The TV series "Dawn of the East" with a major historical theme is currently on the air. It tells how the Chinese Communist Party correctly handled class conflicts in the early days of liberation from the launch of the Shanghai Campaign to the year after it took over Shanghai, and made great efforts by formulating correct principles and policies. He made sacrifices, rectified finance, stabilized prices, led the broad masses of working people to resume production and trade, carried out urban construction, carried out the "battle of nation-building" in military, political, economic, urban management, people's livelihood and other aspects and finally won the struggle.

"The Communist Party crossed the Yangtze River and took over Shanghai, which was the end of the overall decisive battle," Gao Xixi, the director of the play, said in an interview. "Managing a big city was a test for the Communist Party. For the Communists at that time, there was no way to manage large cities. The experience of the city, so Chairman Mao said, we are going to Shanghai to catch the exam.” In the play, a series of actions such as how the Communist Party carried out the silver dollar war, how to carry out the cotton and grain war, and how to combat speculation in Shanghai under the special historical period were shown. , all the hardships are for the revival of a city, the rebirth of a country, and to prove the loud and clear promise: "The Chinese Communist Party has the ability to destroy an old world, and also has the ability to build a new world."

"Dawn in the East" poster

The play is adapted from the documentary literature "Battle in Shanghai" by historian Liu Tong. "The original book gave us a detailed understanding of all aspects of the situation in Shanghai at that time." Gao Xixi mentioned that Liu Tong passed away recently due to illness. On the basis of Liu Tong's excellent original novel, the screenwriter adapted the theme structure of film and television creation. "Mr. Qin Qin did a lot of script work. Later, Mr. Long Pingping was invited to sort out the structure of the play again."

According to Gao Xixi, "Dawn of the East" is divided into three layers of positioning structure: strategy, tactics, and war. "The tactical level, represented by Chen Yi, is to implement the correct strategic decision of the Party Central Committee. First solve the discipline problem, and then solve the people's livelihood problem. The process of solving these specific problems is the tactical level. The three lines are pushed forward in parallel, and the narrative is basically Follow this structure to complete."

Gao Xixi also talked in the interview that the display of that period of Shanghai history in "Dawn of the East" is not only a story of Shanghai, but should also arouse the empathy of people across the country. From the beginning of the founding of New China, Shanghai has played an important role in supporting the economic construction of all parts of the country. "We have always been a game of chess across the country, not a relationship between different regions. After the founding of New China and the gradual recovery of Shanghai, its economic support to the whole country has been huge. In the epidemic in recent years, we have also seen that Shanghai has difficulties. , how the whole country supports Shanghai.” An amazing city is not only a window to show China, but also a bridge to move forward hand in hand.

Zhang Jiayi as Chen Yi

【dialogue】

Question : At present, there is a lot of discussion among the audience about the series. Does Zhang Jiayi look like Chen Yi? Do you think there is a gap between them and what you imagined?

Gao Xixi : When choosing the actors of Comrade Chen Yi, we considered from two aspects. "Resemblance" is of course necessary, but because his roles are very important, the dramatic role is very important, and the skills of the performers are very much needed. After weighing the pros and cons, we decided to use Zhang Jiayi, because in terms of the expressive power of an actor, he may have more expressive power than ordinary special actors. Of course, we also try our best to rely on both form and spirit. Zhang Jiayi also worked hard to complete the dubbing of a version of Sichuan dialect, but in the end, considering that it is a major historical theme and considering the widest audience, he still used Mandarin dubbing. There are indeed some unsatisfactory parts. Please criticize.

Question : Why did the arrest of martyr Li Bai be used as the beginning of the whole play?

Gao Xixi : The important reason why Li Bai’s martyr paragraph is the beginning is to show the darkness before dawn, and the price that comrades on the underground front of our party paid for the liberation of Shanghai. We also want to respect historical facts as much as possible. Martyr Li Bai is a representative, and there will be heroes in the future who will continue to sacrifice for the liberation of Shanghai. Including when attacking Shanghai, the central government stipulated that the use of heavy weapons is not allowed. To return a complete Shanghai to the people, the sacrifices paid are huge.

