Why does the 1986 version of Journey to the West always dominate the screen classics and no one complains about it yet?

A photographer and a camera traveled across half of China, filming for 6 years and broadcasting for 31 years.

The 1986 version of "Journey to the West" can be said to be the best memory in many people's hearts, a classic among classics.

At that time, we were just obsessed with the majestic magical world and obsessed with the scenery in front of us, but we never cared about how it appeared.

It wasn’t until I grew up, stepped into society, understood human feelings, and understood the world, and then looked back at it that I realized how difficult it was.

I realized how much sweat was flowing behind that smile.

1

"Do you dare to film "Journey to the West"?"

"If you have money, you dare. Why not!"

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In this way, at a meeting of the Ministry of Literature and Art in 1981, the filming of "Journey to the West" was put on the agenda, and the director was Yang Jie.

And the first thing she faced was a mess.

The first is the issue of funding and manpower.

Due to ideological issues at the time, many leaders held an unsupportive attitude towards the filming of "Journey to the West", fearing that it would promote feudal superstition and not be able to shoulder their responsibilities.

Secondly, there is the problem of location. Due to lack of funds, many leaders said: "It is not easy to shoot locations. There are them all around Beijing. You can choose any place you want and you won't be able to finish them all in one day."

How is this possible? No compromise.

Director Yang Jie saved a classic with her stubbornness.

Then in the next period of time, she visited major theaters in the country to select roles, and when everything was done.

In 1982, the filming of "Journey to the West" officially started.

2

It can be said that the difficulty of filming the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" is really no less than that of "Journey to the West".

However, due to limited funds, the leading actors and even the production director played multiple roles in the play. I wonder if you can recognize it when you look back now.

At that time, Chi Chongrui once played four roles: Tang Seng, the Dragon King of Jing in "The Kingdom of Demons", the civil servant of the Heavenly Court in "Four Explorations of the Bottomless Cave", and the Sha Seng in "Jade Huazhou".

Xu Shaohua also played three roles: Tang Seng, Tang Seng’s father Chen Guangrui, and the Dragon King of the East China Sea.

There are also Yan Huaili and Ma Dehua. In addition to playing their own roles, they also made guest appearances: Clairvoyant, Taishang Laojun, Dragon King of the West Sea, Monk, Mountain God, Bandit, Supervisor, etc.

The most surprising thing is the production director Li Hongchang, who plays as many as seven roles: fisherman, black tiger spirit, multi-eyed monster, centipede spirit, minister, businessman, and the guide to the Buddha. .

Although there are many characters in the entire "Journey to the West", if you do the math, there are actually only that few people.

With meager wages, they do many jobs and work hard without complaint. This is their persistence.

3

The road to filming has become the “road to learning”.

From north to south, from east to west, in order to find a scene that meets the requirements, the crew traveled more than half of China, visiting 26 provinces and cities.

During filming, the actors were in danger many times, and even director Yang Jie almost fell into the valley.

Since there is no way to achieve multi-camera shooting with one camera, I held the machine and climbed up and down, pitching and rolling.

In order to show the dizziness of Sun Wukong when the curse was recited, Sun Wukong was made to roll clockwise on the ground, while the photographer was carried and turned counterclockwise.

When filming the episode of the Yellow Robe Monster, for a shot of a rabbit running, the cameraman carried a machine and chased after the rabbit, and a group of assistants followed behind carrying monitors. In the end, it was just a blur. A fuzzy rabbit.

It is common for people to get injured when they are hanging Wiya, especially Sun Wukong, who once fell to the point of passing out.

On one occasion, a 170-pound sand monk fell from above and hit cameraman Wang Chongqiu on the head, causing him to fall into coma on the spot.

There is also the Barefoot Immortal, who fell into coma after spending too long in the smoke made from dry ice and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Even White Dragon Horse had a hard time.

However, these dangers are just the tip of the iceberg in the past six years.

All of this seems so crazy now.

They can put their lives at risk just to do their jobs well.

4

Time flies, and time flies by more than 30 years.

There is a saying that in the eyes of a thousand people, there are a thousand Hamlets, but the 86 version of "Journey to the West" may be an exception.

Because in our eyes, it is the only and irreplaceable existence.

The familiar melody and classic appearance are memories that will last a lifetime in our hearts.

Just like a question once asked on Zhihu: Why almost no one on the Internet complained about the 1986 version of "Journey to the West"?

There are many answers. In addition to likes, I think they are more tributes and hopes.

Pay tribute to those old artists, pay tribute to their dedication, pay tribute to their efforts, and pay tribute to their attitude!

But more is hope. I hope that in our time, more people can be like the old artists and dedicate all their energy to a role and bring us better. work!