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in september 2017, the famous painting "a thousand miles of rivers and mountains" from the song dynasty was exhibited in its entirety at the meridian gate of the forbidden city.

if you want to see this painting that has gone through more than 900 years of vicissitudes, you often have to queue for hours. when people gathered together to appreciate this precious work of art, zhou liya couldn't help but have a reverie that seemed to be from another world: if "thousand miles of rivers and mountains" has life, then in these long years, it will be the only one that has the same meaning as that piece of art. the eternal bright moon has witnessed the presence of its creators and inheritors of past generations. only it can connect the hope of thousands of years ago with the people who develop scrolls today.

time flies, the dance poetry drama "only green" appeared on the stage of the 2022 spring festival gala and became the focus. at this time, a film inspired by "only green" also quietly started the creation plan.

during the national day holiday this year, the movie "only green" finally meets the audience on the big screen. among the 10 new films released during the same period, "only green" is the only masterpiece to have exceeded 8 points on douban. "even though it has been performed for more than 600 times, there are still only a limited number of people who can actually walk into the theater to witness a live performance, and there are even fewer audiences who can appreciate it in their city." some viewers lamented.

picture source: picture provided by the producer

the movie "only green" is adapted from the dance poetry drama of the same name. it was created by the original choreographer and director of the dance drama. it is produced by china film co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as china film) and china oriental entertainment group co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as oriental entertainment). on the eve of the movie's release, the directors of "only green" zhou liya and han zhen were interviewed by reporters from "daily economic news". they said: "if we can reach those places that the stage play cannot reach, including all over the world, through this film, then this step is worth taking bravely."

picture source: picture provided by the producer

“we hope to reach places that the stage play cannot reach through this movie.”

on the 2022 spring festival gala stage, the dance poetry drama "only green" entered the hearts of the audience.

it uses chinese classical colors as the pen, white silk, indigo blue seal cutting, ocher brown stone, blue-gray pen, and black-gray ink... these colors are intertwined together to vividly display the charm of song dynasty culture.

"this painting is painted with everyone in the world. it is enough for those who come and go to see only green." this poetic subtitle is an appropriate comment on "only this green". the person who exhibited the scroll spent his whole life exploring the inner wish of the young painter ximeng, and at a certain moment under the bright moon, it overlapped and connected with the audience's soul.

although the stage version of "only green" is beautiful, it cannot touch every soul eager to appreciate it. the birth of the movie version became an inevitable choice.

in an interview with a reporter from the "daily economic news", han zhen shared the original intention of creating the film: "although the stage version is deeply loved by the audience, we always believe that such an excellent work should be seen and popularized by more people. more people understand.”

zhou liya recalled the hesitation and struggle when she decided to shoot the movie, but she also said that china film's all-round guarantee and the team's joint efforts made her and han zhen full of confidence. "if we can reach places that the stage play cannot reach, including around the world, through this film, then it is a step worth taking bravely."

"only green" director han zhen (left) zhou liya (right) picture source: photo provided by the producer

in the film, the audience can appreciate many elements and details about traditional chinese culture in more detail. the exquisite skills of stone grinding, pen making, ink making, silk weaving and other processes are vividly displayed. han zhen said with emotion: "the biggest difficulty lies in the transformation of thinking. the stage and the screen are two completely different media, and they have essential differences in expression methods." the actors need to adjust their performance methods to adapt to the lens. filming; directors need to have in-depth communication and cooperation with visual effects companies to jointly explore how to present the softness and power of dance on the screen.

the amount of post-production of the film was beyond the imagination of han zhen and zhou liya. in order to let the audience feel the beauty of china's magnificent mountains and rivers, the film version of "only green" uses three abstract freehand passages, and the final painting is completed on a piece of ocher-colored silk paper. when walking through the ocher-colored silk paper, turquoise pigments will be left behind, which requires the creative staff to communicate with the visual effects company bit by bit to find solutions together.

han zhen believes: "this is a color beauty that cannot be presented on mobile phones. the beautiful colors and pastoral romantic feelings in our traditional chinese culture require a sufficient volume to be played, so that the audience can feel that kind of beauty." the overwhelming sense of envelopment, including the grandeur of the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers that emerged when the artist entered the painting, is in great need of this sense of envelopment.”

although the transition from stage plays to movies is full of challenges and regrets, the young actors were able to keep their dancing and beauty on the screen in their youthful years, which made han zhen and zhou liya feel that what they had done full of meaning. at the same time, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the film version can break through the limitations of the stage version in terms of presentation. for example, one scene in the film refers to the design of a silkworm weaving diagram, which materializes the scene of the hanlin art academy, allowing the audience to feel the beauty more intuitively. .

for a creator, there is never enough satisfaction. zhou liya often thinks about how to further adjust and improve her work, but she never wants to give up. "art always leaves the creator with regrets, but this regret is really a part of your creation or this work." she said firmly.

