The recently broadcast "Mature Years", among the types of family life dramas in recent years, can be regarded as a work that is quite skillful in portraying urban middle-aged groups. The excellent performances of Hao Lei, Liu Yijun, Song Dandan and other actors have also improved the drama. Visibility. Since its broadcast, the play has achieved good results in terms of word-of-mouth and click-through rate.
The script of "Mature Years" is close to life
In March 2021, director Liu Xin received the script of the first ten episodes of "Mature Years". He thinks it is a relatively different realistic theme among the scripts he has read for so many years. In this play, the members of a big family of the Ni family cover characters of all ages from the post-40s to the post-00s, and the description is very realistic, "It's like what happened around me, and it's like what happened to my friends "The difficulty lies in the presentation of the big family of the Ni family: "Three small families, nine main characters, how to express the events, problems and personal growth of each family is extremely difficult."
Stills of "Mature Years"
Liu Xin stated that when the preparations for "Mature Years" first started, it was quite arduous work from script creation to team formation. The creative team this time is a new team that Liu Xin has cooperated with for the first time. Liu Xin is the oldest in this team, and most of the staff in photography, art and other aspects are young and have strong professional ability.
Life drama is a very mature genre on the market, but at the same time, it also makes the aesthetic style of this genre seem to be highly homogeneous. Compared with some similar themes on the market, "Mature Years" has a rather elegant and impressive art style. Surprising visual presentation. "It is this young team that brings a youthful texture to the whole show," Liu Xin said.
He said that in the setting of this drama, he and his team hoped to be more life-like and down-to-earth. Therefore, when initially setting up the homes of three small families, they were considering how to make the living environment of the three families distinct. The distinction between the three families allows the audience to see the living environment of the three families, and they can intuitively feel the differences in the lifestyles and economic status of the three families.
"The elders are ordinary people. It is a relatively cramped old house with two bedrooms and one living room. The master bedroom is given over to the young couple who just got married, and the old couple lives in the upper and lower bunks in the second bedroom. It’s better, living in a relatively high-end community, bright and spacious; the third child, Weizhen, lives in an old lady’s old house, which is relatively comfortable and decorated with a more artistic atmosphere. Visually, everyone will feel that these groups of families are familiar Yes, realistic."
The role of Wu Erhu can only be interpreted by Song Dandan
The role of Wu Erhu in the play is by no means a "bad mother-in-law" image that is often seen in life dramas. She has a rather complicated face. Under Song Dandan's interpretation, she is vivid and very real.
Liu Xin and Song Dandan have been friends for many years, but they have never had the opportunity to cooperate due to various reasons. When he got the script of "Mature Years", Liu Xin felt that the role of Wu Erhu was very suitable for Song Dandan, so he sent her a few episodes of the script and gave her enough preventive injections: "First, we can't play around and go to the sketches." Second, you and I have seen too many such characters in our lives, so we have to smash all the performances and return to the essence."
Song Dandan as Wu Erhu
Song Dandan understood Liu Xin's performance needs very well, and the two quickly reached a creative agreement. "She was very active on the shooting scene, and she created a lot of things twice, one version, two versions, and some single scenes even had more versions. She just wanted to make it the best." The role of Er Hu, Everyone may have a different interpretation, but in Liu Xin's view, "Only Song Dandan can interpret Er Hu who is currently loved and hated, jumping with anger and crying for her."
Stills of "Mature Years"
There is a scene between Song Dandan and Zhang Guoqiang, who plays Ni Weimin, in which Erhu wants her husband to mention a difficult matter to his younger brother Ni Weiqiang to indirectly solve the family's house problem. She soaked her feet at home, and when her husband came back to ask, Ni Weimin didn't have the nerve to mention it at all. Erhu was so angry that he scolded Ni Weimin, counting the sacrifices he had made to the family and the grievances he had suffered over the years of marriage, crying as he spoke. Yes, many viewers in front of the screen were heartbroken after watching this scene. After she finished crying, Ni Weimin said: I am sorry for you, but I love you very much. The word "love" made Er Hu amused again.
In this scene, Liu Xin and his team used three machines at the same time: one panoramic view and two close-up shots. "This is a scene with a strong plot and heavy emotion. It is difficult to perform the same second and third performances." Song Dandan put The scene was completed in one go: "There are sorrows and joys, laughter and cursing, all reflected in these three minutes."
Ni Weiqiang's late "mature age" is the rebellious period he only had in middle age
At the beginning of "Mature Years", why Ni Weiqiang wanted to leave his virtuous, capable, beautiful and decent wife Zhang Chunmei and get rid of his responsibilities to the family is one of the big suspense in the early stage of the play. His choice has puzzled many viewers. For most viewers, it is normal for middle-aged people to deeply bind their personal values to family and marriage, but obviously for Ni Weiqiang, personal life and family life have happened on the psychological level. violent conflict.
