Contemporary Expression of Excellent Traditional Culture in Film — From the 2023 Film Summer File
Author: Wang Luna
The performance of the Chinese film summer file in 2023 is enough to inspire the industry. According to data from the Beacon Professional Edition, as of 24:00 on August 31, the box office (including pre-sales) of this schedule (June 1 to August 31) exceeded 20.6 billion yuan, setting a new record for the summer box office in Chinese film history. The box office of the big market has exceeded 100 million yuan for 72 consecutive days, breaking the record of the single-day box office of the Chinese film history.
At the same time, we have noticed that compared with Hollywood blockbusters, Chinese audiences are more inclined to domestic films with fresh themes and fresh expressions. Good reputation.
Looking at their commonality, we found that the artistic expression of “Chinese excellent traditional culture moving towards modernity” in contemporary films has made gratifying progress, and has received strong resonance from the audience.
“Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang’an”: Oriental poetry makes animation break through the boundaries
In recent years, there have been many cartoons that have taken the “Chinese style” route, but “Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang’an”, the box office king of the cartoon in the Mainland in 2023, particularly caught the audience’s eyes. From beginning to end, there is no magic, no anthropomorphism, no monsters, not even a villain, which seems very unanimated. However, several “poetry dramas” represented by “Will Enter the Wine” understand poetry, strengthen poetry, and expand poetry in the form of animation art. We see that domestic animation is colliding and dialogues with traditional culture with a strong attitude, instead of offering Tang poetry on the altar with labels. It throws out everything about poets and poems, as well as the era of poetry, and shows the audience what it means to “live poetically”. From folk tales to mythological families, to today’s “Tang poetry animation”, in my opinion, Chinese animation is finding the key to its national identity step by step. After all, one of the cores of Chinese excellent traditional culture is “literati tradition”, which is the way we get along with the world deep in our genes. In addition, animation “spell” is imagination. Imagination is by no means special effects or ink technology itself, but how to make the audience resonate with an imagined world. In the animations we never forget, there is always a certain scene, a certain corner, and a certain mood that make you linger. When the artistic conceptions of Tang poetry such as Yellow Crane Tower, Yangzhou, Qianli Jiangling, and Chang’an were transformed into animation scenes, Chinese animation found its own driving force-oriental poetry. It is precisely because of this treasure that “Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang’an” has successfully expanded the audience of domestic animation to almost all age groups.
“Fengshen Part I”: Traditional culture blesses the myth of the screen industry
The main creative team represented by director Wu Ershan has worked hard for ten years to launch “Feng Shen No. 1”, which has lived up to expectations. The audience can feel the continuous spiritual power of Chinese culture from the film. The film does not stick to the plot setting of the original “Fengshen Yanyi,” but digs deep into the construction of the father-son relationship, the selection of the protagonist, the relationship between temptation and use, and brings more contemporary thinking into it. In particular, this film boldly promotes Ji Fa as the protagonist, which is an innovative reconstruction of the traditional “Fengshen” story. On this basis, the main creator broke down the 148-minute duration of the film into several shorter parts by means of progressive, continuous setting and dismantling contradictions, which is very suitable for the viewing habits of current audiences. On the other hand, the film uses the world‘s most advanced digital technology to create powerful audio-visual effects, doubly conveying traditional Chinese cultural concepts such as “morality does not match, you will be condemned by heaven,” “world sentiments, selfless sacrifice”. The visual feast in the film is not only the mythical world presented by special effects but also the classical visual system close to modern aesthetics. According to reports, the main creative team of the film visited museums in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and other places to learn about the cultures of the Shang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, and Yuan and Ming Dynasties. It is those cultural relics that travel through time and convey deep and fresh spiritual power that allow film creators to draw abundant inspiration from them and use them in the film, seamlessly combined with the theatrical structure and character creation. For example, the clothing shapes and styles of the characters in the film come from Taoist water and land paintings of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and the decorative patterns come from bronzes and jades of the Shang Dynasty. The shapes of various weapons contain unique cultural logic and aesthetic ingenuity. “Feng Shen No. 1” has vigorously promoted the innovation and development of Chinese mythological epic genres and is a useful practice for filmmakers to strive to tell Chinese stories well and promote excellent traditional culture.
“In the Octagonal Cage”: Self-improvement creates miracles inside and outside the movie
In the summer of 2023, “In the Octagonal Cage” was born. The feelings, emotions, and plot of this film are all good. Looking back six years ago, director Wang Baoqiang’s debut film “Havoc in Tianzhu” won the “Golden Broom Award,” but he unexpectedly appeared on the podium. His sincere reflection impressed everyone deeply. In the past six years, Wang Baoqiang turned down a lot of job offers and devoted himself to making movies. The audience learned from him the spirit of self-improvement and finally felt his sincerity and great progress in the film. In the film, Wang Baoqiang filmed the suffering and struggle in “Poetry and the Distance” and captured the tenacity and determination in the bones of the Chinese nation. Face-changing, back view, and flying into the distance… are invisible languages, and even more fables that touch the soul and make children understand. Courage to find a way out again. More importantly, “In the Octagonal Cage” does not simply express struggle and unyielding through fighting but tells about the importance of culture, especially the excellent traditional Chinese culture through fighting, that is: only those who can “endure what others cannot bear, Only those who are capable of what others can’t” can finally break out of the octagonal cage and gain a larger living space. Tian Xingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement. It can be said that the movie “In the Octagonal Cage” inherently demonstrates the traditional Chinese spirit.
“Enthusiasm”: The Chinese spirit and Chinese youth go to each other
“Enthusiasm” is a film jointly planned by the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the Hangzhou Asian Organizing Committee, with the Hangzhou Asian Games as the background and the newly added competition event breakdance as the theme of creation. Although street dance is a foreign dance, it has become popular all over the country in recent years. The Chinese street dance troupe “Exclamation Point” in “Enthusiasm” adds elements of Chinese classical dance, opera, martial arts, acrobatics, and folk music to the original technical movements of street dance. These elements that can show the elegance or unique style of traditional Chinese art form an interesting contrast and collision with modern hip-hop dance. The visual experience is an important reason for good-looking and “burning”. Taking the screen as an opportunity, this kind of integration breaks the boundaries between tradition and modernity and promotes the exchange and innovation of Chinese and foreign cultures. In the film, whether it is the young grassroots dancer played by Wang Yibo or the head of the dance troupe played by Huang Bo, they are all oriental men with traditional Chinese growth backgrounds. The former’s simplicity, diligence, persistence, concentration, and gratitude to the master, and the latter’s kindness, patience, sense of responsibility, and emphasis on teamwork, these traditional Chinese virtues made their cooperation successful in the end. In addition, what makes the audience feel particularly empathetic is the selfless support and help given to the cause they love by their respective families in the film. The unique unity and spirit of Chinese families endow the protagonists with inner strength and help them realize their dreams. “Culture is related to the foundation…