1. Weakness and Sternness
Su Tong's language style in "The Wives and Concubines" is delicate, and the scenery in his pen is poignant and beautiful. "The drizzle continued to fall in the garden, and the sound of broken jade splashed from the branches and leaves of the redbud and pomegranate trees." The servants squatted together and burned the leaves. A burnt smell flew away." Although it is also sad and decaying, it is also a feeling like being slowly swallowed, and everything is gradually withering. From the beginning to the end, "The Great" is just a chilling and stern story. Not only are the redbuds, pomegranates, chrysanthemums, and Persian cats all gone, there are basically no creatures other than humans, and even the main color is a bleak gray and white. There are many shots of the courtyard overlooking the courtyard, revealing a cramped and closed atmosphere. The sternness also includes downplaying the sympathy and empathy between Song Lian and Mei Shan. At the same time, the plot between Song Lian and Feipu is also simplified. The old-fashioned family and feudal ethics represented by the Chen family are represented by the four wives. The life style of women in the old society is like lying in a gloomy grave from the beginning, revealing the chill of Bianstone. There is no sign of anyone in this compound. If there are still people in "The Wife" who are struggling weakly and fighting beasts in decay. That "big" is the competition for favor, eroticism, strife, and viciousness that penetrated deep into the bone marrow from the very beginning, like a walking dead.
2. Song Lotus
There are many subtle changes in Songlian that deserve to be studied. At first her attitude towards marriage was different. "I don't have the cowardice and fear of ordinary girls", "Of course it's a wealthy family, so why not ask?", "What is the status? Is the status considered by people like me? Anyway, you sold it to me, you want it Taking into account my father's affection, will you sell me to a good family?" And "Da" is described as being forced to be the master. At the same time, the conflict with Yan'er and Mei Shan was intensified at the beginning. The scenes with Feipu viewing chrysanthemums, teaching the flute, and respectively are abridged or reduced. "I feel happy, tacit understanding", "It doesn't matter or is disappointed", "After Feipu left, I will be even more lonely in Chen's house", "You will not find anyone to talk to when you die", "There are many tender flowers in your heart. ", all disappeared. "Pseudo-pregnancy" is a completely new plot. It is estimated that one is to advance to "blocking the lights", and the other is that the reasons in the book are not very good to put on the screen. However, in my opinion, this is only an unsatisfactory change. In the original work, it is mentioned that "Chen Zuoqian is more infatuated with Songlian's enthusiasm and alertness on the bed" and "the little rabbits with countless desires are jumping under her skin". There are also many times when I am touched by the scenery, and I miss the old days. "At this time last year, I was still reading poems under the wisteria frame of the school." In fact, Mei Shan, like Song Lian, is lonely and unwilling to be lonely. To pursue herself, there is something strong in her body to break free. And Song Lian entered an old-fashioned family as a new woman and unconsciously became a victim. The movie has weakened this aspect. Although the saying "people are nothing" is still used, Songlian is still a lonely and not arrogant image, but it is more powerful to describe the complex relationship between characters in the compound, women in a patriarchal society. Intrigue, the oblivion of the female subject and the corruption of the old-fashioned family. The characters are not shown too clearly, even a few main characters. Chen Zuoqian has always been just a vague silhouette, and even called "Master", no name appeared. This is also evidence.
3. Zhang Yimou's voice and color
"Well" is a crucial image in the novel. In the movie, it was stripped of a functional part and turned into a "dead man's house". In the novel, Jing acts as a "some kind of inspiring voice" to seduce, catalyze, and perpetuate the tragic fate of women's marriage under the old system. This part appears as a "red lantern". Red lanterns have a strong visual impact as almost the only bright color in a film that is almost entirely gray. As a symbol of a patriarchal society and an old-fashioned family, red lanterns strung the whole film by lighting, extinguishing and sealing the lights. Feminine destiny is as fragile and delicate as the candle in a lantern, and it is in the hands of men. The same dazzling setting is "beating the foot". I watched a show last week that talked about how women's feet in ancient China were far more deeply sexual than their breasts. The example of "Jin Ping Mei" is also cited. The scene of foot-pounding, as well as the sound of foot-pounding appearing as a background sound, has a sexual implication, showing that all actions of women are unconsciously aimed at gaining male approval, and the value of women is completely controlled by men. The deformed ecology .
Neither The Wife nor The Great's deep social significance nor themes are the reasons for their great success. "The Wife"'s slender style of writing and deep and subtle characterization are the successes. But "Big" uses a very different tone, temperament and new imagery to achieve excellent artistic and story effects. However, personally, I still like the original novel.
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