贾磊磊：Theory of the Filmic: Classical Interpretation
Theory of the Filmic: Classical Interpretation of Chinese Film Aesthetics
Leilei Jia
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jia Leilei is the associate director of Film and Television Research Institute, the director of the Research Center of Cultural Development Strategy, the deputy dean of Chinese National Academy of Arts, and member of the jury of Huabiao Film Awards, Golden Rooster Awards and Flying Apsaras Awards. He is now the dean of Nanhai Academy of the Arts and Technology.
贾磊磊，中国艺术研究院原副院长、文化发展战略研究中心主任、研究员、博士生导师，中国艺术研究院研究生电影电视系主任，中国电影华表奖、金鸡奖、五个一工程奖、中国电视飞天奖评委，华语十大经典动作电影评委会主席，国家艺术基金评审委员会评委，国家社会科学艺术学评审委员会评委。现任海口经济学院南海艺术与科技学院院长。ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS
Abstract: When linking Chinese film theory with traditional Chinese aesthetics, it is worth considering that the core categories of ancient Chinese aesthetics ought to be incorporated into a film paradigm that includes the meaning of film itself and it should not just be the way of transplanting the concepts of ancient Chinese literature directly into the system of film theory, for example, introducing the concepts of poetry, painting and opera directly into the evaluation system of films. For this reason, the author expects to establish a core concept in Chinese film aesthetics as an aesthetic category that may be considered to be parallel to the poetic, the pictorial and the calligraphic: this concept is named 'the Filmic'.
摘要：中国电影美学在与中国传统美学进行对接的时候，应当考虑到将中国古代美学的核心范畴纳入一种具有电影本体意义的理论范式之中，而不能满足于把中国古代文学的概念直接移植到电影美学的体系之中，比如把诗歌的、绘画的、戏曲的概念直接引入电影的理论体系之中。我们所期望的是能够在与诗意、画意、笔意相互平行的美学范畴内建构我们关于中国电影美学的核心概念——这个概念就是影意。
Keywords: Chinese film, film aesthetics, the Filmic
关键词：中国电影，电影美学，影意
To cite this article:
Jia, Leilei. "Theory of the Filmic: Classical Interpretation of Chinese Film Aesthetics" Journal of Chinese Film Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023, pp. 31-47. https://doi.org/10.1515/jcfs-2023-0013
A GLIMPSE OF THE ARTICLE
For the ancient Orientalism of China, the medium of film was perceived as an exotica from across the ocean and a magic box from the West. While we embraced this modern gadget which told stories and presented shows, we also accepted its western system of interpretation and criticism. Following extensive efforts, Chinese film artists are finally able to create their own world of images with unique Chinese characteristics: correspondingly, a Chinese system for interpreting the film text, and an aesthetic system for appreciating film as an art form, may also be developed. That China produces its own industrial products based on western technology, means that we may also draw on the western film paradigm to narrate Chinese stories, spread Chinese culture and promote Chinese spirit. Not only might we produce Chinese film artworks through industrial procedures, but we might also create an interpretation and value system toward such Chinese film works.
对于中国这样一个东方古国而言，电影无疑是一个漂洋过海的舶来品，一个从西方而降的魔盒。我们在接受这样一个会讲故事、会变戏法儿的现代机器的同时，也接受了西方对这个机器的阐释系统与评价系统。当中国电影的艺术家历经世纪的风雨，终于能够在自己的影像世界里创造出独特的中国风景的时候，无疑我们也应当相应地提出一种我们自己对电影文本的阐释体系与对电影艺术的美学体系。这就是说，当我们能够采用西方的技术建造出我们自己的工业产品的时候，我们实际上也同样能够借鉴西方的艺术范式来讲述我们中国的故事，来传播中国的文化，来弘扬中国的精神。我们不仅可以拥有一种通过工业化的生产流程制造出来的中国电影艺术作品，我们还能够生产创造出（拥有）一种中国对于电影艺术作品的阐释系统与价值系统。
01
The Filmic: The ontology of Chinese Film Aesthetics
影意：中国电影美学的本体命题
In the history of Western film theory, the meaning of film is understood via two different kinds of language: the form of cinematic language and the content of cinematic language. This difference may be roughly divided into the study of cinematic form and the study of cinematic content. In the theoretical structure of Chinese film, rather than interpreting, analyzing and studying movies from the perspective of forms, images and languages, we are accustomed to understanding, criticizing and directing from the perspective of contents, genres and themes. We especially dislike the task of studying films from the perspective of formalist aesthetics, as if all formalist research on art suggests existentialism and superficiality.
