Since the drama version of "Flowers" has been aired, many viewers must have gradually given up their obsession and do not require one-to-one correspondence between the drama version and the novel, and have accepted the fact that it is Wong Kar-Wai's extremely strong style of "Flowers", because even if the drama version is different from the novel, The similarity between the novels is extremely low, and it does not affect the beauty of the drama version of "Flowers". Those friends around me who are able to put aside their prejudices and follow the drama are still addicted to it. After watching "Flowers", watching other dramas is no longer enjoyable.
"Flowers" poster
Wong Kar-wai's TV series are on another level. This is definitely not an exaggeration. After all, the production time of the drama version of "Flowers" is 10 times that of other TV dramas of the same size. It can be seen with the naked eye that the drama crushes domestic dramas on the aesthetic level. The copyrights of golden songs of various eras are quite extravagant and used. It's just right.
I can immediately understand why Wong Kar-Wai is so "irritating". The actors are still proud to work with Wong Kar-Wai and are still so happy to work with Wong Kar-Wai, because the actors can rest assured that as long as the scene is not cut (the only thing they need to worry about) , Wong Kar-Wai’s photos must be of their most beautiful appearance. In the drama version of "Flowers", there is the most handsome Hu Ge, the cutest Tang Yan, and the most charming Xin Zhilei on the screen.
Abao (played by Hu Ge)
It is also almost unprecedented. The drama version of "Flowers" is the most accessible story Wong Kar-Wai has ever told. The novel "Flowers" has a high literary achievement, but it is also very provocative. Many people are not able to figure out what kind of story it tells after reading it for the first time. Wong Kar-wai, who is famous for his difficult-to-understand movies, actually made the difficult-to-understand novel "Flowers" very story-telling and even "internet-like".
You can completely watch the drama version of "Flowers" as a male-friendly drama that rides the wave of the times. The series revolves around the protagonist A Bao (played by Hu Ge) who grows up to be Mr. Bao and then rides the waves of the market economy around the 1990s. When Abao was in great glory, he seemed to have a "golden finger" when he participated in the business war. He was so elegant, handsome and able to win a great victory. It is foreseeable that Abao will hit rock bottom and make a comeback, unless he takes the initiative to withdraw from the world.
Many male dramas tell "popular" stories, which are basically all kinds of male daydreams. But there is nothing "tacky" or unrealistic about "Flowers". In fact, if you look closely, many of the business logic in the drama version of "Flowers" do not stand up to scrutiny. However, under the background of Wong Kar-wai's distinctive and high-end aesthetic style, the "vulgarity" has been filtered out. It has no YY color and has become a dreamy legend in a hyperactive era.
More importantly, the completely solid image of Po in the play makes all the legends surrounding him seem natural and reasonable. "Flowers" is about business war, but it is essentially about Po. The logic of business war gives way to the character logic of Abao. Abao has the ability to make all flashy and exaggerated plots appear reasonable.
How to understand Abao? "Favor" is the most critical key. Abao is essentially an Abao who is "completely trapped by human feelings". He started because of favors and lived for favors.
And "human affection" means being affectionate and righteous, reciprocating kindness, tenderness, chivalry, and generosity. It means that if you treat me well, I will treat you better. It means having a heart that thinks about others, considers others, and gives others dignity... The relationships between the main characters surrounding A Bao in the play are actually A Bao's human relationships.
How did A Bao grow up to become Mr. Bao? The noble people helped along the way, and the noble people gave Abao favors. Why give favor to A Bao? Because A Bao deserves it, he is affectionate and righteous.
Abao initially asked his uncle (played by You Benchang) to teach him how to do business. His uncle gave him many tests. The last test was to test whether Abao could keep his integrity after suddenly acquiring huge wealth. Abao defended. From then on, under the guidance of his uncle, A Bao became President Bao, and his uncle became President Bao's most important and trustworthy military advisor.
Uncle Grandpa (played by You Benchang)
The relationship between the two people seems to be that of a boss and his subordinates, and the silent tenderness they sometimes reveal is like the relationship between a loyal old servant and a kind young master in the feudal era. But these are not the case. A Bao has always regarded his uncle as an elder who is in awe. Master and benefactor.
The two people have many exciting rivalry scenes, and many small details are worth pondering. For example, when Abao came back early in the morning, his uncle asked him to read the contract. Abao said in a childish tone that he was tired and wanted to take a breath. He was so tired that he couldn't open his eyes. The uncle deserved it when he complained about A Bao. Who asked him to accompany the woman to Zhujiajiao to eat wontons early in the morning (and even got 500,000 yuan stolen), and now he said he was tired. Abao's distant voice came, "I'll wash my face and come over." The camera briefly paused on Uncle Grandpa's face, his expression was very complicated. Are you feeling sorry for Mr. Bao because he is tired, or do you feel that A Bao will still listen to him no matter how tired he is? No matter which way it is, their relationship is so warm and daily, and Abao is so obedient and affectionate. It's no wonder that my uncle loves him so much.
