He Wenxiu, a Shaoxing opera movie, will be officially launched on the online video platform at 10: 00 on October 11th. He Wenxiu was jointly produced by Zhejiang Xiaobaihuayue Theatre and Hangzhou Junhao Culture Media, and it was made after five years of preparation and filming. It is a work dedicated to paying tribute to Yin Guifang, a famous Yue Opera artist. The film has been continuously shown in more than 30 theaters in the Yangtze River Delta, such as Hangzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo, Shanghai, Suzhou and Changzhou, and has been warmly welcomed by the audience everywhere. “Shooting the Yue Opera film” He Wenxiu “is not only a tribute to the teacher Yin Xiaofang and Mr. Tai Yin Guifang, but also a fulfillment of the initial intention and determination to inherit and carry forward the art of Yue Opera.” Starring Zhou Liping said. In order to better inherit and carry forward the classics, He Wenxiu, a Yue Opera film, has also released a CD with selected aria, including important aria and accompaniment, for the majority of Yue Opera lovers to learn and spread.
He Wenxiu, the film of Yue Opera, is the first film to inherit the classic works of Yin School. Zhou Liping is a disciple of Yin School, and the artistic director is Yin Xiaofang, the leader of the first generation of Yin School. This film is not only to commemorate the people’s artist Yin Guifang, but also to make up for the regret that Yin School art left no film and television materials. In order to better spread the excellent traditional culture and promote the art of Yin School, Zhou Liping began to prepare for the filming of He Wenxiu, a Yue Opera film with self-raised funds in 2016, and was supported by the Hangzhou Cultural Boutique Project in 2018. Under the care and guidance of Yin Xiaofang, the first generation descendant of Yin School, he and Zhejiang Xiaobaihuayue Theatre jointly completed the production of He Wenxiu, a famous classic drama of Yin School. In October 2019, He Wenxiu successfully premiered in Shanghai.
The story of He Wenxiu, a Yue opera, originated from the legendary He Wenxiu Jade Hairpin, which was adapted into Yue opera by Tao Xian in the 1940s. The original story of “He Wenxiu” consists of eight scenes: encounter with bully, getting caught, prison, private visit, wife visit in Sangyuan, card crying, fortune telling and revenge. In order to make the presentation of the story more in line with the expression of the film, we read the script around with producers, directors and screenwriters, and adapted the script from the aspects of time, narrative rhythm and story structure. When shooting, I chose a lot of real scenes, including Jiangnan gardens, small bridges and flowing water, mansions and homes, and moved to Hengdian, Xinchang and Shangyu.
In December 2020, the film won the “Excellent Opera Film Award” of the third China Opera Film; In 2021, he was selected as the national film exhibition and broadcasting activity with the theme of “Celebrating the Centennial of the Founding of the Party-Watching National Films and Recalling the Centennial Party History” in Beijing; Won the honorary film of special attention unit of traditional Chinese opera at Beijing International Film Festival and 28th College Student Film Festival.
The twists and turns in the story of He Wenxiu have brought natural advantages to its film adaptation. In order to make the presentation of the story more in line with the expression of the film, the film creative team adapted the script from the aspects of duration, narrative rhythm and story structure. The stage performance of the original story of He Wenxiu takes two and a half hours. On the premise of not affecting the main line of the story and characterization, the plot of the film has been deleted, focusing on three famous scenes of Sangyuan’s visit to his wife, crying cards and fortune telling, and the duration of the film is controlled at about 110 minutes. Film technology can also expand the space of the stage from a richer perspective. Therefore, when shooting, the main creators chose a large number of real scenes, including Jiangnan gardens, small bridges and flowing water, mansions and homes, and moved to Hengdian, Xinchang and Shangyu, striving to achieve better integration between the virtual and the real, and between the shadow and the play.
In addition, in order to let the general audience have a complete understanding of the story, the master also added an introduction to He Wenxiu in the early stage according to historical materials, which made the story more complete and enriched the character.
In the film history of China, Dream of Red Mansions, a Yue opera film, once set a box office myth, which can be described as the ceiling of traditional Chinese opera films. Today, when we enter a new era, it is just the right time to vigorously promote traditional culture. “He Wenxiu, a Yue opera film, pays tribute to China films and Yin school art, and looks forward to playing a positive role in exploring new styles of opera communication in the new era in the form of solo broadcast on video network platform and online and offline digital record sharing.” Zhou Liping said.
Editor in Charge: Zhang Ling