Black Coal, Thin Ice (Screenplay)
Diao Yinan
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Literature Dramatic Literature SuspenseScreenplay CollectionFilm NoirEmotional EntanglementComplex HumanityMoral DilemmaSummary
This is a film screenplay that can be read as a work of literature. Rather than centering on plot twists, it braids together the coldness of a dismemberment case, the malaise of a small town in the era of mass layoffs, and the inscrutable tangle of desire between a man and a woman: a hand in a coal heap, ashes buried beneath an elm, skate marks in a chase across an ice rink, fireworks exploding in daylight, all images that reward repeated contemplation. For screenwriting students, it can be read as a model of localizing genre cinema, showing how the skeleton of a detective film, the atmosphere of film noir, and the texture of a northeastern industrial city can be twisted into a single register. For film fans, reading the screenplay against the finished film makes clear which passages were kept and which were cut or changed, offering insight into how a Golden Bear winning film took shape. It should be noted that no single-volume edition of the Black Coal, Thin Ice screenplay has been formally published in China; the widely circulated versions are mostly the copyright-registered version held by the production company and versions shared online (such as the one registered with the Beijing Municipal Copyright Bureau under 01-2010-A-020931). Readers should pay attention to differences between versions and to copyright ownership.Editor's review
这是一部“可以当文学作品读”的电影剧本。它没有把重心放在案情反转上，而是把碎尸案的冷、下岗年代小城的颓、男女之间说不清的欲望缠在一起：煤堆里的一只手、被埋在榆树下的骨灰、冰场上追逐的滑痕、白天炸响的焰火，都是可以被反复琢磨的意象。对编剧学习者而言，它可以当作类型片本土化的范本来看——侦探片的骨架、黑色电影的气氛、东北工业城市的质感，如何被拧成同一种调子；对影迷而言，对照成片阅读剧本，能清楚看到哪些段落被保留、哪些被删改，理解一部金熊奖影片的成型过程。需要说明的是，目前国内并未见正式出版的《白日焰火》剧本单行本，流传较广的多为片方版权登记版本及网络分享版本（如“北京市版权局作登字 01-2010-A-020931”一版），阅读时宜留意版本差异与版权归属。Who it's for
A good fit for
- 想研究类型片结构与黑色电影气氛营造的编剧、导演学习者
- 看过影片、希望对照成片理解创作过程的影迷
- 对中国当代城市犯罪题材写作感兴趣的文学读者
- 影视专业院校的学生与剧本分析课教师
Not a good fit for
- 希望读到完整小说式叙述、注重情节细节铺陈的读者
- 对碎尸、暴力等犯罪场面描写较为敏感的读者
- 只想了解影片剧情、不关心文本形式的普通观众
Reading tips
- 先通读一遍当作故事看，再对照影片分场逐段比较，记录被删改的场次与原因。
- 留意剧本中对空间、光线、声音的描述文字，这些往往是刁亦男影片气氛的来源。
- 把张自力和吴志贞的每一场对手戏单独列出，观察编剧如何用最少对白推进关系与悬念。
- 阅读网络流传版本时注意区分早期稿与定稿，并以影片成片为最终参照。
FAQ
《白日焰火》剧本有正式出版的图书吗？
目前未检索到中国大陆正式出版的《白日焰火》剧本单行本，也查不到可靠的出版社、出版年与 ISBN。市面上流传的多为片方版权登记版本的电子文本以及影迷、编剧类公众号的分享版本，阅读时应留意版本差异与版权归属。剧本和上映的电影内容一样吗？
不完全一样。据媒体报道，影片上映前网络上流传的是较早的版本，投资方称其并非最终稿。对照成片可见部分场次和人物线索有调整，因此阅读剧本宜作为理解创作过程、而非精确还原影片的参考。这个剧本为什么叫《白日焰火》？
据导演访谈与相关研究，片名灵感来自导演与朋友聊天时提到的一个词，也与他欣赏的布努埃尔影片《白日美人》有关，结尾白昼放焰火的场景则借鉴了艺术家蔡国强的作品。焰火在白日里炸开，绚烂却无人喝彩，与片中人物的处境相呼应。剧本适合用来学编剧吗？
适合。它以标准的场景编号、动作描述加对白的形式写成，可以清晰看到类型片结构如何与作者风格结合，也能观察到留白、意象和空间描写在剧本阶段是如何被写进去的，是较好的拉片与拆解素材。影片获得了哪些主要奖项？
同名影片于2014年2月在柏林国际电影节首映，获第64届柏林国际电影节最佳影片金熊奖，主演廖凡获最佳男演员银熊奖；这也是华语电影第五次摘得金熊奖，廖凡成为首位华人柏林影帝。This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Diao Yinan AuthorDiao Yinan is a writer associated with literature and dramatic literature, whose representative work is the screenplay Black Coal, Thin Ice. Publicly available information is currently limited: apart from the author's name, English name, and the work mentioned above, biographical details remain sparse, making it difficult to sketch a complete creative trajectory. Based on the existing material, Black Coal, Thin Ice is presented as a screenplay and falls within the category of dramatic literature; readers can gain a basic sense of its narrative structure, character arrangement, and dialogue handling. As the one work held in the collection, this screenplay serves as the main entry point for understanding Diao Yinan's writing orientation and suggests a connection between his work and film or stage narrative. In the absence of further verifiable facts, no biographical inferences are made here; only the work's category and textual attributes are briefly noted for readers' reference.