the criminal investigation drama "snow labyrinth" fully restores the sense of the times and shoots a northeastern flavor
2024-09-13
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[global times special correspondent yang liu] in early september, zhang yimou's first online drama snow labyrinth, which he supervised and produced, was launched on youku's white night theater. directed by lü xing, the drama stars huang jingyu (picture ①), zhang yu, wang ziqi and others. it combines the cold and severe anti-drug work with the warm and healing life in northeast china, allowing the audience to see another possibility of criminal investigation themes.
unraveling the complex maze
"snow labyrinth" fictionalizes a northeastern city - halan city. in the late 1990s, halan was eroded by drug trafficking forces. in order to cope with the unprecedented drug crisis, the municipal public security bureau temporarily formed a special task force headed by zheng bei (played by huang jingyu) to find out the source of drugs and smash the drug trafficking group. judging from the content that has been broadcast, "snow labyrinth" did not choose a high-intensity reasoning route. the creators seemed to be patiently telling the audience how the cunning drug trafficking groups infiltrated the northeastern cities and how many difficulties the anti-drug work faced at that time, in order to create a story unique to the northeast criminal police. the presentation of the cases in the play does not emphasize short and fast, but follows the rhythm of zheng bei and other criminal police to solve the case, first obtaining fragmented information, and then piecing together the complete clues.
in addition to the case itself, the characters in the play are as complicated as a "maze". there are righteous people represented by the police, villains such as drug dealers, and complex characters like jiang xiaohai (played by zhang yu) who walk in the gray area. there are also people who want to make money to honor their mothers but go astray into drug trafficking due to ignorance... the characters in the play are not black and white. they reach the fork in their destiny due to different choices, and the stories behind the characters are gradually unfolding.
"dinner drama" criticized for being too slow
director lv xing once revealed that the original intention of creating "snow labyrinth" was to make a light-hearted and interesting criminal investigation drama. the audience feedback was the same, and many people regarded it as a "dinner drama". the series adopts a life-style approach to restore the unique temperament of northeast china in the 1990s. the appearance of the old industrial area, the disco full of colorful light balls, the barbecue vendors in the night market, the popcorn machines, candied haws, and shoe repair stalls in the living district... these details made the audience say in the barrage area, "the northeast flavor is too strong."
the director also uses food as a medium to evoke a common impression of the northeast. from simple noodles with stewed gravy, to pork stewed with vermicelli, to goose stewed in an iron pot... eating scenes frequently appear in the film. the protagonist is still fighting wits and courage with drug dealers in the previous scene, and may appear in a small shop drinking beer and eating chicken racks in the next scene (figure ②). the leading actor himself also lamented in an interview that this is simply "the northeast on the tip of the tongue."
the life atmosphere of "snow labyrinth" is also inseparable from the three-dimensional and vivid characters. in the play, the police have a relaxed and funny daily life besides the intense anti-drug work. huang jingyu, who plays zheng bei, is from liaoning and often uses a natural northeastern accent to output "insulting" golden sentences; gu yiran (played by wang ziqi), a southern chemistry expert, has strong professional ability, but also instantly turns into a "foodie" in front of northeastern food. the series also extends their family background and growth experience, making these characters stand out as if they really exist, and the audience also feels more involved.
the parallel approach of solving a case and telling a story in snow labyrinth is innovative. but inevitably, when the speed of uncovering the truth gives way to the development of the side story, the narrative rhythm slows down and the plot tends to become scattered. audiences who like strong reasoning and suspense may find it difficult to adapt to this rhythm.
northeastern literature blossoms in many ways
in recent years, "northeastern literature" has become a high-frequency buzzword. not only are related literary works being paid attention to by the younger generation, but also tv dramas adapted from such works or originally based on the northeast region are active in front of the public, and the scope of reference of "northeastern literature" has become wider.
suspense drama is a common type of adaptation of northeastern literature. "undocumented crime", adapted from zijin chen's novel and directed by lv xing, makes full use of the natural environment of northeast china in winter, and the whole film is wrapped in an extremely cold atmosphere; "coward", adapted from zheng zhi's novel, also uses a heavy snow as the starting point of the case, unfolding the youth of four teenagers spanning 10 years; "moses on the plain", adapted from shuang xuetao's novel of the same name, uses a mystery spanning two eras as an introduction to tell the fate of characters in social change, and is committed to restoring the sense of time from audio-visual means to life scenes. the original series "the long season" opens up another possibility of "northeastern literature". the picture uses high saturation, high contrast warm tones in an uncharacteristic way. the story is told slowly but has a strong aftertaste, and douban scores 9.4. "northeastern literature" is not limited to suspense. the movie "hedgehog", adapted from zheng zhi's novel "xian syndrome", landed in this summer's season, taking the audience through an absurd northeastern past with the story of a pair of "weirdos" who are friends of different ages.
it is easy to understand why literature and film and television creation prefer the northeast. the northeast has natural scenery of ice and snow, old industrial areas and stylized buildings. whether it is text description or filming, this external environment can first create a unique narrative atmosphere. the accent, food, folk customs and social customs of the northeast have a sense of intimacy and life, which can resonate with the general public. at the core, the northeast has undergone significant transformation and changes. individuals and groups in the torrent of the times are worthy of attention. it is possible to carry out writing close to reality, creating space for social phenomena and human entanglements in suspense and even various stories.
comedy, suspense, criminal investigation, spy warfare, realism... northeast china is already a fertile ground for literary and artistic creation. in the future, we hope that creators will explore richer narrative perspectives and creative styles to achieve more diversified and more core presentations.
(source: global times)
