Eating ginseng fruit secretly in the 1986 version of "Journey to the West": Taoist priests are true Taoist priests, and ginseng fruit is sweet potato

When it comes to the film and television drama "Journey to the West", we can never avoid the CCTV version of "Journey to the West" directed by Yang Jie and starring Liu Xiaolingtong, Ma Dehua, etc., because the drama was released on October 1, 1982 The pilot episode "The Kingdom of Demons" was broadcast, so it is also called the "82 version of "Journey to the West". And because it was first broadcast as a TV series in 1986, the first eleven episodes were also broadcast. It is called the "86 version of "Journey to the West"".

The filming of the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" lasted several years. Because it was shot on location, the filming sequence of the drama's stories was different from that of the original work. Many people know that the first episode filmed by the show was the pilot episode "The Demon-Slaying Black Chicken Country". This episode was broadcast on the National Day in 1982. Its purpose was to see the audience's response to the show and learn some useful lessons. suggestion. After this episode was aired, the crew began the official filming of "Journey to the West" in full swing. On October 6, they went to Sichuan to film "Eating Ginseng Fruit", which means that "Journey to the West" was actually filmed. The first episode is "Eating Ginseng Fruit".

"Eating Ginseng Fruit" was the first episode to be filmed, so this episode is of great significance to the 1986 version of "Journey to the West". After all, the crew was still crossing the river by feeling the stones at this time, and experience was not It’s quite satisfying, so the story behind the scenes is also quite interesting.

1. Exquisite adaptation

Everyone is familiar with the story of "Stealing Ginseng Fruit", so I won't repeat it here. This episode in the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" has some adaptations of the original story. The best adapted scene is when Sun Wukong returns to Sanxing Cave.

In the original work of "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong's mentor has no role to play after Sun Wukong leaves Sanxing Cave.

However, in the 1986 version of "Journey to the West", he appears in the episode "Ginseng Fruit" With the addition of the role of Patriarch Bodhi, this adaptation plays a finishing touch to the episode and even the drama.

This adaptation of the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" is not only sensational but also of great practical significance. Patriarch Bodhi is Sun Wukong’s mentor, just like Sun Wukong’s parents, while Sun Wukong is like a child who gets into trouble outside. In real life, parents often warn their naughty children not to get into trouble outside, otherwise they will bear the consequences themselves. This is just like the warning of the Bodhi Patriarch when Sun Wukong returned from his studies; but once the children really get into trouble outside, parents will not hesitate to do so. Hesitantly help them solve their difficulties. No matter how rebellious and self-reliant the children are; once they get into trouble outside, they will always think of their parents, and their parents and home will always be their harbor...

The 86th edition of "Journey to the West" will feature Patriarch Bodhi and Sun Wukong Shaping the traditional relationship between parents and children not only conforms to the traditional moral thought of "a teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime", it can also arouse the audience's excitement and make the images of Bodhi Patriarch and Sun Wukong more three-dimensional. This adaptation is wonderful!

It is worth mentioning that the Wuzhuang Temple and Sanxing Cave in the play are both ancient Taoist temples in Qingcheng Mountain, Sichuan. It seems that the inclusion of Sun Wukong asking for help from the Bodhi Patriarch in the play may also be director Yang Jie's "adaptation to local conditions" .

2. The shape is consistent with the original work

The plot of Sun Wukong asking for help from the Bodhi Patriarch was played by Liu Xiaolingtong with flesh and blood. Some viewers even suspected that the Sun Wukong was not played by Liu Xiaolingtong but by him. The father is a six-year-old boy. In fact, there is no strong evidence for this question. It is probably because of the appearance of Sun Wukong!

"Eating Ginseng Fruit" was filmed immediately after the pilot episode "Destroying Demons and Black Chicken Kingdom", so the looks of Monkey King and Zhu Bajie in this episode are similar to those in the pilot episode. Sun Wukong has a hairy face, a thunderous mouth, a crooked face, knocks his forehead, and checks his ears; Zhu Bajie has hard hairs around his mouth and on the back of his head, and his mouth and nose are connected together to form a pig... This is how it is described in the original work, but it is a pity that In the pilot episode, this kind of makeup was not favored by the audience, and director Yang Jie also thought it was unsightly, so it was slowly changed later.

In addition to the images of Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong that are more consistent with the original work, the images of other characters are also very different from later ones.

The Tang Monk in this episode is played by Wang Yue. Because he went to Fayuan Temple to experience life before filming the drama, his every move is actually more monk-like than Chi Chongrui and Xu Shaohua later. temperament.

The "copper bell", a Buddhist ritual instrument, has appeared in the play. It is a must-have instrument for Buddhists to chant sutras. In the play, only Wang Yue's Tang monk has a scene where he knocks wooden fish and shakes the copper bell to recite sutras!

The costume of Zhenyuan Immortal is like stepping out of a book.

Master Guanyin’s makeup is also different from that in later episodes.

3. Interesting things behind the scenes

The biggest problem the crew encountered during the filming of "Journey to the West" was technical problems, so they thought of various ways to complete the filming.

In this episode, the audience was amazed by the ginseng fruit, which looks like a baby and is rosy and plump. How is it made? In fact, the ginseng fruits in the show were carved from jicama, which is also commonly known as sweet potato. At that time, more than 100 ginseng fruits were carved to film this episode. After the filming, all the ginseng fruits were eaten by the crew. .

Although the ginseng fruit in the play is fake, the Taoist priests are real. Except for Qingfeng, Mingyue and Zhenyuan Daxian who are cast members, those Taoist priests are all guest stars by real Taoist priests.

How was the scene of Sun Wukong knocking down the ginseng fruit tree filmed? In fact, most people like to make video cutouts nowadays. During the filming, the crew first made a fruit tree model, then shot the scene of Monkey King swinging the stick, and finally put them together. Everyone knows this method now, but it was considered an innovation back then.

In the episode "Stealing Ginseng Fruit", the two Taoist boys Qingfeng and Mingyue under Zhen Yuanzi are also impressive. Among them, the very shrewd Mingyue is played by Wang Yang. Wang Yang is an actor from the China Children's Art Theater. He was already in his 30s at the time, but he didn't look out of place at all.

When filming the "cursing scene" at that time, director Yang Jie always felt that scolding Wang Yang in Mandarin would not be effective, so he told her to scold her in her own dialect and scold her as harshly as she wanted. , just take pictures without recording sound when shooting. Wang Yang immediately found the feeling and scolded Sun Wukong and others in his hometown dialect until they were speechless. Therefore, Sun Wukong was so angry that he pushed down the ginseng fruit tree.

Perhaps it is because of my lack of experience in the early stage that I feel like walking on thin ice when shooting, and strive for excellence in every detail. Although the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" is a classic, interested viewers will find that the first eleven episodes are actually the best among classics. The crew's intentions can be seen in every appearance and detail.