The family ethics drama "Golden Wedding" directed by Zheng Xiaolong and written by Wang Wanping immediately caused a strong response at home and abroad as soon as it was broadcast in 2007. The drama chronicles the fifty-year marriage life of technician Tong Zhi and elementary school teacher Wen Li. The ups and downs of the characters' fates brought about by the changes of the times and the iteration of family and marriage concepts in the drama have won wide resonance among the audience. The drama has won three awards at the 27th China TV Drama "Flying Apsaras Award" for long-form TV dramas, including the first prize, the Outstanding Director Award (Zheng Xiaolong), and the Outstanding Actor Award (Zhang Guoli).
"Golden Wedding" is currently being broadcast on the "Revisiting Classics" channel. We have compiled excerpts from the minutes of the symposium on the TV series "Golden Wedding" hosted by the Art Committee in 2007 to lead the audience to once again experience the artistic charm and contemporary value of "Golden Wedding".
The origin of the conception of "Golden Wedding"
● Director Zheng Xiaolong
I had the idea of making this drama a long time ago. It started with my parents quarreling in the years after their golden wedding, and we children were always the mediators. I thought that the story of this old couple could be told from their acquaintance to their marriage, and we could make a 50-episode TV series called "Golden Wedding". At that time, everyone felt that it was very difficult, and we gave up in the middle, but later started to do it again. When planning at that time, I wanted to invite Jiang Wenli to play the heroine, so when I wrote Wanping, I also wrote it according to Jiang Wenli's feelings. The reason why I chose Zhang Guoli as the male lead was because he was more civilian and had a sense of humor. The shooting was also a very pleasant creative process.
The real "Golden Wedding" is difficult to write
● Screenwriter: Wang Wanping
"Golden Wedding" is quite difficult to write. In this play, there is no love-hate relationship, ups and downs that are common in TV dramas. Instead, it requires extreme authenticity. The slightest bit of falsehood will make the audience feel it is particularly fake. If there is no very strong planning team to come up with ideas and check together, this play will be difficult to make.
A successful practice of the TV series "Three Closeness"
● Zhong Chengxiang was then an honorary member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a literary critic
"Golden Wedding" writes about China's fifty-year history in a chronological format, which is not easy. It is full of artistic skills and has unique aesthetic and ideological discoveries, which is precious. The Party Central Committee calls for TV dramas to be "three close". How to be close to people's livelihood? I think it is to present the history that contemporary audiences are familiar with or even experienced in person in an aesthetic and artistic way, and put it on the screens of ordinary people, so that they can see the shadows of themselves, their parents and even their children and grandchildren on the screen, so that they can understand the value of life, comprehend the taste of life, clarify the direction of life, and live out spiritual power.
The screenwriter's character design and development are full of historical sense, and it is by no means random. Each person bears a strong trace of the times, allowing us to appreciate the philosophy that life left for life.
Taking similar dramas to new heights
● Li Jingsheng was the Director of the TV Drama Management Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television
The success of "Golden Wedding" shows the eternal charm of realistic TV drama creation. This drama gives us a new perspective to record the changes in contemporary Chinese history, interweaving the rise and fall of fifty years of historical development, the ups and downs of national development, as well as good times, bad times, ups and downs, and even turmoil and disasters, with the fate of characters, marriages, and emotions, and it uses a very novel chronological format. This perspective is fresh.
"Golden Wedding" is different from previous dramas that depict marriage and family emotions. First, the form is different, second, the narrative method is different, and third, the focus of expressing marriage and family is different. It is not divorced from China's reality, and is not divorced from China's current political, economic, and cultural development stage. It reveals the true love between husband and wife in a harmonious way. In this sense, this drama has brought this type of drama to a new height.
"Golden Wedding" has distinct Beijing characteristics and Beijing style. The first characteristic is that it is a civilian narrative, but it is also about the vicissitudes of life; the second characteristic is that it seems trivial, but it contains profound meanings; the third characteristic is that the language can be humorous and funny, but it is controlled in moderation.
The experiences of ordinary people are also very typical
● Li Xingye, literary critic
I have four feelings: First, it is very real. Second, it is very detailed. Third, it is very tiring. Fourth, it is very heavy. After the show was broadcast, everyone on the bus was talking about "Golden Wedding", which is a rare phenomenon in recent years. It reminds me of "Desire" and "The Happy Life of Poor Mouth Zhang Damin". The creation of "Golden Wedding" has found a kind of synaesthesia, which is very close to the feelings of ordinary people. It shows normal life very realistically and carefully, and the actors are very passionate and confident. Without these actors' very detailed, accurate and subtle performances, the marriage process would be like a running account.
This play has been written and performed year after year, creating a sense of ordinariness, but it has also accumulated marriage in the daily life. Our country needs to build a lot of humanistic things, and this play raises these issues. It shows the ordinary marriage process of ordinary people, which is very typical and universal. The audience will indirectly understand their past and present here. I believe it will also be of great help to the construction of a civilized society in the future.
An Encyclopedia of Marriage
● Meng Fanshu, Researcher at the Chinese Academy of Arts
"Golden Wedding" can be said to be a comprehensive, encyclopedic, marathon-like reproduction of marriage for modern Chinese. The elderly want to see themselves in "Golden Wedding"; young people have two psychological reasons, one is to see how their parents got through it, and the other is to see their own future in "Golden Wedding"; middle-aged people are more willing to watch it, because they are facing a marriage crisis and need to see ways to overcome the crisis in "Golden Wedding".
Three points of understanding of "Golden Wedding"
● Wang Weiguo, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Communication University of China
First, although it is a TV series about family ethics, it has a profound sociological significance, focusing on people's livelihood and human feelings. Second, this TV series shows that people's understanding, misunderstanding or deviation of values about love in life often leads to deviation in love. Third, this work focuses on the living conditions of Chinese women.
The artistic features of this drama are threefold: First, the actors' performances are very successful. These actors have put a lot of effort into pursuing the aesthetic characteristics of TV drama performance art. Second, the action narrative is very strong. TV drama art is best at expressing character movements, and the time, space, and emotions of the characters during the movement are all realistic. Third, the editing of this drama is very successful, which vividly expresses the emotions of the characters and grasps the psychological rhythm of the characters and the external rhythm of the movements.
Without conflict, there is no drama
● Lu Haibo Professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Academy of Drama
This play provides a very good teaching model. When we talk about drama theory or screenwriting theory, we often talk about the golden rule, which is: "Without conflict, there is no drama." This TV series provides a very good example for this - quarreling all your life is also a kind of happiness. There may be many interpretations of this, but no matter which interpretation it is, it has aroused psychological resonance among different audiences.
A mixture of sadness and joy is what life really looks like
● Fan Yongge, Deputy Director of the Film and Television Culture Committee of the Chinese Writers Association
This drama offers a lot of new things. For example, quarrels become a kind of glue in marriage, or quarrels become a kind of dependence in marriage. These are all very fresh perspectives. Mixed joys and sorrows are life, and real life is like this.
Attachment: Original text of "Minutes of the Seminar on the TV Series "Golden Wedding"" in "China Television" magazine, issue 12, 2007
