The script for this new film has just been completed, and it is called "Journey to the East", which is the prototype of the later "Journey to the West". 1994 can be said to be the year when Zhao Jiping opened up international influence. He was quite favored by the film and television industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan. During the Spring Festival that year, Taiwan's "China Times" published an article called "The Moving Movement of China's New Movies", which made a very high-profile report on him.
In the past ten years, the new Chinese film soundtracks that have been internationally proud are almost all arranged by the Xi'an composer. His representative works include "The Great Military Parade", "The Yellow Earth", "Red Sorghum", "Old Well", "Chrysanthemum Dou", "The Big Red Lantern Hanging High", "Five Women and a Rope", "The Lawsuit of Qiu Ju" and the Farewell My Concubine, which won the Palme d'Or at the film festival and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Zhang Yimou, Zhao Jiping's old partner, said: "Zhao Jiping represents Chinese film music in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a milestone and a master of this period!
Zhao Jiping was born in Gansu in 1945 and studied composition at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music. In other words, his love and absorption of music are omnivorous, which makes him not limited to the existing ideology of Chinese music, and he is free and innovative in his creation. Zhao Jiping described the geographical environment in which he grew up: 'Xi'an, It is the lock and key of the Silk Road. One side is Chinese civilization, and the other side is the road to Europe." On the one hand, he has been immersed in Chinese folk music for many years, and on the other hand, he has learned and appreciated Western music since childhood. Zhao Jiping seems to have built a musical thread in his mind. Road, a fusion of national connotation and advanced musical language. His works are sometimes earthy, sometimes revealing techniques ranging from late romance, Impressionism to modern music.
His first film soundtrack was "Silk Road". Chen Kaige liked this work very much, and went to visit Zhao Jiping specially. The two talked very much, hit it off immediately, and now finalized the first work of cooperation - 1983's "The Yellow Earth People, Zhang Yimou was just a photographer at that time, and he also liked Zhao Jiping's music very much. He seized the opportunity to seize Zhao Jiping and said, "If I become a director in the future, you must carry the sedan chair for me." Sure enough, their 1987 collaboration "Red Sorghum" became an instant hit. Coincidentally, what Zhao Jiping is most proud of is the "Dianjiao" part of the heroine's marriage in the film. After Zhao Jiping got the book called "Journey to the East", he felt that it was a nonsense. The story is bizarre and lame, It was full of Hong Kong-style adjectives and interjections, which made people very uncomfortable. He read it for three days before reading it. In order to get a feeling, he went to visit the studio of the Western Film Studio, and what he saw was "The Bull Demon King's" The belly', huge interior, with some intestines, guts hanging on it, still very weird. The film is very different from the serious films he has made before. The Hong Kong side also brought him a melody of the theme song written by Lu Guanting for the film. Later, Zhao Jiping composed the whole film based on it. Zhao Jiping determined the theme of the music: reflecting the ultimate unity of human nature, interspersed with dissonances, such as goblin, war, disaster, etc. The sound is relatively rich, using Western instruments such as steel pipes, strings, woodwinds, etc., but considering that this is a costume play, he also added Erhu and Xiao to make it have a Chinese classical flavor, and at the same time pay more attention to the color of the music. It took him a month to complete all the soundtracks of "Dahua Eastward Journey" in a very relaxed state. The total length of the music is more than an hour. Subsequently, the piece was recorded by the Beijing Central Orchestra, conducted by Hu Bingxu, and recorded by his long-term collaborator Zhang Zhengdi.
The first batch of digital tapes were brought back to Hong Kong by Rolling Stones. Even if Zhao Jiping was successful and got a good salary, he didn't need to bother about the later work. Generally, according to the domestic way, the composer has to face the camera and compose the music according to the paragraph, but the habit of Hong Kong people is very simple. The composer writes several pieces of music, and then the director listens to the music and then uses it. .
This is a kind of soundtrack method for a TV series. Zhao Jiping, who is used to serious music, didn't have much expectations for this movie, and was naturally happy.
A few years have passed, and Zhao Jiping rarely writes such funny music in the future. When I interviewed him, he cheerfully told me that the Berlin Philharmonic would perform two of his works: Farewell My Concubine and The Sunbird, whose compositions belong to the category of gradual elegance and splendor. But it is undeniable that his rather atmospheric music adds artistic integrity to "Journey to the West". It's also strange that when Zhao Jiping was staying in a hotel on a business trip, he could always see "Journey to the West" on TV intermittently. He felt that the music in it, although not entirely faithful to his creation, was used cleverly. However, he always felt that it was an inexplicable movie, and the enthusiasm of young people surprised him.
Zhao Jiping's son doesn't see it that way. His son, Zhao Lin, is 26 years old and graduated from the composition department of the Central Conservatory of Music. He has composed music for several TV series with very high ratings, such as "April Day in the World" and "Mr. Liaozhai". Zhao Lin and a group of his friends like "Journey to the West" and feel that the music in it is easy to use. Sometimes, the master's game is also full of legends, which is a wonderful thing.
Zhao Jiping's main works:
1984 "Yellow Earth" (director: Chen Kaige Switzerland Lucano International Film Festival Silver Leopard Award, London International Film Awards)
1986 "Grand Parade" (director: Chen Kaige co-composed, won the special jury of Monterey International Film Festival Award)
"Heavenly Bodhisattva" (London Film Festival Best Film Award)
1987 "Red Sorghum" (Director: Zhang Yimou 8th Golden Rooster Award for Best Music Award, 38th Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear Award)
1990 "Judou" ( Director: Zhang Yimou and the SKA Award nomination for Best Outside Film)
1991 "Raise the Red Lantern" (Director: Zhang Yimou Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Award, Academy Award Nomination for Best Outside Film)
"Five Women and One The Rope (Director: Ye Hongwei Nantes Film Festival Best Film Award, Best Music Award
"Fire Gold Steel" (National Government Award)
1992 "Heart Fragrance" (Director: Sun Zhou National Government Award)
"The Case of Qiu Ju" (Director: Zhang Yimou Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Award, Best Actress Award)
"Farewell My Concubine" (Director: Chen Kaige Cancheng Film Festival Golden Palm Award)
1993 "Youth Without Regrets" (Director: Zhou Xiaowen)
" Cannon Strikes Double Lights" (Director: He Ping)
"Flower Shadow" (Director: Chen Kaige)
1995 "Westward Journey"
1997 TV series "Water Margin"
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