Chinanews client, Beijing, October 28 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue) Zhang Ailing's novel adaptation of film and television dramas has always been a hot topic.

"The First Incense" has attracted more attention since the announcement of the starring role.

　　Although Ma Sichun and Peng Yuyan's versions of Ge Weilong and Qiao Qiqiao were criticized by netizens as "failed to cast".

But with Xu Anhua directed, Wang Anyi screenwriter, Du Kefeng photography, and Sakamoto Ryuichi soundtrack, many people still have expectations for the film.

　　However, "First Burning Incense" still failed to come back. Douban scored 5.5 points, and the box office just exceeded 30 million yuan.

Douban screenshot

　　Where is the problem?

Unlike a purely bad film, the problem with "First Burning Incense" is not that it was badly filmed, but that the content is "twisted", which is "a sense of violation" in the words of netizens.

Poster of "The First Incense"

"The first furnace of steel"

　　This is first manifested in the casting.

Some netizens have long removed the descriptions of the heroes and heroines in the original work of "The First Incense", whether it is Ge Weilong, who has "plain and beautiful little convex face, slender nose, and fat round mouth", or "no blood," Qiao Qiqiao, whose lips are pale, like a plaster statue, seems to be far from the appearance of Ma Sichun and Peng Yuyan.

　　Many people's criticisms also focus on this aspect. Ma Sichun is not like the Shanghai girl described in the original book, and Peng Yuyan is not like a beautiful mixed-race man who can make people fall in love at first sight.

Some netizens commented that the two in the film did not seem to be flirting, but Peng Yuyan was talking to Ma Sichun about the personal training plan, not "the first furnace of incense", but "the first furnace of steel."

Video screenshot

　　In the complaints of netizens, two clips were repeatedly mentioned.

One is Qiao Qiqiao's sister admonishing Ge Weilong: "Mixed-bloods are somewhat gloomy, and little girlish." As soon as the voice fell, Qiao Qiqiao, with bare arms and obvious muscle lines, came in.

　　One was the maid, Sui'er, who said that Ge Weilong studied hard all day and night, and his face had become thinner.

Video screenshot

　　It is true that the lack of fit between the actors and the characters will make the movie less taste and sense of substitution.

But compared to appearance, the performance of the actor is more critical.

In literary film adaptations, the roles are more complicated, and actors need to fully understand the inner world of the characters and grasp the tone of the performance.

　　The first time Ge Weilong and Qiao Qiqiao were alone should be a very critical passage, but in the film it became a slightly greasy slutty boy who flirted with the innocent girl, and said some earthy love words-"Why are you staring at me? Is it possible that I am the thorn in your eye?"

　　In the novel, Ge Weilong is tempted by her aunt's step-by-step manipulation and gradually indulges in the world of material desires. From an innocent female student, she degenerates into a high-level socialite.

This is a tragic story of life sinking, but Ge Weilong is not a simple white rabbit.

From the fact that she didn't tell her parents to go to her aunt, she was also smart and had her own plans.

　　Unfortunately, Ma Sichun did not show the complexity of Ge Weilong.

In the early performances, Ma Sichun either tilted his head and smiled, or bowed his head shyly, with too little level of performance, as if he was acting in a youth movie.

Instead, in the later period, his performance gradually improved.

Video screenshot

"The First Incense" is a romance movie?

　　In reading "The First Incense", Ma Sichun once wrote: "Zhang Ailing's humbleness cannot be exchanged for her lover... because love is not the humbleness of one person, but the bravery of two people."

Weibo screenshot

　　Controversy was also aroused at the time, and judging from the finished film, the "love" in the movie seems to be the protagonist.

Excluding the actor's factor, it is more likely to be the pursuit of director Xu Anhua. She has mentioned many times that the film is a romance.

　　Xu Anhua has twice remade Zhang Ailing's novels, "Love in the Allure" in 1984 and "Half Life" in 1997.

The remake of "Love in the Allure" failed, and "Half Life" is considered to be the best performance of Zhang Ailing's work on the big screen.

Regarding the adaptation, Xu Anhua once said: "You can only adapt Zhang Ailing's novels, and you can't use them on the subject."

　　The plot of "The First Incense" has not changed, but the focus is different.

In the novel, Ge Weilong has a clear growth line, from coming to the Liang’s mansion to secretly try on gorgeous clothes, to slowly becoming a rising star in the social field, to falling in love with Qiao Qiqiao, the broken dream, and finally compromising to reality and becoming another. An aunt.

But in the movie, Ge Weilong's indulge in material desire did not focus on the performance. The scene of secretly trying on clothes was also a flash, which led to Ge Weilong's early-stage people being relatively thin and became a "love brain" that could not be loved.

Video screenshot

　　Ge Weilong's infatuation with Qiao Qiqiao is just one of the many reasons for the tragedy of her life.

But in the movie, Ge Weilong's unreasonable love for Qiao Qiqiao seems to be the main object of narration.

Zhang Ailing's song of sadness and compassion towards Ge Weilong's fate has also become an ode to Ge Weilong's pursuit of love.

　　This has caused a lot of controversy.

Especially in the early promotion of the film, some love movie marketing routines were applied on the short video platform, such as "Slacker Man's Used Routine", "Playboy's Used Words", "I saw myself in the first incense", "Give Love can't be a farewell day" and so on, highlighting the love element in the movie.

Short video screenshot

　　Some netizens called it "Sinking Youth Sorrows and Love Talking Marketing".

Some netizens also commented that the propaganda is very fragmented, with a local flavor on Douyin and Wang Jiawei on Weibo.

　　The simplistic and generalized "scumbag" and "resentment girl" attracted many netizens to like and discuss, but it is clear that this is not the core of the novel or even the movie.

This kind of misplaced propaganda has invisibly deepened the sense of violation of the film.

　　"The First Incense" is not so bad, but also has some dazzling features. For example, the aunt's story is enriched, and two flashback clips explain what happened to her when she was a concubine, giving a glimpse of the source of her life's tragedy. 

Video screenshot

　　Someone once commented that Zhang Ailing not only saw the jewels of this world, but also saw the sores in this world, the so-called "glorious and desolate".

But many film and television adaptations only see gorgeous or bizarre stories.

This may be the adaptation of Zhang Ailing's work, which is more difficult than casting.

(over)