【Editor's note】
The "First Episode" series to help you watch the drama is here. Is the recently launched drama worth getting into? Good-looking and weird, let’s play together on the weekends.
Maybe some dramas will get better gradually, and some dramas may start high but then slow down, so this article only represents the author's opinion on the first few episodes and is for reference only. If there is any subsequent slap in the face, we will inform you at any time.
flowers
Broadcasting platform: CCTV 8, Tencent Video
First broadcast time: December 27
Episodes can be discussed on many dimensions. First of all, there is no doubt that this is a drama filmed by Wong Kar-wai, full of Wong Kar-wai flavor. From movies to TV series, Wong Kar-wai is still a director who tells emotions rather than stories. Whether it is editing, camera, lighting, the images reveal The information is very big. As Lizi's uncle, he is restrained and tolerant, while as Mianzi's Ah Bao, he is handsome and flamboyant. The concept of "lizi mianzi" was inherited by Wong Kar-wai from "The Grandmaster".
Secondly, does it look good? To be honest, except for the first two episodes where it was a little difficult for the audience to get into the situation due to flashback editing issues, it has gotten better since the third or fourth episode. At least as far as Po's story is concerned, the story of Yellow River Road is slowly unfolding, and Po's life is unfolding year by year, section by section, just like the neon lights lighting up.
"Flowers" bears the stylistic imprint of Wong Kar-Wai's films
I'm afraid it's not appropriate to use "movie-like quality" to describe Wong Kar-Wai's TV series. I believe that Director Wang's requirements are based on the specifications and quality of the movie. But by the fifth or sixth episode, certain passages make people feel that Wong Kar-wai's previous strong film style. As a movie fan, I feel emotional.
As for the plot itself, the author believes that Wong Kar-wai is not a director who is good at telling ups and downs stories, but this time, perhaps because of his love for "Flowers" and his nostalgia for Shanghai in the 1990s, Wong Kar-wai gave Yellow River Road and Treasures It’s a seemingly grand story, with stocks on the left and foreign trade on the right. Some of the scenes are slightly similar to Gatsby’s, revealing the same sense of “male hero”. He tried to turn Po from the street life in the original novel into an era. Condensation, this has to be colorful. After all, Shanghai at that time was full of flowers. However, Abao is no longer the Abao in "Flowers", but Mr. Bao in the current of the times.
Stills from "Flowers", Battle of the Yellow River Road
But after watching episodes 78 and 8, I must admit that Wong Kar-wai is ultimately better at expressing the emotional content of male love and female love. By episode eight, how is the "war" on Yellow River Road going? Li Li, the owner of Zhizhenyuan, fought back against the Shanghai boss ladies for the first time. The first Sanyang battle came to an end, but it always felt like he had been creating a tense and exciting atmosphere, but failed to have a real sense of business war. Li Li Gao Shen Mo He looked like he was risking his life every minute, but was he just risking his life to become a mercerized cotton broker? Seems a little strange.
On the contrary, the back-and-forth between Mr. Bao and several women is very interesting. Lingzi in Night Tokyo is a shrewd and calculating person who can keep her family safe. The scene where she drags Mr. Bao to Zhujiajiao for a meeting is really interesting. It’s Wong Kar-wai’s eating and drinking scene. Miss Wang is young, beautiful and energetic, and Mr. Bao is crying, laughing and noisy on the street, which is the "Chongqing Forest" on the road in Shanghai. Li Li and Mr. Bao are evenly matched, and neither one loses the other. They have the same energy as Gong Er and Ip Man when they competed at the wine table.
"Flowers" stills, A Bao and Miss Wang
Finally, about the relationship between the series and the novel. Wong Kar-Wai has made it clear from the beginning that this is his filler in "Flowers". Therefore, although the names are the same, it is best to treat them separately when watching the drama. Originally, this was a story that Jin Yucheng did not tell.
But there is one thing the author wants to mention. There are hundreds of "silence" in the novel. This is also one of the characteristics of the novel. In Shanghainese, it has almost no emotion and can be used in silence, resistance, etc. When you are secretly happy, when you are thinking, when you are in pain... In short, as a dialect, it is a concentrated urban temperament. Jin Yucheng artistically processed these two words into text features. In the Shanghai culture he wanted to express, "not ringing" is actually a "Tao" and a manifestation of a humanistic atmosphere. In the lines of the episode, Abao said, "The most important thing in doing business is not to ring." This explanation may be a bit misplaced, turning "not to ring" into a "skill". You can do business without making a sound. But this is not a magic weapon or secret. Fans of the original novel may feel a little familiar when they see the passages about Tao Tao, Teacher Ge, Ling Hong, and the little sister-in-law. The smoky atmosphere of the little characters is quite interesting.