在世界电影理论史上，人们是从电影语言的叙事形式来认识电影，还是从电影语言的叙事内容来认识电影，实际上区分为两种不同的电影研究方法。这种差异可以粗略地划分为电影的形式研究与电影的内容研究。在中国电影的理论框架中，我们比较习惯从内容的角度、从题材的角度、从主题的角度来评价电影、认识电影和指导电影，而不太习惯于从形式的角度、从影像的角度、从语言的角度来阐释电影、分析电影和研究电影，尤其是不太喜欢从形式美学的角度来研究电影。好像所有艺术的形式研究都是形而下者，都是浅表皮毛。
▲《中国电影美学》（作者：林年同）
在中国电影理论的研究历史中，香港的林年同是从影像语言的角度研究电影美学的开创者。他在20世纪80年代就指出“中国电影是以蒙太奇美学做基础，以单镜头美学做表现手段的电影”。他主张：“中国电影，从三十年代开始，在外来电影思想的影响下，却能够与社会实际结合起来，将这两种不同的电影创作理论兼收并蓄，冶于一炉，于是使蒙太奇美学与单镜头美学的性质也改变过来，发展出一套具有中国特点的表达方式。”与那种特别强调电影与戏剧相互联姻的观点不同的是，他认为中国早期电影“既不是文明戏舞台样式的表现，也不受舞台创作规律的支配。这个时期的中国电影是把中远景、全景镜头作为客观事物矛盾规律的表现来了解的”。林年同的理论主旨是想确立中国电影独特的美学特质，这些出发点与罗艺军、刘书亮、王迪和王志敏等在理论主张上都基本一致，只是对于所要寻找的目标路径有所不同。客观地说，我们的思维路径可能更接近于中国传统美学的自身范畴，或是说，更像是在中国古典美学的延长线上所做的一种逻辑推演，它属于中国传统美学道路上当代电影美学的一个时代驿站。
02
Adopting Image through Meaning: Approach of Chinese Film Art
以意取象：中国电影的艺术创作路径
▲《马路天使》（由袁牧之执导）
Whether the intention of filmmaking originates from the creators’ long-term experience or from their flash of insight, an objective carrier of film is eventually required. Without this objective carrier, the characters in the film may be deprived of their stage space. In the history of Chinese film, in order to authentically represent the history of Shanghai, Yuan Mu, the Chinese film artist, objectively reproduced the social life of Shanghai in the 1930s. When filming Street Angle (Malu tianshi, 1937), Yuan visited the brothels, tea houses, bathhouses and barbershops around Rue Palikao, Great World and Foochow Road, in order to experience the life he intended to express and to select the filming objects and gain the materials required (Li 1997,442) based on his experience. Yuan displayed the trials and tribulations of prostitutes, singsong girls, buglers, news vendors, the unemployed, shavers and peddlers who lived at the bottom of society, and showed their miserable fate whereby they were bullied and oppressed; at the same time, the darkness of this city and the blocked space further visually exposed the nature of China’s semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. In this film, the shot slowly pans down from the Cathay Hotel with the subtitle reading “the underground floor”. The plot of the wedding escort on the road is then presented, and each character appears. This top-down movement not only exhibits the director’s stereoscopic perspective toward urban life of Shanghai, but also shows that in his eyes, this modern metropolis appears as a stage of society. The purpose of the film camera is to record every realistic event that happens on the stage.
一部电影的创作意图不论是来自于作者多年的积累还是来自于他的灵光闪现，最终都要找到那个寄予它的物质载体。如果不能找到影片所需要的客观载体，那么整部影片的人物就失去了赖以生存的客观环境。在中国电影史上，20世纪30年代中国电影艺术家袁牧之为了真实地展示上海的历史风貌，客观地再现上海的社会图景，在拍《马路天使》时曾到上海八仙桥、大世界和四马路一带的妓院、茶馆、澡堂、理发店里去观察他所要表现的生活，选择拍摄的对象，积累创作的素材。袁牧之把生活在当时社会“底层”的妓女、歌女、吹鼓手、报贩、失业者、剃头司务、小贩的困苦、所遭遇的被人欺凌、压迫的悲惨命运，与这座城市的黑暗、闭锁的空间同时呈现出来，进而在视觉上揭露了中国半殖民地半封建社会的真实本质。剧中摄影机的镜头从外滩华懋饭店的摩天大楼逐渐下移，然后推入“地下层”，接着是马路上迎亲场面。影片中的人物开始一一上场。这种影像自上而下的有序位移，既表现出导演对上海整个都市生活的立体透视，同时也表现出在他的眼里，上海这座现代化的大都市也像是一个社会舞台，电影的摄影机就是把发生在这个舞台上各种各样的真实现象通过记录的方式如实表现出来。
03
Endowing Form with Meaning: Presentation of Chinese Film Images
以意赋形：中国电影的影像呈现方式
The history of Chinese film has proved that the aesthetic conception of filmmakers generate the film’s form of expression and, hence, decide the aesthetic style of that film. We call this entire process ‘endowing form with meaning’.
