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7 reasons why you shouldn't miss this amazing drama
1. The uniqueness of the location and time
The story, based on real historical events and persons, takes place in Macau after the fall of Hong Kong (then British colony and the most important harbour/trade hub in the entire region) to the Japanese in December 1941, event which impacted Macau in many aspects:
- geographically (an island surrounded by Japanese land and naval forces, served with a series of ultimatums, Macau was utterly beholden to Japanese permissions for all its external needs, including the movement of goods and people, including Portuguese and other “neutral” or third-country nationals, especially those arriving from Hong Kong)
- demographically (it was flooded by refugees, tripling the number of inhabitants creating enormous demanding pressure on food supplies and dwellings)
- economically (higher demands reflected on prices; monetary problems - Macau used HK dollars as its currency; all kind of trade exchanges and financial activities which previously occurred in HK shifted to Macau, attracted by its neutral status; consequently, the role of transportation gangs incresead as well)
- politically (a weak and understaffed Portuguese administration needed the cooperation of Chinese businesses and finances to tackle the emergencies as above, turning a blind eye to their trades, aids and acts in support of the Chinese resistence, thing which ofc irritated the Japanese as "violating Macau's neutral status", raising their demands and convincing some of them it would be better to occupy the city directly, as they've already done with the Portuguese Timor Est, so the Portuguese administration again - in a desperate search of balance - ought to turn a blind eye to their schemes, abuses, criminal and violent acts, recruitment of gangsters etc., accepting a humiliating joint crime investigations conducted by military police of the two countries...)
Briefly, maintaining (a kind of) peace between de facto belligerants (Chinese and Japanese) while keeping their ground as "Portuguese territory and warfree zone" was (a kind of) "mission impossible". There were also other variables, Macau lived up to its name of "oriental Casablanca", it attracted a number of spies and informers working for all relevant intel agencies of the time in the world and even this aspect is addressed in this drama. A drama dealing with such an important location, period and issues was unseen before Silent Tides, especially not in this form of a full-immersion into Macau's WWII world.
2. Consistent and compelling story telling
Yes, because while watching it, you'll get sucked into that place and time. In terms of narrative, this series is the most coherent drama I've watched in years. Probably because the depiction of point 1. above is not imposing, it feels totally natural while we follow the life and problems of the main lead, He Xian, a Hong Kong businessman who comes with his family to Macau as a refugee, among thousands of others, suffering with them the humiliation, hunger and poverty, living on a junk with Tanka people, who are casted from Macau's society (something like Indian "intouchables"), also known as "sea dwellers" or "sea gypsies". His calm, composure, honesty and belief in values (instilled by his father even with a stick, lol) help him to build new (and sometimes unexpected) social connections despite temporary misunderstandings. His supportive wife also contributes to his "going further". But what moves the most the actions in this story is HX's polar opposite: Japanese colonel Sawa. Insanely restless and brazen, Sawa isn't only a personification of "kempeitai" (Japanese military police, similar to Nazi Gestapo), he is a personification of what He Xian resists by his nature and defeats wherever the villain, unable to accept a previous defeat, moves the plot with his schemes. The production cast an incredible Japanese actor for the role of Sawa, who embodied this villain with a convincing, piercing energy, able to portray vast traits of this character - malice, hypocrisy, competitiveness, with visceral need to feel the power, to dominate others and enjoy in other people's pain, endowed with a quick, scheming, twisted mind and sheer brazenness to the point of being ready to commit any kind of crime - and to take his colonel Sawa step by step towards insanity and grotesque.
3. Real people's bios
The number of interesting characters who really existed (you'll see four of them at the end of the drama) or are inspired by real persons of the time with their names changed (actually, even He Xian was Ho Yin in real history) is impressive, totally amazing. Not only the Portuguese governor, chief inspector, Macau's chairman of Chamber of Commerce who evidently existed and had connections with real He Xian for obvious reasons, even some unexpected side characters like He Hongshan is mandarinized Ho Hung-sun, better known (in his later years) as Stanley Ho, Godfather or King of Gambling and who indeed started his career working in a Japanese-owned import-export company in Macau. I've read the author's research work for this original story started in 2018. It's already an incredible work but what takes the story on another level of incredible is how these biographies are told to make them easily comprehensible and how these people are so well intertwined with the real (or slightly modified) events, conflicts, issues and setting as well as with fictional characters (necessary to explain different aspects of a problem). We all know that the real life writes the most incredible stories but it isn't easy to find someone really capable of telling them with consistency this drama has from the first to the last minute.
4. Educational/universal moral value
Beside its intrinsic historical and extrinsic narrative value which are quite obvious from my descriptions above, the drama conveyed smth even more precious: by depicting Macau's troubles and the ways how they were resolved, many different - even mutually conflicting and opposing - interest groups (Chinese businessmen-official administration, Portuguese businessmen-transportation gangs, Kuomintang financial supporters-Communist guerrillas, + British agents working practically with all of them) ought to come to terms in order to resist "the greater evil". This coming to terms shaped Macau as a unique "unified" community and although its unity was out of necessity, it affected a number of heroic or deeply human decisions as well as honest, respectful and durable relations. In ST, Macau is not only the location, it's a unique spirit of a common ground, of sense of reality and humanity which permeates the city and its people, becoming stronger as a "human being", a character in itself which transforms and grows up gradually, growing up on you as well. Explaining along the way why this city was able to maintain that apparent neutrality status while incessantly working behind the lines for the resistence till the end of the Sino-Japanese war.
