Study On The Adaptation Of Films From Lao She's Works

One of the most important sources for screenplay is the adaptation of literary masterpieces. And in China, Lao She is the litterateur who has the most masterpieces adapted into high-quality plays. So his works wield great influence among the people owing to the charm of the works themselves and the wide spread of screenplays in our daily lives.Lao She is a master in linguistics and literature, and has a special status in the history of modern Chinese literature. He paid close attention to the cultural critique and the national characteristics, calmly scanned the literature in transitional period of China and achieved that by the description of the people's daily life in Beijing. A real social picture of Chinese contemporary history had been elaborately drawn through his stories for people's normal lives in the specific society. A deep concern about the fate of the common people, especially those with bitter lives, had been permeated in his works. The use of dialect, the exoteric and compact words based on Beijin dialect and the humorous style of Lao She's works has developed a school of its own among Chinese modern writersLao She's works is suitable for acting. The compact plot, dramatic stories, the conflicts between characters and the flexible use of dialogues in his works make it possible to adapt those works to screenplays. The artistic style and the spirit connotation of Lao She's works drives the adaptation of plays from these works. This is another reason for his works to be converted into large numbers of movies and teleplays.This paper researched the general situation of adaptation from Lao She's works by discussing the adaption of the black-and-white films"This Life of Mine"(1950),"Fang zhenzhu"(1951),"Long xu gou"(1952), the color films"Luo tuo Xiang Zi"(1982),"The Teahouse"(1982),"Crescent Moon"(1987) and the teleplays"Four generations under one roof"(1985)"This Life of Mine"(2002).There're two reasons deciding the success of the adaptation. One is the difference between different artistic mediums. Words and image are two different artistic mediums with their respective forms. It's hard to avoid the flaws for the adapted films due to the different inherent characters of literature and films. The other reason is the theory and method of adaptation. It's very important for masterwork adaptation to keep the plot, the scene, the character and the disposal style as close as the original works.That means the kernel of the adapted film must be faithful to the original masterwork. During the adaptation the essential spirit, the style and feature of the original work can't be changed. On the contrary these elements should be enriched and deepened through the whole film. At the same time the plot of the original works should be embodied in the adapted films. So the adapters must have the enthusiasm of the original works and the patience to enter into the spirit of these works if they really want to catch the soul of the works. In addition, the adapters are also required to have solid artistic basis and adept skills at applying film technique to converting original works.