suspense drama is like a survival game, guo qilin's adventure in an imaginary world
2024-08-29
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in addition to stacking wonders and high-density reversals, suspense stories have another way to open. "border water past", which is currently being broadcast on youku white night theater, has received a score of 8.2 on douban with its solid drama and unique audio-visual language. as the plot progresses, its popularity is gradually rising.
"bianshui past" fictionalizes a small exotic town called sanbianpo. it is outside the law and adheres to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak and violence is used to counter violence. politicians check and balance businessmen, businessmen exploit workers, and the hierarchy is strict. people wear the cloak of religion and do evil things in the name of goodness.
after graduating, the young man shen xing came here. he wanted to work on a project with his uncle, but he ran into an unpaid salary incident. as the person in charge of the construction site, his uncle was collecting wages for the workers, but he ran into a local armed force fighting and was trapped in the blockade area and lost contact. after several twists and turns, shen xing met uncle cai, a businessman who was wandering among various forces. in order to find the whereabouts of his uncle, he had to work for uncle cai to pay off his debts and began to live by the water. the so-called "bianshui" is not a place name, but refers to the transportation of daily necessities to drug dealers in the mountains.
a young man who was completely unfamiliar with the law of the jungle lived a life of "licking blood on the edge of a knife", nearly dying several times, but surviving in desperate situations. like most ordinary people, shen xing had a little wisdom and a little skill. he was able to survive in such a harsh environment by luck and his kindness and integrity.
in the view of the director of "border water past", true kindness is a respected character everywhere. in an interview with the media, he told china business news: "in a world of slash-and-burn farming, people don't live on kindness, which doesn't mean that kindness doesn't exist. it's just very rare and scarce. so when it appears in shen xing, it always brings him good luck."
adventure in an alternate world
when talking about whether "borderwater" has any comparable works, we talked about a game called "red dead redemption", whose main plot is the story of desperadoes in the american west fighting against the times in the late 19th century.
the structure of "bianshui past" is similar to that of survival games. it has a main line running through it, connecting each unit in series. each unit is like a level, and new characters appear on the stage. shen xing constantly passes levels and upgrades, growing from an ignorant rookie to the right-hand man of the boss. so far, he has passed four levels: "fake wine life and death game", "puppet resurrection", "frightening ma niu town", and "breaking into the blockade zone". the fifth level "casino counterattack" is being passed. this structure makes the rhythm compact and fascinating.
before "the waterside story", he directed the well-received suspense dramas "madhouse" and "the beginning". in his opinion, one of the requirements of today's audiences for dramas is a high intensity of information. for example, suspense is not enough for a suspense drama, and it also needs to be superimposed with elements such as thriller, reasoning, crime, and adventure. the creator needs to capture the audience through lines, plots, scenes, and performances. "every three minutes, you have to remind yourself, what is there to attract you to watch, and if not, cut it out."
the fictional world gives creators enough freedom, without having to stick to the limitations of reality. but fiction does not mean being completely divorced from reality. instead, the details must be rich enough to convince the audience that this is a world that is very far away from them but real. the status, behavior, clothing, and language of the characters must fit the environment and climate of this world.
"our world has a hot climate. the north is closer to the mainland and has more mountains. when you reach mokuangshan, you will see a winding mountain road. the road is difficult to walk on, with cliffs and high altitudes. there are fewer shade trees in this kind of place, the mountains are bare, and water is scarce. people here have darker skin and have to queue up to wash their faces." suan described it to reporters like this. the people of sanbianpo speak with accents from all over the world, but they also use a common language: "bomo language". this is a new language created by linguists specially invited for the filming of this drama.
sanbianpo, nanbobang, daqulin, daban, xiaomolong, the place names in the play are all fictitious, so it takes a process of familiarization to enter the story. it seems contradictory to tell a realistic story in an imaginary world, but it is actually a powerful tool for creation. like the protagonist shen xing, the audience's understanding of this land starts from scratch, exploring the unknown step by step. what they see and hear along the way, and the more people they meet, the more the intricate network of forces and the complex environment of multi-party struggles in sanbianpo are gradually revealed.
