Nearly 60% of the 38 TV series promoted by the main station are adaptations of literary works

"Flowers" are in full bloom in the New Year, and nearly 60% of the 38 TV series promoted by the main station are adaptations of literary works

A warm embrace between literary works and TV series

　　Reading Tips

　　In recent years, it has become a craze to adapt serious literary works into film and television works, especially Mao Dun Literary Award-winning novels. "Famous writers + famous directors + famous screenwriters" have become the "standard configuration", which not only represents higher market appeal, but also guarantees high standards.

　　The hit New Year's Eve drama "Flowers" once again made people see the powerful appeal of TV dramas adapted from literary works. This TV series adapted from the Mao Dun Literary Award-winning novel of the same name by Kim Woo-cheng has become a phenomenon.

　　Born out of the "mother source" of literary works, many film and television works adapted from literary works are very popular. From the classic dramas of the Four Great Novels, to "The Ordinary World" and "Red Sorghum", to "The World" and "Flowers", there is nothing better than this. The newly released TV series list of China Central Radio and Television Station's "Year of the Dragon Drama Channel" highlights 38 works, and a total of 22 TV series adapted from literary works, accounting for nearly 60%. This two-way rush between literary works and film and television works is becoming more and more enthusiastic.

a glorious road

　　Jin Yucheng's novel "Flowers" was born 10 years ago. In 2013, the novel "Flowers" became popular after it was officially published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. The following year, director Wong Kar-wai said that he had purchased the rights to "Flowers". Later, he spent 4 years filming "Flowers".

　　Similar to "Flowers", the latest movie that has aroused heated discussion is "Human World".

　　The TV series "Human World", which ended on CCTV and iQiyi in March 2022, has set a new high in the average ratings of CCTV TV series in the past five years since its launch. The popularity of the iQiyi platform exceeded 10,000, and the Douban score was as high as 8.1.

　　Liang Xiaosheng's novel "Human World" was first published in 2017 and later won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award. In November 2018, Tencent Pictures obtained the eight-year film and television adaptation rights of "In the World".

　　Literature is the "mother book" of other art forms. In 1956, "Blessing" appeared on the screen as the first film adaptation of a literary classic in New China, and it started a glorious road since then. According to statistics, from 1981 to 1999, in a total of 19 Chinese film "Golden Rooster Awards" selections, 12 award-winning works were adapted from novels.

　　The works of the "fifth generation" directors who have created the brilliance of Chinese films almost all started from adaptations of literary works. There are also countless classic dramas adapted from literary works: the four famous dramas, "Blessing", "Lin's Shop", "Family", "Four Generations Under One Roof", "The Bell and Drum Tower", "The Ordinary World", "The Young Emperor", "The Dust Has Settled", "The Sky of History", "Red Sorghum"... these TV series have also become classics.

　　Last October, at the Beijing Night of the 2023 China·Beijing TV Drama Festival, the Social Liaison Department of the Chinese Writers Association and the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau launched a literary copyright film and television development project. This project brought together the top domestic TV drama production institutions and media platforms. Promote the development of copyrights for literary works and explore more possibilities for the creation of TV series.

A road of mutual success

　　There are many reasons for the success of "Flowers". One undoubted consensus is that this is another classic case of mutual success between novels and TV series.

　　Wong Kar-wai once made no secret of his love for the novel "Flowers": "Whether writing a book or making a movie, the essence lies in how to create this artistic 'flavor', and the 'flavor' of 'Flowers' is very distinct. I think the integrity of the story is not a novel. The most important element. This work has become more than a story.”

　　After the success of "In the World", iQiyi Chief Content Officer Wang Xiaohui realized that "successful film and television works need to make the audience empathize with them, which is inseparable from the details of life that resonate with the audience. Works written by excellent writers, What is better than inspiring the audience’s positive power, triggering the audience’s emotional resonance, and promoting the audience’s deep thinking.”

　　Mao Dun Literature Award-winning writer Liu Jianwei believes that the influence of outstanding Chinese writers is inseparable from the blessing of film and television adaptations. After film and television adaptations, many works have not only become classics in the field of literature, but also become masterpieces in the film and television industry. Literature and film and television The mutual achievements achieved the effect of "1+1>2".

　　At last year's "Mao Dun Literature Week" Zhaoming Book Club's "Film and TV Adaptations as Promoters of Literature" dialogue event, Deng Kai, secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association, said that literature is the source of film and television, and film and television make literature shine. Literature, as the "mother source" of other art forms, has always provided fertile soil for film and television creation. At the same time, film and television, with their advantages of intuitiveness, concreteness, and popularity, have broadened the aesthetic horizon of literature and made the spread of literature more profound.

A new way

　　The TV series "Flowers" is not a simple "reproduction" of the novel. The novel has been "reborn" under the lens of Wong Kar-wai. Some critics even commented: "We are now facing two novels, one by Jin Yucheng and the other by Wong Kar-wai."

　　Liu Zhenyun is a writer favored by the film and television industry. Many of his works have been adapted into film and television dramas. In the process of cooperating with director Feng Xiaogang, he discovered that the large dialogues and psychological descriptions of the characters in the novels are mostly inappropriate in film and television dramas. suitable. The literary description of the environment in the novel will also encounter problems in screen presentation.

　　Novels and films are different art forms. "If we compare the two to a plate of dishes, film and television require that the dishes served should be full of color, flavor and flavor, while literature pays more attention to the process of cutting, matching and stir-frying; if we compare them to water, film and television are like rivers, surging and surging, and when there is a gap, they will It turned into a waterfall. And novels are like the sea. The waves and waves on the surface are not important. The whirlpool and undercurrent under the waves, as well as the ebb and flow, are its charm." Liu Zhenyun said.

　　Artists from different artistic disciplines have built up trust and respect. After the TV series "Human World" became popular, Liang Xiaosheng said: "The film and television series have done a good job of refining the thoughts I want to express. The TV series has changed some characters and plots from conceptualization to concreteness, and presented the drama more intelligently. For example, the portrayal of the role of Zhou’s mother, changing the plot of Zhou’s father’s recognition of Zheng Juan to having Zheng Juan hear the heart-to-heart conversation between father and son at the door, etc. These changes all prove that the director and adapter have improved the original work. If the novel It can be rewritten, and I want to incorporate the wisdom of the creators.”

　　"Serious literature is a personal reflection on life experience, while TV dramas are popular art. The more serious literature is, the more difficult it is to convert it into a TV drama. The transformation of novel expression into film and television expression is not only formal, but also conceptual." Cao Cao Said Wang Haiyu, the famous screenwriter of "The Human World".

　　How to successfully "transform creation" and make film and television works outstanding and new is a question that needs to be constantly discussed when film and television changes literary works. (Worker Daily reporter Deng Qifan)