At the beginning of 1999, CCTV launched "Yongzheng Dynasty", which quickly set off a ratings frenzy, once hitting 167% ratings record.
Even more than 20 years have passed, this drama is still the pinnacle of palace conspiracy dramas, with a Douban score of 93. Others can only look at it.
The twists and turns of the plot are fascinating, and the behind-the-scenes story is also a hundred turns and thousands of turns, which is extraordinary.
Today we're going to talk about its twists and turns behind the scenes.
In 1994, after producer Liu Wenwu bought the copyright of "Yongzheng Dynasty" for 150,000 yuan, he began to look for screenwriters and directors.
Liu Wenwu is a big man in the publishing industry, he has been financially free in his 30s, this is his first cross-border film and television industry, and he is ambitious to find many big directors, including Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
Liu Wenwu. But after some contact, I found that these big directors have their own ideas, and they are not willing to make films according to his will at all, and they can't talk about it.
Then I found an assistant director of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and after in-depth understanding, I found that this director's methods were old, and it was difficult to achieve the effect of innovation, so I had to give up.
In the end, it was decided to let Zhang Li direct, that is, the big man who later filmed "Towards the Republic", "Ming Dynasty 1566", and "The Right Way in the World is the Vicissitudes of Life". But at that time, Zhang Li was filming other scenes, and he couldn't leave at all.
When I was most anxious, a friend recommended director Hu Mei.
When he saw Hu Mei for the first time, Liu Wenwu was not satisfied, because Hu Mei was only in her 30s at that time, too young, and had never filmed a historical drama, and was still a female director.
However, Hu Mei was full of confidence, did a lot of homework, said that "only I can shoot", and also said, "Even if I don't shoot, don't find other bad directors, so as not to ruin the classics".
Perhaps it was Hu Mei's "arrogance" and sincerity that moved Liu Wenwu, and she was finally determined to be the chief director.
Hu Mei's talent was also fully displayed, and later she successively filmed dramas such as "The Emperor of Han Wu" and "Qiao's Courtyard".
After talking about the director, let's talk about the screenwriter.
After getting the copyright, Liu Wenwu found several well-known writers to write screenplays, but half a year has passed, and the content is not satisfactory, either too serious or too mythical.
Liu Wenwu was very demanding, and he didn't want to be perfunctory, so he found the opera screenwriter Liu Heping. The two had similar interests and quickly decided to cooperate.
Liu Heping locked himself in his hometown in Hunan and spent half a year writing more than 20 episodes. After reading the first draft, Liu Wenwu was generally satisfied, and the plot and dialogue were very feeling. However, "Yongzheng Dynasty" is a top-level conspiracy drama, and the prince needs a higher pattern and vision, and the first draft is obviously lacking.
After some discussion, the two simply scrapped the first draft and went to Beijing to set up a luxury advisory group to re-examine the script episode by episode, and deduct the details word by word.
This advisory group included Wen Xuande, Hong Shoushen, Qin Guangrong, Zhong Xingxiang, and even a relative of the emperor, Aixin Jueluo Yuheng, Prince Gong was his great-grandfather.
Later, after Zhang Li's work in other crews ended, he also joined this advisory group as the artistic director.
In this way, it took nearly 2 years for the script to be polished. I have to say that it is this attitude of excellence that has created an eternal classic.
After getting the script and director, the crew began to select the actors.
Yongzheng, as the male number one, has almost run through his life, so the casting is very cautious.
At first, I wanted to find Wang Xueqi, but I felt that his military atmosphere was too heavy, so I replaced it with Zhang Fengyi, and Tang Guoqiang played the role of "Eighth Prince".
Unexpectedly, after Tang Guoqiang got the script, he was not very interested in the eighth master, but he had a soft spot for Emperor Yongzheng, and recommended himself many times, but it was unsuccessful.
Tang Guoqiang did not give up, secretly read a lot of Yongzheng's historical materials, did a lot of homework, and even kept copying his calligraphy to find a feeling.
Seeing that Tang Guoqiang was determined to play Yongzheng, the director team had no choice but to let Hu Mei talk about it again one last time, and if it didn't work, he would leave.
After eating this meal for almost 4 hours, Tang Guoqiang expounded his understanding of Yongzheng from all aspects, that is, loneliness, which was not understood from beginning to end.
Although it is true, the producer still insists on not changing the role, and just when Tang Guoqiang was helpless, things suddenly took a turn for the better.
On the morning of the official start of filming, Zhang Fengyi suddenly called Hu Mei ** and wanted to shoot "Jing Ke Assassinating King Qin" for Chen Kaige, because the original starring Jiang Wen suddenly quit.
At this time, Tang Guoqiang saw the opportunity and asked for help again. The crew had no choice but to let him try, but as soon as he put on the costume, everyone was stunned, and his temperament and demeanor were completely in line with the image.
So far, Tang Guoqiang has another classic screen image after "Zhuge Liang", but Zhang Fengyi on the other side has not made any splash.
He later said that at that time, one was a TV series and the other was an international movie, and he chose the latter without thinking about it.
After the "Eighth Master" vacancy, Tang Guoqiang took the opportunity to recommend his friend Wang Huichun.