Cao Lei as Li Bai

Question : Incidents such as the People's Liberation Army entering Shanghai and sleeping on the roads, and enemy agents destroying Shanghai's power plants have been presented in many film and television dramas. How does "Dawn of the East" have its own characteristics in expression?

Gao Xixi : From a historical point of view, they are facts. I hope that the details can be presented in the facts, which can reflect the fine traditions of our army. It is very simple to put "Why can the Chinese People's Liberation Army win? Why can the Chinese Communist Party win?" Thinking about putting it inside, we also thought of many ways. If it is a simple army entering the city and sleeping on the road, it will be thinner.

Among them, we have detailed creations. A little girl from a pencil factory came out of her home in the morning and saw the People’s Liberation Army on the street. She was tired and wounded, and she was sleeping quietly on the street. At this moment, she has a monologue, which is our own creation. Yes, the last sentence is, "Our People's Liberation Army has just met the citizens of Shanghai." We followed her with a long lens, and through her perspective, we saw a lion-like army entering the city, but sleeping so quietly on the road.

There was another detail. There was still the roar of war the night before, but it was very quiet the next day. Someone rode a bicycle, and as soon as they got on the main road, they saw soldiers lying down. At first I thought it was a corpse, but later it was found to be a sleeping PLA. He went back and called his wife to watch this scene, saying that he would not leave no matter how difficult it was, and that he believed that the army and the political party would definitely be able to make the country a better place.

Stills of "Breaking Dawn in the East"

Q : I have filmed many works with major revolutionary historical themes about that period of history before. What is the biggest difference in "Dawn of the East"?

Gao Xixi : The main difference lies in the performance of the re-management of big cities, rather than the performance of war. How to manage, for example, Comrade Chen Yi raised a question. Although the underground party comrades in Shanghai, including the public, are eagerly looking forward to the invasion of the army, we have no management experience in large cities, and we have to slow down. That's why the Danyang training was proposed to tell our soldiers what the pattern of an international metropolis is, and what issues will be involved in all aspects.

Many problems have not been encountered in previous wars. For example, ordinary people need to eat and work. How to resume production in Shanghai is a big problem. In addition, how much food does a city eat in a day with a population of nearly 5 million? What's the problem if the garbage is left unattended for a day? We also encountered various disasters, such as typhoons, such as food shortages, such as the Kuomintang government transporting all the gold and yuan to Taiwan, all of which were problems of people's livelihood, and at that time the enemy's agents were also severely damaged. Question, during this process, Comrade Chen Yi also faced several assassinations. How we manage this city well requires the wisdom and courage of the Communists. These presentations are different from previous works that tell the history of the Armageddon.

Q : I have been filming in Hengdian for more than 80 days. What is the most memorable thing?

Gao Xixi : We started the machine in March. It was the beginning of spring, and it was misty and rainy. It was still very cold to lie on the road in unlined clothes. Under such circumstances, in order to rush to shoot, more than 800 people lay on the road. These extras lay down for a whole day, from 6 am to 11 pm, which is really amazing. I am very touched by this.

Q : What is the proportion of real and fictional content in this play?

Gao Xixi : It should be 7:3, less fictional. The big events must be real, and it is also in accordance with the requirements of the General Administration and the Central Propaganda Department, so that the big things are true, and the small things are not limited. The fictitious content is mainly to clarify the problems at that time. For example, Ji Nanyin, an economic expert, is a fictitious character, but it is also based on historical facts, because at that time Premier Zhou Enlai sent many economic experts to assist in completing all aspects of Shanghai's management.

Liu Tao as Ji Nanyin

Q : What is the significance of "Dawn of the East" to your personal creation?

Gao Xixi : In terms of creation, I think "Dawn of the East" is solid, thick and layered. We have made a lot of preparations and efforts in creation, and the creation time is also very long. It took nearly three years before and after. Today's presentation is yours. teamwork. For my personal creative process, it also enriches my creative experience a lot, and for my life, it is also a colorful passage.