“The Story of Luopa” performance stills Photography: Chutian Metropolis Daily Jimu News reporter Xiao Hao
Chutian Metropolis Daily Jimu News (Chief Reporter Zhang Cong Correspondent Huang Ying) “The rooster crows at the fifth watch of the day, the clouds are faint and the moon is crescent, the horse is faintly moving outside the village, and the husband is separated by several mountains…” A scene from the classic Huangmei Opera character “Chen Saijin” The tenderness and tenderness will soon be reappeared in front of the audience on the big screen.
On the morning of April 8, a signing ceremony was held at the Hubei Opera Art Center for the digital film Huangmei Opera “Luo Pa Ji” jointly produced by the Chinese Dramatists Association, Hubei Provincial Performing Arts Group and other units. Jimu News reporters learned on the spot that the film is tentatively scheduled to be released in June Filming started in Beijing, with all the leading actors coming from the Hubei Provincial Opera Art Theatre. Since then, “The Legend of Lopa”, which is known as “The Three Wonders of Huangmei” along with “The Match” and “The Consort”, also has a film version in addition to the stage version. Professionals said that the release of the digital Huangmei Opera “Luopa Ji” is of great significance to Hubei, the birthplace of Huangmei Opera.
“The Story of Luopa” tells the story of Wang Keju who went to Beijing to take the exam. His wife Chen Saijin went to see her husband. Jiang Xiong, the scheming butler, stole Saijin’s family heirloom Luopa and showed it off to others. This caused Wang Keju to suspect that his wife was not pregnant. Zhen, angrily divorced his wife and drove the pregnant Sai Jin out of the house. Chen Saijin was living abroad, but fortunately he was taken in by a warm-hearted shopkeeper. Eighteen years later, Saijin’s son Wang Jinlong won the top prize in high school and served as the inspector of the Eight Prefectures. In court, in order to find out the unjust case of Ropa eighteen years ago, the son tried his father, and the wife sued her husband. The truth tortured people’s hearts.
Although it is one of the “Three Wonders of Huangmei Opera”, “The Legend of Luopa”, which is called the “bone opera” of Huangmei Opera due to its extremely high level of difficulty, is only less popular than “The Legend of the Fairy” and “The Female Consort” which have been made into film and television works for a long time. It remains at the stage art display level, so its dissemination is limited. In 2017, the Hubei Provincial Opera Art Theater re-performed “The Story of Luopa” and won the “Plum Blossom Award” in one fell swoop. In the past 7 years, the performance video of “The Story of Lopa” has been performed on national platforms many times, and has been broadcast on the CCTV Opera Channel more than 20 times. The audience’s love made it become the digital film of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award of the Chinese Drama Association in 2023. One of two productions of the filming project.
Opera films have frequently produced high-quality films in recent years. In 2021, the Cantonese opera film “The Legend of White Snake: Love” jointly produced by Pearl River Film Group and Guangdong Cantonese Theater caused a sensation on the Internet. Many young people flocked to Douban to give the film high scores. In an interview with a reporter from Jimu News on the morning of the 8th, he was the chief producer of the digital movie Huangmei Opera “The Legend of Lopa” and has served as a producer for movies such as “The Founding of the Army”, “Lan Xin Grand Theater” and “The Best of Us”. Dong Peiwen, who won the “Best Opera Film Award” at the 34th Golden Rooster Awards for the Cantonese opera film “Nan Yue Gong Ci”, mentioned that there may be some scenes in opera films that are suitable for expression with special effects, but the story of “The Story of Luo Pa” is precisely focused on characters. “It may not have many dazzling scenes, but we will consider using the superposition of light and shadow to express the joy, anger and sorrow of the characters, and to reproduce Chen Saijin’s difficulty and sadness.”
She said that the charm of “The Story of Lopa” and Huangmei Opera lies in the rendition of the singing and the delicateness of the emotions, and that filming “The Story of Lopa” is a “sacred mission” for her. “I hope that through the film’s Record and leave the most beautiful and touching appearance of this Huangmei Opera.”
[Editor in charge: Zhang Yi]
