Is "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" a bad movie?

If you want to understand the origin of Zhou's Journey to the West and Conquer the Demons series of movies, let's start with how Zhou came to the "sacred altar".

The watershed of Fengshen: "Westward Journey" became an Internet cultural phenomenon

In 1992, "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance" was released in the mainland. This was the first Stephen Chow film to officially enter the mainland market. . The audience was originally prepared to watch Gong Li reprise her role in the classic movie "Three Smiles", but they were unexpectedly exposed to the "nonsensical" culture from Hong Kong. People who didn't like it left the show immediately before watching, and some people liked it very much. "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance" did well at the box office and entered the top ten grossing films in Shanghai in 1993. However, at that time, the mainland media was not very fond of Stephen Chow. One newspaper commented: "The film is seriously divorced from the reality of life, the content is false and absurd, the actors' performances are superficial, the characters are completely distorted, disgusting shots are everywhere, and it lacks the beauty it deserves. ."

In 1994, "Westward Journey" was planned to be co-produced with Xi'an Film Studio. West Film Studio, which has always produced art films, did not like the script, but considering Stephen Chow's commercial appeal, they still cooperated with him. Zhang Zien, the deputy director at the time, felt that the film could not represent the artistic pursuit of Xi Film Studio and could only be regarded as "cultural garbage."

The commercial performance of "Westward Journey" after its release was not very good. Hong Kong audiences generally thought this movie was messy and difficult to understand. The final box office in Hong Kong was HK$25.32 million, which was a mid-to-low score among Stephen Chow's works. Film producers in Taiwan also expressed their displeasure, saying, "The loss was so miserable that I will have no confidence in Stephen Chow in the future." The revenue was the lowest in mainland China. Audience response was lukewarm, with many people dropping out midway. Cinemas in some places simply did not ask for copies of the second half of the movie.

No one knows that a carnival is brewing in the misery. According to the book "Westward Journey to the West", the first people to praise "Westward Journey" were students from the Beijing Film Academy. In 1996, "Westward Journey", which ended its sluggish run in theaters, sent a copy to the Beijing Film Academy and immediately won applause. Students who were accustomed to traditional film expressions were shocked when they first encountered nonsensical and time travel. They began to search for scripts, recite movie lines, and study the meaning of the Moonlight Box. Some people began to watch and speculate on movies through pirated VCDs.

The person who really played a role in the dissemination was the male science major at Tsinghua University. Xiao Gang, a computer science student at Tsinghua University who entered the school in 1996, recalled that the Shuimu Tsinghua BBS had a strong literary and artistic atmosphere at that time, and there would often be reviews about uncommon literary films. After the National Day in 1997, he found someone posting some irrelevant words on Shuimu Tsinghua: "There was once a true love in front of me, but I didn't cherish it. I only regretted it when I lost it." "Moonlight Treasure Box is Treasure, if you throw it away, it will pollute the environment." It wasn't until someone told Xiao Gang that it was a line from Stephen Chow's movie "Westward Journey" that he understood. Xiao Gang quickly went to the night market to buy pirated discs, and he and several classmates went to the homes of classmates in Beijing who had CD drives to watch them. After watching the movie, the students were impressed by Stephen Chow. They thought there were many more classic lines in the movie, so on weekends everyone gathered together to watch the pirated discs and write down the lines together. Several people have a clear division of labor. Some are responsible for pressing the play and pause buttons, some are responsible for listening, and some are responsible for taking shorthand. All the lines written down will be transmitted to the BBS. There is even competition in this behavior of posting lines. Several groups of people are doing it. At first, the students compete in quantity to see who posts more. Later, it turns into dictation of scripts, and some people post other things besides lines. Scenes and actions are all recorded.

Tsinghua students' obsession with "Westward Journey" has led them to "flee" to other university forums to continue to post lines and popularize "Westward Journey". According to Xiao Gang's recollection: "By the end of 1998, if there were still students in Beijing who said they didn't know these lines, they would easily be regarded as monsters."

The crazy popularity from Tsinghua University finally made "Westward Journey" a Rituals and symbols on campus. Students all use online names such as Zhizunbao, Zixia, and Bodhi Patriarch in campus forums. As a result, everyone must add complex prefixes and numbers to their names, such as "Zixia carrying a thermos in Building 3." The most popular way of speaking among college students is to embed lines from "Westward Journey" into every scene in life.

There is sudden thunder outside the classroom, and you have to shout: "It's thundering! It's raining! Put away the clothes!" When asked for something, he will take the trouble to recite: "You want it? If you want it, just say it. Don't tell me." How do you know you want it..."