the people in this world run many industries that are rare in modern cities, such as gem mines, logging, slaughterhouses, casinos, etc. it is precisely because the survival rules here are completely different from the inherent cognition that uncertainty is brought. suan said: "for example, when shen xing first encountered a problem, he thought of borrowing money. he thought he could still do things according to the rules he was familiar with. he didn't know that even borrowing money here was dangerous. the ideologies and ways of survival of two different worlds collide with each other. we don't know whether his choice will bring safety or danger. this uncertainty will make the audience feel adventurous."
during the script development stage, it was felt that guo qilin should play the role of shen xing. "shen xing must be friendly and neighborly, and need to resonate with the audience. guo qilin entered society early, and he knows the status of the characters in daily life, and his reaction speed is also very fast." the other protagonist, uncle cai, is the opposite. he is a distant person and a mysterious figure. wu zhenyu is very suitable for this role. "the symbols he carries and the sense of story between his eyebrows are unpredictable, and he is sometimes far and sometimes close, which makes you a little in awe of him. he is uncle cai."
creation of flesh-and-blood group portraits
suan has always been interested in stories of chivalry, tenderness and righteousness. for example, in "red dead redemption", the father-son relationship between the characters and the living conditions of the bandits all attracted him. "hormone bursting", more importantly, it has a profound core. "it will reflect on whether this world is a world where we can really take root and survive."
in the midst of the dangerous plot, the relationship between the protagonists of "the past by the edge of water" is also portrayed intriguingly. the intruder shen xing was excluded by the gang of sanbianpo, and won the respect and trust of the locals with his kind and honest character. in the process, he met his brother dantuo, who had been through life and death with him, and the mysterious boss uncle cai who trusted him. they came from different backgrounds and came from very different places, but they formed a friendship because they recognized each other's values. in the words of uncle cai, sanbianpo does things not for money, but for character. shen xing's character brought him good luck, trust and friendship. however, as the plot progresses, the truth of violence and cruelty gradually surfaced. between justice and sin, reason and emotion, escape and stay, shen xing will have the final choice.
suan told china business news that the relationship between shen xing, dan tuo and uncle cai will change with the changes in the ecology and power of sanbianpo. "shen xing was not liked by uncle cai at first, but he gradually became closer to him later; he and dan tuo will have some disagreements later, but the bond will definitely not change. the relationship between dan tuo and uncle cai is what i like and want to portray. it is about how loyal and courageous people will make choices when their ideas are not in line with each other."
in addition to the main characters, "bianshui past" also created a group of flesh-and-blood characters with good and evil intertwined. liu jincui, the owner of the karaoke bar, seems to be domineering, but in fact she has a miserable fate. she was trafficked to sanbianpo and trained the girls under her to learn etiquette and literacy in order to let them learn to control their own destiny. the gangster wang anquan used counterfeit money to buy the watch of the stone gambler, but when the other party was naked, he put on his coat to preserve his last dignity. guo limin, who came to sanbianpo to work with shen xing, did not betray his friends at the critical moment of life and death. in order to treat his mother's illness, he had to endure the bullying of gamblers. he was kind by nature and began to show his dark side.
from the episodes that have been aired, it can be seen that uncle chai, who was very cunning and calculating at the beginning, had to be controlled by the local sheriff, the president of the chamber of commerce and other forces, and his business was hindered. regarding uncle chai's ending, it was revealed that "he had things he could not help but do and things he had to do. in the end, the team spirit that was finally gathered together fell apart, and he was a tragic character."
it is revealed that after "bianshui past" uses about 16 episodes to build up sanbianpo's worldview, it will use another 5 episodes to "dismantle it." "how did a chaotic world come about, and can it be changed? we cannot answer this question, but we can use sanbianpo as a mirror and raise questions."
(this article comes from china business network)
