China News Service, Beijing, January 31 (Reporter Ren Siyu) At the end of the first month of 2024, the series "Dajiang Dahe" also came to an end. From 2018 to now, it has broken the curse of sequels for domestic dramas, and has maintained a high reputation of more than 8 points on Douban for three consecutive films.
In and out of the play, almost everyone will say one word: growth. Starring Wang Kai said that in the process of constantly meeting, leaving, and reuniting with the character, he changed from "acting" Song Yunhui to "being" Song Yunhui.
Many of the viewers who have witnessed Song Yunhui's growth have just entered the society from college. "In the past few years, he has given me strength countless times in my study and work, allowing me to get through the most difficult stages."
For the screenwriters Tang Yao and Ma Chengyi behind the story, it seems like they have opened many avatars in parallel worlds. In seven years and 1.5 million words, the time they were immersed in "that world" far exceeded the time in the world around them. "We are all writing about the past, and we look very much like people of that era," Tang Yao said with a smile.
"Dajiang Dahe" series poster.
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On a dark night road, a middle-aged man in his forties was hurried forward with a briefcase on his back and felt that his "feet were on fire."
In order to save the pesticide factory that was in trouble and prevent employees from being laid off and diverted, he went to other places to talk about technology and find sales. However, travel expenses were limited, and when I got off the train on the return journey, there was still more than 20 kilometers to go from the station to the factory, and I couldn't even spare any money for the sesame cakes.
Gritting his teeth, he walked all night. Until the first ray of dawn just rose in the horizon, and the familiar factory gate finally appeared in front of us, this tough guy who was usually stubborn and refused to admit defeat suddenly shed tears.
More than twenty years later, the old factory director who had honorably retired talked about the past in his small office. This scene was deeply implanted in the hearts of the screenwriters opposite Tang Yao and Ma Chengyi. It has also become the prototype story in the script of "Dajiang Dahe 3", in which Song Yunhui got off the car halfway and walked 20 kilometers along the railway line back to Pengyang Pesticide Factory.
At that time, Song Yunhui faced the same situation as the old factory director: the original factory was about to be shut down, and he already had a better future, but he still wanted to lead everyone to work hard, "Our Pengyang factory still has hope."
Poster of "The Rivers of Time".
Following the plot of the previous part, "Dajiang Dahe 3" begins in the 1990s and explores the complexity and pain of the reform period. In the play, several protagonists are undergoing the test of career and life. Off-screen, the pressure on the main creators is increasing exponentially. Based on the first and second parts of "Dajiang Dahe", how to make these characters more real and relatable?
The screenwriters are determined to continue to delve deeper into life and look for more Song Yunhui, Lei Dongbao, and Yang Xun in reality.
For half a year, Tang Yao and Ma Chengyi traveled around Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shandong, Hebei and other places. They consulted seniors from all walks of life, went to different types of chemical plants and pesticide factories for research, and even experienced clocking in to work every day. Picking materials out of the warehouse, labeling and packaging, and living with the employees. Many of the plots in the play are true stories they discovered in their lives:
The director of a pesticide factory on the verge of bankruptcy issued a one-year military order, vowing to develop new products to prevent future "stuck" products; the eldest brother of a Zhejiang businessman who bravely went to the Canton Fair and was detained for writing inspections stood at the door of the hotel and talked to a man who couldn't speak the same language. Foreign guests negotiated a US$200,000 business; the cadres who thought "if they can't do this well, leave" went into the sewage river to survey and map again and again in the hot summer, and helped build the first local large shopping mall on the abandoned river...
"This is a plot and plot that I would never be able to come up with while sitting in my study. It is the wealth that our heavy life has given us," Tang Yao said. The stories of these seniors laid a real foundation for the creation of "Dajiang Dahe", and their bravery, responsibility and courage also formed the background of Song Yunhui, Lei Dongbao and Yang Xun.
"The job of our screenwriters is to open up the barrier between the world and the world. We firmly believe that that world exists, put ourselves in it, and then observe them, follow them, and experience their lives."
"glitch"
In 2017, when they first took over the adaptation work of "Dajiang Dahe", Tang Yao and Ma Chengyi never thought that they would have the opportunity to continue to create the second and third parts in the future. How to sort out the threads of the trilogy among the vast amounts of information and stories?
The first part focuses on the "brave of reform". Song Yunhui, who strives to go to college, Lei Dongbao, who calls for Xiaolei's family to get out of poverty, and Yang Xun, who goes to the Northeast alone to explore, each seize the opportunities of the times. , took a life-defining step.
"Big River" poster.
In "Dajiang Dahe 2", everyone is faced with the "difficulty of opening up". At the Donghai Chemical Plant, everyone was caught off guard by the sudden news of the embargo. Afterwards, the 1992 Southern Speech strengthened confidence in reform and opening up and enabled people to encounter new opportunities.
