Poster of the TV series "Pearl River People".
Recently, the TV series "Pearl River People" with the background of Guangdong's modern revolution was broadcast on CCTV, and the drama featured traditional Chinese medicine, Cantonese cuisine, and Cantonese opera, which are visible Lingnan cultural symbols, which are enough to arouse the infinite imagination of most audiences in this hot land in the south. Whether it is history or culture, it comes from the daily elegance and vicissitudes of the people, and hides the texture of the world's affairs and human feelings, thus becoming the bricks and tiles for the construction of national cultural history.
Historical details construct the "Cantonese-style Qingming Riverside Map".
"Pearl River People" kicked off with the tragic murder of "the tragic murder of the Chen family, an underground party member of the Communist Party of China", after the three Chen brothers lost their parents and fell into disaster, they were rescued by the pharmacy, the vegetable boat, and the opera troupe, which corresponds to the Lingnan cultural symbols such as traditional Chinese medicine, Cantonese cuisine, and Cantonese opera. The dramatic coincidences made the three brothers and sisters follow different growth trajectories, survive while learning art, seek revenge on their relatives, and finally reunite to complete the great cause of the times of resisting the ** country, showing the rich and diverse cultural forms and styles of the Lingnan region, and presenting the audience with a "Cantonese-style" Qingming Riverside Map.
The formation of Lingnan culture is due to the fact that the local culture of Nanyue absorbs the essence of the Central Plains culture, and integrates the open and inclusive maritime culture, which is agitated and penetrated with each other in the Ming and Qing dynasties, making it different from the southern culture in a general and broad sense, and has its own style. In modern times, Lingnan culture has become the engine of political and cultural change in China. From the Taiping Rebellion to the Wuxu Reform, from the center of the democratic revolutionary movement to the establishment of the first Soviet power, we can get a glimpse of the significance of Lingnan culture to the course of China's modern revolution. During this period, a large number of industrialists, revolutionaries and cultural celebrities appeared in the Lingnan area, all of which influenced the current situation of modern China, and it was a veritable source of modern revolution.
The TV series "Pearl River People" tells the story of Lingnan in the flood tide of the times from 1927 to 1950. This drama was originally named "Lush", which reflects the most intuitive and strong visual impact that Lingnan gives to visitors from the north in the process of going south - the cold winter in the north, but the land of Lingnan is still lush. In the film, the complex entanglement between the times and the characters unfolds in the daily life of Lingnan, from the food and scenery to the market style, from the political, economic, geographical, humanistic festivals, to the people's clothing and food.
The everyday scenery in the play does not only exist as a detail of local historical life, but is more often a key element in the construction of the situation. In this way, the individual establishes an organic connection with the scene of daily life. Tea food, catering, clothing, customs, entertainment, festivals and other ways to build a situation in which the best things can pass freely, so that the reasonable and reasonable historical situation can be reshaped. The true Lingnan culture should not be looked back in reminiscence, but rebuilt in searching. The main creative team of "Pearl River People" is mainly from the north, and it is through the eyes of outsiders that the past of Lingnan culture in the old days is constructed in the film, and it also reflects the present of Lingnan culture along the way, and it also indicates the future of rising Lingnan culture.
Artistic creation is essentially a science, which lies in the exploration of the soul, the evidence, empirical evidence, restoration, and questioning of life, and then creates characters and plots that give the audience rich and full feelings. Such details can be seen everywhere in the play: Chen Wei and food critic Tam Yaoheng have a series of entanglements over the dish "stir-fried beef with kale", and the cooking process of "stir-fried beef with kale" itself is full of details and evidence. The prototype of Guangzhou Restaurant is that in 1938, the Japanese Nakazawa personally opened the Guangzhou Garden Restaurant. In 1942, the restaurant was transferred to others due to poor management, and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it was publicly auctioned as an enemy asset. In the play, such as Xu Nanlu, the owner of the pharmacy, Tan Yaoheng, the food critic, Xian Zhongjun, the restaurant owner, and even the negative characters Kuang Qingkui and Liao Siliu, etc., can find the prototype in the historical materials. For example, the story of Zhan Yintai, the elder brother of the opera troupe, is derived from the true records of history. The image of Ruan Feizhou originates from the cultural spy Kusada Jiusuke during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The world of artistic reproduction is not a piling up of knowledge, materials and techniques, but a deep understanding of the author's intentions, the reasonableness of the details, and the stirring of the soul. At this level, "Pearl River People" is extremely solid and attentive from the script level.
