Rethinking what is the literariness of film and television works——On the film and television adaptation of serious literature
Looking back at the 100-year history of Chinese films and more than 60 years of TV dramas, those high-light moments are inseparable from the hand-in-hand prosperity with literature - from the four famous novels such as "A Dream of Red Mansions" to "Blessings", "Early Spring in February" and "Lin's Shop" , and then to the red classics such as "Song of Youth".
In recent years, originality has flourished, Internet reform has counterattacked, and the conversion of serious literature into film and television has encountered certain bottlenecks.
Either it is difficult to control due to the grand theme, or it is not favored by the film and television market due to the lack of basic "fans", or due to the long adaptation cycle and heavy capital load.
Just when there was a need for a grand drama to "lift up" the transformation of serious literature and film, the opening drama "The World" in 2022 was born.
The upsurge of national drama chasing triggered by this drama has reached a rare "ceiling" height in recent years.
The adaptation of first-class writers and directors in exchange for professionalism has greatly expanded the influence of the original novel, and it has also triggered our reconsideration of the film and television adaptation of the original literary work.
In my opinion, when choosing serious literature for film and television adaptation in the future, the following triple focus is needed:
The adaptation should focus on the attributes of reality and national symbols.
Chinese stories and Chinese dreams have always been the key words in film and television creation.
In recent years, some dramas adapted from original literary works have mostly intercepted sections of history and won in "topics".
Such as marriage, parenting, pension, eating old, housing, workplace and so on.
It should be noted that the realist IP that records the times and embodies the collective emotions of the whole society is the real big IP.
These literary works are precisely to discuss the survival of life experience.
As Wang Hailing said when adapting "The World", this work does not represent a cross-sectional life, but a life spanning decades, with a narrative origin and a sense of historical depth.
The origin of the narrative - the former industrial town of the Republic, the backward economy after the reform and opening up, and the shanty towns that have remained unchanged for decades.
Those who live there are either ordinary workers or laid-off workers.
The hardships of workers' family life, the pains of the old industrial base - in the long history of 50 years, the people here have not bowed their heads to life.
The three brothers and sisters of the Zhou family are the secretary of the municipal party committee and a university professor. They serve the country and are also dedicated to guarding the family's "old pimple" Zhou Bingkun.
In their own way, they do their best to guard the traditional virtues of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trust".
The photon sheet represents the national spiritual symbol.
"Everyone" and "Xiaojia" constitute a society full of Chinese-style human feelings.
The elder brother Bingyi is dedicated to everyone, and the younger brother Bingkun is dedicated to the small family. The fate of a harmonious family and siblings is a history worth respecting and looking back on today.
This is a kind of mature and wise thinking of the novelist, who, as Milan Kundera said, "discovered what the novel should discover".
In addition, the stories, details, and characters provided by the original novels are different from those works in which the grand narrative is separated from the daily narrative, and are rarely seen in long novels.
The original novel of "White Deer Plain" also provides realistic attributes and national character symbols.
Contrasting with the light-word film in the old industrial area in "The World", "White Deer Plain" is based on the "Renyi Village" Bailu Village in the Guanzhong Plain.
The origin of this narrative is a land with a strong Guanzhong style.
From the agrarian revolution, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the war of liberation, a thrilling human tragicomedy has been staged in this ancient land.
Mr. Zhu's adherence to traditional morality, Bai Jiaxuan's diligence and selfishness, Lu Zilin's hope of becoming a dragon, Bai Xiaowen's emotional twists and turns, Bai Ling's defecting to the revolution, Heiwa being forced to be a bandit, Lu Zhaopeng's pursuit of ideals, Lu Zhaohai's life for justice , deduces the tortuous life trajectory and destiny of the descendants of two different families.
The depth of the work is to show that the ancient land is trembling in labor, but the roots of the Chinese nation have been inherited and transformed in the baptism, and the old system and production methods will be rewritten, and this land will usher in bright sunshine.
Abundant literary nourishment, with its own heavyness-with the epic quality of the original work, the goal of creating a film and television epic is no longer unattainable.
Adaptation should also focus on contemporary social values and aesthetic trends.
The highest form of artistic fiction is not stories, but characters.
In "Ordinary World", in the face of realistic pressure and life choices, the Sun Shaoping brothers still stick to their original dreams and persistent pursuit of love.
In the 1970s, Sun Shaoping, a son of a high school farmer with strong self-esteem, fell in love with Hao Hongmei, who came from a landlord family. Later, Hao Hongmei turned to Gu Yangmin, a well-off family.
The stubborn Shaoping returned to his hometown to work. After experiencing severe drought, water grabs, and dead people, he categorically rejected Hou Yuying's pursuit of entering the city as a temptation, and moved away from his homeland to seek employment.