Uncle and Mr. Bao
In the past, his uncle gave Po a test and gave him one day to borrow 6,000 yuan. Po asked his good friend Tao Tao (played by Chen Long) to borrow money. Tao Tao did not ask where Po's money was used and lent it out regardless of family objections. . After that, his uncle asked A Bao to raise another 10,000 yuan in a week, and Tao Tao sold necklaces and jewelry to raise 7,000 yuan for A Bao.
This is Tao Tao's affection for Abao. What Abao gave back to Tao Tao was also friendship. Even though Abao later became Mr. Bao and became a well-known figure on Nanjing Road and Yellow River Road, he still regarded Tao Tao as "my die-hard brother, he can completely represent me" and gave Tao Tao the confidence when outsiders provoked Tao Tao. At that moment, Tao Tao was even a little surprised that Abao would defend him like this.
Tao Tao (played by Chen Long) is still a fishmonger, but he has always been A Bao's die-hard brother
Abao's ability to achieve primitive accumulation in the capital market also benefited from the help of Commander Cai (played by Zhang Jianya) in the past. Later, Commander Cai leaked the news, causing Po to take the blame, be rumored and stabbed, and Po also admitted it all. He was grateful for Commander Cai's kindness in the past. If others helped him, he, Abao, would definitely repay it.
Even if he was the one who stabbed him under a misunderstanding, Abao ignored the past grievances and even gave him land in Pudong to let him run it. Po always has a kind-hearted and soft-hearted side. Some uncles and aunts in Shanghai followed Ah Bao in stock trading and made a lot of money. My uncle persuaded Ah Bao to return the money they left with Ah Bao as soon as possible. After all, the stock market might lose money at any time. Abao didn't do this. His reason was, "If I don't care about them, I go to Baichong blindly. Even if I lose all my money, you still let them go back and empty the toilet." After hearing this, my uncle could only sigh helplessly. In one sentence, "You have let your feelings completely bind you."
To understand A Bao, you need to understand this sentence "You have let your feelings completely bind you."
A Bao who is willing to be trapped by favors
Going back to A Bao's male-female relationship, currently there are mainly three women surrounding A Bao, Lingzi (played by Ma Yili) who runs a small restaurant with A Bao, Wang Mingzhu (played by Tang Yan) who works in a foreign trade company, and those who work on the Yellow River Road. Li Li (played by Xin Zhilei), the proprietress of the restaurant. They have completely different ways of getting along with Po. Wong Kar-wai, who is good at describing the subtleties of relationships between men and women, makes every relationship colorful and lively. Women are more or less affectionate towards A Bao. The reason is very simple. A Bao is affectionate and righteous. Or as Lingzi complains about A Bao in a coquettish way, "Your Bao is always merciful on the road to the Yellow River."
Lingzi (played by Ma Yili)
Some viewers don't like Lingzi's philistine, shrewdness and calculation. She often shows a "greedy" look, as if she is trying to squeeze out the money from A Bao. Of course, she is not merciless when it comes to collecting other people's money. .
Is she really so selfish and bad? In fact, she has always been sincere to A Bao. How could A Bao, who was struggling in the business world, not know how to look at people? He also understood Ling Zi's sincerity, that is, Ling Zi was A Bao's "escape route". This "escape" does not mean that Lingzi is A Bao's spare tire, but that she is A Bao's "safe". She keeps every penny she collects from A Bao for A Bao. "You know there are How many people will give him money?" This is Reiko's worry. The business world is ups and downs, what if one day Abao falls into despair? At least Reiko can give him a stable safe haven, and she can use her savings to give Abao the confidence to start over.
Lingzi knows that Abao's money has many uses and helps him save money to "run the family"
Lingzi gave her heart to A Bao, because A Bao was truly affectionate and righteous to her. For someone like Reiko, who has experienced ups and downs in the past and has a vague sense of inferiority in her heart, the most rare and precious thing is Abao's trust in her - no matter when she was wandering in a foreign country in the past, when she waited for Abao to The Ye Tokyo restaurant she opened was because of Abao's complete trust in her, and he "didn't care" about being "blackmailed" by her in various ways.
