Film and television adaptations have always been "difficult to satisfy everyone", what did "A Dream of Red Mansions: A Golden Marriage" do right
2024-08-08
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On August 6, an expert observation and seminar on the film "Dream of Red Mansions" directed by Hu Mei was held in Beijing. The meeting was hosted by the Chinese Film Critics Society. After watching the film, the experts had a heated discussion on many aspects such as casting, adaptation angles, and visual expression.
Hu Mei, the director of Dream of Red Mansions, revealed that the script preparation and creation took ten years. After the filming was completed, the plan to bring it to the big screen changed again and again due to various reasons. It can be said that it has gone through many ups and downs. In the end, it was Bona Film Group that "helped in time of need" and took on the responsibility of distributing the film, which made it possible for the film to meet the audience in the summer of 2024. Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film Group, said frankly that he hoped that this movie could become a key for everyone to explore classical masterpieces.
Talking about the controversy over adaptations: There is no such thing as 100% "faithfulness to the original work"
Adaptation of classics has always been controversial, especially Dream of the Red Chamber. Every time it is adapted into a film or TV series, it is accompanied by fierce debate. Some people think: "The original is so perfect, and not faithfully restoring it is a magical change!" Others think: "Movies have their own language. If it is filmed completely according to the original, how can it be called an adaptation?"
At the beginning of the seminar, Zhong Chengxiang, the 8th Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a member of the Central Academy of Literature and History, raised questions about "being faithful to the original work": "What does it mean to be faithful to the original work? There is no such thing as being 100% faithful to the original work. Novels and movies are two completely different languages. From novels to movies, it is a transformation from literary thinking to audio-visual thinking, and it is also a process of aesthetic creation. The carriers are different, so the presentation angles and forms of expression are also different." He also quoted the words of the famous writer Mr. He Qifang to prove it: "From novels to movies, you can never be a translator, you have to be a brand new creator, a real creator!"
Zhao Weifang, director of the Film and Television Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts, mentioned that the literary achievements of "Dream of Red Mansions" are unquestionable, and the main feature of film and television works is audio-visual language. It is indeed difficult to fully express the literary advantages of the original work through audio-visual means, and naturally, we cannot use the requirements of literature to make requirements for film and television. Therefore, the filming of literary works, especially the filming of a classic such as "Dream of Red Mansions", will inevitably "discount" the literary expression. This is also the fact that the outside world has always been controversial about the filming of "Dream of Red Mansions". But at the same time, the film uses a large number of moving lenses and special effects to present many famous scenes in "Dream of Red Mansions", leading the audience "into a dream", "This is also the advantage of images, which cannot be achieved by text expression."
Tan Zheng, editor-in-chief of Film Art magazine, mentioned that the first film adaptation of Dream of Red Mansions was the black-and-white silent film Daiyu Burying Flowers, starring Mei Lanfang in 1924. It was also an adaptation from novel to opera and then to film, which was exactly 100 years apart from Dream of Red Mansions: A Marriage of Gold and Jade, which will be released in 2024. "Dream of Red Mansions: A Marriage of Gold and Jade is a new height of film and television adaptation of Dream of Red Mansions in the past 100 years, and it is a representative work." Wang Haiping, a famous screenwriter and chairman of the Screenwriter Art Committee of the China Television Artists Association, also believes that the film is a successful adaptation of the original work: "Through the clue of love, it reflects the contradictions and conflicts in society. This is the brilliance of art. I think this adaptation is worth celebrating."
On casting: It should be in line with the aesthetics of the times, but not too accommodating
Gao Xiaoli, deputy director of the Audiovisual Art Committee of the Beijing Association of Literary Critics, believes that the success of an adaptation of a classic masterpiece depends on the level of character portrayal. The level of character is the level of art, so film adaptations are often based on characters, and the profundity of "classic re-creation" is achieved by revealing human nature and showing the connection between the times and characters. This is also the difficulty of adapting classics.
"Before the 1987 version, there were a thousand versions of Dream of the Red Chamber in the minds of a thousand people. After the 1987 version appeared, people later had only one standard every time they mentioned Dream of the Red Chamber. That version of the TV series fixed the audience's imagination of Dream of the Red Chamber. In addition, the audience has always made some positive or negative choices for classic characters such as Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, Jia Baoyu and Wang Xifeng based on their own preferences and aesthetics. This is also the reality that it is difficult to satisfy everyone. Therefore, the film and television adaptation of classic literary masterpieces should, on the one hand, fit the aesthetics of the times, and on the other hand, should not cater too much to the times and the audience, otherwise it will violate the essence of literature and art." Gao Xiaoli also expressed his affirmation of the casting of the film version: "I think the actors, including Jia Baoyu, were all very well chosen. Hu Mei's film keeps pace with the times."
