Dance drama film "The Eternal Wave": The story of heroes will continue to be told
After the world premiere of the opening film of the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival, the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave" will be officially released at the National Art Federation on June 18. On the afternoon of the 16th, a film art seminar was held at the Art Hall. While the seminar was going on, the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe was performing the 618th performance of the dance drama "The Eternal Wave" for the audience at the Beijing Poly Theater.
"This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The release of the film is not only a tribute to the martyrs who dedicated their youth and blood, but also expresses the sincerity of the dance drama film's creative team to empower innovation and expand the influence of the red 'radio wave' IP." Wang Yan, director of the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe, said. The "radio wave" spirit will never fade away, and it is the red mark of Shanghai, the "glorious city".
On May 27, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Shanghai, as the only municipal-level key film project in the "Art Film and Television" section of the "Glorious City" 2024 Shanghai Red Culture Season, the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave" held a "tribute" viewing event at the Shanghai Majestic Theater. On the evening of June 15, the "Radio Wave" crew walked on the red carpet of the Golden Goblet Festival again. Participating in the Shanghai International Film Festival as a dancer, the lead actress Zhu Jiejing will never forget the excitement of that moment, "Wearing carefully selected dresses and not-so-appropriate high heels, we walked with so many film and television stars."
Stills from the dance film "The Eternal Wave"
The birth of the dance drama film "Eternal Waves" can be said to be a process from film to stage and back to film. The story of "Electric Waves" takes place in Shanghai. In the early morning of December 30, 1948, Li Bai, an underground intelligence worker of our party who was unfortunately arrested, sent a telegram saying "Comrades, goodbye!", which showed his fearless spirit of defending his ideals and beliefs with his life. On May 7, 1949, Li Bai was secretly killed by Kuomintang spies in Pudong, Shanghai, at the age of 39. 20 days later, Shanghai was declared liberated.
The deeds of the martyr Li Bai have been adapted into literary and artistic works many times. Among them, the 1958 film "The Eternal Waves" starring Sun Daolin has become a masterpiece of Chinese film history with extremely wide influence. In 2018, the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe created a dance drama of the same name, which has been performed for more than 600 times and has become a well-known red cultural IP in Shanghai. Zheng Dasheng directed the dance drama of the same name, and the story of "The Eternal Waves" was once again expressed in a new way.
In Zhu Jiejing's view, the transition from dance drama to the big screen is an attempt to create something from scratch. "When I first knew that the dance drama was going to be made into a movie, my first reaction was 'is it possible?' I am sitting here today because we have made an impossible thing possible." She said that when filming a movie as a dancer, the director required that it be life-like. "Picking vegetables, listening to the radio, I felt that 'life' was difficult during the filming process. Shanghai has given great tolerance, creativity and possibilities to artistic creation. From the perspective of the city of Shanghai, we have made a great artistic exploration and collision."
Director Zheng Dasheng did not speak much at the seminar. Most of the time, he chose to hold his chin and listen carefully to the comments of experts, scholars and audiences on this dance drama film. "We are just shooting in the way we think is possible, and hope to hear everyone's corrections," he said.
Under the director's creativity, the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave" not only retains the main presentation of the stage performance, but also takes place at the Chedun Film and Television Base, uses an LED virtual studio, selects the real scene of the Shanghai International Dance Center theater, and the rehearsal hall environment. It also fully applies Dolby Atmos, 4K ultra-high definition, MOCO, telescopic cannon, LED virtual photography and other technologies, thereby interweaving the story between "reality" and "virtualness" and laying it out in an innovative way.
"This dance drama film is a masterpiece and an innovative work of Shanghai's mainstream films in recent years." Liu Haibo, president of the Shanghai Film Critics Society and professor of the Shanghai University Film Academy, believes that the film is so touching because of the touching deeds of revolutionary predecessors, the film innovations of the first generation of filmmakers in 1958, and the dance drama adaptation by artists of the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe. "It is both an artistic baton and a red spirit baton. The dance drama film breaks the boundaries between the virtual and the real, the boundaries between the stage and the audience, the boundaries between actors and roles, and the boundaries between the past and the present, and captures and emphasizes a large number of details."
Li Jianqiang, vice president of the Chinese Film Critics Society and professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has watched the movie twice. In the two viewings, he saw the romance and freedom of the dance drama movie, as well as the vitality of youth, the red memory, the flavor of the alley, and the family atmosphere. "The movie has given a new interpretation to this red classic, with gorgeous colors, beautiful solo and duet dances, and a good integration of light and shadow art and stage art, fully releasing the energy of traditional Chinese aesthetics, and also fully exploring the potential and potential of the dance drama. The dance drama movie has enriched the ecology of Chinese films in the new era with extraordinary practice, and enhanced the imagination and creativity of Chinese films."
This was perhaps the most heated discussion at the seminar. At the scene, scholars and experts frequently "grabbed the microphone" and spoke enthusiastically, and the bell rang continuously - this was to remind everyone not to exceed the time limit when speaking. Perhaps this can reflect the recognition of this group of professional movie audiences for the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave".
"I have studied movies all my life and have watched about 12,000 movies. This movie is difficult to define so far. It is very different from previous dance dramas. It is a brand-new movie style and style." Rao Shuguang, president of the Chinese Film Critics Society and former secretary-general of the China Film Association, believes that under the background of AIGC, movies are being reborn. "In such an era of racing against high technology, Chinese directors should have a sense of cultural and aesthetic awareness and create more innovative and expressive works. In the race of world cinema, we must have the confidence to run ahead and promote the sustainable and high-quality development of Chinese films, and move from a big country to a strong country."
Ren Zhonglun, vice chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles and former chairman of the Shanghai Film Association, believes that the current discussion of the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave" may need to be placed on a more important scale to think about the Chinese significance and Chinese value of the "Shanghai theme". In recent years, the "Shanghai theme" has achieved great success. Literary works include "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" by writer Sun Ganlu, and film and television works include "Love Mythology" starring Xu Zheng, Ma Yili and others, and "Flowers" directed by Wong Kar-wai; the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave" has added strength to the "Shanghai theme". "In recent years, Shanghai themes have made breakthroughs one after another and have had a national influence. "The Wave" successfully combines dance drama and film, and the double charm has been doubled and achieved double success."
Experts at the meeting believed that after the release of the dance drama film, it should be further expanded to colleges and universities, young people and other groups to expand the influence of this red IP. Xi Meijuan, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, recalled that she had taken on a TV series with the same theme, in which she played a mother. "Classic works deserve to be reinterpreted and performed by generations of artists. At the same time, the acceptance of contemporary young people to the reappearance of classics is also a topic worth exploring." "It is recommended to promote "Radio Waves" into colleges and universities, and make it a part of ideological and political courses, a corresponding video teaching material. The development of post-movie products is also worthy of attention, and the subsequent effects should be magnified." Li Zhenlin, vice chairman of the Shanghai Critics Association and dean of the Film School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, suggested.
"This dance drama film is a multiple text. Today is not the end, nor the coda." In the view of Sun Ganlu, vice chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles and vice chairman of the Shanghai Writers Association, "From the perspective of the red theme, Shanghai's history, and the transformation of different artistic styles, it is not a single-level narrative. Its value lies in the continuous telling and reshaping, and the uninterrupted passing on of this history, which in itself is a demonstration." For the main creative team and more successors, the story of heroes, "The Eternal Waves," will continue to be told.