中国电影的历史发展证明，电影创作者有什么样的电影美学意念，就有什么样的电影表现形态，就产生什么样的电影美学风格，这就是我们所说的“以意赋形”。
Chinese films that were made in the early years of cinema were named ‘Shadow Shows’. In the context of film art practice, creators underlined the uniformity between cinematics and dramatics, and saw movies as a stage drama that was to be filmed by the camera. In this sense, film simply becomes the technical means for recording drama; it is a visual form without unique aesthetic meaning. Chinese film theorists in the early cinema period believed that the real core of film was dramatics, that is, dramatics were the essence of film. Film was no more than a new form of drama. This conception was built on the basis that this dramatic aesthetics not only regarded the transplantation and recording of the contents presented as an important source of creativity, but also established an expressive system of cinematic language which was isomorphic to this aesthetic conception. This is to say, to some extent, in early film theory, the dominate opinion of filmmaking actually followed the aesthetic tradition which endowed the form of cinematics with the meaning of dramatics.中国早期电影曾经被命名为“影戏”，这就是说，在电影的艺术层面上，早期的电影创作者特别强调电影与戏剧一律性，把电影看作用摄影机拍摄的舞台戏剧。这样，电影就只是记录戏剧的一种技术手段，一种没有独特美学意义的视觉形式。在中国早期电影理论家们看来，电影真正核心内容是戏剧，戏剧是电影赖以生存的根本。电影，不过是戏剧新的存在形态。建立在这样的戏剧化的美学基础上的电影观念，不仅在电影的表述内容上把移植、记录戏剧作为重要的创作来源，而且在表述方式上也建立了一种与这种美学理念相同构的影像语言的表述系统。这就是说，在某种意义上讲，中国的早期电影在创作的主导观念上实际上遵行的是以戏曲之意赋影像之形的美学传统。
04
Determining Aspiration through Meaning: Manifestation of Chinese Film Ideology
以意立志：中国电影的思想表达方法
This so-called film aspiration not only refers to the vast narrative of national history, but also the expression of individual growth and self-awareness. In The Climbers (Pandengzhe, 2019), the historical merits of the national climbing team is showcased; there is potentially also the theme of personal growth which sits beneath the unique ideological values of the characters. “Get to the top and come back alive” is the motto of this movie. The filmmakers implant the personal theme of individual growth within the narrative, which prioritizes the history of the national climbing team as the first theme, and signals that the mainstream movies in China are able to blend the historical narrative of national development with personal growth. This kind of ideological value indicates that Chinese movies have already transcended the single standard of values. Rather than taking up the ideology of social awareness as the only theme of expression, Chinese movies now endorse the value of individuality on the premise of adhering to national interests, and integrate this value within the core values of collective heroism, forging the ideological value system of the entire movie. “All for one and one for all”—in this movie, this line symbolizes the team honor of every member, and the significance of everyone else’s lives as well. Film aspiration can be seen in movies concerning historic events and it may also be found in different types and genres of movies. Neither in combative Kungfu films with difficult martial arts techniques, nor in heavy action films featuring costumes of iron armor, the ideological orientation of contemporary Chinese film has moved beyond those moral ideals for restraining evil and promoting the good, or protecting the weak and saving the poor. It is now marching toward the great virtues of patriotism. In a classic scene from Wolf Worriers II (Zhanlang 2, 2017) Leng Feng raises the national flag of China high up to the sky and breaks through the traffic lines which have been seized by terrorists; the scene implies that China has become an invincible force for saving compatriots and deterring terrorism.
