His work on the same topic in my mind is a performance art that surpasses "The Long Season". After talking to this director, I talked about Moses on the Plain | Time | Director

"The story can be simple, but the emotional expression outside the story must be strong enough."

As a judge for the short film unit of this year's Shanghai Film Festival, director Zhang Dalei of "Moses on the Plain" made an appearance in Shanghai.

"Moses on the Plain" is adapted from the novel of the same name by Shuang Xuetao, telling the story of the two families, Zhuang Shu and Li Fei, who used to be close friends and embarked on different paths in the context of state-owned enterprise reform; Zhuang Shu, who grew up as a police officer, was investigating an old case where a police officer was murdered 7 years ago when he discovered that the suspect was actually Li Fei's father and daughter, and he himself became a participant in the case without realizing it.

Did you smell the familiar recipe?

Taking the reform of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s as the background and suspenseful cases as the starting point, I have mentioned "Moses on the Plain" in both "The Long Season" and "Thirteen Years of Dust" in the past, but have never written it separately.

It's not because I don't like it, but because I like it too much.

"Moses on the Plain" has a Douban rating of 7.7, slightly lower than the other two. But in my heart, "Moses on the Plain" is even better than "The Long Season".

Compared to the almost unanimous praise for "The Long Season," "Moses on the Plain" has a polarized reputation: those who love it believe it is a "strong emotion under the plain Eastern flavor," while those who dislike it say it "even tells the story in a vague way." This divergence almost appears in every of Zhang Dalei's few works.

On Douban, there are vastly different evaluations of this drama

If "Thirteen Years of Dust Sealing" is a neat, exquisite, and highly completed TV drama, then the other two can be included in the art category.

"The Long Season" is like a magnificent and eerie psychedelic rock, with a surface full of excitement. After being touched, it feels even more irresistible, but the aftertaste is exhausted; At first glance, "Moses on the Plain" appears to be a quiet and peaceful classical art, slowly unfolding in a contemplative and soothing manner. However, after a long time, the audience realizes that they have been trapped in it, both bystanders and participants, working together to complete a performance art.

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When writing "Thirteen Years of Dust" and "The Long Season," I have praised both dramas for their high degree of reproduction.

However, in my heart, the highest degree of restoration is none other than Moses on the Plain.

In the other two dramas, I was able to quickly distinguish between the iconic objects of specific eras and the explicit and meaningful lines, such as the decorations and plaques in "The Long Season" and the exclamation of "TV factory turning into mobile phone factory" in "Thirteen Years of Dust".

But in Moses on the Plain, it is difficult to identify such typical props, scenes, or lines.

The restoration of this drama is a comprehensive restoration, an atmosphere like feeling, and an immersive experience for the audience.

This experience comes not only from clothing and props, but also from the all-round contrast of lenses, lighting, and sound effects. It is the creator's precise reproduction of historical images, thus calling for the audience's deep memory——

This experience is like Fu Dong walking in a floral dress in a park shaded by green trees and overgrown with weeds, the greasy hair that Zhuang Dezeng needs to constantly lift with his hands on his forehead, the children searching for unburned firecrackers in the red debris in front of the wedding door, and the groups of children running and playing in the courtyard at night.

How many post-80s generations have done things like pulling firecrackers in the debris

Zhang Dalei does not hesitate to say that these recurring images are his own experiences and an important part of childhood that cannot be erased from his memory. "Of course, I want to capture them. This is the source of inspiration."

This extremely lifelike experience can inadvertently touch the audience's memory.

The most touching scene for me personally is when Zhuang Shu went to search for his friend Li Fei when he was a child, only to find that his friend's house was empty.

The camera follows the back of the small tree and enters the alleyway of the family area. The small pointed hair of the young boy gathered under the back of his head, the red and black AC Milan jersey, and the calm gait all indicate that the conditions of the Koki family are not bad.

Through the long shadows, he opened the door of his friend's house, and the sunlight fell on the yard, while the trees in the center had withered. All the items inside the house have been emptied, and the half person high green protective wall paint has been mottled.

The camera slowly pans to a freeze frame, and in the shadow cast by the sunlight in the room, the small tree paced back and forth, exploring its familiar and unfamiliar environment, revealing a bewildered and slightly disgusted expression. Then, just like when I used to play with Li Fei, I lit the matches and blew them out in silence.

