New 'Water Margin' triggers debate

    《新水浒》：颠覆原著的改编能被接受吗？

    Adapted from the classic novel, the new show, All Men are Brothers is an 86-episode series broadcasting on major satellite TV channels every day, and is already midway through its showing. Aiming to give "updated values" to the traditional story, the new show has instead caused derision among viewers and critics.

    这个改编自经典小说的《新水浒》共86集，时下正是各大卫视的每日热播剧集，现在已经播出过半。尽管《新水浒》旨在赋予这个传统故事以一种与时俱进的现代价值观，但反而招致观众以及评论家的嘲讽。

    "I knew Li Shaohong (A Dream of the Red Mansion), and Gao Xixi (Three Kingdoms) would stick to the originals, but I've decided to give a brand new adaptation, " Hong Kong director Gaau Leung Guk claimed to media.

    香港导演鞠觉亮面对媒体采访时说：“我知道李少红（曾执导新《红楼梦》）和高希希（曾执导新《三国演义》）都坚持忠于原著，但我想要另一种全新的改编。

    "I never wanted to make TV to be authentic but instead to make an acceptable show for modern viewers in terms of character-building, costume, make-up and storyline," Guk added.

    鞠觉亮补充说：“我从没想让这部戏还原真实，相反我想通过人物塑造、服装、造型、故事情节等方面，为当代观众呈现一部合他们胃口的戏。”

    There are several controversial changes for Brothers. Pan Jinlian, portrayed as a loose woman in the original novel and a long-established symbol of such in China, is now recast as a hard-working virginal housewife in the first episodes, refusing several wealthy young suitors.

    《新水浒》中的一些改编颇受争议。原著中的潘金莲是一名放荡女子，且这种形象在中国人心中已根深蒂固了。如今，该人物在起初几集中被塑造成了一名勤劳纯洁的家庭妇女，拒绝了许多富家公子的追求。

    In the novel, Pan murdered her husband with her lover, Ximen Qing. In the new adaption, her affair with Ximen is a romantic love story.

    小说中潘金莲与情人西门庆一起合谋杀害了她的丈夫。而新版中，她和西门庆的偷情行为却演变成了浪漫的爱情故事。

    "I chose not to show Pan's loose side in the beginning… so it's more dramatic when the truth comes out," Guk insisted.

    鞠觉亮坚持认为：“故事开始时我选择将潘金莲的放荡一面隐藏起来，因此，真相浮出水面时故事会显得更有戏剧性。”