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Text/Cha Cha
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preface
Since 2006, when director Hu Mei began to prepare for a new version of the "Dream of Red Mansions" movie, this project has attracted much attention. It is reported that Hu Mei's team took 18 years, went through countless twists and turns, and cost up to 200 million yuan, and finally met the audience in the summer of 2024.
But no one expected that after the release of this highly-anticipated new version of "Dream of Red Mansions", the box office results were extremely dismal. As of press time, the film only won a meager box office of 4.76 million, which was widely complained about and condemned.
The highest single-day box office is only 49,300, and the final box office is expected to be only more than 6 million, which is definitely a major failure for a top-level IP adaptation that costs a lot of money.
Why did the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" suffer Waterloo? The main reason is that the director and actors do not have a deep understanding of the original work, coupled with some blunt adaptation techniques, which made this long-awaited film finally come to a dismal end.
Casting controversy has been staged repeatedly
From the very beginning, the cast of the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" has been questioned. Especially Zhang Miaoyi, who played the role of Lin Daiyu, was severely criticized by netizens for having a very different temperament from Lin Daiyu's image, and it was difficult to convince the audience.
In addition to Daiyu, the portrayal of other characters also seems to be very different from the classic original book. For example, the role of Xue Baochai is played by Huang Jiarong, but she seems to have a misunderstanding of this smart and virtuous female image. King Jia, the son of a rich and noble family, also seems too cowardly and incompetent in the film.
Netizens have complained that the new version of the character creation completely violates the character of the classic characters of the original book, and even the appearance of these characters is also a huge gap with the image in the minds of readers. Some people joked that Lin Daiyu looks like Song Xiaobao dressed as a man, and Jia Baoyu looks like Yu Qian.
The director also paid a lot for the casting issue. In fact, director Hu Mei herself seems to have some deviations in her interpretation of "Dream of Red Mansions". According to reports, Hu Mei has certain problems with her understanding of Lin Daiyu, a woman with a multifaceted personality and complex heart. She thinks that Lin Daiyu should show more smiles and is a sunny and upbeat girl, which is far from the original book.
The adaptation technique has been questioned
In addition to the casting of actors, the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" has also been criticized in terms of plot adaptation. Many of the wonderful plots and lines in the original book have been stiffly pieced together and briefly mentioned in the movie, and there are even some very violent and sloppy plot plots.
Some netizens complained that the new version adapted the world of Jiafu into a two-line narrative of "conspiracy and love", and valued the silver dispute and the plot of the battle between the two factions of King Jia from the beginning. And many of the warm and delicate plots and inner monologues of the characters in the original book have been cut clean.
For example, the innocent friendship between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, and the classic scene of Daiyu reciting poetry alone no longer exist in the new version. Instead, there are some violent and straightforward plots, such as Xue Pan teasing Xiangling in front of everyone, etc., obviously to cater to some audiences.
The most unacceptable thing is the ending of the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions". The crew directly directed the ending to the plot of "Daiyu was picked up", which is quite a bit of "Titanic"-style clichés, completely deviating from the core theme of the original "Dream of the Grand View Garden".
Some senior red scholars denounced that the script of the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" is simply a blasphemy against Mr. Cao Xueqin! This masterpiece, which has been praised by countless literati and artists, has suffered such a heavy blow in the hands of director Hu Mei, which is really suffocating.
epilogue
In the face of such doubts, the reaction of director Hu Mei and the actors also caused a lot of controversy. On the day of the premiere, director Hu Mei was very confident, and she confidently said about the box office performance: "I love as much as I want, I don't care."
When the film's dismal box office became an indisputable fact, her attitude immediately took a 180-degree turn. not only publicly denounced the actors, claiming that their ugly images in the promotional photos were all processed by P pictures. Hu Mei even threatened to defend her rights by legal means, and her arrogant posture was ridiculous.
Under the questioning of the media, Hu Mei was even more aggressive, turning a blind eye to the audience's negative evaluation, but instead pointed the finger at the film critics, gritting her teeth and criticizing: "You have never understood art, you will only belittle art!"
A film critic replied: "You can think that we don't understand art, but the box office of the movie says it all." No one buys the art you call it. "
In the face of the bombardment of public opinion, Hu Mei finally realized the seriousness of the problem. She apologized, but still insisted on the remark that "art is above all else": "We made this film to pay tribute to Mr. Cao Xueqi and let more contemporary young people re-read Dream of Red Mansions." Even if you lose, this ambitious goal is worth it. "
For Hu Mei's statement, netizens also burst into laughter: "If this is the case, then the film should have strictly followed the original work and retained the essence of the original, rather than ambiguously adapting it to this appearance."
Faced with the double blow of strong doubts from public opinion and heavy financial losses, the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions" can be said to be a complete failure. This incident has also become a major loss to director Hu Mei's personal reputation, and I am afraid that she will have to reinvent her image as a director in the future.
So, when will "Dream of Red Mansions", a classic masterpiece, be respected and restored on the screen? The two attempts of the 85 version and the 2010 version have not achieved satisfactory results, and the audience has been eagerly awaiting this for a long time.
Perhaps we will have to wait again, for a truly well-intentioned writer and director to bring this monumental masterpiece back to the screen.
As a treasure of Chinese culture, "Dream of Red Mansions" has always been highly respected by the cultural circles for its rich connotation and vivid and three-dimensional characters. However, it is a real challenge to bring such a heavy classic to the screen.
From the 85th edition to the 2010 edition, and now to the new edition, every attempt is inevitably marked by omissions and controversies. After all, a masterpiece of nearly 10,000 words condensed into a two- or three-hour film is destined to fail to fully restore the essence of the original work.
But as netizens said, as long as we adhere to the principle of highly respecting the original work and being faithful to the spirit of the original work, and strive to be close to Mr. Cao Xueqi's original intention, we will be able to present a fascinating and self-fulfilling film and television masterpiece of "Dream of Red Mansions".
We have reason to believe that as long as the intentions are good, "Dream of Red Mansions" will surely be revitalized on the screen. This immortal masterpiece that embodies the essence of the wisdom of classical Chinese culture will one day be appropriately interpreted by the director and actors, allowing the audience to have endless aftertaste in the familiar plot and taste the artistic accumulation of thousand-year-old culture in the carved characters.
That day is not far off. Let's wait and see, looking forward to "Dream of Red Mansions" blooming with unprecedented artistic brilliance on the screen.
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