New Chinese mystery thriller The Silent Storm premiered on November 5.
Set against the backdrop of China's surging market economy and its efforts to advance tax reforms in the 1990s, the drama follows three brothers as they take different stances and follow divergent paths amid the era's sweeping changes. It explores the intense conflict between human desires and professional integrity while highlighting tax officials' commitment and sense of responsibility in safeguarding the interests of the country and its people and upholding economic order.
Unlike previous dramas of the genre, which typically focus solely on solving cases as their central storyline, the Chinese drama intertwines the investigations with the changing stances of its three protagonists. Spanning more than a decade, the narrative is structured around four interconnected cases: the Haichao Factory fake invoice case, the Dongle Manor tax evasion case, the Longyun Aquatic Products tax fraud case, and the Zhi Yuan Group's tax fraud case.
Director Li Lu said, "The tax sector has always been something of a mystery to the general public. Those [working on this front] safeguard the foundations of the country and the interests of its people, yet they often remain out of the spotlight."
To capture the authentic experiences of these 'soldiers without guns', the screenwriting team reportedly interviewed over 100 tax inspectors. Several members of the production crew had also previously worked on In the Name of People, directed by Li Lu.
Li Lu emphasized, "Only through this kind of rigorous approach can we portray the tax officials who have contributed significantly to the cause of reform and opening up."
The C-drama stars The Early Spring actor Jing Bo Ran, Zhang Song Wen, Sean Sun, Sui Jun Bo, Li Xiao Ran, and Zhang Xue Ying in the lead roles.
The Silent Storm is streaming on YOUKU.
Source: Beijing News
