Opening up a New Path for Traditional Chinese Opera Movies and Creating a New Scenery for Peking Opera Movies by Teng Junjie | Movies | Peking Opera

In China, perhaps due to fate, Peking Opera and movies have a symbiotic relationship. It's not surprising that as a new development in technology and art, how can movies enter China without the popular art of Peking Opera? So, the origin of Peking Opera in Chinese cinema and the creation and inheritance of Peking Opera in cinema naturally became a common theme in the history of Chinese cinema and Peking Opera. The author of the book "Salute and Progress: Introduction to New Beijing Opera Film Creation", Mr. Teng Junjie, is precisely the film director and artist who has left a strong impression in the history of Chinese cinema and Beijing opera film production over the past century. His more than ten years of exploration and creation in Peking Opera films have not only directed many excellent Peking Opera films, but also opened up new paths for traditional Chinese opera films and created a new landscape for contemporary Peking Opera films.

"Leading the race between ancient Beijing opera and the times"

Teng Junjie's practice not only continues the achievements of predecessors in Beijing Opera film art, but also has many advanced and innovative ideas derived from the inspiration of the times and personal aesthetic creativity. I admire him not only for his courage to practice, but also for his ability to think. His distinct pursuit is to capture the beauty of Beijing Opera's melodies and movements, while also possessing the logical characteristics and refreshing qualities of contemporary cinema. This establishes the aesthetic character of his director's works and the timeless and fresh appeal of Beijing Opera. Appreciating director Teng Junjie's films brings me a sense of emotional and visual novelty, and can always enhance and inspire our sense of urgency on how to move forward and break through Beijing Opera films in the current era where audience aesthetic needs and film technology are most active. This allows me to think about how Beijing Opera and films can be released in the combination of aesthetic expression of personality and sense of the times. Therefore, in my heart, Teng Junjie is an innovative model who steadfastly leads the race of ancient Peking Opera with the times, allowing traditional culture to run alongside the audience. He is a scholarly film director and artist. For each work, Teng Junjie has a deep theoretical thinking, and his theory of Peking Opera films resonates with the development of films, the future of Peking Opera, and especially how to maximize the artistic and contemporary effects of films. His repeated theoretical summaries on the basis of filming practice have greatly inspired me and also helped me find the reasons why he has repeatedly succeeded and always provided important insights for the future development of Peking Opera films.

"The taste of Peking Opera remains strong, and the aesthetic of movies is rich."

Due to his pragmatic and wise understanding of the significance of filming Peking Opera films, Teng Junjie's journey in filming Peking Opera films was particularly solid. He deeply realized that "how to guard the homeland of national essence and develop Peking Opera? How to attract more audiences and continue the cultural heritage? This is a must answer question that all Peking Opera people and those who love Peking Opera cannot avoid.". Therefore, we can tirelessly pursue the combination of the most outstanding generation of Chinese opera elites and the latest film technology that is most appealing to audiences, and meticulously produce and disseminate Peking Opera in a matrix style. Supported by such a creative philosophy, every film directed by Teng Junjie selects the most representative of Chinese aesthetics and spirit in Peking Opera dramas, and the artists who lead Peking Opera are among the top Peking Opera masters and young and middle-aged leaders in various regions of China. This ensures strong support, timeless charm, future influence, and retained value for the content and artistic effects of Peking Opera. So, based on this concept and creative subject, Teng Junjie's Peking Opera films can achieve a seamless integration between Peking Opera and film, creation and inheritance, antiquity and youth, technique and temperature, stage and screen, and other aspects. Fortunately, I have almost watched all of his creations, and his film expression is rarely in conflict with the aesthetic of traditional Chinese opera. Difficulties such as actors, genres, and programs that were difficult to overcome in film performance in the past are almost always explained in the storytelling of director Teng Junjie's films, allowing the plot and emotions to focus and refine, sublimating the appeal and infectiousness that both fans and fans can accept, and generating emotional resonance, even falling in love with traditional Beijing opera culture. Whether it's "Farewell My Concubine", "Chasing Han Xin under the Moonlight of Xiao He", "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu", "Zhenguan Shengshi", "Capturing and Releasing Cao", etc., all have such wonderful effects. And its latest director's "Lock Lin Bag" is also worth looking forward to. Focusing on the storytelling effect is something that impresses me deeply in every film directed by Teng Junjie, and it is also an important personality characteristic of his Peking Opera films. Due to work, I have had the privilege of going through all the stages of selecting, editing, and reviewing film samples for almost every of his works. Teng Junjie always pays attention to the cinematic advancement of literature and performance in the process of transforming Peking Opera repertoire into movie stories, especially in the aspect of approaching the theatrical nature of film art. He is skilled at integrating and finding the best way of storytelling from the beginning of story creation, and distinguishing himself from the original style of the stage. However, in expressing himself in movies, he does not deviate from the artistic achievements of Peking Opera and the highlights of actor performances. That is to say, when Peking Opera and movies are ultimately transformed into Peking Opera films, they will blend together and complement each other. Because he deeply realized that the most powerful function of a movie is the visual narrative ability of the lens. He believes that "stage opera art is also known for its storytelling, but due to the limitations of the stage, narrative space is often fully utilized while also creating some limitations. The richness of space and smoothness of imagery in film storytelling can precisely compensate for these limitations, thereby reducing certain limitations of the stage with a rhythmic sense, allowing the audience to more intuitively and accurately understand the plot implications contained in opera works.". Guided by this kind of thinking, the films directed by Teng Junjie, although heavily reliant on Beijing opera scenes, techniques to enhance the subject's perspective, and emotio

"Entering the Eyes of Young Viewers"

In addition, Teng Junjie's ability to apply the latest technological means to the filming of Peking Opera films is also a major feature of his films. Whether it is the precise use of 3D live shooting, panoramic sound technology, or the most ultra high-definition 8K technology in movies at present, these are all courageous explorations to expand the visual and auditory Xintiandi of Peking Opera performance, and also a useful attempt to make Peking Opera movies enter the vision of young viewers and into the contemporary cinema line. I believe that Teng Junjie's exploration will not only promote the development of the creative concept of Peking Opera films, but also give Peking Opera films a more important place in international cultural exchanges. In this work, many articles record Teng Junjie's thoughts in this regard, which also have great value for reading and inspiration. I am honored to have the trust of Teng Junjie in writing the preface for his new work. The above superficial views may not be without fallacy, but they are my understanding of Teng Junjie's artistic pursuit and admiration for his professionalism and creative talent during the filming process of multiple Peking Opera films that I have shared with him over the years. I believe that Teng Junjie's creation of Peking Opera films will definitely become one of the exciting chapters in the history of contemporary Chinese opera films; His Peking Opera films will also become valuable records of the achievements and charm of Peking Opera art and famous Peking Opera masters in this era. In fact, as an artist, being able to make such contributions to the times, art, and tradition is highly worthy of respect and promotion. It's in order!

"Salute and Progress: Introduction to New Beijing Opera Film Creation" by Teng Junjie, published by Xuelin Publishing House