AH :
liddi:
It is amazing how I still find myself seeing echoes of Xiang Liu or Xiao Yao in different dramas. Has anyone watched 雀骨 Key to the Phoenix Heart, which has unexpectedly ranked as one of my favourites for many reasons. Xiao Wuyi reminds me a lot of Xiang Liu in terms of how he always put himself front and center in any battle, fiercely protecting everything and everyone he loves - his provision for Xie Jiayu, knowing that he goes to certain death. Even the lines that were used to describe him echoed Xiang Liu so much - giving his all for everyone else and leaving nothing for himself, wanting her to live well after his death.
It was on my radar, but I hadn't decided whether to watch it or not. I'll have to add it to my PTW list ^^
:It was on my radar, but I hadn't decided whether to watch it or not. I'll have to add it to my PTW list ^^
Do let me know how you find it if you do watch!
I enjoyed it :)
I do quite like a loyal, self-sacrificing male lead with strong convictions.
Kokuto:
Are there really that many changes between the two versions? Besides the names, of course. I'll have to keep an eye open for any changes for XL's lines between the drama and the book. I've noticed already there were changes for YaoJing -- small, but some significant.
So far, apart from the very obvious omissions in terms of the backstories tied particularly to the name changes (Black Emperor, Eminent Emperor, White Emperor etc), a lot of other changes has to do with typos, phrasing or change in use of words in roughly the same text. There are some paragraphs that are rewritten, but I have yet to see any major changes for Xiang Liu. Tong Hua did amend the years that Jing went missing (10 years, not 9, tortured for 4 years instead of 3) as well the number of maidservants he had (3, not 2, the 3rd being married off to Hou).
Love that passage! You know how much XL still lives with Tong Hua, given the nods to him in Filter. I'm wondering if she'll sneak in a reference or two in Against the Current? Though that is based off a book.
Yes. Filter is a reflection of just how much Xiang Liu means to her. Against the Current having Xiang Liu references? It would be wonderful if she did. To this day, I still wish she would revisit 千方相 and give us more of Xiang Liu there. Apparently there are more excerpts from that novel out there, but to date, I have not been able to find them. Gah!
People are already making comparisons between XL and Tan Jian Ci's newest role, the general Xie Qi Shan. It's going to be a long impatient wait for that drama to air.
I am definitely looking forward to it when it airs. Is it supposed to be released end of this year? The BTSes indicate that it would be an intense drama. I have confidence in TJC's performance, so my only hope is that the script itself is good. Wonder whether Winner is King will ever see the light of day, perhaps in another country? I am anticipating his latest movie Empty Gun too, though it has not premiered over here yet.
THANK YOU! I had copied the link to the invaluable chart you provided, but of course, it doesn't work now.
You're welcome!
I enjoyed it :)
I do quite like a loyal, self-sacrificing male lead with strong convictions.
Am so glad you enjoyed it! I love that it is tight-paced with no unnecessary scenes or over-reliance on CGI, and well-written, believable characters. How the romantic buildup is chaste but so well delivered with beautifully nuanced performances that it moves me far more than passionate ones. That the women do not serve as a tool, but are strong and independent in their own way, with their own aspirations and dreams. And how every character, including the villains has their own purpose and reasons, evoking empathy while frustrated at their choices. All the more amazing, considering it is an original script rather than an adaptation of a novel.
And yes. Xiao Wuyi is an incredible character just as is Xie Jiayu. Their relationship and their approach to the demands on their relationship is one of the healthiest I have seen in a long long time. And I cannot help but wonder how things might have been different if Xiao Yao were more courageous like Xie Jiayu when her man was determined to be a noble idiot. But then again, Xiao Yao is emotionally damaged, and it had already taken all of her courage to send that crystal globe, only to be coldly rejected and publicly humiliated. And unlike Jiayu, Xiao Yao never heard Xiang Liu unequivocally express his love for her even if she should have realised the moment she learnt the nature of the Lovers gu.
I haven't watched that. I've heard mixed reviews, but your recommendation will put it on my long list of TBW. Even Avenue X had nice things to say about it, but she liked the older actors in it, too.
Do let us know how you find it if you do watch! Incidentally, Sheng Yi Lun plays an emperor here, albeit a sickly one, after his stint as A Lifetime Love's Shao Hao equivalent.
How the romantic buildup is chaste but so well delivered with beautifully nuanced performances that it moves me far more than passionate ones.
To be honest, I would've preferred having an older female lead actress (not someone who was 17) opposite a male lead actor who was 28. I'm glad the actors' ages were taken into consideration and they didn't include certain scenes or dynamics that would not be appropriate in the circumstances and I can still enjoy a drama that doesn't include those things (e.g., the Princess Weiyoung), but it's usually in spite of their absence rather than because of them.
I also found myself doing some mental gymnastics because of her age that were a little distracting (like thinking that the actress was 17 but her character ages over the course of the drama so I can think of the character she plays in flashbacks of things that occurred before the first episode as the character being 17 and then think that the character was 18 or 19 when she met Xiao Wuyi and was in her early 20s by the end of the drama).
But I did appreciate the dynamic of Xiao Wuyi falling for her but holding himself back for various reasons. HMH made me feel that.
That the women do not serve as a tool, but are strong and independent in their own way, with their own aspirations and dreams.
Lots of great female characters and dynamics to appreciate. I quite liked Jiayu's relationship with her mum and the relationship between Wuyi's three consorts. Not to mention Ruisheng,
And I cannot help but wonder how things might have been different if Xiao Yao were more courageous like Xie Jiayu when her man was determined to be a noble idiot.
For some reason this got me thinking that XL's ending and choices might've been a little easier to accept if he had a terminal diagnosis like Wuyi and (unlike Wuyi) zero way to overcome it, so that his fate was sealed and it was simply a matter of choosing to control how he went out.
But that brings back the common refrain in this thread - if that part of the story had been less painful, would we have been as moved by it and would we have spent nearly as much time talking and thinking about it?