1999 was a prosperous period for online discussions about "Westward Journey". At its peak, there were forty or fifty websites about "Westward Journey" on the Internet. In June 2000, graduating students from Renmin University of China held a collective viewing of "Westward Journey" as their graduation ceremony. This is the so-called "collective memory" and "generational bond", just like Luo Dayou did to the university campus in the 1980s and Jin Yong did to the early 1990s.

The Yellow Robe: "Deconstruction of Postmodernism"

In 2000, Zhang Lixian (now the editor-in-chief of "Duku") and others compiled a book called "The Journey to the West". This book It collects online novels about "Westward Journey" (which can be regarded as "fan fiction"), film reviews, cultural analysis of Stephen Chow's movies, and even celebrity profiles of the leading actors. What makes the editors most proud is that they found Shi Banyu, who voices Stephen Chow, and conducted a serious interview with him. Looking at it today, it is more like a scrapbook of innocent and crazy fans. Liu Chun, who later became a famous media person, and columnist Lian Yue have articles included in it. The first printing of 20,000 copies of the book was sold out, and bookstores everywhere were out of stock.

In the preface, Zhang Lixian wrote: "Some people use the taste of the older generation to say that the new generation is the generation poisoned by "Westward Journey", and these new people who were poisoned by "Westward Journey" do He gave this answer: '...We are wiser than the previous generation. Human beings are constantly renewing themselves. We have vitality because we are new. When we are old, we hope to see something sorted by our hands. The beautiful China after...'"

The evaluation of "Westward Journey" can lead to words such as "wisdom" and "Beautiful China". How to judge Stephen Chow, at the turn of the century, is to judge the differences between the two generations. important indicator of values.

In 2001, "China Reading News" interviewed Peking University students and explained the popularity of "Westward Journey" this way: "Students have certain language patterns due to the influence of their teachers in middle school. After entering college, they have certain language patterns. It is impossible to directly use the social language of adults, so there is a process of language deficiency. They are eager to find a language that can express themselves and express their new life in college... The playful and absurd language of "Westward Journey". It was at this time that he hit it off with the students."

Another common interpretation is to connect Stephen Chow's popularity with the Internet era: "Stephen Chow speaks and behaves as he pleases, which is just right. It conforms to the aesthetic standards of the Internet crowd: freedom comes first. At the same time, the classless society promoted in the movie, such as Tang Monk being a teacher and not being respected, is exactly in line with the living conditions of today's Internet. There is no power discourse, and everyone is a communicator and an audience at the same time. "In more online movie reviews, young people pay more attention to the emotional elements in the movie: the struggle of the little people and their loyalty to love.

In this trend, some academic intellectuals also generously expressed their love for Stephen Chow, and more complex interpretations followed. In June 2000, a symposium titled "Why Westward Journey is so popular among contemporary young people" was held at the "Carving Time" cafe, a place for literary and artistic youth in the east gate of Peking University. years old) chatted with six young people under the age of 30 about Stephen Chow. He mentioned the concept of deconstruction: "The first is the relationship between master and apprentice, the second is the relationship between man and God, the third is the relationship between time and space, and the fourth is the relationship between life and death. The one that has not been deconstructed is love, and the other One is faith."

The view that "Journey to the West is a postmodernist deconstruction" that was frequently mentioned later was basically mature at this time. In an article titled "Looking at Postmodern Culture from the Phenomenon of Stephen Chow", he writes about Western postmodernism trends to Stephen Chow's postmodernist image, which is as eloquent as an academic paper. However, later Stephen Chow was interviewed by Yang Lan and directly stated that he did not understand complex theories: "I don't know many things" and "They saw things that I couldn't see."

In 2001, Stephen Chow went to the lecture hall of Peking University to communicate with students.

The media also followed up and reported on the "popularity of nonsensical culture". In the massive media and online discussions, the "over-interpretation" of Stephen Chow was obvious. There is a joke that goes like this: "Stephen Chow went online and finally knew what the meaning of "Westward Journey" is."