Reiko fell into it early
No matter how busy and tired, no matter how expensive and luxurious the delicacies outside are, Ah Bao will go to Lingzi's place to eat a bowl of rice noodles after work almost every day; even if Ah Bao complains, he will still get up early with Lingzi to hold the shareholders' meeting, and the two of them will go to Zhujiajiao. Going to eat wontons, like a loving old couple, Reiko's heart blossomed.
Being with Abao, Lingzi's heart is blossoming
So, I personally quite like Reiko. A woman living in the world. A truly heartbroken woman whose heart was stolen. Her fierceness and arrogance are just her protective shell. Anyone can dislike her, but not Abao.
A Bao and Wang Mingzhu have another kind of relationship. They met as early as the end of 1988. At that time, Wang Mingzhu was just a "rookie" who had just started working in a foreign trade company, and A Bao was just a novice in foreign trade who needed to beg for help everywhere. They both witnessed each other's young and difficult stages in their careers. They got through it together, benefiting each other, helping each other, and growing together. Wang Mingzhu has become Ms. Wang, who has the highest performance in the foreign trade company and is likely to be promoted to section chief. A Bao has become a respectable boss in Shanghai.
Wang Mingzhu (played by Tang Yan)
They were indeed just a revolutionary friendship at first, but gradually they became something more than partners and more than friends. Everyone can see what Miss Wang did for A Bao, but what A Bao did for Miss Wang can also be seen in various words. For example, Ms. Wang's boss, Section Chief Jin, said, "If the trouble didn't fall on her, you would block it for her." Abao didn't mean to be merciful, he was just a compassionate and righteous person. Therefore, A Bao regards Miss Wang as his "confidant", but his uncle is more accurate. What Miss Wang unknowingly wants is A Bao's "red heart". She defended him, obviously not just as a business partner.
When Wang Mingzhu learned that A Bao was going "deep into the tiger's den" alone, she was worried about A Bao's safety and went to save A Bao regardless of the risk. After finding that A Bao was safe and sound, she rushed over and hugged A Bao and cried bitterly. What a kind, decent, and lovely girl! Abao was obviously a little surprised by Miss Wang's reaction, and he was deeply moved in his heart.
Wong Kar Wai made both of them look so cute.
But in the end, he was motivated by love and stopped by etiquette. The "missing out" of this relationship is of course lamentable, but lovely Miss Wang, you are right about Abao - he is worthy but may not belong to you, and you still have a vast world to explore.
Wang Mingzhu will know how good A Bao is to her
Mr. Bao's handsome, elegant, affectionate, and refreshing side may make people overlook his "wolfish" side in business wars: battle of wits and courage, decisive killing, and sealing the throat with a sword. Li Li, who dared to establish a foothold on Huanghe Road, saw more of Mr. Bao's side. She was a businessman, and she and the "wolf-like" Bao were also of the same kind. Their relationship began with mutual wariness and testing. competing with.
Li Li (played by Xin Zhilei)
But the one who kills the blood in a business war definitely relies on more than just ruthlessness or various means of undermining others. A wise businessman emphasizes fighting without breaking up, being harmonious without being different, and even seeking unity and cooperation in struggle. Although people often say that there is no business without treachery, and there is no treachery without business, and it is the nature of businessmen to pursue profit, but in doing things as a human being, Be merciful and leave room for yourself, which is also leaving room for yourself.
As it happens, A Bao and Li Li are both people who have room for success. The hotel is the intelligence center. Li Li gave Ah Bao a high imitation T-shirt, reminding Ah Bao that the original product has not yet been released, and high imitations have appeared, which may have a fatal impact on Ah Bao's career. This is what Li Li gave to Ah Bao. A "favor" from Bao.
In the ensuing battle to defend the Yellow River Road, Abao also returned Li Li's favor: after all the hard work, and even more of a "passbook" (an IOU of 300,000 yuan), he helped Li Li overcome the biggest difficulty. This allowed her Zhizhen Garden to successfully establish itself on Huanghe Road.
Po and Li Li may not be close friends in life, but as they meet rivals in the business war and keep favors with each other, they may gradually develop a sympathy for each other.
Will the two of them develop something else?
If we understand it from the perspective of "human relations", we cannot say that the drama version and the novel have nothing in common. It is just that the drama version interprets human relations in a popular and beautiful way, with the swords and shadows of business wars, the romance of the city, and the fireworks of Shanghai.
In the early 1990s, Shanghai was full of opportunities and the atmosphere of the times was positive and exciting. How did a Bao, a man of love and righteousness, and a man trapped by human ties, go about to build his career? What kind of legendary stories would each develop with several moving women? ? No matter how the situation in Shanghai changes, what knocks on the window of our hearts is still that unrequited love, and it is the Po who may never be seen again in this era.