The humanistic connotation is superimposed in the plot of the characters
Perhaps with the participation of a large number of Cantonese opera performers, including the participation of famous artists such as Ou Kaiming, the winner of "Erdu Mei", the line of "Little Sister Lixia's Fate and Cantonese Opera Troupe" in "Pearl River People" is the most sincere and impressive. There are many Cantonese opera "plays within plays" in the play, and the Cantonese opera "The Drunken Concubine", "The Legend of the White Snake", "Pinggui Farewell Kiln" and so on are all classic works, especially the several appearances of the Cantonese opera "Baolian Lantern" are of great significance. Through the ingenious implantation of the "play within a play" scene, the humanistic connotation of the traditional repertoire is superimposed on the plot of the characters, which is particularly appropriate and heavy.
The depiction of what the opera troupe has seen and heard in "Pearl River People" has created characters such as Zhang Taiping, Jin Huirong, Chen Yebing, and Chen Lixia, all of whom have their own different understandings and choices about life, ideals, the current situation, and love. In the old accident news, it is not only the deceased people or things that are reorganized, but also a kind of historical texture. For example, Chen Lixia ** Chen Yebing is a very interesting character, and the rules she follows are undoubtedly the measure for women in the troupe to maintain dignity and decency, the proportion of her efforts to distinguish herself from ordinary frivolous artists, and her human strength and toughness. In the play, after Uncle Cai took refuge in the Japanese, she asked Zhang Taiping: "If it were you, would you betray?" Zhang replied with a sentence: "Life is a hero, and death is also a ghost." Chen Yebing strongly agreed, and also resolutely stated that he would not betray the country and the nation. And the most exciting role of Zhang Taiping is the scene where he cries farewell to the stage. The Japanese were preparing to bombard the city, and when the troupe was evacuated, Zhang Taiping was reluctant on stage, looking at Chen Yebing in the audience, he sang "Pinggui Farewell Kiln", and tears flowed down his face after singing. Ou Kaiming is passionate about art, and accurately and profoundly shapes the spiritual beliefs of Zhang Taiping, a patriotic artist.
As far as the whole drama is concerned, Kim Hye Young is undoubtedly a positive character that impresses me. On one side of him is the opera troupe Hua Dan who sings the lingering sentence "Good days and beautiful scenery" on the stage, and on the other side is an underground party member who was born and died in the audience and his fate hung by a thread. Jin Huirong's dedication and responsibility can be glimpsed from when he was a child. At that time, he disguised himself as ** and became the goddaughter of the head of the Kuomintang garrison in Guangzhou. It was his endurance and humiliation that saved the entire troupe, and his choice stemmed from the fact that he wanted to take the senior brother as an example and was determined to be a person who dedicated himself to his ideals like the senior brother. Later, with the identity of the head of the regiment and the goddaughter, he provided a lot of convenience for the underground work. In the face of a ruthless Kuomintang like Kuang Qingkui, he was not afraid at all, and he had firm beliefs from beginning to end, deducing the depth and perseverance of communists. It is true that Jin Huirong is worthy of communist ideals, but he is ashamed of Chen Lixia. The two depend on each other for their lives, and they are both willing to sacrifice for each other. Even if every time they meet briefly, Chen Lixia fully understands and supports him, and just hopes that he can protect himself. After Jin Huirong's sacrifice, the arc light of his character was reflected on Chen Lixia. She was not crushed by grief, but strengthened her faith, sang and promoted anti-Japanese opera, and vowed to awaken people's patriotism in the form of art. This is Lixia's commitment to Jin Huirong and love, and it is also Lixia's oath to the country and the nation. Cantonese opera, the humanistic connotation of Lingnan traditional art, through the detailed portrayal of the characters and the accurate transmission of the plot, is skillfully superimposed on the theme expression of "The Pearl River Family", which has achieved the most brilliant passage of the play.
The author, Luo Li, is the vice president of the Guangzhou Institute of Literary and Art Creation, a first-class screenwriter, and a director of the China Literature and Art Critics Association