How many people regret the loss of their best friend in life

This scene reminds me of the last time I searched for a good classmate in elementary school. His family lives in a bungalow by the edge of the fortress. At that time, there were no classes on Saturdays and afternoons. I would stand on the path above and call out his name, each with one yuan, to buy snacks filled with small toys. But after two attempts, he didn't bring any money and just watched me buy. Later on, I went to find him, but no one answered. I walked to the door and opened it with just a touch. The room was empty, and the sunlight reflected the window frames on the bumpy ground, while the newspaper pasted on the wall was soaked in oil. I looked around and walked out of the door with a sense of melancholy, like we used to stand side by side on the fortress, throwing a few stones into the distance.

Seeing this scene, I unconsciously think of that Saturday afternoon. Although there is nothing in common, even the dust bouncing up in the sunlight and the cicadas chirping outside the house seem to be the same.

Memory is actually an emotion filtered by time.

Compared to the precision and emphasis on time in Thirteen Years of Dust and the Long Season, the time in Moses on the Plain is vague. Not only is time blurred, but even the clear regions in the original work are not emphasized in the play.

Zhang Dalei said of this handling technique, "Of course, the director intentionally does this for his own work.". He hopes that everyone will not pay attention to these, but instead focus on the work itself. "I am lyrical, and emotions should not be limited by geography or other factors. If I emphasize these, the audience will definitely have a preconceived understanding when accepting them and be affected."

So "Moses on the Plain" can be portrayed in the Northeast by Shuang Xuetao, or in Inner Mongolia, the hometown of Zhang Dalei. However, as a child growing up in the southwestern mountainous area, I still have feelings of concern.

Zhang Dalei said, "Perhaps it's because there is a common emotion among everyone inside. It's not related to the region, it's just the texture of life itself, and people will feel similar or familiar."

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To create an atmosphere that triggers the audience's memory, "Moses on the Plain" uses a lot of space to describe daily life, and the camera often follows the actors all the way, one shot at a time.

I understand that this approach will cause some viewers to feel troubled, and it is also one of the main negative reviews that this drama has encountered, which is "too many useless shots".

The camera follows the young Zhuang tree all the way through the alley, crossing the sunshine and darkness, like us peeking into our childhood selves

For example, when Zhuang Shu grew up in a tutoring class, the camera slowly moved through the classroom, sleeping, distracted, pushing and playing, and flying scraps of paper in the air. It wasn't until Zhuang Shu's decadent and tired face by the window froze for a long time that it had some effect on advancing the plot: his pager rang. The teacher only said "turn it off" and continued to lecture on his own.

It took a total of 2 minutes from the beginning of the class to Zhuang Shu walking out of the classroom. If the camera was just to advance the plot, a few seconds would be more than enough.

However, it was in this long shot that I almost empathized with Zhuang Shu's despair and exhaustion towards the current situation: failure in the middle school entrance exam, family discord, no one in the tutoring class wanting to learn, and the teacher simply completing the task according to the book - a feeling of depression that arose from the old age.

As a short film judge, Zhang Dalei believes that short films and short videos are "not the same thing" and "short videos have stronger functionality". In his shots, "functionality" often gives way to emotional expression.

For example, his short film "Half of the Afternoon" was only 24 minutes long, but the first scene of chatting in the car alone took nearly 2.5 minutes. Li Xuejian's grandfather, played by Li Xuejian, spent at least 15 seconds slapping his face while sleeping - it was these calm language shots that captured that "useless" Eastern meaning.

The lens of Fu Dongxin reading in the workshop has an oil painting like texture

Whether or not the audience likes this drama, they cannot deny that the scenes in "Moses on the Plain" do have a classical oil painting like beauty.

Fu Dongxin was reading on the floor of the production workshop, with a dark blue work outfit and a dark green background, a huge burlap bag integrated seamlessly. The white hat on his head was in the center of the picture, always reminding me of Jean Fran ç ois Miller's "The Picker";

After the first taxi robbery and murder, the sky shattering flames were reflected in the nearby water, while the distant railway bridge and floating clouds in the sky seemed like landscape paintings left behind from the period of literary and artistic review during the grand tour.

