Original title:"Hurricane.The revelation of "hurtling" all the way
At the beginning of 2023, a unique cultural phenomenon appeared in society – people chased the TV series "Hurricane" without sleeping or eating. This drama not only received "Hurricane" as its name, but also set the first rating in CCTV’s eight sets in the past nine years on the TV side. The popularity of the Internet side broke the highest record of iQIYI, and the reputation was also "hurricane" all the way. More than 500,000 people gave an average rating of 8.5 on Douban.
From netizens enthusiastically discussing the plot and analyzing the details on social platforms, to the "same" "The Art of War" related to the plot being sold out and selling out, and then to many new media empowering urban cultural tourism and popularizing legal knowledge with the help of public opinion, this phenomenal work tells the story of a 20-year life-and-death struggle between the righteous forces represented by the first-line criminal police An Xin and the underworld forces represented by Gao Qiqiang. It expresses the complex and multi-faceted human nature, the arduous task of sweeping away underworld and the grimness of social reality. It not only pushes the theme of sweeping away underworld and eliminating underworld that belongs to the niche for a period of time to the center of the film and television stage again, but also sets off a public opinion upsurge in the society that pays attention to hot spots, reflects on reality, and looks forward to the future.
The realistic narrative technique depicts the true and profound social picture
The reconstruction and demolition of the old city, the battle in the sand quarry, the KTV gambling… "Hurricane" is based on the normalization of anti-crime and anti-evil in recent years, and the education and rectification of the political and legal team as the policy background. It focuses on a series of criminal cases that took place in Beijing City, and conducts a bold and in-depth discussion on sensitive topics such as collusion between officials and businesspeople, power and money transactions, underworld forces and umbrella companies. The plot is interlocking, step by step, starting from the public security and legal teams, and uncovering the dark layers, involving key issues without ambiguity and non-avoidance. Like a mirror, it reflects the real social pain points, management difficulties, and public opinion hotspots in that era.
The play selects three time nodes in 2000, 2006, and 2021, and uses the intersection of positive and flashbacks to express the social picture under the development and change of the times. With the rapid development of the economy and the progress of the political and legal system, the underworld forces rise in the human society, perish in the rule of law society, and are finally wiped out. In this process, everyone has experienced the beating of society and the examination of conscience. The creator uses a large number of detailed descriptions to tell the story of the underworld forces constantly clinging to the powerful and gradually developing, as well as the experience of generations of police officers who have worked hard and sacrificed their lives to fight against the underworld forces, explaining the people’s support and support for combating organized crime and maintaining social order, and also demonstrating the country’s determination to eliminate the underworld forces. It also shows that the grand scene of clean and upright governance has arrived, highlighting the strong practical significance.
The details rich in fireworks describe the group portraits of the people who created the plump flesh and blood of the era
The vivid and detailed characters have become an important reason why the drama is talked about by netizens. The main character, An Xin, a police officer, is brave but stubborn, Gao Qiqiang, the leader of the underworld forces, is strong and ruthless, and there are collateral characters such as Xu Zhong, who knows people and makes good use of them, and Li Xiang, who is down-to-earth and hardworking, who take turns to appear as the plot unfolds. Officials at all levels, retired cadres, police officers, Hong Kong and Macao businesspeople, villagers, unemployed homeless people, and prisoners, etc., weave a huge network of character relationships, which are then rendered with family, friendship, and love, thus extending into an intricate picture of the development of the times.
The performances of many powerful actors have given these characters a vivid vitality. They all carry their own social identity characteristics and personal traces of life. Whether it is hairstyle, clothing or behavior, they are extremely natural, fit, and representative, leaving a deep impression on the audience. Li Xiang has a dream of getting rid of violence and peace, but he walks between black and white; Lao Mo wants to be a good person for his daughter, but he becomes a killer; there are also good policeman Lu Han, the villains Crazy Donkey, Li Hongwei, Secretary Wang, these vivid and realistic images are written from the background of the times, revealing different personality characteristics and psychological states with various life details such as posture, eyes, habits, dialects, etc., thus revealing the human nature changes and destiny trends of many characters from different classes and groups in the black and white confrontation under the changes of the great era. Xu Zhong, the anti-gangster supervisor, looks back at the 20-year history in the form of a narrator, observes the fate development trajectory of different characters, and makes the audience feel the profound changes in the social environment and social mentality, and then issues a soul inquiry: Why do people who should be more beneficial to society go to the abyss of crime and seriously erode the social body? Why did those public servants who should have maintained social stability become the umbrella company of the evil forces? It can be said to be meaningful and has a strong warning effect. These ingenious settings create rich and multi-layered drama scenes, improve the audience’s sense of substitution, and provide the work with realistic dimension dramatic structure support.
Break the mold and explore the complex human nature
There are many "famous scenes" in the play that make the audience unforgettable. For example, An Xin and Gao Qiqiang determine each other’s details, and walk left and right after they decisively break up, which means that the two are completely opposite to each other; and An Xin picks up the police cordon and forces Gao Qiqiang to keep retreating, concretizing the concept of "evil does not suppress good". And these all point to the most brilliant characters in the play, An Xin and Gao Qiqiang.
Setting the main characters as the two camps of black and white is a common routine in TV dramas with the theme of anti-crime and evil. "Hurricane" integrates the plot and suspense into the origin of human nature, and restores the process of character formation and transformation. Twenty years ago, a police officer who first entered the workplace, An Xin, met Gao Qiqiang, a fish seller who was bullied by market bullies, and came to the rescue out of justice. Since then, the two have intersected. Gao Qiqiang was originally a kind and diligent low-level people. An Xin’s accidental help won him a position and living space in the market, and also allowed him to see the convenience of making friends with the police. Since then, he has embarked on the road of speculation, clinging to the powerful, and even breaking the law. The two gradually drifted apart, An Xin grew from a high-spirited teenager to a weathered white-haired middle-aged man, and Gao Qiqiang metamorphosed from a submissive fishmonger at the bottom of society to a leader of the underworld who occupies one side. How much can a person change in 20 years? The work follows the laws of art and answers the audience with delicate, natural and smooth portrayals. Gao Qiqiang’s good and evil symbiosis, affection and insidiousness, An Xin’s tolerance of humiliation, hard work, and the choice between family, friendship, love and responsibility, the multifaceted and complex nature of human nature have been heavily foreshadowed and described in the play. It is the breakthrough of realism in literary and artistic works and the expression of loyalty to life.
Now, "Hurricane" has come to an end, the evil forces in the play have been punished as they deserve, and the society has ushered in the Qingming Festival. However, Gao Qiqiang, An Xin, and large and small characters in the play have become art classics, and they will also remain in the audience’s memory, worthy of careful experience. (Author: Xie Shanshan, Distinguished Professor of Zhuhai University of Science and Technology)
Guangming Daily (February 15, 2023)
