Research On The Construction Of Heroic Image In Chinese New Theme Movies

As a combined audio-visual artwork,film is also a mass communication medium with the ability to reconstruct reality and is a necessary entertainment for the general public.As an important part of the contemporary film genre,Chinese theme films play an active role in socio-political,economic and cultural fields.With the improvement of audiences’ aesthetics,melodramatic films that have entered a bottleneck have begun to seek breakthroughs and have been reborn as new theme films by adding commercial elements,and have gradually entered the market and become sought after by audiences.With the discussion of the male lead Leng Feng in "War Wolf 2",the public’s attention has been stolen by the heroic characters,and the construction of heroic characters in different new theme films has become the focus of discussion between the industry and audiences.This research takes 79 heroic characters in 16 new theme films as the object of study,and analyzes them at two levels: structural elements and narrative strategies.At the level of elemental analysis,we analyze the text at three levels: microscopic visual symbols,mesoscopic emotional symbols and macroscopic thematic symbols,and obtain ideas for constructing heroic images in new theme films.At the level of narrative analysis,the logic of hero image construction is analyzed in depth by using film narrative and film semiotics.In terms of image characteristics,heroes are mostly adult males,mostly historical or historically adapted characters,and have qualities such as toughness,bravery,ability,outstanding character,and positive mindset.In terms of narrative characteristics,new melodramatic films generally use conditions such as adversity and loss to highlight the image of heroes,and at the same time like to shape heroic group portraits.New theme films have constructed many different heroic images,such as the image of the sacrificial man who fights for his life in war,the image of the leader who turns pressure into motivation,the image of the ordinary man who is ordinary but stays true to his heart,and the image of the man behind the scenes who works silently in the dark.This study finds that there are multiple values in the image of heroes in new theme films,such as the cultural value of strengthening the hearts of the nation,the emotional resonance of bringing heroes closer to the masses,and the commercial value of boosting the economy and building brands.However,there are still deficiencies in the creation of heroic images in new theme films,such as fewer female characters,over-exaggerated character abilities,lack of anti-hero characters,pursuing box office more than quality,and over-emphasizing visual impact.Combining the analysis of the causes,the author proposes to solve the problems from three levels:technical means,communication mechanism and vision.