The TV series "People's Premier Zhou Enlai", which was created by Great Wall Film and Television and Jilin Satellite TV, won the issuance license approved by the Major Office of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television of the Central Propaganda Department in 2021, which is equivalent to half of the "success" for a major revolutionary historical drama.
"People's Premier Zhou Enlai"
As the name suggests, "People's Premier Zhou Enlai" revolves around premier Zhou's 26-year-long career after bowing to death.
The drama was completed in mid-July 2018, and after being reviewed by the Central Propaganda Department and the National Leading Group for major revolutionary historical themes, it has been included in the 100 key TV dramas in the country from 2018 to 2022.
The drama is expected to land on CCTV or Head TV at the end of 2021 in the lunar calendar as a benchmark work for the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
The script of "People's Premier Zhou Enlai" was polished by famous writers Zhao Ruiyong and Wang Biao after five years, and the well-known special actor Liu Jin played Premier Zhou Enlai;
Huang Wei
In addition, Huang Wei continued to play Deng Yingchao, Tang Guoqiang played the great leader again, and Lu Qi played Deng Xiaoping;
Qin Hailu plays Jiang Ying
Qin Hailu, who is evaluated by insiders as a "rare talent who is very good at acting and understands drama", plays Jiang Ying, the wife of Qian Xuesen, and shaping such a woman who is both inside and outside may be a big challenge for Qin Hailu.
Liu Jin
Of course, the focus of the TV series "People's Premier Zhou Enlai" still has to return to the special actor Liu Jin, who performs the success or failure of the audience's entire drama!
First, can Liu Jin play the premier in his old age?
Liu Jin has played Premier Zhou before the founding of New China many times as the protagonist or supporting role, such as the TV series "Armageddon" and "Liberation";
However, his interpretation of Premier Zhou after the founding of New China was reduced, and he only created the image of the premier in this period in a few works such as his self-directed and self-acting film "Zhou Enlai Returns to Yan'an" and the TV series "Marshal Peng Dehuai".
Therefore, picking a big beam in "People's Premier Zhou Enlai" is a great challenge for his special actor career.
Liu Jin can be regarded as one of the best special actors in today's special actors, but his performance also has obvious "hard wounds", and he habitually portrays Premier Zhou as a "grumpy butler";
Or that Liu Jin's Portrayal of Premier Zhou is more like the elite leaders in today's workplace dramas who are fierce and even domineering, which is not in line with the real character image.
Real image of Premier Zhou
In fact, Premier Zhou's dominant temperament is elegant, meticulous, wise, tenacious, and patient, and finally the occasional appearance under the leadership of Confucian grace.
At present, only the older generation of special actor Wang Tiecheng has achieved the restoration of Premier Zhou's true temperament, and Liu Jin still needs to work hard.
Today's directors, screenwriters and actors may not have seen Premier Zhou at all, let alone had contact and exchanges with Premier Zhou, most of them rely on video materials or text books to understand Premier Zhou's personality, so the authenticity of the character image created is naturally discounted.
Taking "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an" as an example, the whole film focuses on sensationalism, and Liu Jin's performance is also very unnatural, even somewhat pretentious, and his demeanor is completely devoid of the pathological sense of Premier Zhou's serious illness in 1973;
The characteristics of Premier Zhou's actions such as flexibility and swiftness are also less manifested.
Second, how should this drama grasp the scale problem?
The historical background of "People's Premier Zhou Enlai" is very complicated and involves sensitive periods, so whether or not you can grasp the scale is the key to the success of the whole play.
Previously, Liu Jin's self-directed and self-acting film "Premier Zhou's Return to Yan'an" seemed too conservative, and the entire film did not have in-depth analysis and thinking about the contradictions and conflicts shown in it, as usual, it was superficially sensational, but the content was empty and weak.
Many directors and screenwriters habitually blame the "conservative" of their works on the review mechanisms of the relevant departments.
Undoubtedly, the relevant departments are cautious and cautious, afraid that the works they handle are chaotic, which will affect the creators' play to a certain extent.
However, excellent directors are good at finding creative fulcrums in the box to affect the entire era background and highlight the characteristics of the character image.
Wang Tiecheng "Zhou Enlai"
Wang Tiecheng's masterpiece "Zhou Enlai" has undoubtedly achieved this, as a film of a gift-giving nature, it can be critical and rational in the context of limitations, with various references in the light and in the dark, and the audience is all sweaty and erect under careful consideration.
Movie "Zhou Enlai"
The film creates an atmosphere of political horror, and the power of the shooting and the huge behind-the-scenes changes are very testing the director's skill.
On the other hand, the TV series "People's Premier Zhou Enlai", the director is Kang Ning, whose representative works include the TV series "Snow Without a Trace", "Red Flag Canal", etc., the quality of the works is decent, and whether it can control this historical theme is still debatable!
Wen | Song Fat Zi