“Love Full of Nine Bends” tries to understand the times from the stories of young people’s emotions and struggles. The picture shows the poster of the play.
■Reporter Wang Yan
Which is the better solution to life, the university entrance exam or going out for a living? Today’s young people will use their own knowledge to prove that the era of striving can accommodate different options. But what if time goes back 40 years? There are not many books of answers for the struggle path of that generation. Historical imprints, social changes, development of the times, and even human society may all be variables. “Love Full of Nine Bends”, which is currently being broadcast on CCTV and Youku, tries to understand the era from the stories of young people’s emotions and struggles.
The play is directed by Liu Jiacheng and written by Wang Zhili. The names of these two main creators are juxtaposed, and the first reaction of audiences who are familiar with domestic dramas is that “the Beijing-style drama is new again.” The story of the new drama is indeed based on the Jiudaowan Hutong in Dongcheng District, Beijing, but this time, the creators known as the “standard bearer of Beijing-style children’s drama” have kept more of the Beijing accent and Beijing charm at the same time: Starting from the hutongs of old Beijing, it outlines the stories of a group of young people who have experienced ups and downs in life, emotional ups and downs, and career ups and downs during the 40 years of reform and opening up, and examines the ruts of the times in their simple life rhymes.
If the audience who have experienced those years can see the scene spanning 40 years from the play, relive the childhood aroma in the popcorn machine, and feel that the experience of the people in the play was also “the world is different from me”; then “Love is full of nine bends” “The smooth dialogue with today’s young audiences is due to the wind of the times behind the individual stories, which contains the revelation of life that is surging with the times. Just like Liu Jiacheng said: “The flavor of Beijing that I love is actually the smell of fireworks, the taste of people’s lives. Countless ordinary families support our country. I photograph thousands of families struggling to create a better life because of the country’s progress and Strength is reflected in these happiness.”
A group of imperfect little people add to the “popularity” of real life
The protagonist of the story, Yang Shumao, is a well-rounded young man with positive energy. From a young man in a hutong who missed the college entrance examination, he has grown into a generation of entrepreneurs after experience in shopping malls. “Love in Nine Bends” also reflects a current trend of creation: from the protagonist to the supporting role, there is almost no “perfect person”, at least there is no perfect person set that the audience “unanimously likes”.
Yang Shumao, an educated youth returning to the city, is the “youngest” in his family, nicknamed “Silly Mao”. For example, he is passionate and righteous, but he has caused troubles a lot since he was a child. Every time he “sees an injustice”, he has to involve his parents, brothers and sisters in apologizing and paying compensation. Beside the male protagonist, three girls, Ye Fei, Shi Xiaona, and Zhao Yajing, represent different social groups and personality types. Because they had emotional intersections with the male protagonist, their views on love and values have become the objects of evaluation by the audience today. Ye Fei, who was born in a scholarly family, has a calm personality, but she did not talk about her devious probing of “rivals” in the early stage and misunderstandings after giving birth. Given Yang Shumao’s business opportunities, the girl’s inclination between love and family interests has made netizens quite critical. Zhao Yajing leads the way for the male protagonist and stands side by side with him in the mall. The girl’s straightforward personality is very attractive, but her obsession with “single arrow” love and the concept that everything can be clearly marked with benefits lead to different audiences. view. The most surprising role is the mother of the Yang family. The artist Sarina made her debut, changing the generous and kind-hearted Chinese mother image in her previous works. She not only performed the family love of “parents love their children, but they have far-reaching plans for it”, and also showed the character’s limited vision and calculating market side. vividly. In addition to Xie Zhiqiang, Jia Xiaoying, Uncle Xu and other characters, each of the characters in the play has its own cuteness and lamentability.
At first glance, the imperfect little people get together, and they are not “full of love” at all. But no one is perfect, and mixed tastes are the truth of life in the world. More importantly, it is humanity that shines through after all that can help these ordinary people overcome hardships and overcome hardships. When Yang Shumao and Xie Laozhuan faced a huge crisis in their project, Uncle Xu made a move, relying on the right way in the world. When the lives of the older brothers and sisters in the family were in trouble in the tide of the market economy, “Sha Mao” offered a helping hand. The biggest force driving him must be family affection. It is precisely because of these ordinary characters who are as ordinary as you, me, and yearning for the truth, goodness and beauty as you, me, and him confront fate in the alley, adding to the “popularity” of real life, the audience in front of the screen can empathize with them and miss their own bumps and bumps. years. Just like the pun in the title of “Love Full of Nine Roads”, “Jiudaowan” is a real old alley in the east city of Beijing, and “Nine Roads Bend” is the ups and downs of life in the past 40 years, the goings and goings of love, and career ups and downs.