我们所说的电影之志，并不仅仅是指电影对于国家历史的宏大讲述，其中也包括对于个人成长、自我认知的思想表达。影片《攀登者》独特的思想价值除了体现出国家登山队的历史功绩之外，还蛰伏着一个人格成长的潜在主题。“登上去，找回自己”是《攀登者》的一句箴言式台词。在这部以国家登山队的历史为第一主题的叙述中，作者嵌入一个个人成长的人格主题，这标志着中国主流电影正在将国家民族的历史叙事与人格成长的现实叙事融为一体。这种思想价值的设计表明，中国电影已经跨越了单一的价值地平线，既不再以思想的社会意识作为表述的唯一主题，而是在坚持国家利益的前提下充分肯定个体生命的存在价值，并且将这种个体生命的存在价值与集体英雄主义核心价值相互整合并共同构成了整部影片的思想价值体系。“一人为大家，大家为一人”——一根绳索不仅牵动着所有登山队员的集体荣誉，而且同时牵动着每个人生命的意义所在。可见，电影之志，并不仅仅体现在重大革命历史题材影片中，它还体现在不同题材、不同类型的影片之中。不论是硬桥硬马的技击功夫电影，还是钢筋铁甲的重工业动作电影，当代中国电影的思想旨向已经不止于抑恶扬善、扶危救难的道德理想，而是向着强烈的爱国主义情怀迈进。其间最为经典场景的《战狼2》中冷锋用自己的手臂高擎起中华人民共和国的国旗，穿过被恐怖分子占据的交通要道——中国已经成为拯救海外受难同胞、震慑国际恐怖行为的强大力量。▲《攀登者》（由李仁港执导）
▲《战狼2》（由吴京执导）
05
Involving emotion with Meaning: Expression of Chinese Film Emotion
以意融情：中国电影的抒情策略
Meaning and emotion are two categories with relations and distinctions in the system of Chinese aesthetics. Advocation for the integration, unity and mutual reflection of emotion and meaning was the pursuit of ancient aesthetics. The integration of meaning and emotion in Chinese film has not only built upon the idea of the emotional world as a private space for expressing personal emotions, but also expanded it into a higher, broader and deeper realm, allowing the light of ideology to illuminate the emotional world of Chinese film and infiltrate it with the color of the spirit. In this sense, the spiritual value of film, that which moves beyond emotion alone, is then to be born.
意与情在中国美学体系中是相互联系又相互区别的一对范畴。倡导情与意的相互融汇、相互统一、相互映现是中国古代美学一贯的美学主张。中国电影意与情的交汇整合使中国电影的情感世界并不仅仅是表达个人情感的私密空间，而是将个人情感的世界融汇到更为高远、更为广阔、更为深邃的境界之中，使中国电影的情感世界被思想的阳光所映照，被精神的色彩所浸染，进而产生出超越单一情感的精神价值。
In the expression of emotion in traditional art, extreme attention was paid to the act of blending emotion with meaning. In Western film, a huge difference is apparent, especially in Hollywood films. The emotional communion between heroes and heroines invites the audience to establish a recognition pattern toward their relationship: the audience becomes the witness for their romance, mainly through the “suturing system” formed by the shot/counter shot. However, in Chinese movies, apart from establishing communication between heroes and heroines, normally the filmmakers insert a nature scene to enhance their romance. The image of nature has become a metaphor for depicting emotional strength in a relationship; at times, it evens play a role between characters and adds the beauty of nature into the context of love affairs.在中国传统艺术的抒情方式中，历来特别注重以意融情。中国电影的抒情方式与西方电影，特别是好莱坞电影存在着很大的差异。在好莱坞电影中，男女主人公之间的情感交流主要是通过正反镜头所构成的“缝合体系”引导观众对男女的情感关系建立认同机制，使观众成为男女情感关系的认同者。而中国电影的抒情方式除了建立男女主人公之间的相互交流之外，通常会在两位主人公之间融入一种自然的景象，来强化两人的情感关系。自然的意象成为融入到人物情感关系中的一种抒情力量，有时它甚至在人与人之间充当着一种角色，承担着将自然之美融入人性之美中的作用。
06
Conclusion
结语
As the matter of fact, any film, no matter its theme or style, may always present the image beyond narrative function as long as it is a devotion, especially in the charming scenes portrayed by those films with strong intentions to employ cinematic expression: this is the ideal place of the Filmic. We may experience the Filmic in the red sorghum fields pictured by Zhang Yimou, in the silence after bloodshed delineated by Chen Kaige, in the culture center built by Wang Jianxin, and in the chill valley of wars painted by Wu Ziniu. In the language system of film art, it is only the story expressed through the unique style of the image that can reveal the Filmic.
其实，任何一部影片，不论它是什么题材、什么风格，只要它是一部倾心之作，就总会有超越叙事功能之上的影像呈现，特别是在那些着意于影像表达的影片中那种令人心醉情迷的地方——那就是我们所向往的影意的呈现之地。这种影意在张艺谋的电影里曾经是漫天飞扬的红色高粱，在陈凯歌的电影里曾经是横刀断指后那片刻的静穆与骤然发出的震响，在黄建新的电影里是那座雕梁画栋的文化馆，在吴子牛的电影中则是笼罩在战云之中肃杀阴冷的山谷……在电影艺术的语言体系中，只有这种通过影像的独特呈现方式所表现的故事内容才是我们所青睐的影意之所在。想要了解更多关于《影艺论——中国电影美学的古典阐释》的内容，欢迎点击文末的“阅读原文”。
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Journal of Chinese Film Studies
《中国电影研究》
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主编：王海洲 金海娜
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