Chapter 80 The beauty of film and theater

The beauty of film and drama should be manifested in two aspects: the beauty of landscape and the beauty of emotion.The one that can integrate the two is considered the best work; if only one of them is included, it is also the top choice. To engage in literary and artistic work, one must have psychological and aesthetic qualities, which are the most basic conditions; and for film and drama creation, aesthetics is even more important.Based on the theory of psychology, due to the differences in the cultural traditions of various nations, there may be different interpretations, but the perception of beauty by all human beings has its common sensibility.That commonality is its naturalness.Whether it is the beauty of landscape or the beauty of emotion, as long as it conforms to the laws of nature, it is the common language of mankind and the aesthetic feeling that can be accepted by all.For example, "Truth, Goodness and Beauty" by Xiepian can integrate the beauty of the two; while "The Sun is in the Middle" has a unique emotional beauty.All similar film works are successful.

The so-called sense of beauty, as the name suggests, is the feeling of beauty, which is composed of three elements: one is the material, that is, the sound and color of the film; the other is the form, that is, the ingenious combination of materials; It depends on whether it can arouse the spiritual resonance of the audience. Aesthetics originated in ancient Greece, but it did not become an aesthetic until the 18th century when it was advocated by the German philosopher Baum Gordon.Afterwards, more and more scholars studied it, and the system gradually formed.In the nineteenth century, through the American literary giant Emerson's creation of natural aesthetics, it was brilliant again.The later British writer Arnold once commented: In the nineteenth century, no essayist had a greater influence than Emerson.

The reason why I specifically mention Emerson is not only because he is a well-known figure in the United States, but also because he is a world-renowned master of natural aesthetics, and his influence on the American literary and artistic circles is particularly profound; The method of management and distribution affects the whole world, and melts into the sensory awareness of the audience. Emerson's theory of aesthetics begins by saying that all things in nature are beautiful; nature provides human beings with food and clothing, and then satisfies human desires for beauty.Therefore, the ancient Greeks called the world Cosmos, which means beauty. Everything is arranged in an orderly manner, which can make people happy.It is also said that individual things may not be moving, but human eyes are the world's largest painters and artists. Any group of objects, once combined, will become a symmetrical and perfect scene. It is better than human eyes; and the wonder of coloring depends on light, so no matter what it is ugly, it will become beautiful once it is illuminated by strong light.Therefore, apart from the nature of beauty in all things in the universe, light can make everything appear happy; that is to say, being as ugly as a corpse also has its beauty.Is it the so-called: sunrise is beautiful; sunset is also beautiful?

The wonderful eyes of human beings that Emerson praised in the past, in the terms of modern film art, are the combination and use of lenses.What he said is that even ugly things are still beautiful once they have a bright perspective; doesn’t the origin of the light imply the connotation of the third element of beauty and the lofty spiritual values ​​it must have?Here again, citing "In the middle of the day" as an example (sorry that I can't give a better example of recent film works), Gary Cooper's role as the temporary sheriff of the small town has no regard for his own safety. Yi Nian only wanted to protect the good people in the town, but Shi Shi stood up alone to fight against a group of villains, that kind of righteousness, even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will go!The spirit of a person is the spiritual element of aesthetic feeling.As such a temporary sheriff who was completely isolated, he didn't know that he might die, but his lofty spirituality made him ignore life and death.If he succeeds, it is certainly beautiful; if unfortunately he dies, no matter how tragic and ugly his death is, it will still be like an invisible arc shining on his corpse, which is still beautiful one side.

Isn't this what Emerson's aesthetics says: what does nature have to say to me?In the valley behind the mill, there is infinite vitality in the leisure. Although Homer or Shakespeare is reborn, it cannot be translated into words. Isn't there meaning in it?In the sun's rays, the bare trees are shining like spires on fire, and the east is a blue sky, which becomes an excellent background; Silent music in front of you. Emerson's tribute to beauty is so soul-stirring.He extols the beauty of success, but he also has a sense of beauty for failed heroes, and he also praises the beauty of failure.

On the other hand, today's movies are full of revenge and revenge for personal desires, killing and fighting, even killing for the sake of killing, and even saying in the dialogue that there is no reason for killing.That's the way it is, what kind of work is it that is capable of killing bloody people with swords and swords?After watching the audience, they are still at a loss, wondering why they came?If it is for personal revenge, leaving aside the significance of social education, it is entirely their own business, and in the minds of the audience, there is no sympathy at all, let alone any aesthetic feeling at all.

