The family comedy “Grandma’s New World” hits Yan Ni to break the rules and portray the elderly “big heroine”
“Grandma’s New World” stills.
The theme of “big heroine” is common in domestic dramas, but when the heroine is an old man over 60 years old, such a “big heroine” has a different meaning of social care. The family comedy “Grandma’s New World“, which is being broadcast on iQiyi, is trying to break through the limitations of the subject matter and show the possibility of another female role.
Unconventional grandma image
“Grandma’s New World” tells the story of a grandmother (played by Yan Ni) who has been silent all her life, who suddenly left without saying goodbye, disappeared from home, and wandered around the city. In the process of the family looking for the whereabouts of their grandmother, people unexpectedly discovered that after leaving home, the grandmother became no longer silent. The life of good and evil, while changing oneself, also changed many people.
Screenwriter Li Qiang has previously created the elderly-themed movie “Aunt’s Post-Modern Life”. This time, he created a slightly fantasy story with elderly women as the protagonist. Complete your own story. The grandma Sun Yuping in the story is a brand-new character who never accepts the old, seeks innovation and changes, and goes forward bravely. The characters in the play are almost all female. Through the grandmother’s travels, women of all ages and social situations are shown. The “their” Stories are also told.
This time Yan Ni took out a performance that subverted her image. She broke through her previous image and played two roles in the play, playing a pair of twin old ladies. The grandmother is ordinary, kind but submissive, with an old-fashioned appearance, and would sacrifice everything for her daughter; the aunt is proficient in Chinese medicine, has an independent spiritual life and a strong inner life, and has never been married all her life. Yan Ni accurately grasped the contrast between the two characters, and also demonstrated two female outlooks on life through the comparison between her aunt and grandmother. The grandmother’s departure provided a huge reversal for this solidified character, and the direction of the whole character became unconventional and unpredictable. This “high-end sense” provides a unique and interesting experience of watching dramas, and also raises the upper limit of expression of domestic online dramas in one fell swoop.
Fusion of road movie and suspense elements
As a realistic drama, “Grandma’s New World” not only innovated in themes, but also innovated in the way of expression and shooting techniques. Li Qiang adopts the flashback writing method, and also incorporates the techniques of road movies and suspense dramas, with “looking for grandma” as the main line, and the whereabouts of grandma string together stories of “passers-by”, and also glimpses into different female issues.
The aunt investigates the truth about the grandmother leaving home based on the clues after the grandmother ran away. The story is full of magical realism. The aunt and granddaughter Dou Qi who are looking for grandma have two completely different outlooks on life. They are like Sherlock Holmes and Watson, peeling cocoons in various details. Why did grandma leave home? Why not return? Can you find grandma? Why did grandma change so much? Accompanied by the unfolding of each story, these questions gradually filled the dramatic tension of the whole play, and became the “hook” of the story, always pulling the audience’s heartstrings.
The female group portraits in the play inspire the audience
When the story progresses gradually in “Looking for Grandma”, all kinds of female images begin to appear in the grandma’s travels. The intrusion of the grandma is like an accident, but her kindness and optimism have illuminated many gloomy lives. The story tries to express It is also a more realistic group portrait of women.
The story advances according to 12 units, and each unit adopts a different genre style. There are many impressive female characters in the play, such as the wanted female Liao Xiangmei in “Your Eyes”, the disabled female shopkeeper Zhu Meihong in “Having Cat Disease”, and the elderly woman in “When Flowers Are Plastic”. The anchor Tian Shufang, the factory flower Haiyan who ruined her life due to emotional entanglements in “The Name of the Rose”, etc. Behind these distinctive female images are all social issues worthy of reflection, and this way of introducing topics is not blunt. Different types of changes and mixes provide a new look for the expression of realistic dramas.
Judging from the theme of the series, this series once named “The Elopement Grandma” coincides with the story of Su Min, a runaway housewife who was popular all over the country. Grandma Sun Yuping resolutely decided to “run away from home” in her later years to find her own life value. Her bravery and kindness are similar to Su Min’s. On the adventurous journey, grandma kept breaking herself to discover new worlds. This kind of self-awakening female story not only promoted the transformation of the three views of the aunt and granddaughter Dou Qi in the play, but also inspired the audience in front of the screen. This is the narrative model that women’s dramas should really break through. It has never been a pile of topics and characters, but a genuine concern for women’s living conditions, and walks into the real life of women’s groups to discover and solve problems. The grandmother’s perspective is not only the viewer’s perspective, but also represents a problem-solving method of outside intervention. The grandmother’s demonstration provides the audience with the possibility of mirroring reality. (Reporter Li Xiazhi)