Slowly falling off the "altar"

Careful Star fans will find that starting from Shaolin Football, the funny elements of those weeks have become exaggerated, and they are funny for the sake of being funny. When it comes to kung fu, it’s simply

unintelligible. This kind of exaggeration has always been there, and it has always been the same in Journey to the West, Conquering Demons and Mermaids. Just look at the stunts more than the comedy. Compared with Zhou's films before 1996, why is there such a big difference? Precisely because the scriptwriter of a film is very important, the scriptwriters of Zhou's classic films were all written for him by others. After he started working alone from Shaolin Football, he participated in the scriptwriting himself, and a sudden change in style was inevitable because he was 18 years old. He worked hard in a TV station, and his cultural attainment was very limited. Once he could make his own decisions, he would naturally add things that he took for granted. Maybe his ability was only suitable for being an actor, but not for being a good screenwriter or director, so it seemed very difficult. He only took a few years on average to be released. A movie. Even so, he is already in his 50s with gray hair. Watching Journey to the West and Conquering the Monsters as the third part of his Journey to the West trilogy, pasting a lot of Internet sentences and asking Tsui Hark to direct it, it shows that he is increasingly unable to do what he wants. It's just that he was still acting back then, and thanks to his personal charm, everyone accepted his movies out of their fanatical love for him. After Zhou stepped away from the film, he stopped acting and focused on being a screenwriter and director. Although he only released a film in a few years, more and more people will slowly wake up. After waiting for several years, I waited and waited only for a bad movie. This is no longer the old Stephen Chow. People think he is old. In fact, he is not old in his prime. It’s just that he is too conceited and no longer willing to lower his head and accept other people’s scripts. He is no longer willing to be a first-line actor, but to be aloof. boss and director. Slowly, he began to fall off the "altar" - as he said: I am just an actor. Of course now he is not an actor, just a director.

Speaking of Stephen Chow, I think you will inevitably think of the "nonsensical" style of his movies. This style basically runs through Stephen Chow's early and middle films, and has left a deep imprint on him. So much so that when it comes to "nonsense", everyone will immediately think of Stephen Chow like a conditioned reflex. Although nonsensical movies are not the first of Stephen Chow's films, they are a type of film that people are really familiar with because of Stephen Chow's films. "Nonsense" is also a common method used to present comedy effects in Stephen Chow's comedy movies. The term "without reason" was originally a Cantonese saying from Foshan, Guangdong and other places. Its basic meaning is that a certain event or behavior has no reason, that is, a person speaks and does things without purpose, centrality and logic. Generally speaking, it is nonsense and crazy talk. Therefore, in Stephen Chow's movies, Stephen Chow often plays small characters who look a little crazy or even crazy. Stephen Chow's movies widely spread an anti-heroic sentiment, saying that I am the little guy and destroying the hero. For a large number of ordinary people, this can easily cause uproar. Originally a comedian was a clown, similar to a clown in a circus who would do somersaults, wrestling, or make faces, slap himself in the face and pretend to be crazy to please the audience, so Zhou was rich and no longer wanted to do it after he became a boss. That’s what comedians do.

There is nothing wrong with Zhou's "nonsensical" style comedy movies, but his mistake lies in his distorted adaptation of Journey to the West. His Journey to the West trilogy, Journey to the West, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Journey to the West ·The chapter on Conquering the Demon is not only disrespectful to the original work of Journey to the West, but also disrespectful to Tang Monk, a holy monk who made great contributions to Chinese history (Tang Monk has a profound influence on Chinese Buddhism and even world Buddhism. Tang Monk is Xuanzang) Master Xuanzang's retrieval and translation of Buddhist scriptures from Tianzhu had a great influence on Buddhism all over the world. You must know that the prosperity of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty is inseparable from the Buddhist scriptures that Master Xuanzang brought from India. Moreover, Master Xuanzang translated the Buddhist scriptures into Chinese; only then did Buddhism flourish in China during the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism spread to North Korea, Japan, and Mongolia, and it played an extremely important role in the history of world culture. The Sutra Collection, the Vinaya Collection, and the Commentary Collection are known as the Tripitaka Saint Master with the status of Bodhisattva, the founder of the Dharma-Xiang Sect of Buddhism, and the founding leader of the Consciousness-only Sect of Chinese Buddhism.