Wang Huichun is a drama actor with profound acting skills, and he vividly portrays the treacherous loyalty of the eighth master, so he became famous in the first battle and became a famous "professional household of the prince".
There are two more characters that have to be said.
One is Emperor Kangxi, the old man of Jiao Huang, recommended by Zhang Li.
Jiao Huang didn't agree at first, because he didn't like to play the Qing palace drama with a bare forehead. Just as he was going back to Shanghai, Liu Wenwu drove him to the airport, and in the car, he stuffed the script to the old man. A week later, Jiao Huang took the initiative to ask to participate, because the script was so exciting.
The other is Nian Qianyao, played by Du Chun's father, Du Zhiguo.
Du Zhiguo was reluctant at first, because there were not many scenes, but the filming cycle was very long, and he didn't want to spend all his time on this drama.
Later, Luo Hao of the producer told him, "If you don't finish acting, every year in the Chinese New Year's Eve, you will beat ** and scold me", Du Zhiguo made up his mind to participate, and it was completely popular.
In addition, there is also the chivalrous "Thirteenth Master" Wang Hui, who was originally scheduled to play the "Fourteenth Master", but later moved to the old thirteen, which has also become a rare classic.
I have to say, these castings are quite subtle. Especially Tang Guoqiang's Yongzheng, the fusion of deceit and righteousness is seamless, Zhang Fengyi is too upright, and he may not be able to achieve this effect.
There is also Jiao Huang's Kangxi, who is full of majesty and very down-to-earth, showing a generation of Ming Jun as flesh and blood.
Under such a high standard of production, as soon as "Yongzheng Dynasty" was broadcast, it triggered a ratings frenzy.
Not only were the common people fascinated, but they were also very respected in the system at that time.
CCTV struck while the iron was hot, and quickly launched a hardcover VCD CD with a price of 1,880 yuan a set, and as a result, local authorities rushed to buy it as a reference material for cadre training. It is said that this alone has earned more than 100 million.
In addition, it swept the Golden Eagle Award and the Flying Sky Award that year.
Tang Guoqiang won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor, Jiao Huang won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Supporting Actor and Feitian Award for Outstanding Actor, Wang Huichun won the Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, and Liu Heping won the Golden Eagle Award and Feitian Award for Best Screenplay.
In addition, editing, art, and the best feature-length TV series are also included, which can be described as the biggest winners of the year.
For many years after that, no TV series could reach this height.
Yongzheng Dynasty has been broadcast for more than 20 years, and three national first-class actors have passed away.
The first to pass away was Li Dingbao, who played "Wu Sidao", who died of illness in 2006.
Wu Sidao can be described as a wise and demonic character, who sent Yongzheng to the throne step by step from the fourth master's hidden mansion, without leaving home, but knowing everything about the world.
The most impressive thing is that Emperor Kangxi did not choose Yongzheng, but he told Yongzheng that he was protecting him, and a word made the disheartened Yongzheng rekindle his heart to win the heir.
Mr. Li Dingbao graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy and has acted in many classic masterpieces, such as Lu Xun in "The True Story of Ah Q", and his acting skills are extremely profound.
The second is Liao Bingyan, who played "Tong Guowei", who died of illness in 2016.
Everyone may not know Liao Bingyan, but everyone should know his son Liao Fan. Liao Bingyan is a drama actor, who once served as the head of the Hunan Provincial Repertory Troupe and the winner of the "Golden Lion Award" in the drama industry.
Some people say that Tong Guowei played by him is more scheming than Wu Sidao. On the surface, he belonged to the Eight Kings Party and was betrayed by his son Long Keduo, but in fact, he had already reached a tacit agreement with Kangxi, and he abdicated to help Long Keduo take the throne. summoned Long Keduo late at night, and only said one sentence, "Some people go to the field under the stars, and some people resign and return to their hometowns", which hinted clearly enough.
The third is Du Yulu, who plays "Zhang Tingyu", who died of illness in 2020.
Du Yulu was also a drama actor, and later acted in "Divine Doctor Xilaile", which was also very exciting. He has a son named Du Gang, who is Kong Linghui's table tennis teacher.
Zhang Tingyu's scene in the final "80,000 Discussions" is really exciting, reasonable, well-organized, and refuting the iron hat kings so that they have no power to fight back, which makes people happy.
In addition, the unfortunate death of director of photography Chi Xiaoning.
Chi Xiaoning is an expert in photographic equipment, and has introduced the most advanced Japanese analog cameras, and is also responsible for the lighting of the scene. At that time, in order to shoot the texture, most of the candles were used as the light source, and the technical difficulties were very high, and he overcame them one by one.
It's a pity that 7 years later, after Chi Xiaoning finished filming "Just a Classmate Boy", he unfortunately died of illness at the age of 52.
Yongzheng Dynasty has been 23 years now, and it is still at the ceiling of domestic dramas, and every time I revisit it, I have a new feeling.
It is precisely because of the excellence of producer Liu Wenwu, the meticulousness of the production team, and the meticulous polishing of a group of actors that this timeless classic has been achieved.
Thank them for not commising.