Recently, the phenomenon-level explosive drama “The Sea in the Dream”, which has caused heated discussions on various platforms, has come to a successful conclusion.
As a period drama premiered on CCTV, followed by Dragon TV, Beijing Satellite TV, and broadcast online by Tencent Video, “The Sea in Dream” not only broke 2 in the first round of ratings, but also the first and only one of Tencent Video in 2023 The popularity of the series exceeded 30,000 and entered the “Burst Club”, and the WeChat index of many characters headed by Xiao Chunsheng exceeded 100 million. The role of Xiao Chunsheng played by Xiao Zhan has dominated the character lists of Weibo, V List, Maoyan, Tencent and other major lists for many consecutive days.
At the same time, the play is also the first period drama work of this year that “Taiwan, Internet, and word-of-mouth have exploded”. A “new way” to open up the drama of the era.
Light up destiny, focus on choice, never forget your original intention and work hard
“The Sea in the Dream” is set in the late 1970s, and tells the story of Xiao Chunsheng and other young people who came out of Shichahai. The story of the trendy boy in the tide of the times. Different from the heavy tone endowed by history in previous era dramas, “The Sea in the Dream” takes a different approach, choosing to use a younger perspective and relatively bright brushstrokes to spread out the lives of such a group of people in a panoramic and fast-paced manner. Encounters, depicting their youth scrolls.
When the play describes the intricate fate of these individuals in the face of the tide of the times, it does not simply portray the suffering and heaviness of fate. Instead, it focuses more on the “active choice” made by the individual at the moment, allowing the audience to see the fate of the individual. Under the impetus, completely different results were presented due to the “active choice” in the self-conscious state, and thus let the audience once again experience the difficulty and value of “not forgetting the original intention”.
This sober and positive cognition, accompanied by the choice and growth of the characters throughout, and by highlighting the individual’s inspiration and hard work in the changing times, injects a positive energy core into the whole play.
Across the context of the times, refining the commonality of youth
How can a period drama not only empathize with parents of the same age as the characters in the play, but also resonate with young people in today’s era?
Although the character was born in the 1950s, the sincere heart of chasing dreams and the vigorous vigor of youth are shining in the young people of every era. Although these characters are placed in the context of a specific era, because the characters “advance with the times” and conform to the logical system and aesthetic orientation of contemporary audiences, they have achieved the emotional identity of today’s young people. Although it is a period drama, “The Sea in the Dream” is not limited to the family narrative that is common in “Beijing-flavored” period dramas, but instead moves towards a broader family and country narrative. What is provided for young audiences is not only an opportunity to “watch” to perceive the changes of the times and experience the fate of their parents, but also truly connect and touch the emotions of contemporary young people. There are many golden sentences in the play, and the most frequently quoted one is that the character Qian Amao in the play said when persuading the protagonist Xiao Chunsheng when he faced injustice: “The moon is not wrong, it is the people who can’t tolerate him shining.”
The idealism of an ordinary man
As the core character who bears the theme of the whole play, the successful shaping of the image of the hero Xiao Chunsheng has laid the cornerstone of the success of “The Sea in the Dream”.
Carrying the spirit engraved in his bones from his father’s generation – “serve the motherland”, Xiao Chunsheng’s life has experienced many ups and downs, and encountered various “injustices”, dangers and betrayals. Optimistic and cheerful, facing the test of life and death, he is a character full of idealism and heroism. Even though the world is changing rapidly, he never admits defeat, never changes his original intention, grows and transforms all the way, and finally turns around, reaping a life full of love, family, and career.
As the actor of Xiao Chunsheng, the main storyline in the play, the young actor Xiao Zhan is also the first to challenge such a role with a long-term plot. He played from the young Xiao Chunsheng to the middle-aged Xiao Chunsheng who has a successful career. The sense of age is not only based on makeup and hair, but also on the actor himself to control the direction of facial muscles and the changes in gestures. Adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged people have different demeanors. The young Xiao Chunsheng’s eyes are full of clarity, simplicity, and brilliance that cannot be concealed. His eyes are shining; after experiencing the torture of life and achieving success in life, his eyes have become obviously calm and confident. , The imposing manner is introverted—that is the eyes that have been baptized by the years and are used to the vicissitudes of life.
When his enlisted sister sent her to the station, Xiao Chun was full of business, with a straight and upright figure, and his eyes were full of longing for the future; when his retired sister picked him up, he was sitting in a wheelchair with a stooped figure, dodging eyes, and completely lost his energy. And from getting on the train to returning home, in a series of intensive crying scenes, there are layers of overlapping and rich meanings.
Dreams are hometowns, the origin of ideals, and nostalgia
Regarding “The Sea in the Dream”, Xiao Zhan has his own understanding. He said that Xiao Chunsheng’s dream is Beijing, which is a kind of nostalgia in his bones. The reason why this drama resonates with so many people is that no matter how far Xiao Chunsheng goes, the ideal he pursues is bestowed by his father and his hometown of Beijing. “The Sea in the Dream” is a dream of vision and hope for the future. Maybe everyone will go to different places for their dreams, maybe part ways, maybe someday in the future we can meet again. But looking back, there will be new feelings at the place where this dream started. This is a completely different presentation of “Beijing flavor”, and it is also a new interpretation of a period drama.
Just as Xiao Chunsheng said in the play: “Life is not only this piece of Shichahai, there is a wider world waiting for us outside!” For the actor Xiao Zhan: “As long as a person knows where he is going, the whole world will give him concessions.” “The premiere of “The Sea in the Dream” on CCTV has just ended, but this youthful and passionate dream has not been completed yet.
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责编：张晓荣 ]