The reality-themed drama “The Wind Blows Pinellia” restores the style of the 1990s and shapes the group image of the era to reproduce the entrepreneurial struggle
The reality-themed drama “The Wind Blows Pinellia” is currently being broadcast on the platform and satellite TV. This group portrait drama tells the story of small and medium-sized business owners struggling in the steel industry in the 1990s. It shows how entrepreneurs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions struggled to survive. With a broad vision of the times, the play provides today’s audience with a thought-provoking youth look back, allowing those exciting entrepreneurial stories in the wave of the times to spread through the screen again.
The spiritual core triggers audience empathy
“Wind Blowing Pinellia” is adapted from the novel “Unable to Die” by the famous realistic author Anai. Anai’s previously adapted works also include “Dajiang Dahe” and “Everything is Good”. Almost every one is a boutique with realistic themes masterpiece. Dai Ying, senior vice president of iQIYI and chief producer of the show, said that the content of the original novel was written based on the author’s own working background and work experience. iQiyi quickly finalized the adaptation of the novel.
Dai Ying believes that “Wind Blowing Pinellia” shows the survival of various groups in the steel industry, such as state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, and private enterprises, through Xu Banxia’s perspective. “How do they embrace opportunities and embrace changes? The painful struggle and striving to make progress are all described very thoroughly.” In her opinion, in order to produce high-quality reality dramas, they must have a deep core of value, and this drama has exactly this characteristic. “The spiritual core it embodies will not be obliterated with the changes of the times. It can truly arouse the empathy of the current audience, so I made up my mind to make it and do it well.”
Director Fu Dongyu revealed that the reason why he decided to challenge Anai’s novel is also his inner desire to tell the style of the 1990s. “The age of Xu Banxia told in the story is mainly the six years from 1996 to 2002. In fact, it is also the period of our own youth and struggle. We, like Xu Banxia, are working together and struggling in our respective fields.”
Shaping the image of entrepreneurs struggling in the era
From the point of view of the characters alone, “The Wind Blows Pinellia” portrays Xu Banxia, a woman who works hard in the steel industry and dares to think and do. With great ambitions, in the tide of reform and opening up, actively explore and innovate continuously. The portraits of the characters shown in the story also show the reality of small and medium-sized enterprises surviving and seeking development in the tide of the times in the 1990s.
“The group portrait drama with entrepreneurship as the main line is our initial positioning. It should show that era through group portraits, not just the history of a woman’s fortune and struggle.” Fu Dongyu said that based on this understanding, the talent in the play Created various characters with distinctive personalities. The “Steel Triangle” Tong Xiaoqi and Chen Yuyu who worked hard together with Xu Banxia in the play, although they had nothing at the beginning, they are witty, flexible and dare to practice. breakthrough. At the same time, there are entrepreneurs of the older generation represented by Wu Jianshe, Feng Yu, Qiu Bizheng, etc. They are not only explorers who seize opportunities and realize their dreams, but also witnesses of the great changes of the times.
The play also describes in detail the deep friendship between the “Steel Triangle”. Among this group of young entrepreneurs, there is a sense of inspiration that makes people excited. They embody a new era’s concept of winning and losing, that is, the “win-win” values with the team as the core and altruistic spirit.
Fu Huadao strictly restores the memory of the age
In domestic film and television dramas, restoring the atmosphere of the past not only depends on the persuasive way full of details, but also requires the creators to accurately grasp the atmosphere of the times. “The Wind Blows Pinellia” took the 1990s as the time node, and made a lot of efforts to restore the images of the era, and because the play involves the steel industry, it also needs to have professional qualities in addition to the conventional sense of the times.
Director Mao Wei said that the story told in the play is “not far, not close”, it can neither be fabricated out of thin air, but also must conform to the common memory of most people. status, this is more difficult.” Fu Dongyu also revealed that all the directors and responsible crews of the play had done a lot of homework before the filming started, “Sorting out these contexts from the policy changes and structural changes of China’s steel industry, the production capacity of steel , GDP production capacity, the number of workers in the iron and steel industry, salaries, and regional differences involved, all need to be supported by data. Even when we were looking for a scene, we communicated with the local iron and steel men in Ningbo Iron and Steel, and included these in the play .”
In terms of clothing alone, Zhao Liying, the actor of Xu Banxia in the play, prepared more than 300 sets of costumes, and finally presented more than 120 sets in the play. Every piece of Zhao Liying’s clothes is a product of the corresponding historical period in the play. The 1991 story corresponds to the clothes in 1991. These clothes are bought from many collectors. The popular music and film and television drama works that appear in the plot have also made strict correspondence. (Reporter Li Xiazhi)