Emerson's theory of the beauty of perfection is that there must be a nobler spiritual factor.And the beauty of noble sentiment is different from the beauty of delicacy, it is in harmony with human thoughts of good and evil.What is called beauty is a sign of goodness, but any action that follows nature (the way of heaven) is beauty.An act of impassioned action must also be humane, and must honor both the place where it happened and the bystanders.What the sages and heroes do is to teach future generations a lesson; and the world belongs to the sages and heroes. Therefore, Emerson also cited that a heroic deed that shook the world and wept ghosts and gods may happen in a place of famous mountains and rivers.King Leonidas of ancient Sparta, and his three hundred martyrs became righteous in one day, and in one day, their heroic sacrifice in the gorge of the Gut Path in Semepley shocked the world. sun and moon.In the 14th century, the Swiss soldier Winkellitt, in order to resist the invasion of the Austrian army, under the danger of the glacier collapse on the peak of the Alps, resisted the Austrian army's spear alone and was hit by the spear, dense as a hedgehog. Breaking through the Austrian defenses for his comrades, thereby shocking and panicking the enemy.Didn't such heroes melt the heroic beauty, like a ray of light, into their heroic deeds?That sense of beauty, bloody and bloody as it is, is really what is meant by masculine beauty today.How can it be that in today's movies, this kind of slashing and killing without sentimentality or lofty spirit, and the violent acts that are blindly exaggerated are comparable?

In the history of our country, there are also many such heroes who fought to defend the territory, but never retreated from the arrows; or fought again with blood and wounds; down;How heroic they are, shaking the world and crying ghosts and gods; that is the real masculine beauty with light and heat.Why do most of us who want to make masculine films at home and abroad give up on this?Some of today's martial arts movies are just fabricated out of thin air, but where is their beauty? Emerson talked about this kind of masculine beauty and said that if a person has an act of carrying forward the truth and acts of heroism and generosity, he can immediately turn the sky and the earth into a temple, and turn the sun and the moon into incense candles.If a person's heart can be as great as nature, it can naturally elevate people and make them worthy of heaven and earth.The relationship between beauty and action is self-existence without seeking, only because of self-existence without seeking, after action, beauty still lasts forever; all beautiful things never die, and goodness is also endless.Because beauty in people's hearts will be transformed into thoughts, and thoughts must be the source of re-creation.From this, new forms are created, and beauty is incorporated into them.This creation of beauty is the crystallization of art.

However, the most frightening thing about the re-creation of this kind of aesthetic feeling used in film art is to go crazy, and to show off violent skills blindly, completely ignoring whether it can be combined with the audience's emotions.The early American westerns and action films could still maintain a certain standard of spiritual connotation, but gradually they only wanted to seek a breakthrough and turned to the evil path of sex and violence, even violence for the sake of violence, regardless of whether they were interested in the audience or not. have pursuasive power.Among them, Sam Bi Jingbo was the instigator, but he refused to admit that he was a violent director, and even lashed out at the film critics in order to rebel against the critics. Fei's violent scene, he did not hesitate to use slow motion close-ups to explain clearly.However, Sam Bijingbo argued that this is just to show the audience the true face of death, and it is by no means intended to beautify death in this way.However, he still doesn't pay attention to whether there are enough reasons for the audience to sympathize behind this violent death?Therefore, from the audience's point of view, it is just like watching an irrelevant dog-eat-dog game, and they have no other feelings except for a momentary pleasure, let alone any aesthetic feeling.For example, the group of gangsters in "Sunset and Yellow Sand" are just violent performances for violence's sake.I really don't know what to say to the audience?

Therefore, almost all film critics in the United States commented that Sam Bijingbo's violent films not only lacked any unique style, but also lacked any aesthetic feeling or attractiveness.Although these criticisms made Sam Bi Jingbo very angry, he still went his own way; in addition, two or three other directors also took the same path. It started flooding all over the world. Today, our hack-and-slash martial arts movies are still struggling and swinging desperately, lacking more and more connotation and aesthetic feeling.As for our literary films, they are still stuck in the circle of love between young men and women and cannot escape. What can we break through with empty talk?As for the fusion and sublimation of the beauty of landscape and the beauty of emotion, there are few outstanding performances, so how can we have a sense of beauty!If things go on like this, won't they still stay in a small alley after all?

If it is said that only middle-school-educated youngsters go to cinemas, Chinese films can only produce some stereotypical teenage love stories aimed at this audience.This sounds reasonable, but it is actually a kind of evasion to defend oneself, to cover up one's own lack of creativity and courage to break through difficulties.Good western films such as "The Truth, the Good and the Beauty", "Gone with the Wind", "Spring and Autumn Rain" and so on, have been re-screened repeatedly, but still sell well.The problem lies in whether the film itself has the standard and various beautiful artistic conceptions, which can give the audience a deep feeling.What cannot be ignored is that the standards and requirements of our Chinese film audiences have been rising. This is an undeniable fact, and it is even more impossible to stay in that small alley in the future and be trapped by you.