When the time passed from the 1990s to the new century, the "pain of transformation" gradually emerged, and a series of overproduction brought about crises. Some people were opening up new career territories, while others were bearing the price of the times and personal choices. The third part does not avoid these cruelties. The poisoning incident at Pengyang Pesticide Factory, which is highlighted in the opening chapter, raises the difficult question of the reform and reorganization of state-owned enterprises.
"While developing, correct at the same time; while exploring forward, we formulate rules. Our two paths have been running in parallel. In this process, the key word we want to talk about is hope." Ma Chengyi said.
When watching the drama, the audience's mood is complicated. Some people are moved by Song Yunhui's idealism, while others are angry at Lei Dongbao's arrogance: How did the resolute leader in the first film become what he is now?
It’s not easy to get rich first, but it’s even harder to let getting rich first lead to getting rich later. In “Dajiang Dahe 3”, the two screenwriters want to explore the question: when they have climbed over the mountains and have considerable wealth and influence, what else can they do? Can't you keep your pure heart?
"Big River" poster.
When writing Song Yunhui's story, the two screenwriters would automatically assume Wang Kai's appearance. When writing Lei Dongbao, they would think of the resolute lines on Yang Shuo's face. "Their voices, their temperament, state, and eyes will all help us." To portray the characters more vividly.”
They admitted that the creation of "Big River" alleviated their "spiritual mysophobia" to some extent. Song Yunhui, Lei Dongbao, and Yang Xun are all complicated people. They stand with one foot in the past and one foot in the future. They have become different appearances at different stages of life.
"He has his 'burrs' on his body, some things that make you feel scared or don't like it that much, but it is real. That kind of roughness or cunning may make us uncomfortable, which just proves that these brothers are good at acting. "
As storytellers, they don’t want to polish off the burrs.
"The path of our film and television industry is getting narrower and narrower. Why? Because everyone's mysophobia is becoming more and more serious. When creating characters, we often want him to be lovable, kind, and even so meticulous that he can't think about his own affairs. Think of other people’s business first.” And this is something they want to change in the future.
echo
During the years when they wrote the script of "Big River", Tang Yao and Ma Chengyi sometimes felt as if they were not creating, but observing and accompanying a group of friends. They could completely empathize with all the joy, depression, and suffering they experienced.
During the interview stage, there was one detail that made them unforgettable: some seniors may even have to think about their friends’ names first, but they can accurately pronounce a small character who doesn’t appear much because they think he is very similar to the people around them.
"Although we may not have said anything at that moment, we felt so warm in our hearts."
After twenty years of ups and downs, there are many characters involved in the "Dajiang Dahe" trilogy. Even the characters who don't appear much have invested all the emotions of the creators.
For example, Song Yunping is so frustrating. In Ma Chengyi's view, Song Yunping and Liang Sishen are like two sides of the same body. Although they have different origins and very different external personalities, they both have the spirit of not admitting defeat and pursue their own value of life. In other words, they first have independent thoughts and free personalities. People, then women. When they illuminate others like a beam of light, it is because they are bright enough themselves.
"Big River" poster.
There is also Cheng Kaiyan who has caused controversy. This girl, who is old-fashioned and too gullible, experienced a cruel growth in the second part. Although she did not appear in the plot of the third part, the screenwriters still hope that she can mature in her own world and live a better life. a little.
Twenty years in the play and seven years outside the play, not only them, but also all the creators have grown.
In early 2023, the script creation of "Dajiang Dahe 3" was completed. Recalling his mood at that time, Tang Yao felt that it was as if he had spent all his chips trying to climb over the mountain, and at that moment he finally saw the sun on the top of the mountain.
He often thinks of the scene in the first film where Song Yunhui stood in the courtyard of the Revolutionary Committee and recited the editorial of the "People's Daily". Under the scorching sun, sweat soaked through his clothes. The two-story building in front of him looked like a Himalayan peak. But after reciting it 183 times, Xiaohui did not stop.
During the seven years of working together with Song Yunhui, Lei Dongbao, and Yang Xun, he projected his own regrets in the story, and in turn was encouraged by the characters, "They taught me a lot of brave things, which made me no longer entangled and confused. Fear. These courageous people in the story taught me something that I couldn’t learn in books or even in society.”
Ma Chengyi particularly loves one of Song Yunhui's lines: Move forward on the right path and act with conscience. In "Dajiang Dahe", everyone is working non-stop and does not lie down and wait for fate. "The path of writing is not easy. There may be new unknowns and loneliness in the next project, but we Go on like them."
The great rivers surge forward, still arousing echoes in everyone's heart. (over)