According to historical records, Master Xuanzang foresaw the time before his death. He gathered all his disciples to prepare for the funeral, and he lay down like a sleeping Buddha. In the middle of the night on the fifth day, his disciples asked, "Is the monk determined to be born in front of Maitreya Bodhisattva?" He replied. "Determine to live." The words have given up. It has been two months and my body and complexion are still as normal as if I was sleeping deeply. The emperor ordered that he be buried in the White Pagoda in Shilizhong, Bailuyuan. Later, because the White Pagoda was too close to Zhudi City, he ordered it to be buried in Fanchuan. As soon as the coffin was dug out, everyone was amazed. Because of the long-term acne scarring, the mage's appearance remains the same as before. The Sixth Patriarch in history has an incorruptible physical body, and Master Xuanzang is also a physical Bodhisattva. )

Zhou's Journey to the West trilogy is very disrespectful to Tang Monk in particular. It can be said to be darkening and demonizing this holy monk. If you criticize the three fictional disciples in his novels, no one would feel uncomfortable because they are insubstantial people. However, it would be too much to criticize this holy monk who really existed in reality. I dare not criticize the CCTV version of "Journey to the West" because people respect the original work, because the original work is one of China's four great masterpieces. Wu Cheng'en didn't dare to be slanderous because he knew that Master Xuanzang was a real holy monk. He only dared to make up three of his disciples to serve as the Master's protectors and ensure that Tang Monk could successfully obtain Buddhist scriptures. The entire journey to the west tells the story of a cultivator who got rid of the three inner demons of greed, anger and ignorance, turned greed, anger and ignorance into discipline, concentration and wisdom, defeated external demons, and finally achieved enlightenment and retrieved the true scripture. It tells the story of the true heart, the heart of the Buddha (Tang Monk), the overcoming of mental apes (Sun Wukong and other disciples) and the Yima (white dragon horse), the victory over external demons (Nine-Nine Eighty-One Difficult Demons, Demons and Monsters), and the story of finally achieving enlightenment. The four masters and disciples are like a whole. Tang Seng, as a master, is a representative of good intentions. Sun Wukong is a powerful weapon to kill external demons, but he must also stop killing (overcome the mental ape), otherwise how is he different from the demons? Therefore, Sun Wukong cannot take off the ring with the Tightening Curse, which also shows that he and Tang Seng are two sides of the same body. Tang Seng reciting the Tightening Curse is subduing his inner demon (Sun Wukong), just like a monk wants to pull back the heart that is running away. Just like chanting the mantra constantly and letting your mind focus on the mantra, you will be able to gain concentration and not be confused by the outside world. Because in history, Tang Monk was the only one who learned scriptures, and the so-called three disciples of Sun Wukong were all representatives of his inner demons, which were only externally modified in the form of novels. Zhu Bajie is lustful and greedy (greedy), Sun Wukong is murderous and stubborn (angry), and Monk Sha is ruthless and cruel (crazy). The three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance are the three evil dragons that practitioners must conquer. In fact, they are the inner demons in his heart. Only by conquering the inner demons can he defeat the external demons and finally achieve enlightenment. Therefore, Wu Cheng'en did not criticize Tang Monk, nor did he criticize Journey to the West, because Tang Monk's Journey to the West was originally a very special Buddhist event, and he did not dare to criticize a major event that has affected the world for tens of millions of years. Therefore, those who have read Zhou’s Westward Journey trilogy and say that it best embodies the dark nature of the original work are all self-righteous and have been influenced by Zhou to misinterpret Westward Journey, because the original Westward Journey trilogy has no dark nature at all. If you can see the darkness, , it shows that your heart is dark, so you misinterpret Journey to the West in this way.

Precisely because Zhou’s big talk about Journey to the West was so influential, his crime of hacking Tang Monk became even greater, so he also received the reward of this world, and his reward of this world was also hacked. Xiang Huaqiang mobilized all the celebrities in the entertainment circle related to him to criticize him, causing everyone to betray him. His former partners and celebrities all turned against him. Even his girlfriend who had been with him for more than ten years became a The enemy, in his early 50s, has gray hair and looks like an old man. He is alone. Only he knows the pain in it. This is not only caused by poor character and paying too much attention to money. The more reason is because he has blackmailed the saint. The monk received the retribution of this world. Now the Journey to the West trilogy has become even more sinister, and the final destination of this kind of retribution is hell. Therefore, when you are a star, sometimes you have to pay attention. There are things you can do and some things you cannot do. Especially in a society like Hong Kong that believes in gods and Buddhas, he is so unbridled. Doesn’t he know how to respect the saints? Or he didn’t look at it. The original work of Journey to the West? Can saints be used as jokes? Below is a quote from Liu Xiao Ling Tong: Against the Kiss and Hug of Guanyin and Tang Monk

Literature is two-dimensional, but it becomes three-dimensional after it becomes a film and television drama. Adaptation is not random fabrication, and drama is not nonsense. There is a bottom line for the adaptation of famous works. The main plot and the basic personalities of these characters cannot be changed. There is also an adaptation of the CCTV version of "Journey to the West" that I participated in. Tang Monk's master and apprentice passed by the Kingdom of Women. The king of the Kingdom of Women fell in love with Tang Monk. He came to the Zen room to express his love. Tang Monk was stunned when he saw it: ah, so beautiful! Then cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but he immediately closed his eyes and said, "Amitabha", reason defeated emotion. The plots that are not in these novels are called adaptations, but we have a principle: stay true to the original works and be cautious in renovating them. At the end, Tang Seng went on the road without looking back, and the king of the daughter country bid farewell to him with tears in his eyes.

