal investigation auxiliary department. It is a distorted thing. What is even more outrageous is that as a portrait artist, Shen Yi takes almost all the work of the criminal police team. Chasing the culprit, on-site inspection, forensics, even visits, and interrogations are almost always unacceptable, and the key evidence of the case can and only be discovered by Shen Yi. The work system and division of labor of the public security organs have all turned into clouds under the aura of the protagonist. .
In fact, criminal investigation dramas in recent years seem to follow this routine. Once they focus on a certain profession, the protagonist of this profession will instantly become an American superhero. The entire public security system cannot function without him. It is up to him to solve it, and the crime scene has completely turned into a personal show.
The protagonists are wise and close to demons, omnipotent; while the other supporting characters lie flat and become useless.
Such a protagonist's highlight moment, it is not impossible to stimulate the audience's adrenaline once in a while.
It's really unacceptable to do this every episode, or even every drama.
The case is written as a child's play, and it is all related to the protagonist or a certain occupation. I really want to know what kind of lively scene will be if the forensic doctor Qin Ming and the portrait artist Shen Yi meet together?
While shaping the portrait artist to be omnipotent, "The Hunt for Crime" is very suspended in the development of the plot.
We understand that whether forensics, forensics or portraiture are very specialized techniques, it is impossible for TV dramas to fully understand their principles and mechanisms like professional courses, not to mention confidential issues.
However, the basic issues of the explanation should still be explained clearly, at least not to make the audience feel incomprehensible or even false.
Looking at the "Hunting Crime Guide", the audience will not expect to know how Shen Yi restores the appearance of the criminal suspect, and how to restore the appearance of his life according to the skull; The snail decided that the strongly stimulated female protagonist was not talking nonsense, and even separated and combined the three male faces who raped her; went to the detention center and chatted with the female suspect, rarely involving specific physical features but able to accurately depict the faces of her accomplices... ...this kind of plot is too jumpy and abrupt.
In addition, the plot relies too much on coincidences. If Mr. Shen, who is also a teacher in the Academy of Fine Arts, did not happen to mention Artemisia Gentileschi's "Judith Killing Hrovani", he would have thought of killing the two women together. Scumbag?
If the child didn't want to eat pizza and went to the store opened by her biological father, would the temporary father, Uncle Shen, reveal He Hong's second-skinned face?
Once there is no way to convince the audience with common sense, it can only show that these plots are completely the product of overbearing logic that the case must be solved and must be solved by the portrait artist.
In general, "Sin Hunting Guide" successfully captures a novel narrative angle, and combines the role of idol style with traditional classic dramas, so it has a natural attraction and topicality.
However, in terms of the maturity and sophistication of the script, the young actors' ability to control the roles of criminal investigators, and the editing choices of the finished film, they still appear to be rather rough and immature, which makes the whole drama lacking in authenticity and empathy. , there is always a sense of emptiness and isolation, which cannot really infect and impress the audience.
Looking forward to the future domestic new criminal investigation dramas, which can truly be like the highest realm pursued by Shen Yi, in addition to "painting the skin", it is necessary to concentrate on "painting the heart".
(The author is an associate researcher at the School of Law, East China University of Political Science and Law)