“Beijing-flavored culture” can often be photographed and updated, in the final analysis, it comes from the real power
During the interview, Liu Jiacheng’s complex with “Beijing flavor culture” runs through. In fact, before “Love in Nine Bends”, his works reflecting the life of Beijingers such as “Under the Zhengyang Gate”, “Love in a Courtyard” and “Sesame Hutong” all broke through time and geographical barriers and won the audience’s recognition. As a native of Beijing, Liu Jiacheng said that Beijing taste is actually the taste of people’s life.
Filming the real events and true emotions that happened to me and the people around me is the creative principle of this “Beijing-style children’s drama standard bearer”. However, “Beijing-flavored culture” can often be filmed and updated, and even regional schools such as Shanghai style, Northeast style, and Cantonese style can “retain” through time and space. In the final analysis, it still comes from real power.
Liu Jiacheng said: “As a period drama dedicated to the common people, the big frame must be solid, and the details must not be vague, otherwise the reality of life will be lost.” Carts, bamboo carts for pushing children, window-type air conditioners, honeycomb briquettes to steamed buns baked on coal stoves, etc., the creators tried their best to present; comparing with the style of the Hutong at that time, the crew built a real-scene building of nearly 20,000 square meters; It is also real. Bi Yanjun and Sarina, who played the roles of Yang’s parents, also brought extra touches to the crew. They brought grasshoppers, birdcages, and old Beijing recipes into the crew with them. Old objects full of a strong sense of time and the emotional state of the two artists’ characters The delicate grasp complements each other, and the love and punishment of a pair of traditional parents come alive on the screen.
Of course, in addition to the authenticity of “hardware”, the credibility of “software” will also affect people’s perceptions. There is a plot in the original script, Yang Shumao’s business failed, and when he was at his worst, his brother and sister pooled 50,000 yuan for him. Later, at the suggestion of the actor, the matter was changed to the mother. “When her son’s life was at its lowest point, she couldn’t speak well, but she could directly take out an old newspaper bag, which contained tens of thousands of dollars neatly folded.” In her heart, she is nothing but a mother who backs her children with a generous chest.
The further truth still cares about family and country. In Liu Jiacheng’s series of works, the reason why the foolish road in “Love in a Courtyard” is getting wider and wider, the reason why Xu Huizhen’s small shop in “The Little Woman under the Zhengyang Gate” is so vivid, and the reason why the life of Yang’s family in “Love in Nine Bends” There is more and more momentum, all because good days are smoked from fireworks. The creator said: “Countless ordinary families support our country. I photograph the happiness of thousands of families because the progress and strength of the country are reflected in these happiness.”
The eternal charm of realistic themes is hidden in every page of the development of the times
In the opening scene of “Love in Nine Roads”, the broadcast of the loudspeaker at the entrance of the village brought people’s thoughts back to the beginning of 1979: the educated youth returned to the city, and the reform and opening up began. Young people in Beijing, represented by Yang Shumao and others, are about to return to the hutongs, take the college entrance examination, enter the factory for “iron jobs”, and go to the south to do business. Different roads are laid out in front of the young people. After 20 episodes, the situation has changed, and the era has entered the days after the “Southern Tour Speech”, and more profound changes and more in-depth modernization have set sail.
Zhang Guotao, a researcher at the Communication University of China, extracted the common factor of “era” from a batch of excellent works on realistic themes in recent years, that is, “to highlight the big era with small characters, and let the light of the era shine into the lives of ordinary people.” Take the reality-themed dramas that landed on Youku platform as an example. In last year’s hit drama “Happiness to Thousands of Families”, “Dare Sister” He Xingfu pursues hard work to get rich, fairness and justice, and leads the whole village to a happy life; “Please Call Me Director” “In “, the secretary Ning Meng is tough and independent. She has grown from a small role to an independent investor, which is impressive; They can stir up the resonance of the same frequency inside and outside the play; there are also works such as “Wind and Rain Sending Spring Back”, “Bing Yu Huo” and “Outside the Court”, which reflect the protection of fairness and justice on the public security front. All these realistic dramas can resonate and inspire people. , because in the simple life and world changes reflected in the play, the height of the times is dazzlingly visible. 2023 will usher in the 45th anniversary of reform and opening up. Many realistic dramas such as “The Back Wave” focusing on the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine and the new work “Dragon Boy” directed by Ding Hei will also be launched successively. At the same time, the latest chapter of the “Love Man” series, “Love Man Guijie”, co-created by Liu Jiacheng and Youku, has also entered the preparatory period.
For a long time, “the storyteller of the times” has been the reputation bestowed on Chinese TV dramas by the audience, and the development and changes of society are the important wealth of film and television creation. In the great era, the eternal charm of realistic themes is hidden in every page of the development of the times.
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责编：杨帆 ]