Xiamen's first Gaojia Opera film "Ata Sao" observation and seminar was held in Beijing, and the "grassroots story with realistic significance" was recognized by experts
2024-08-14
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
On August 13, a seminar on the Gaojia opera film "Ata Sao" was held in Beijing. Experts from the film and opera circles spoke highly of the film's artistic expression, cultural value, and presentation of local characteristics. They believed that the film was appealing to both the elite and the masses, vividly reflecting the charm of Gaojia opera, and giving full play to the advantages of film language to tell a story of the common people with practical significance.
"Adasao" is a name for women in southern Fujian who are kind-hearted and willing to fight for justice. The Gaojia Opera movie "Adasao" tells the story of a kind-hearted woman in the early years of the Republic of China who retained her bold and innocent nature after a series of misunderstandings and insisted on helping others. The movie was directed by the China Dramatists Association, Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Xiamen Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and co-produced by the China Dramatists Association, Xiamen Radio and Television Group, Xiamen Wenguang Media Group Co., Ltd., Xiamen Wenguang Film Group Co., Ltd., Xiamen Jinliansheng Gaojia Opera Troupe, and Xiamen Haixia Tonggen Art and Culture Development Co., Ltd., and produced by Xiamen Wenguang Film Group Co., Ltd., Xiamen Jinliansheng Gaojia Opera Troupe, and Xiamen Haixia Tonggen Art and Culture Development Co., Ltd.
The event was guided by the China Dramatists Association, the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Chinese Film Critics Society, and the Fujian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, hosted by the Film Literature Creation Committee of the China Film Association, Xiamen Wenguang Film Group Co., Ltd., and Xiamen Jinliansheng Gaojia Troupe, and undertaken by Nanfang News Network and the Image Communication Professional Committee of the Chinese Film Critics Society. Tian Yuan, deputy director of the Film Creation Guidance Department of the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, presided over the seminar, and relevant responsible persons from the Fujian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Du Shanshan, deputy general manager of Xiamen Wenguang Film Group Co., Ltd., the representative of the film producer, Zeng Xuewen, the screenwriter of the film, Cheng Lu, the director, Wu Jingjing, the leading actor, and Zhu Weijie, the composer, participated in the seminar.
Significance of praise: Explore new ways to promote Gaojia Opera, and listen to Minnan local opera in the cinema
Wang Chunmei, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Secretary-General of the China Dramatists Association, introduced that the Plum Blossom Award Digital Film Project's outstanding opera film "Ata Sao", which was initiated and funded by the China Dramatists Association in 2020, took four years of preparation, shooting and production, and will be released in June 2024.
Wang Chunmei affirmed that "Ata Sao" is not only a vivid interpretation of the national intangible cultural heritage of Fujian Gaojia Opera, but also an exploration and attempt to combine traditional opera with modern film art. The China Dramatists Association selected this work for digital film shooting, hoping that the film can open up a new path for the dissemination and promotion of Gaojia Opera, a local opera culture, and also hope that the civilian stories it tells and the beauty of humanity and human feelings it conveys will infect more people.
Song Zhiqin, executive deputy director of the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, believes that the film showcases the contemporary expression of traditional opera, explores and opens up various possibilities for contemporary opera art, has high ideological and artistic qualities, and is a good work with a prominent theme, a specific story, and keen visuals.
Like content: A civilian story with realistic significance, the spirit of "Adasao" is what the times need
What is the Atasao spirit? Zhang Sitao, chairman of the Film Literature Creation Committee of the China Film Association and former director of the Film Script Planning and Planning Center of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, believes that the Atasao spirit in the film is what we need to call for today. The Atasao spirit promoted by the film has practical significance at present.
Jia Leilei, former vice president, researcher and doctoral supervisor of the Chinese Academy of Arts, said that Adasao is actually an ethical-centric character. She persuades people to be good, and her ethical thoughts and ethical awareness are the core of this film. "She judges others by her own experience, not by reasoning, but by using her own life and actions to tell people what they should do. This is something that particularly touched me."
"'Ata Sao' incorporates some phenomena and ideas of the social transition period, as well as some problems encountered during the social transition period. In this play, Ata Sao clearly puts forward the spirit of taking the blame and taking initiative. I think this is closely integrated with the spirit of our times. This is the soul of this play." Lu Shaoyang, professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University and chairman of the Theoretical Criticism Working Committee of the China Film Association, said.