What if you imagine that Tang Seng had a one-night stand with the king of the daughter country? Let alone Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, I'm afraid even Monk Sha won't do it. So I think this is not an issue that can be discussed, and it is not included in Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom. We are researching and communicating on how to adapt world famous works, rather than discussing whether Sun Wukong can get married and have children, whether Tang Monk has romantic love, whether Zhu Bajie is a pervert, Monk Sha may have a boring thing of having multiple concubines, and if the four masters and disciples have On the way to seek scriptures, people are more loyal to love than firm to seek scriptures. This completely violates the original intention of this literary masterpiece. Master Xuanzang, the prototype of Tang Monk, was a famous Buddhist scholar, translator and educator in the Tang Dynasty of my country. Xuanzang’s spirit has always been respected and admired, so I hope the adapter will be merciful and never make fun of or joke about the ancestor’s famous works. Even spoofing, we must prevent some film and television dramas from losing their artistic ethics and personality for the sake of commercial interests or temporary so-called ratings, to satisfy the fun of a few people.

I remember one time I went to a primary school to give a lecture, and a classmate asked me: "How many girlfriends does Sun Wukong have?" I was speechless. "Journey to the West", a world-famous mythological novel, has been popular among readers at home and abroad for more than 400 years since its publication. There are about one hundred versions of "Journey to the West" in different languages ??around the world. In 2004, the Lunar Year of the Monkey, it is also the 500th anniversary of the birth of Wu Chengen, the novelist and literary master. In order to commend four generations of our family for the development of China's Westward Journey culture and the promotion of the Monkey King's spirit, the Chuzhou government in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province invested heavily in "Wu Chengen". Next to the former residence, a "Monkey King Family Art Museum" with an area of ??more than 2,700 square meters was built (inscribed by Mr. Qi Gong). More than 350 cultural relics on display in the museum were donated by us. I think Sun Wukong is an iconic mythological figure of the Chinese nation. Don’t think that myths can be nonsense, and the adaptation is not random. A good work does not cater to the so-called trend of the moment, but spans time and space and is proven by time.

China’s unique monkey opera performance art is unique and has its own system. We welcome many countries to pay attention to our literary works, but we are opposed to things like Tang Monk and Wukong falling in love, or Guanyin and Tang Monk kissing and embracing.

At the end of September, the 38-episode TV series "Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West" will start filming. I will star in the two characters Wu Cheng'en and Sun Wukong. Let me tell the world: How did Wu Cheng'en write it? Why write? Why was he the only one able to write "Journey to the West"? At the same time, the movie "Journey to the West" will also start filming next year, which can be called China's "Journey to the West Year."

Thank you for your support!

Yesterday's "Beijing Morning News" published an interview with Li Peisen, director of our China TV Drama Production Center. He said, "You need to pay attention to shooting masterpieces. First, the threshold must be high. Not everyone can shoot if they want to. There must be Strength, if "Water Margin" is made into a gangster, it will be unwatchable. It is recommended that the country should set up a review team for four major classics, just like the current review team for major historical TV dramas. Second, it should not be too market-oriented. CCTV filmed it back then. The purpose of the Four Great Classics is not to make money. Educational and artistic quality is the first priority. The company’s behavior must be profit-making, but the influence of the classics must also be considered. It would be wrong to lose its artistic charm for the sake of money. The third thing is not to joke about it, it is appropriate. Artistic processing is necessary, but if Sun Wukong becomes glib and completely nonsensical, then he is no longer Sun Wukong. "I agree with Director Li's point of view. As early as the mid-1990s, I said that China did not have many world famous works. Legislative protection is required. Now the leaders of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television have begun to pay attention to this matter, and have successively banned some TV dramas that joke about classics. I think this issue must be taken more seriously in the future. Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom is not an adaptation that changes the essence of the original work. I hope netizens Let’s all pay attention to and discuss this phenomenon.

In the near future, I will focus more on "Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West". I would like to express my gratitude to all the viewers who wrote to me. I will write to you again after completing this drama. Everyone replies.