Light and shadow reflect mountains and rivers ｜ Use light and shadow to promote social progress and take care of social development

Special feature of 1905 film network From the "big bang" summer movies in 2023 to the booming Spring Festival movies in 2024, domestic realistic movies have ushered in a creative upsurge. They reflect real life, pay attention to social issues, and become a modal symbol of China’s new era.

Film is the epitome of society, and society is the raw material of film. In the future, how will the film reflect Jian Zhen, show its ambition and observe the new social development with a positive attitude?

Fu Wei, an associate researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was invited to focus on the "Two Sessions" series "Film and Society".

Great social changes are opportunities and challenges for film development.

Fu Wei believes that China society is undergoing great transformation, which brings great challenges and opportunities for film creation.

On the one hand, the social structure is more complicated, people’s ideas and emotions are more abundant and diverse, and it is more difficult to grasp the pulse of the times and arouse the resonance of Chinese people.

On the other hand, social transformation will lead to more issues and more representative figures and events, which will bring opportunities for film creation to some extent.

Movies are the vane of the social times.

The so-called spring river plumbing duck prophet, the film is a weather vane of the social times. Movies, as an art form, can first capture the changes of social mentality and social emotion.

After the reform and opening up, a number of films focusing on the lives of ordinary people, for example, have been released. In the 21st century, with the massive introduction of foreign films, the vision of film creation has also been broadened. In recent years, movies began to care about China’s story from a new angle, and movies with the theme of "I" appeared one after another, for example, and so on.

Fu Wei believes that this reflects Chinese’s own emotional experience and ideal pursuit under the background that China filmmakers are very concerned about the times. When watching movies, the audience will also project their ideals and values on the protagonist to pay attention to the specific problems encountered in life. This also fully shows that movies can be seen from small to large, which is closely related to everyone’s life.

Realistic movies have become a trend.

In recent years, films based on various social hotspots and realistic issues have become a trend. Among the top ten movies in the box office list in 2023, more than half are realistic movies. Fu Wei believes that there are three main reasons why these works are loved by the audience from the perspective of sociology.

Grasp the important issues. Realistic films focus on important social phenomena in theme. What the film cares about is the fairness and justice that the audience is generally concerned about.

Seize strong emotions. Realistic films can grasp the current social mentality, such as paying great attention to the education and development of children in mountainous areas and conveying the spirit of struggle of ordinary people.

Distinctive expression of Chinese values. These realistic films emphasize the feelings of home and country and the significance of individuals to collective national responsibility. These values are very close to Chinese’s spiritual structure, and it is easier to arouse the emotional resonance of the audience and produce a high-spirited social spirit.

Movies empower society

Movies can reflect the style of an era, and also inspire, guide and change the social mentality. Excellent film works can make the audience find an outlet in complex emotions and regain their courage. At the same time, movies can also attract the public’s attention to major social issues, which in turn will affect and empower society.

Typical is to set off the anti-fraud upsurge of the whole network, which shows that the film has the unique advantage of substituting people into related scenes, and people can feel the harm and risk of telecom fraud in an immersive way.

In addition, films involving major social issues will arouse people’s recognition and consensus on value. The 2024 Spring Festival film focused on "justifiable defense", which caused the audience to discuss the law objectively and fairly. These emotional resonance will form a certain range of social actions to promote the improvement of policies and regulations and promote social progress.

An enterprising era needs excellent film works. From the perspective of sociology, Fu Wei also gave suggestions for the future development of China films:

First of all, filmmakers should be more firm in the people’s position and create works that fit the people. Secondly, in terms of creative ideas, filmmakers should have cultural consciousness and truly understand China society, so as to be able to empathize with Chinese’s joys and sorrows, to explore topics worthy of attention in real social life, and to shape characters and plots that can impress, inspire and lead people.