The TV series "The Road to Life", which is based on the novella of the famous writer Lu Yao, has been on the rise since its launch, and its broadcast data on the Internet platform is also in the forefront.
"The Road to Life" Stills, Chen Xiao as Gao Jialin
This play is a reappearance and renewal of the original novel "Life". It tells the story of a generation of young people who have fought against fate several times at the crossroads of life. The novel has inspired generations of people to pursue lofty dreams and think about the impermanence of fate. The series fully inherits the ideological core of the original work, showing the life stories of Gao Jialin, Liu Qiaozhen, Huang Yaping, Gao Shuangxing and other young people who broke through the predicament and found themselves in the choice, and conveyed an open-minded and progressive life to contemporary young people. manner.
Chief director Yan Jiangang said, "I have been preparing for forty years" for this drama. When Yan Jiangang read this novel for the first time when he was young, "this story has always been in my heart."
The play was filmed in northern Shaanxi and Shanghai. The northern part of Shaanxi was in Qingjian County, Yulin City, Lu Yao’s hometown. With the help of Jian County, great efforts were made to build a "Kuanzhou County" from scratch, trying to restore the county landscape in the 1980s; the rural part also restored the magnificent landscape where the local cave dwellings and nature are integrated.
"The Road to Life" Stills, Li Qin as Liu Qiaozhen
In the play, Liu Qiaozhen’s home dried vermicelli made of starch vermicelli, a specialty of Qingjian. It has been the main agricultural and sideline product of every household in Qingjian County since ancient times. It is processed from mung bean, sweet potato, sorghum and potato, which is a very true northern Shaanxi characteristic.
It is reported that the crew encountered heavy rains and torrents, mudslides, and landslides during filming in northern Shaanxi, and the cost was full for on-site landscaping. They still insisted on filming in northern Shaanxi, just to preserve the local soul in Lu Yao's novels. Yan Jiangang said, "When we talk about northern Shaanxi, everyone thinks of the high slopes of the loess. My request to the art team is that we try our best to choose amazing scenery, and try to choose scenery that no one else has photographed before."
Stills of "The Road to Life"
In terms of character modeling, modeling director Chen Minzheng also made a detailed design. The life experience of the characters in the play is from northern Shaanxi to Shanghai. Chen Minzheng believes that the process of character's experience and spiritual transformation must be reflected in the changes in the external image. The details are reflected in the gradual lightening of young people's tanned skin, and the gradual increase in styles and colors of black, gray and blue monotonous clothing. "Through the characteristics of the times and small details, the characters can be portrayed more dramatically."
In the original book, Gao Jialin's life path in the choice of fate has aroused the resonance of a generation of young people, and this resonance is still affecting more people. However, Gao Jialin faced life difficulties such as urban-rural estrangement and limited development space at that time. With the advancement of later times, young people have more choices and answers. Then, "After 40 years of time and space, our world has changed drastically. Only when you establish communication with today's era, can you resonate with the audience." Yan Jiangang said.
Huang Yaping (played by Zhang Jiani) comforts the discouraged Gao Jialin (played by Chen Xiao) to write on the ground with a hoe
Therefore, the adaptation of the series extends the fate of the characters to a longer time and space after the 1980s. The young people in the book iterate into a more mature self after a long period of exploration and difficulties. The original difficulties are also progressing through their own efforts and the times. After breaking the game, their strong vitality can also burst out in the vast world given by the wave of the times.
The story of a generation of youth is also the life path of several generations of youth. "The time and space of the original story only stays in the era of the original book. The story stops at the end but it is not the end of that generation. It can be said that it is a later era, and the story of a generation of young people is continued. The essence of this story is a young man. If it is a story, then it will naturally resonate and inspire our new generation of audiences today, and drive everyone to examine their choices together and gain upward strength." The creators concluded in this way.
"Road of Life" not only extends the character stories in time, but also in space, adding a lot of narrative in Shanghai. The main creator explained, "In the original novel, the protagonists did not get out of their so-called predicament, but the adaptation made everyone come out, extending a regional story and rural story in northern Shaanxi to the contemporary era and the city of Shanghai. Instead of doing whatever you want and unrestrained imagination, or grasping the blood and soul of the characters, let the protagonists in the original work experience the changes of time and space later, and observe how they will live out their lives on the basis of continuing their personalities and ideals. What kind of life."
Shanghai gives young people broad opportunities, but also brings new tests. After Gao Jialin decided to down-to-earth and take root in the loess, his persistent writing gave him the opportunity to go to Shanghai to display his talents; for Qiaozhen, Shanghai rewarded her kindness, hard work and tenacity, and she lived a more open life .
Gao Shuangxing (played by Wang Tianchen) who "accidentally" went to Shanghai to study in university
For Gao Shuangxing, Shanghai is a fateful accident and a difficult test. How to experience inferiority complex and how to grow the original self under the name of others are the life issues he will face in Shanghai. The addition of Shanghai, a narrative space, not only opened up the space for character extension and story advancement, but also further enriched the core of the series.
"A generation of rural youths went from the yellow land in the northwest to the coastal city of Shanghai in the southeast, seeking to change their destiny and create a new life. We strive to give today's young audiences the spiritual power to face difficulties directly." Chief Producer of "The Road to Life" Wei Wei, a native of Shanghai, said, "In the era of reform and opening up, the city of Shanghai has a benchmarking significance. After a long period of hardship and struggle, young people follow the trend of the times and settle in Shanghai. This is not only a personal choice, but also a choice of the times. .”
The main creator said that for the current young people, not setting limits on their own lives is a very good state of life: they can have the courage to fight forward, and they can also return to their hometown calmly. "I hope to arouse the resonance of the audience with the road of life, and gain some courage to grow up and an open-minded attitude towards life in "The Road of Life"; I hope that the audience will have a more calm and more calm attitude towards life and destiny amidst the impermanent fate of the characters. strength."
