tianfu new vision丨they are all four great classics, why not "daiyu"?
2024-09-08
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recently, a movie based on dream of red mansions, dream of red mansions: golden jade marriage, was "criticized" and became a hot topic. classic adaptations are always difficult to satisfy, and it is not uncommon for some people to praise and some to criticize, but nearly 50% of the audience gave the film a "one-star" bad review, and even "three-star" reviews were rare. douban scored 4.0, and the reputation and public opinion rarely appeared one-sided, which is rare.
as of press time, the douban score of dream of red mansions has dropped to 3.5. screenshot from the internet
facing an adaptation that does not meet one's expectations, it is not advisable to curse. but behind all the curses, we should clarify the new requirements for the adaptation of literary classics in the current era. if the creators ignore the evaluation and entertain themselves, it is inevitable that "one dai is not as good as another dai"; if the audience curses at every turn and has their own prejudices, no one will make adaptations in the future, and the classics will lose their vitality in the pile of old papers.
so, where exactly is the boundary of classic adaptation? how to balance the core ideas of the original work and the innovation of the times is a difficult problem.
a classic adaptation with many problems.
adaptation does not mean a new or random creation, nor does it mean a magical or drastic change.in recent years, some film and television teams have been blindly pursuing innovation, making up stories about classic works, disrupting and rearranging the plots, and even using the excuse that it is "necessary for adaptation." however, some adapted works even reverse the basic character personalities and core ideas, which can be described as a large-scale ooc scene (ooc: internet slang, meaning that the character's personality is seriously deviated from the original work). the movie "dynasty warriors" adapted from "romance of the three kingdoms" is an example.
even with the participation of many big names and popular young actors, this three kingdoms movie could not be saved: 43,000 people gave the film a score of 3.9. what is the reason? although there is a sense of humor, the characters of cao cao, liu bei, guan yu and others have long been deeply rooted in people's hearts, but they are completely subverted in this film. in addition, a large number of special effects scenes are interspersed in the plot, and the interpretation of the three kingdoms seems too childish.
the movie "dynasty warriors" is rated only 3.9. screenshot from the internet
the overly market-oriented and commercial orientation is also the most easily criticized aspect of classic adaptations.due to the influence of classic works themselves, they receive a lot of attention, especially when they are produced by large teams, which makes them more likely to attract attention. in the selection of classic characters such as lin daiyu and jia baoyu, if they are swayed by the market and succumb to traffic, "casting" becomes "talent show", which is easy to be criticized.
the most typical example is the high-profile "casting" activity of the 2010 tv version of "dream of red mansions". it attracted a lot of attention for a while, and the overwhelming publicity raised the audience's expectations, but the effect after the broadcast was not satisfactory. the trend of "casting" has been followed by many teams. is this dedication to art or flattery for money? what's worse, some people grab some plots from literature and go to the edge to make a profit, giving up the bottom line for the sake of attracting attention. for example, the female image of pan jinlian in "water margin" was made into a film and television by some vulgar teams and was unbearable to watch.
each generation has its own interpretation of classics, and there is nothing wrong with exploring business opportunities from famous works. however, excessive commercial hype and consumption of the cultural resources of classic literary works will ultimately backfire.
the game black myth: wukong adapted from journey to the west became popular overseas, but the movie dream of red mansions was criticized. some people asked, why are some adaptations of classic masterpieces good and some not?
different works have different positioning.different cultural attributes will lead to different interpretations of later changes, which also means that readers or audiences have fundamental differences in their aesthetic orientation towards the works, and their requirements are also different.
black myth: wukong captures the rebellious spirit in the core of journey to the west and successfully creates the game character of "the man of destiny". even though a lot of minor changes have been made to the side details, the new technology has driven the overseas expansion of culture and still attracted a large number of players. the movie dream of red mansions: a perfect match has been criticized the most for the director's overly bold "self-design".
screenshot of the game "black myth: wukong" from the game's official website
liu zhenwei's classic adaptation of "a chinese odyssey" is still talked about today, but when he adapted "a chinese odyssey: part two: fairy tales" in the same way as "outlaws of the marsh", it was criticized as "a truly cheesy adaptation of a classic."
the positioning of the text must be accurate, and choices should also be made in the direction of adaptation.especially for a work as profound as dream of the red chamber, "wanting both" can easily push both actors and audiences to extremes. before the release of dream of the red chamber, it was advertised that it respected the core of the original work while making appropriate innovations. if it is handled properly, this is of course what the audience likes to see the most.
but the creative team was unable to do so. in addition to ordinary audiences, many professional "redology" researchers and university teachers mentioned that the film wanted to add personal innovation, but did not make any selections or deliberately pile up the "famous scenes" of the original work, resulting in the innovative story not being told clearly and the presentation of the original work being just enough.
it is indeed difficult to adapt classics, and it is even more difficult to make the audience accept the adaptation.
as for the main creative team, they should make appropriate innovations based on the original text.respecting the original work and being modest about the classics does not mean copying the original characters' actions and language without changing a word, but restoring them using new media after deeply understanding the ideological connotation and character image of classic literature. successful adaptations can completely fill the character stories with "new wine", but they firmly grasp the core of the characters and gain box office and word of mouth. however, some works, even if they use the lines of the novel intact, have a ridiculously biased core theme, and the audience still won't buy it.
we encourage innovation, as innovation is the only way to keep the classics fresh and lasting.
appropriate innovation means rereading and deconstructing classic literature, combining traditional cultural values with the spirit of the times through adaptation, and giving classics new vitality.
as for the audience, they need to give the adaptation an objective look and sufficient patience.nowadays, it is even more difficult to adapt classics, which is reflected in the fact that "the theme of red mansions cannot be touched", and the details of the characters' lines are overly picky and cannot be changed at all. this harsh argument is not desirable. classics should have different faces for different people. what the audience should review is whether this adaptation meets mainstream expectations, whether it grasps the core connotation of literary classics, and whether it has the characteristics of the times. rather than simply killing with one stick and picking bones in eggs. some irrational audiences even went so far as to "humiliate the actors' appearance" and "personally attack" the director, which is even more undesirable.
it has been two hundred years since cao gong stopped writing. the sublimation of the connotation of the dream of the red chamber was constructed by the creators in the process of continuous interpretation by generations of readers. the adaptation of classic literature should build a bridge of friendly communication between the original work and the audience, so that the deeper literary connotation can exude the charm of the times through the new contemporary media.
