To be honest, before watching "Confucius", I was not very optimistic about this movie. The reason is also very simple, because things about Confucius are not easy to photograph, and although the evaluation of Confucius is now very mainstream and positive, after all, there are many deeds of Confucius. Director Hu Mei may be thankless this time.
The box office of "Confucius" is not very good. Although all aspects are supporting this "epic blockbuster", and even national major stations such as CCTV report it on the two-night "News Network", but from the actual theater. Judging from the situation, it is unlikely that "Confucius" will win "Avatar". The optimistic estimate is about 100 million, but what it will look like in the end depends on what the relevant parties say. In this country, it is hard to say about numbers, and the key depends on "needs".
In his day, Confucius was actually unwilling, the so-called panic was like a lost dog. When Lin criticized Confucius in the 1970s, the mainstream view at that time said that the reason why Confucius was unwilling was because his ideas were not compatible with the social status quo at that time. This view is not absolutely unreasonable, after all, in the society of the Spring and Autumn Period. During the transition period, Confucius, who had restrained himself and restored rituals, was probably a bit outdated, otherwise he would not have been an official for dozens of days and then let others be dismissed.
The mainstreaming of Confucius probably started when Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han Dynasty fooled Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to “dispose of a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism”. Since then, Confucianism has become the official philosophy and the theoretical basis for the emperor Laozi to rule the world. The so-called "Taoism". When I went to Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty, he recorded such a couplet in "Zhu Ziyu Lei", saying that "the sky does not give birth to Zhongni, and eternity is like a long night." ", we can see that this is Zhu Xi's transcription of what others saw, - "Tang Zixi tasted this sentence in the beam of a postal pavilion".
The establishment of the orthodox status of Confucianism and Confucianism was actually due to the political needs of the ruling class. Although Confucius gradually evolved from a bereaved dog to the most saintly teacher in Dacheng, until King Wenxuan of Dacheng, from a master to a sage of all generations , but fundamentally speaking, it is probably because of the needs of "outer saints and inner kings".
Of course, we must admit that for more than two thousand years, Confucius and Confucianism represented by him have become the center of Chinese culture. Mr. Liu Yizheng said in his book "The History of Chinese Culture", which was hailed by academic circles as "the pioneering work of cultural history", "Confucius is the center of Chinese culture. Without Confucius, there would be no Chinese culture. The culture of thousands of years before Confucius was passed on by Confucius; the culture of thousands of years after Confucius was developed by Confucius.” Although it is a family's words, it is not far from the truth.
Going far, let's go back to the movie "Confucius".
It is said that Hu Mei originally wanted to make a TV series when she filmed "Confucius", but her original intention of filming "Confucius" was because "no one has ever filmed Confucius." This statement comes from an article in "Xinmin Weekly". I am afraid to correct Director Hu's statement here. As early as 1990, director Zhang Xinjian of Shandong TV made a TV series "Confucius". In that "Confucius" Wang Huichun, who plays Confucius, is playing the role of Lu Ho, a doctor of the state of Qi, in Director Hu's film version of "Confucius".
The movie "Confucius" should be regarded as a well-made commercial film, but if it has to be elevated to the level of "epic", it is a bit reluctant. Where is the problem? The answer is simple. Like most Chinese films, Director Hu's "Confucius" is also a script problem.
When Li Yu of the Qing Dynasty discussed the issue of drama creation, he talked about "structure first", and he also talked about the principles of "establishing the main brain", "getting out of the way", "dense needle thread", "reducing the thread" and so on. It should be said that these opinions of Li Yu is quite reasonable. If you look at these creative principles, Confucius is somewhat of a failure. The first half of "Confucius" has a strong dramatic conflict, while the so-called "prose culture" in the second half makes the whole film look different. In fact, the so-called "prose culture" in the second half is probably because the editors and directors don't know what to do with Confucius' "walking the back". As a result, the whole movie shows the inconsistency of the style before and after, the first half is legendary, and the second half is literary.
It is worth noting that Director Hu originally wanted to use Confucius to make a TV series. When a TV series was compressed into a two-hour movie, it was obvious that Director Hu was somewhat stretched. After all, the length of the TV series and the way of watching determine that many stories and details can be arranged as much as possible, while the length and way of watching the movie determine that the story should be concentrated and the details should be compact. For the life of Confucius aged 52-73, it is really difficult to focus on one movie. Therefore, we can only see such a "Confucius" with different styles before and after.
Personally, I think that when photographing Confucius, not only his experience should be photographed, but also the evaluation of Confucius, or the mainstream, or the words of a family. Director Hu's "Confucius" narrative can be said to be comprehensive, from Confucius's official career to traveling around the world, from Zijian Nanzi to Chen Cai's lack of food, but unfortunately, Hu Dao and her creative team are obviously prepared on how to evaluate Confucius. Inadequate, or lack of knowledge. Therefore, we can only see that Confucius is like Confucius, and we know it and don't know why. And the particularity of Confucius made the writers and directors unable and afraid to let go of the script. Thus, "Confucius" has become a simple declarative sentence as it is now.
Of course, a simple declarative sentence also has the advantage of a simple declarative sentence. The advantage is that it at least allows the masses of the people who have been deceived by Dan's "Analects of Confucius" to know some of the facts of Confucius' deeds.
Cinema is the art of regret. I have no doubts about the sincerity and professional quality of director Hu Mei. You can make an "epic blockbuster", but you can't stop us from seeing it as a commercial film, and you can't force us to cry when we watch "Confucius" No, of course, you have to allow us to laugh, especially when Fage saw Zhou Xun talking about "The Book of Songs" "sounding affection without evil thoughts". And more importantly, as a child, you can praise your child as a flower, but you also have to allow us to say that he is not good-looking.
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