Why are China films so obsessed with the "Journey to the West" complex in recent years?

In recent years, the "Journey to the West" series has indeed been very effective in stimulating the China film market. Today, hot money is pouring in the film market, and the number of large screens in first-, second-and third-tier cities is doubling every year. With capital on one side and market on the other, China films as commodities have ushered in a golden age, but the corresponding problems have also been clearly exposed.

Since I don't know when, our Spring Festival has been occupied by various major movies in the Journey to the West series: Zhou Xingchi's "Journey to the West: Conquering Devils" and "Journey to the West: Conquering Demons", Zheng Baorui's "Journey to the West: The Monkey King Threatens the Bone Bones Three","Journey to the West: The Causing of Heaven", etc. Even the rise of China's major animation films is "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage" with good box office reputation. Why are China films so obsessed with the "Journey to the West" complex in recent years? This is worth pondering.

It is not difficult to see that the "Journey to the West" series in recent years has indeed been very effective in stimulating the China film market. Today, hot money is pouring in the film market, and the number of large screens in first-, second-and third-tier cities is doubling every year. With capital on one side and market on the other, China films as commodities have ushered in a golden age, but the corresponding problems have also been clearly exposed. If China's film industry used to have stories and no capital, now it has capital and no stories. This may not be fair to many filmmakers, because in recent years we have still seen the emergence of good stories and ideas such as "Donkey Deshui" and "Breathing Normal", but they are not enough to support the entire market. Because market-oriented films have their own unique genre needs, especially to form a blockbuster model with China characteristics.

Market-oriented China films require "blockbusters." The word "big" here contains two meanings: first, large-scale production. It is necessary to make full use of film techniques to push scenes and techniques to the extreme. Such movies force people to "have to" enter the cinema and wear 3D glasses in order to achieve their due viewing effects. Second, the big narrative. Narration should not be too rigid and should not "see the big from the small." The writers and directors of blockbusters need a flexible and changeable story framework that can accommodate fantasy scenes, characters with different personalities, and discourse expansion space that can "keep pace with the times". Based on the above characteristics, the classic masterpiece "Journey to the West" has become the preferred choice in the current film market.

Ordinary people in China are so familiar with the story structure of the Journey to the West that the producers do not have to bother about the narrative. Many Journey to the West films begin with four characters placed out so that the story can be unfolded immediately. Although the four character types have been stereotyped, the subtle relationships among them have opened up infinite space for interpretation. After the classic interpretation of "The Odyssey to the West", Tang Priest has become a comedy character, affectionate, righteous, lively and fragrant. His positioning and Second Brother Bajie can echo each other, forming a humorous and humane narrative on the road to the West. clue. Sun Wukong is the first male lead in all Journey to the West series. His "positive energy" supports all the exciting highlights needed for the Journey to the West series: fantasy fighting and Hollywood-style showmanship all rely on his performances. The subtle power relationship between Tang Priest and Sun Wukong has become the most touching part of the Journey to the West series: Does power belong to people with super abilities, or does it belong to people who know how to subdue people's hearts? This topic, even for Wu Chengen, is a permanent proposition that is not introduced, but is resentful. Because of this, the theme of the Journey to the West gives some richness to the originally empty storyline (the so-called crossing a mountain and killing a demon). The charm of "The Journey to the West", which was popular in the 1990s, is only to amplify the many entangled but unexplained topics between power and human feelings in "Journey to the West".

For China films that want to be internationalized, the Journey to the West series is really a rare and important theme: Journey to the West is no stranger to Westerners, not to mention that in it they can also see Harry Potter's fantasy imagination, Transformers-like monsters, and the grand scene of the grotesque empire in "The Lord of the Rings". However, only China can experience subtle emotions in terms of content, and it is really difficult to determine whether an uncreative "copy" in form can win the "favor" of the Western market. But no matter what, during a Spring Festival holiday that does not require work or thinking, the Journey West series is still the first choice for a type of movie that you can watch with a family of old and young. I believe that in the near future, China's film market will still need the continuous "differentiated repetition" of the Journey to the West series. Of course, against the background of China culture continuously understanding the world and continuously strengthening its influence on the world, we can fully believe that the story of Journey to the West will become more and more exciting on the big screen.

Editor: yvette