The TV series "Flowers" premiered last night, and Wong Kar-wai and Hu Ge joined hands to present the different life of Ah Bao written by Jin Yucheng. After three years of creative polishing, this TV series adapted from the award-winning work of Mao Dun Literature Award finally faces the audience. This year, a number of TV series adapted from literary works have had a good market response, such as "The Road of Life", which is churning the tide of the times, "Mature Years", which condenses the joys and sorrows of the world, and "Three-Body Problem", which is unleashing imagination, have been put on the screen, and the creators have added and extended the characters and storylines, bringing the audience a new experience. The stage creation based on literary works is also wonderful: **A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" has been adapted into a radio drama and a commentary, and the drama of the same name is also being created and rehearsed;The Shanghainese version of the stage play "Song of Long Hatred" recently premiered at the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center, which aroused enthusiastic response from the audience, and it was decided to perform two additional performances**The dramas "Anna Karenina" and "Don Juan" will be on the stage ...... Shencheng in the near future
"The Road of Life" (above), which is churning the tide of the times, and "Flowers" (right), a life struggle story of a generation of Shanghainese people rushing to their dreams, have been adapted and put on TV screens, causing enthusiastic responses from the audience. (Courtesy of the drama party) Drafting: Feng Xiaoyu.
While drawing nutrients from literary IP, how can adapted works be recreated from a broader perspective?Experts believe that there should be not only the "unchanged" that absorbs the essence of the original work, but also the "inevitable change" in the process of adaptation and transformation. "Literary works have passed the test of time, and many audiences come to perform with strong appeals, which is the biggest difference between IP adaptation and new creation. Yu Rongjun, artistic director of Shanghai Dramatic Art Center, said. There are 28 dramas adapted from ** or film and television dramas, and he emphasized that adaptation is a dialectical process of "breaking" and "standing", and we must grasp the heat. "Adaptation cannot simply take the original work as the market basis, but must choose the right angle and innovative expression. Although we are digging deeper and deeper into the literary bonanza, creators always have to keep a rope to 'climb up' in order to maintain a good emotional connection with the audience. ”
Be cautious and "tailor-made", but also be brave to break new paths.
The treasure trove of literary IP provides high-quality texts of various genres and styles for film, television and stage creation**.
At present, the film and television of literary works have entered an explosive period. According to the "Blue Book of Literary Adaptations of Film and Television Works from 2020 to 2022", from 2020 to the first quarter of 2023, there are more than 70 film and television adaptations based on literature such as Yuewen, Jinjiang, Starting Point, and Tomato. In the past three years, 9 of the top 10 domestic dramas with the largest number of participants on Douban have been adapted from literary works.
Literary adaptation is also the norm on the performing arts stage at home and abroad. For example, the dance drama "Anna Karenina" and "Evgeny Onegin" are the most famous masterpieces of the Eifman Ballet, the suspense drama adapted from Agatha Christie is often performed, the drama adapted by Shaanxi Renyi from "White Deer Plain" and "The Dust Settles" is very popular, and classic masterpieces such as "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Liao Zhai" are high-quality resources for drama creation. On December 22, the Russian-language drama "Anna Karenina", adapted from Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece, landed at the AIA Theater on the North Bund. In 2016, as soon as the show was launched, it won awards such as "Popular of the Season" and "Audience Star" in the category of "Best ** Drama" in Russia. The original French version of the drama "Don Juan" will be unveiled at the Shanghai Cultural Square in January next year, which was written by French composer Félix Grey and has been performing for 20 years. The rhythmic and dreamy flamenco dancing and brightly colored guitar scales, as well as the occasional Spanish song interspersed, make this show full of rich and charming Spanish flavor.
Experts pointed out that although literary IP is very powerful, adaptation creators need to be accurately positioned. Generally speaking, TV series adaptations value long-form **, and look forward to having more room for excavation in the volume of content;The transformation of stage plays prefers short and medium stories**, and the limited performance time is eager to hit the inner strength;There are also literary classics that are not suitable for adaptation into works of art. "Literary works provide a very good foundation for artistic creation, and to a large extent, it helps us solve the problem of starting a work from scratch, but artistic creation must conform to its own characteristics. Yu Rongjun revealed that when the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center adapted "Heroes and Daughters" into a stage work, the amount of rewriting reached 70% to 80%, almost subverting the original work. "Compared with Ba Jin**'s "Reunion" and the films shot by Changchun Film Studio, the stage play is different in terms of expression. In the face of today's young audience, we must rethink how to shape heroes and promote spirit. ”
In the process of adaptation and transformation, creators must not only carefully "tailor-made", but also bravely break new paths. When selecting materials, the Children's Art Theater of the China Welfare Association judged the depth and breadth of literary IP from the perspective of children, and reorganized and adapted famous works such as "Don Quixote" and "Notre Dame de Paris" with animal images, with 230 performances. The Shanghai Burlesque Troupe adapted "The Appearance of Officialdom" and "The Cause of Laughter", focusing on finding the connection points between the works and Shanghai, and excavating the elements of comedy from the subtleties. "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is one of the popular literary IPs in recent times, which has been adapted into radio dramas and Pingdan, and dramas and TV series are being created. In the view of writer Sun Ganlu, the sound of radio dramas is a special style, which can give people more room for imagination;Pingtan links to the distant era, the memories of the past, and is a very special adaptation;**There are a lot of brushstrokes, and the difficulty of film and television lies in the subtlety of the positive presentation. "A good adaptation must not only be good at refining, but also have a 'hidden' method, and more importantly, respect the creative laws of the adaptation subject. ”
A long-term mechanism to promote the integration of literary IP and artistic creation.
Recently, ** Radio and Television Station released the list of "Year of the Dragon Drama Watch Main Station", and 38 new dramas will meet the audience one after another. Including a number of blockbuster works adapted from literary works: both "The Protagonist", "Going North" and "The Dust Settles", which are adapted from writers Chen Yan, Xu Zechen, A Lai and other writers of the same nameThere are also "Chenghuan Ji" and "Rose Story" adapted from Yishu's works;and "Ball Lightning", which is adapted from Liu Cixin's sci-fi **, will fill the audience's expectations.
Many industry insiders said that in addition to the award-winning works of major literary awards, there are also a large number of works worth paying attention to. "The audience is looking for a good show, and a good show is looking for the audience. The audience is becoming more and more segmented, which has brought great changes to the entertainment market. Wu Xiaoming, deputy director of the selection committee of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival, believes that to solve the dilemma of "searching", it is necessary to establish a practical and feasible long-term mechanism to promote "the integration of literary IP and artistic creation, and empower transformation".
At the beginning of 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the "2023-2025 Action Plan for Stage Art Creation", which clearly proposes to "select excellent literary works suitable for stage transformation, and promote them to the competent authorities, theatrical performance groups and playwrights from time to time, so as to broaden excellent scripts**." In June this year, the "Action Plan for Stage Arts and Mass Literary and Artistic Creation of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism (2023-2025)" compiled and issued by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism included "strengthening the transformation of literary (film and television) achievements" as a creative safeguard measure. "Literary works are the source and raw material of other artistic categories, and they need to be chewed and reprocessed to provide more and better literary IP for stage transformation. Ma Wenyun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Shanghai Writers Association, pointed out that literary IP should establish a promotion mechanism for the source of art production, provide book lists, hold salons, tea parties, reading meetings, etc., enhance the "visibility" of excellent works, and fully tap the charm and potential of literature. (Xuanjing).