In Liu Xin's view, Ni Weiqiang does not have the consciousness and ability to manage his personal life, let alone handle many affairs of his family like Zhang Chunmei did. For him, the two have been a chaotic one for a long time. "There is no distinction between personal life and group life. It is a state of imbalance, so Ni Weiqiang wants to break through it and seek his own freedom of life. This is also Ni Weiqiang's late "mature years", a rebellious period that he only had in middle age. .”
Liu Yijun as Ni Weiqiang
This kind of conflict is not an explicit conflict between the individual and others, but a psychological conflict that exists within the individual, which brings great difficulty to the actors in performance, because it is difficult for the audience to understand the choices and motivations of the characters.
Liu Xin stated that the role of Ni Weiqiang has been changed and adjusted from the original setting of the script. When he first talked about the character of Ni Weiqiang with Liu Yijun, he told the story of Ni Weiqiang, but did not tell Liu Yijun how to play it, "because I am not sure. Is the Ni Weiqiang presented in the end the person I described at this moment?"
In the actual shooting, there was a scene where Ni Weiqiang and his wife went to marriage counseling. In that scene, Liu Yijun's hands were shaking all the time. The consultant said that you were nervous and your hands were shaking all the time. Shaking? Where are my hands shaking?" Liu Yijun vividly expressed that unreasonable, nervous rage. "At that moment, I saw Ni Weiqiang. I saw Ni Weiqiang who was stuck in the mire and couldn't get out of it. He hadn't slept well for several months. This is Ni Weiqiang interpreted by Liu Yijun."
Hao Lei tried every means to portray the soft part of Zhang Chunmei
Hao Lei's interpretation of Ni Weiqiang's wife Zhang Chunmei also surprised Liu Xin. "I have watched many film and television dramas played by Hao Lei before, and it is definitely no problem for her to play Zhang Chunmei." He said, "Hao Lei is serious, meticulous, and confident. In fact, Chunmei is also the same, but the difference between them is that Chunmei may It is softer in expression, but Hao Lei does not. So when Hao Lei shaped this character, she tried every means to portray the soft part of Zhang Chunmei."
In a scene on the first day of filming, the old lady who already suffered from Alzheimer’s disease was thinking about Chunmei who hadn’t come home yet. She chopped the minced meat at home. When Chunmei came home, the old lady said, “I’ll make you your favorite My favorite minced meat tofu". The two sat at the dining table, and Chunmei was very moved, because this dish was made by her biological mother, and after her biological mother passed away, no one made it for her. She recalled that since she married into the Ni family and ate the minced meat tofu made by Mrs. Ni, from that moment on, Chunmei regarded the old lady as her own mother.
The two chatted, ate and interacted, and Hao Lei made a move that touched Liu Xin quite a bit. "Chunmei scooped up a spoonful of tofu, scooped up some rice and told the old lady, if you want to eat it, you can have a taste. Afterwards, she fed it to her. After the old lady finished eating, Chunmei took the spoonful and ate it herself." In Liu From a new perspective, this action itself is very small, but if the tableware is put into the mouth of an outsider before eating, everyone will be a little hesitant instinctively. Many actors may not be able to act so naturally on the first day of filming.
"But this should be Zhang Chunmei's behavior, because she and Mrs. Ni are very close, and she regards her as her own mother. That day, Hao Lei didn't even froze for a moment, and completed the scene very smoothly. This simple act moved Liu Xin: "Because that is Zhang Chunmei, that is the relationship between her and Mrs. Ni. Making this scene vivid and believable also shows the professionalism of the actors. There are many such details, and Hao Lei runs through to the completion of the entire role."
Hao Lei as Zhang Chunmei
"Mature Years" has aroused everyone's discussion on "middle-aged people stepping out of their comfort zone". However, for many young people, a lot of effort in life and work is to establish their own "comfort zone". Middle-aged or even old people, but want to "get out of the comfort zone"? Regarding this question, Liu Xin believes that it is not easy for a successful woman over 40 like Zhang Chunmei in the play to dare to jump out of her comfort zone. When you encounter the problems Zhang Chunmei encountered, whether you should go out or not, everyone’s opinions must be different. There is no standard answer. It’s good if everyone is willing to discuss.” Liu Xin said, “The life of the heroine Zhang Chunmei can make the audience We see and discuss this topic, which is the value and significance that our drama wants to show."
The so-called "discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law", "little three cheating", "middle-age crisis" and so on are very common plots in life dramas, and they also represent a kind of public fear. For creators, this "universality" brings difficulty in innovation. Regarding the contradiction between universality and innovation, Liu Xin seemed very calm: "Realist family dramas are filming life. Dramas with realistic themes inevitably express the dilemmas and ups and downs in life, and what everyone encounters in life The problems and challenges we are facing have many similarities.” Liu Xin said, “How to find new breakthroughs and unique perspectives among similar relationships and problems is the most important thing, to find the right direction, instead of trying to Under the hat of innovation, we forcibly pursue differences.”