However, behind this seemingly calm and composed beauty lies the helplessness and ruthless malice of fate. Silence and movement, both beautiful and sad, create a silent power.

I asked Zhang Dalei how he evaluated his fans and said that he saw Hou Xiaoxian's tone in "Moses on the Plain". He did not hesitate to say that he was influenced, "Not only by Hou Xiaoxian, but also by many Chinese directors from Fei Mu to Jia Zhangke, who constructed the seemingly plain beauty of the East."

Most of these seemingly casual shots feature background ambient sound, some of which even overshadow the actor's lines - something that some viewers find difficult to accept.

But some voices are hinting at the plot.

After the first case in the drama and the murder of the brewery director Liang Zhihai and his wife, Little Li Fei was doing household chores alone at home, with the background sound of news about the case broadcast on the TV, accompanied by the hoarse chirping of insects.

The sensible child walked lightly, her voice completely giving way to the background sound, hinting at her future destiny.

There are also some particularly eye-catching voices that break the "fourth wall" to link the emotions of the characters and the audience.

Zhuang Shu's predecessor Zhao Xiaodong went to his ex-wife's place to pick up his daughter for a buffet, attempting to reconcile with her. The whole plot frames the scene at the entrance of the residential area with a telephoto camera. The character's facial expressions are not only difficult to see, but even the dialogue lines are very blurry. What is particularly clear is the watermelon selling voice that is amplified by a small loudspeaker outside the camera: "Selling watermelons, the last plate of watermelons, you can't eat them without buying them!"

This voice is rapid and noisy, monotonous and repetitive, making the audience feel extremely annoyed - isn't it just like the inner thoughts of the three characters in the camera at this moment?

The sound of "selling watermelons" in this dispute scene was very loud, and the audience became a true "melon eating crowd"

Zhang Dalei, who has formed a rock band, couldn't have not carefully designed his voice. In his past works, such as the movie "August", sound has been included as the main element in literary descriptions. He even laid out the sound on the editing timeline first, "If I can't do a good sound in a space, I have no sense of space. Without a sense of space, I can't determine the order of the picture, or the length and rhythm of the picture."

Zhang Dalei said that he is very sensitive to sound, and sound can also play a particularly important role, not only in alignment and realism, but also in a lot of information.

Although it is an online drama, he still values artistry and hopes to be screened in cinemas. "If shown in a cinema, the amount of information can be transmitted between 85% and 90%, but on the platform it may only be around 75%."

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Similarly, telling stories that transcend time, "Thirteen Years of Dust Sealing" runs in parallel, while "The Long Season" unfolds in three lines with flashbacks and interludes. Between the interweaving of time and space, the changes of the times are expressed in a heart wrenching manner.

But "Moses on the Plain" appears almost clumsy in its honesty, returning to simplicity and strictly following the timeline, giving the entire series a rustic feel similar to that of a documentary.

However, the story of Moses on the Plain is considered by the audience to be the most obscure and difficult to understand in several TV series.

"Difficult to understand" is indeed due to the fact that some key plot points in the drama are still "straightforward" and adopt an "objective" perspective similar to that of a documentary.

For example, in the climax of the drama, Li Fei's father snatches a gun and kills the captain of the criminal police, Jiang Bufan.

In order to arrest the culprit of the taxi robbery, Jiang Bufan disguised himself as a taxi driver and strolled on the street, coincidentally pulling in Li Fei and his father who were claimed to be feeling unwell.

Driving to a remote location, two adults got off the car and then had a dispute, rolling down the mountain slope.

At this moment, a runaway truck overturned the taxi where Li Fei was located, and gunshots were heard immediately.

Not long after, Li's father ran back to the taxi, rescued Li Fei, and ran away holding him. The taxi immediately caught fire, and Jiang Bufan had fallen into a pool of blood.

Except for a few mid scenes where Li's father saved his daughter, the rest are all long shots.

The audience cannot see the fight between the two clearly, nor do they know what exactly happened between them.