The elder brother Sun Shaoan worked at home after graduating from junior high school, and Tian Runye, the daughter of the village party secretary, Tian Futang, was a childhood friend, and was strongly opposed by Tian Futang.
In the end, Shaoan married the hard-working and kind Shanxi girl He Xiulian, transformed into a brick-burning kiln, and embarked on the road to prosperity.
Many readers said that in difficult times, accompanied by a book of "Ordinary World", they have the courage to walk on the road.
Bingkun in "The World" has tasted the warm and cold life in the world, but he is full of Chinese-style affection.
He is full of moral responsibility for the small family, and has encountered so many setbacks. After being released from prison, he opened a moving company with his old friends and found himself again.
Screenwriter Wang Hailing said that with the openness of our country, Zhou Bingkun's values should be acceptable to everyone.
This is indeed the case.
It is the common creative principle of the original novel as well as the adaptation of the movie to write that the little people at the bottom achieve counterattack through hard work, reflect the positive energy of the society, and arouse people's empathy.
As a low-level migrant worker in "Installing the Stage", no matter what others think of him, he believes that installing the stage is a job related to art, and he is conscientious and hard-working.
The child born by the ex-wife detonated a family dispute, and it is another ups and downs story with the current woman.
People come and go, and the city where they live and the village in the city have heard the news of demolition again and again.
What didn't change was Sunja's responsibility and responsibility as a person and thing, and she had to live happily.
Ordinary people in "Ordinary World", "Taiwan" and "The World" do not seek great wealth, but they strive to change themselves.
This is how most people in China live.
Just like the theme lyric of "The World": "Plants and trees will sprout, children will grow up, the train of time will not stop for anyone; the platform of fate, joys and sorrows are moments, people fly high like snowflakes and melt." The counterattack of these little people is the mainstream value advocated by contemporary society, and it is also the charm that can attract audiences from all over the world to follow the drama.
Adaptation also focuses on morphological transformation and coding retranslation.
Selecting serious literary IP for film and television conversion and expansion is a kind of re-creation.
Literature is good at thinking deeply about the life of the times, and also has advantages in language, image and storytelling.
Film and television is a comprehensive art, its expressive power is unparalleled, and it has an unprecedented powerful communication platform.
The positive literary spirit should not be eliminated during the adaptation, which is unrealistic and unreasonable.
But it should also be seen that novels with first-class literary elements cannot be equated with first-class TV dramas.
Some works even encountered waterloo in the ratings after the adaptation. Of course, you can blame the market and the audience's taste, but what should be reflected more is the understanding of the literary nature of film and television.
When requiring film and television dramas to have literary character, it cannot be ignored that film and television have their own artistic laws in carrying literary character.
Literary entry into TV dramas is not to dominate, but to serve.
In most cases, this kind of service should be built within the innate specifications and functions of film and television dramas.
If the literary nature of the original work is overemphasized and the expression of the film and television itself is neglected, the adaptation by the original author may not be satisfactory.
When adapting an original literary work into a film and television work, if the artistic characteristics and laws of the latter are fully considered, even if part of the literary quality of the original work is sacrificed, a new literary quality belonging to film and television will be obtained in the film and television work.
It should be admitted that literariness is only a part of film and television dramas. Only by taking screen effects as the ultimate goal of creation can screenwriters transform excellent literary works into audio-visual forms and produce excellent film and television works.
Returning to "The World", screenwriter Wang Hailing strengthened and rendered the "New Year" of the show. She believes that the meaning given to the New Year is that it is not only the Zhou family's desire to reunite, but also a window to show the breakthrough of the country and the times, and " The annual gathering of the "Six Little Gentlemen" on the third day of the new year is also a record of the changes of the times and human feelings.
At the same time, through communication with the director and the author of the original work, it was finally decided to "change the warm background" of the original work.
Liang Xiaosheng expressed his deep sympathy for the fate of the characters and all kinds of unbearable reality through the novel "The World", which has the depth of realism.
However, as a visual image, film and television are directly given to the audience, and there is no space to think as much as novels, and there is no uncertainty.
It is also a kind of audience expectation to let people see that good people are rewarded.
It turned out to be a very successful change.
The format conversion and coding retranslation in the later stage of the TV series "The World" have also been done very carefully.
In addition to the excellent interpretation of the characters by the actors, at the end of the play, it is as if the scene of a shantytown with light characters from the past, the sound of the bicycle chain, such as the theme song "The world is bitter, love is separated and rain is necessary. Come on, the sweetness of the world, remember to go home no matter how far you go." The lingering voice has greatly enhanced the aesthetic space of the original novel.
Fan Yonge