"silk protects eight hundred", why can we still see "a thousand miles of rivers and mountains" today?

no name, no money, just this one volume; green for thousands of years, mountains and rivers are boundless. since its release, "only green" has toured more than 600 shows and has become a classic in the hearts of countless audiences. for han zhen and zhou liya, this work has long been integrated into their lives and has become an inseparable emotional bond.

han zhen said with emotion: "every work is like your own child. not only do you have to create it, you also have to accompany it as it grows."

when talking about the meaning of "only green" to them, han zhen believed that she had become more identified with her career. "in the past, i loved dancing and thought it was a hobby and a professional pursuit. but now, i feel very proud and worthy. because what i am doing is very meaningful, and my heart will be filled with this feeling. i feel very fulfilled by my career.”

picture source: picture provided by the producer

zhou liya shared the story behind the creation of the film: "we have three perspectives. the one that the audience can most truly feel is the perspective of the roll unfolder. through the guidance of the roll roll unfolder, we saw ximeng in his mind. this opportunity lies in, when we decided to do the theme of "thousands of miles of rivers and mountains", we didn't know how to write or what angle to create it. "

with this confusion and exploration, they walked into the forbidden city and saw the masterpieces of the young painter ximeng. they learned that as a silk painting, "thousand miles of rivers and mountains" has a warranty of up to 800 years, but what is even more surprising is that "thousands of miles of rivers and mountains" is still intact after more than 900 years, and its green mineral pigments are now still bright and eye-catching.

in order to have a deeper understanding of the production process of this painting, the creative team consulted experts from the intangible cultural heritage department of the ministry of culture and tourism, and learned the silk manufacturing process and pen manufacturing process related to "thousand miles of rivers and mountains". they also invited intangible cultural heritage inheritors to give on-site teaching and experience first-hand the production methods of intangible cultural heritage. a teacher who makes pens said: "although i have no education and cannot write or draw, when i see these painters using the pens i made to draw the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, i feel as if i have followed them into the world. that magnificent river and mountain.”

at that moment, han zhen and zhou liya couldn't help but think deeply, who is the creator of "a thousand miles of rivers and mountains"? who allowed this painting to be seen with us after thousands of years? they realized that behind the painting was not only xi meng’s talent and hard work, but also the careful care and inheritance of the "thousand miles of rivers and mountains" by cultural and cultural workers, allowing this precious cultural heritage to meet us across thousands of years.

the movie "only green" unfolds from ximeng's perspective, leading the audience across time and space to experience the mental journey of this talented young man. in addition to ximeng's perspective, the film also incorporates the two dimensions of the scroll-roller and qinglu. as a bridge connecting the past and the present, the presence of the unroller allows the audience to have a deeper understanding of the historical background and cultural connotation of "a thousand miles of rivers and mountains". the green color symbolizes the painting itself, which bears witness to the hard work and selfless dedication of the creator and inheritor. the interweaving and collision of these three dimensions constitute the unique narrative structure of the movie "only green".

as ximeng said: "this painting was painted by everyone from heaven and earth, and it is enough for those who come and go to see the green color." han zhen also said with emotion: "at the end of every movie, the exhibitor and ximeng are in the museum separated by thousands of years of time and space. the moment we look at each other, i feel like i am doing something particularly meaningful.”

creating movies is not an easy path, and the market needs some seemingly “incompatible” themes.

the scroll is unfolded lightly, and time is recalled.

after han zhen and zhou liya decided to put this stage play on the big screen, they spent more than a year learning the creative work behind the scenes, and after another six months of creation and rehearsal, until august 2023, the movie "only green" 》officially started shooting.

the film uses a narrative structure that intersects time and space to interweave reality and historical retrospect. zhou liya said that creators cannot reproduce history, but they can look back at history and integrate their own understanding and feelings of traditional culture into their works, giving their works new vitality.

this is also a new challenge for the stage actors who are appearing on the movie screen for the first time. zhou liya recalled that in the early stages of filming, the actors were worried about whether they could adapt to the way they performed in front of the camera. but after in-depth discussions with the film team, they received firm support from the person in charge of the film team, believing that actors in stage plays are fully capable of performing in movies.

on the shooting scene, han zhen and zhou liya often said to the actors, "take it in a little more." because stage plays need to amplify emotions and body movements to attract the audience's attention, movies require more delicate and restrained expressions. therefore, actors need to constantly adjust their performance status to adapt to the shooting requirements of the movie lens.

picture source: picture provided by the producer

han zhen further added: "our actors perform more stage plays, because stage plays have very high requirements for actors. they can't just say 'click' and do it again like in the movie, they have to succeed once. in the long run in the performance, their characters have undergone subtle changes due to the roles they played.”

"it is true that performances rely on the strength of the team, but it is difficult for a team to tour all over the world at the same time. the movie breaks this limitation. the colors in the movie are the colors unique to china, and they go beyond the simple dark blue background color contains chinese people’s aesthetic concepts and life philosophy,” han zhen elaborated.

in her view, film, as a highly influential art form, is an excellent medium for promoting traditional culture. "we hope that through this film, we can show the beauty and charm of traditional chinese culture to more people, and inspire more works to join the ranks and jointly contribute to the promotion of traditional culture."

she also knows that this road will not be easy. in the context of film marketization, more topical themes tend to attract more attention. but han zhen firmly believes that some seemingly "incompatible" themes, such as "only green" released during the national day release, some people call it a clear stream, while others think it is special. it is these special existences that constitute the flourishing of film art. .

at the end of the film, the exhibitor stares at "a thousand miles of rivers and mountains" again, as if traveling through time and space to meet ximeng's eyes. han zhen said with emotion: "whether it is a dance drama or a movie, when we take on the responsibility of inheriting historical gifts, we always want to add something to this gift... although our works belong to a specific type, many of them are shocking. the magnificent elements. although it cannot be simply classified as a visual effects blockbuster, it is the immersive experience of the cinema that allows the audience to truly feel the beauty of the "thousands of miles of land and mountains".

regarding the expansion of film types and the promotion of traditional culture, han zhen said: "i believe that the original intention of these two national teams (i.e., china film and oriental performing arts) is to contribute to the diversification of film types and inherit and promote traditional culture. mr. fu ruoqing has also mentioned many times that he hopes to expand film genres, including future musicals. we are trying step by step with prayers and ideals. perhaps this is just the beginning."

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