From a regional cultural perspective, the Shanghainese dialect is gradually becoming weaker among the younger generation. I was very moved when watching the drama. The language on the set is Shanghainese, with Mandarin as the dubbing, so the Shanghainese version is better anyway, but in fact, for national TV dramas As for the audience, not many people are willing to choose to watch domestic dramas with subtitles. In other words, the Shanghai dialect version may only be watched by a small number of viewers. Even if they know this, the film producers and Wong Kar-wai can still insist on making dialect films and TV shows, which is worthy of admiration.
i know i love you
Broadcast platform: Tencent
First broadcast time: December 25
It is a remake of the Korean drama "Spring Night", which is very consistent with the popular saying on the Internet: "Healthy love is good, but abnormal love is really wonderful." Of course, this drama is not abnormal. The script finds a way for the heroine who is about to cheat. Reasonable reasons, don’t get married if you are in a long-distance relationship ➕ One foot in two boats, spiritual derailment. Putting aside the subsequent plot first, this reason is really a bit embarrassing. It can be understood that marriage is a commitment and a sign of love blossoming and bearing fruit, but it is not the end. The heroine wants to break up because she does not get married. This is to express her emotions. And putting the cart before the horse in marriage, not getting married may be a sign of sincerity. You are indeed tired and no longer in love.
Zhang Wanyi and Sun Yi stage forbidden love
Back to the plot itself, what the series wants to portray is that the male and female protagonists meet in entanglement and pain. The heroine has to face the trial of her own inner morality, but she cannot resist the emotions of ambiguous romantic love. Sun Yi and Zhang Wanyi both completed this process well. Even if they broke the social safety distance to wash hands of a girl they didn't know when they first met, Zhang Wanyi didn't find it strange during the performance; every time the three of them were in the Shura field, Zhang Wanyi The performances are all very sinister, and they capture the excitement... but the whole thing is just too boring. And this boredom lasted for dozens of episodes.
The author fell asleep and watched nearly ten episodes, but the same thing went back and forth. The heroine repeatedly looked at her boyfriend. In the process, she discovered that her boyfriend might have cheated on her, so her face became even more ugly. In the end, it was even worse than in "Goodbye Lover" The couple in it looked so miserable that they were still separated. Didn't they understand that the male protagonist saved the female protagonist's life? Do you have to marry him? I am confused about my relationship with my boyfriend, so it is difficult to develop feelings for the boy who is attracted to me. And this attractive guest, Zhang Wanyi’s character, cannot openly steal other people’s girlfriends, so I can only give warmth secretly. , send care, and send cats, but are unwilling to bear the moral condemnation of "mistress".
Stills from "I Know I Love You"
The performances of the actors are all commendable, and the pull between adults is not as childish as some modern couples. It is indeed mature and ambiguous, but it is not interesting enough, not dominant enough, and not romantic enough.
Apocalypse Strange News
Broadcast platform: iQiyi
First broadcast time: December 30
After reading the beginning, a familiar smell came over me. The Chinese have their own Winterfell... but the Ming Dynasty setting is really suitable for all kinds of weird and weird stories.
After watching three episodes, Lu Yang’s team will not have any major problems in filming Jinyiwei. Both the styling and the atmosphere are top-notch among domestic dramas. As soon as Huang Xuan appeared, it took people back to the Ming Dynasty. .
Huang Xuan plays Chu Sijing of the Hundred Households of Jinyiwei
The reason why Lu Yang's "Xiuchundao" is good-looking is that it captures the horror of people's hearts, but "Record of Apocalypse" is a new field of imagination. By the second episode, monsters have appeared, with quite an Eastern context and a Western twist. An interesting combination of ghosts and ghosts.
I saw that many people thought the pacing was slow. It took nearly an hour to create a scary atmosphere, but there were still no monsters and no truly scary scenes. The author felt that as a 12-episode drama, the current pacing was quite acceptable. At the beginning It may be a bit delayed, but after enduring the first half of the episode, Huang Xuan and Wu Yue's acting skills are not faulty, and they can fully enter the plot and go on adventures with the protagonists.
Zombie-like “monsters” appear in costume dramas
As I said some time ago, adventure dramas are a relatively niche field among domestic dramas. After all, they have high requirements for special effects and scripts. So this drama can be considered a costume adventure➕fantasy drama. Of course, there is a saying that the first three episodes are golden, and if an eye-catching scene cannot appear after more than ten minutes, the audience may be lost, but this cannot really be regarded as a criterion for a good drama. This is just a modern person. A helpless choice.
To be fair, at least the first three episodes of "Revelation of the Apocalypse" are watchable, the special effects are not overwhelming, and the characters are based on the Jin Yiwei universe. It is speculated that the story will revolve around power struggles, suspenseful missing persons, mysticism and Eastern weird stories in the later period. The author is looking forward to it.