Professor Li Daoxin, vice dean of the School of Arts at Peking University, also believes that the perception of the casting of "Dream of Red Mansions" cannot remain forever based on the 1987 version. "We need new faces. The actors who played the roles of Bao and Dai in this version of the film have exceeded my imagination of them, and also exceeded my liking and understanding of them. These are the new faces that I recognize. They are very good."
Talking about the film presentation: Not easy, not inconsistent, and amazing
Zhang Wei, executive vice president of the Chinese Film Critics Society, believes that the young actors in the film portrayed the characters in "Dream of Red Mansions" in a way that is similar to the original novel, and also brought the youth of the characters in the book to life; and senior actors such as Lu Yan, Zhang Guangbei, Ding Jiali, Yang Tongshu, Luo Haiqiong and others also contributed superb performances: "The actors fulfilled their roles to the greatest extent, the choice of the story also highlighted the life and death love between Baoyu and Daiyu, and the visual language reproduced the connotation and essence of the novel. The movie can be regarded as a milestone in the century-long history of adaptation of "Dream of Red Mansions"."
Speaking of the film's title, Liu Qiong, deputy director of the Literature and Art Department of the People's Daily, said that the mention of "A Marriage Between Gold and Jade" in the film's title is by no means a denial of the previous alliance between wood and stone, but rather a question to everyone: Why was the previous alliance between wood and stone not as good as a marriage between gold and jade? "Why was Baoyu and Daiyu's love destroyed, and by whom? This is what Cao Xueqin wanted to express in the original novel, that such pure people and love were eventually destroyed by this ruthless society and the world, and the previous alliance between wood and stone also became a tragedy. This is a faithful presentation of the original novel by director Hu Mei."
Zhang Yiwu, a professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, believes that Hu Mei's remake has achieved "three no's": not easy, not inconsistent, and amazing. "It is not a copy of the original, but a dialogue with the original. It is creative while respecting the original. It is very remarkable to hold up the story in two hours." When it comes to the interpretation of "Jia's greed for money and Lin's wealth" in the film, Zhang Yiwu believes that it is "very interesting and bold": "Director Hu dramatized this, which is very bold, and every sentence really has a history."
Hu Jianli, secretary general of the New Media Committee of the Chinese Society of Literary and Art Critics, mentioned that there has been controversy in the outside world about whether "Dream of Red Mansions" should be adapted. "My answer is that it should definitely be adapted, and it has been adapted too little in the past few decades. It has been more than 20 years since the last time "Dream of Red Mansions" was adapted for the big screen. Both investors and creators need to have such courage." Kevin Lee, co-chairman of the Hollywood Film Group and chairman of the Nobel Culture and Art Industry Group, also expressed his willingness to help the film go global and help Chinese culture go global. "I am very confident and look forward to Director Hu Mei's film having a greater international impact."
Talking about the audience: It has a strong sense of youth and is suitable for young people to watch
Hu Zhifeng, professor at Beijing Normal University and vice chairman of the China Television Artists Association, agreed with the view that the film is "a youth version of Dream of the Red Chamber launched by director Hu Mei in the new era": "First, it taps into the most important elements of Dream of the Red Chamber that have the most youthful temperament, such as the pursuit of freedom, the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty, and the pursuit of love and beauty as the highest values, all of which have a strong youthful temperament and characteristics; second, it is close to the aesthetic feelings of young people this year; third is the 'cool' that director Hu Mei has, which is also a sense of youth."
Editor-in-Chief of China Art Newspaper Kang Wei believes that Dream of Red Mansions is a very realistic film and can even be a medium to connect young students: "Because there are basically questions about Dream of Red Mansions in the college entrance examination every year, in order to let young students understand the story of Dream of Red Mansions, Director Hu Mei did a lot of homework, making Dream of Red Mansions from 'thick' to 'thin', and then let the audience feel the thickness from the 'thinness'."
Xu Fangyi, associate professor at Communication University of China, also agreed that Chinese traditional culture must have a new interpretation in every era, and today's young people need to see movies like "A Dream of Red Mansions". "In today's world where short videos, games, and live broadcasts occupy young people's time, movies are still an art form that they will touch and feel, and are also an important text and learning method, so all walks of life need to escort such a work that is both artistic and cinematic."
Zuo Heng, director of the Film Culture Research Department of the China Film Archive, mentioned that there are actually quite a few young people who are interested in "Dream of Red Mansions" today, but a large part of them are not interested in the whole book, but are interested in a certain character, a certain fragment or a certain image. "Cultural communication itself is an educational process. Movies may be 'one person's opinion', but if we can attract more young people to complete the re-interpretation, interpretation, dissemination and reproduction of this 'one person's opinion', we will complete a new educational promotion. This is not the kind of Neo-Confucian education in the past, but like Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, it is spread in today's literary Grand View Garden in a very youthful way."
Yangtze Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Kong Xiaoping
Proofreading Faye Wong