On form: movie or opera? "Adasao" combines the charm of drama and the techniques of film
"Ata Sao" is a film adapted from the Minnan opera. In the transformation from opera to film, it retains the aesthetic characteristics of opera and integrates the expression methods of film. It is an innovation in opera film.
In the view of Lu Haibo, professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Academy of Drama, "The screen magnifies the original comedic performance of Gaojia Opera. "Ata Sao" restores the integrity, universality, comedy and slightly exaggerated performance of Gaojia Opera. The film style is consistent throughout, and it is an exaggerated, comedic performance."
Huangfu Yichuan, president and editor-in-chief of Contemporary Film magazine, believes that while accurately presenting the characteristics of Gaojia Opera, Ada Sao achieves empathy between the audience and the actors through changes in scene and rhythm. This not only explores a feasible path for the creation of opera films, but also allows the ancient Gaojia Opera to be more widely disseminated through the form of film.
Many folk slangs from southern Fujian appear in "Adasao". Wang Yiyan, former director of the Documentary Development Research Center of China Film Group and a national first-class director, praised this treatment, "Using words that most people can understand to the height of philosophy in the film. The greater the truth, the more popular the language is used to express it."
"The beauty of opera's formulas is expressed through cinematic means while retaining the formal beauty of opera." Zhao Weifang, director of the Film and Television Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts and vice president of the Chinese Film Critics Society, said that there were two or three flashbacks in the film, and one flashback used a more modern approach, completely out of the background and returning to a black and white stage scene for the performance. The use of such cinematic means to present theatrical formulas was very successful.
Huang Ying, associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Opera and deputy director of the Research and Communication Center of Traditional Chinese Opera, Film and Television, analyzed the visual elements of the single shot in the film and believed that "Ata Sao" achieves "both the alienation of traditional Chinese opera and the immersive and realistic space creation of the film itself."
On performance: Is the clown ugly or beautiful? Achieving a balance between humor and solemnity
The most special thing about "Ata Sao" is that most of the characters in the film are "clowns", which is also the outstanding artistic feature of Fujian Gaojia Opera. Gaojia Opera originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and its "full of clowns" performance is unique in Chinese opera art. The experts at the meeting highly praised the performance of actress Wu Jingjing, saying that "Ata Sao" takes a female clown as the protagonist, and Wu Jingjing, with her superb skills, combines the aesthetic characteristics of clown performance and the style of the film to vividly create the image of Ata Sao.
"Too ugly!" Wu Jingjing, the actress who played "Adasao", admitted that she couldn't accept her "ugly" self in the movie at first. Before that, she had played many Qingyi and Huadan roles, and won the Plum Blossom Performance Award of the Chinese Drama Award for her Qingyi role Wu Zetian.
"Ugliness is beauty, and the unexpected wins." Jiang Ping, president of the China Xia Yan Film Society and a national first-class director, commented on the "clown" feature of "Ada Sao". "It appears ugly on the screen, but is beautiful inside. This is the highlight of the movie."
"Relaxed, fresh, and down-to-earth." Yu Lan, a famous Peking Opera performing artist, a national first-class actor of the Peking Opera Troupe of the Beijing Military Region Political Department Comrades Art Troupe, and a winner of the Plum Blossom Award, said that she had performed on the same stage with Wu Jingjing and witnessed the beauty of Wu Jingjing's appearance. She saw Wu Jingjing play a clown in "Ada Sao", "It didn't feel like she was acting. This is the highest level of performance."
Director and screenwriter Zhang Chi, executive vice president and secretary general of the Film Literature Creation Committee of the China Film Association, believes that Wu Jingjing's transition from Qingyi to Choujiao is very difficult. It is the actor's outstanding performance that makes the movie so good.
Liu Jingmeng, deputy director of the Activities Management Department of the China Film Association, believes that the filming of the Gaojia opera movie "Ada Sao" is elegant yet vulgar, highlighting the ugly characteristics of the local opera Gaojia opera. However, it is not limited to ugliness, but uses ugliness to write beauty, which has a thought-provoking effect and achieves a balance between humor and solemnity.
Nanfang.com, Guangdong Study reporter Jin Zhehua Jiang Haiyan intern Li Jiabin