This is a "fight scene"

I found Shuang Xuetao's original work and only then did I realize that there was a crucial plot that was not shown here: the murderer of the taxi case had a habit of killing and burning cars, and Jiang Bufan believed that the suspect would carry gasoline with him. Coincidentally, on that day, Li Fei made an appointment with Zhuang Shu. She wanted to light a fireworks for him, and there was gasoline in her backpack. In the original work, there was also a tense probing conversation between the two sides, and it was only after being stimulated that Li's father finally resorted to taking a gun and killing someone.

This may be due to the long-standing controversy in film and television adaptations of novels: should all the storylines be explained through images?

I once said that movies and TV shows that do not explain the plot through the lens are cheating. But in Moses on the Plain, there is a different feeling.

In this supposed climax scene, when the vehicle caught fire, the camera was placed at a street gap. As an audience member, I seem to be standing across the street, unconsciously watching this event.

The scene of this climax is like watching the fire from across the shore, and I really don't know what happened for a moment

As a bystander, I can only find answers through other means, such as searching for the original work or communicating with netizens.

At this moment, it seems like I really became a part of the play.

There is more than one aspect to this sense of participation.

Another thing that puzzled me in the drama was the relationship between Zhuang Shu's parents.

Although Zhuang Dezeng is a common person, he has a strong ability to adapt to society, so he can always preserve the wealth and dignity of his family in the process of social change.

Even after Fu Dongxin insisted on moving back to his mother's house, Zhuang Dezeng, who was wealthy, idle, and tacky, did not find a mistress. Instead, he persisted in futile attempts to communicate with his wife and children.

Zhuang Dezeng is truly concerned about his wife and children, and he is also the first person to realize that "reform is also an opportunity, if you don't advance, you will retreat."

When I saw Zhuang Dezeng walking out of the dance hall in a lonely manner, my inner question was like that of a third aunt who worries about family and family matters: Although Zhuang Dezeng is vulgar, he is really good to his wife and children; Although Fu Dongxin expressed his demands as a "literary and artistic youth" before marriage, he couldn't do it like this.

After flipping through the original work, it turned out to be another story that had not been filmed: Fu Dongxin's father was once disabled by Zhuang Decheng, who participated in martial arts when he was young. It was only after marriage that Fu Dongxin learned about this past story; And Zhuang De's first bucket of gold came from Fu Dongxin's investment in Yunnan Cigarette Factory with a tobacco label based on Li Fei.

So while discussing the plot with netizens, I tirelessly popularized this "secret story" to them. Suddenly, I realized that I had truly become the third aunt and sixth wife in the drama, constantly gossiping about other people's private matters that I didn't want to disclose.

Is it intentional or unintentional for viewers to become actors in a play?

"The plot of the shoot is not real, what I need is a feeling of 'understanding', that is, 'understanding everything', not so full and solid." Zhang Dalei just emphasized his indifference to the 'story', "Film and television narrative is just a foundation, and more importantly, the taste of time and space, as well as the connection and emotional tension between people."

Outer One

Not long ago, rapper Dong Baoshi, who played Zhuang Dezeng, brought a song called "Elevator God of War" to "China Rap Summit 2023" and used his own strength to diss all rappers. According to hot searches, he sings once a year and leaves after cursing.

There is a line in the lyrics that reads "Your parents are watching iQiyi play my TV drama", and the barrage recommends "Moses on the Plain".

The rap singer who hates heaven and earth has become a businessman who follows the trend, and Zhuang Dezeng has made me always have a filter for Dong Baoshi.

"Moses on the Plain" is one of the few dramas by rapper Dong Baoshi

When Zhang Dalei talked about this non professional actor, he also supported his face and smiled, "Uncle really, really..."

I am afraid that he will use vulgar language in front of CCTV to express his appreciation.

He, who is accustomed to collaborating with amateur actors, also collaborates with more and more professional performers as his works become popular, from Haiqing to Zhou Xun, and then to Wang Yibo, who has high traffic and constant controversy.

"I found that these professional actors actually have a side of being ordinary people. We have to put them in the positions of fame and fortune, celebrities... Actually, I think they are all pretty good." Zhang Dalei, wearing a self printed "Loser" T-shirt and passionate about "anti celebrity, anti elite" Grunge rock, covered his face and tilted his head to one side, "fame and fortune have nothing to do with me."

"The fame and fortune market has nothing to do with me"