5. HQ production assured listenable lines delivered in foreign languages, a rarity in C-dramaland
The dubbing of one marginal character could have been better, but overall, the entire backstage offered highly accurate interiors, exteriors and props
6. Great acting.
Most of the time, you'll have an impression you are watching real people, not actors. Making the characters so credible can only mean they've truly gave their best.
7. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Not a minute is wasted, smth happens - bad, worse, good or great - continuosly.
There are also other great reasons why you shouldn't miss it I can't include in this review (MDL's limit of characters) but at this point you'll discover them on your own 😁The only advice I'll give you is to try not to binge-watch it but to take some time to relieve the tension in your blood and muscles...
The story, based on real historical events and persons, takes place in Macau after the fall of Hong Kong (then British colony and the most important harbour/trade hub in the entire region) to the Japanese in December 1941, event which impacted Macau in many aspects:
- geographically (an island surrounded by Japanese land and naval forces, served with a series of ultimatums, Macau was utterly beholden to Japanese permissions for all its external needs, including the movement of goods and people, including Portuguese and other “neutral” or third-country nationals, especially those arriving from Hong Kong)
- demographically (it was flooded by refugees, tripling the number of inhabitants creating enormous demanding pressure on food supplies and dwellings)
- economically (higher demands reflected on prices; monetary problems - Macau used HK dollars as its currency; all kind of trade exchanges and financial activities which previously occurred in HK shifted to Macau, attracted by its neutral status; consequently, the role of transportation gangs incresead as well)
- politically (a weak and understaffed Portuguese administration needed the cooperation of Chinese businesses and finances to tackle the emergencies as above, turning a blind eye to their trades, aids and acts in support of the Chinese resistence, thing which ofc irritated the Japanese as "violating Macau's neutral status", raising their demands and convincing some of them it would be better to occupy the city directly, as they've already done with the Portuguese Timor Est, so the Portuguese administration again - in a desperate search of balance - ought to turn a blind eye to their schemes, abuses, criminal and violent acts, recruitment of gangsters etc., accepting a humiliating joint crime investigations conducted by military police of the two countries...)
Briefly, maintaining (a kind of) peace between de facto belligerants (Chinese and Japanese) while keeping their ground as "Portuguese territory and warfree zone" was (a kind of) "mission impossible". There were also other variables, Macau lived up to its name of "oriental Casablanca", it attracted a number of spies and informers working for all relevant intel agencies of the time in the world and even this aspect is addressed in this drama. A drama dealing with such an important location, period and issues was unseen before Silent Tides, especially not in this form of a full-immersion into Macau's WWII world.
2. Consistent and compelling story telling
Yes, because while watching it, you'll get sucked into that place and time. In terms of narrative, this series is the most coherent drama I've watched in years. Probably because the depiction of point 1. above is not imposing, it feels totally natural while we follow the life and problems of the main lead, He Xian, a Hong Kong businessman who comes with his family to Macau as a refugee, among thousands of others, suffering with them the humiliation, hunger and poverty, living on a junk with Tanka people, who are casted from Macau's society (something like Indian "intouchables"), also known as "sea dwellers" or "sea gypsies". His calm, composure, honesty and belief in values (instilled by his father even with a stick, lol) help him to build new (and sometimes unexpected) social connections despite temporary misunderstandings. His supportive wife also contributes to his "going further". But what moves the most the actions in this story is HX's polar opposite: Japanese colonel Sawa. Insanely restless and brazen, Sawa isn't only a personification of "kempeitai" (Japanese military police, similar to Nazi Gestapo), he is a personification of what He Xian resists by his nature and defeats wherever the villain, unable to accept a previous defeat, moves the plot with his schemes. The production cast an incredible Japanese actor for the role of Sawa, who embodied this villain with a convincing, piercing energy, able to portray vast traits of this character - malice, hypocrisy, competitiveness, with visceral need to feel the power, to dominate others and enjoy in other people's pain, endowed with a quick, scheming, twisted mind and sheer brazenness to the point of being ready to commit any kind of crime - and to take his colonel Sawa step by step towards insanity and grotesque.
3. Real people's bios
The number of interesting characters who really existed (you'll see four of them at the end of the drama) or are inspired by real persons of the time with their names changed (actually, even He Xian was Ho Yin in real history) is impressive, totally amazing. Not only the Portuguese governor, chief inspector, Macau's chairman of Chamber of Commerce who evidently existed and had connections with real He Xian for obvious reasons, even some unexpected side characters like He Hongshan is mandarinized Ho Hung-sun, better known (in his later years) as Stanley Ho, Godfather or King of Gambling and who indeed started his career working in a Japanese-owned import-export company in Macau. I've read the author's research work for this original story started in 2018. It's already an incredible work but what takes the story on another level of incredible is how these biographies are told to make them easily comprehensible and how these people are so well intertwined with the real (or slightly modified) events, conflicts, issues and setting as well as with fictional characters (necessary to explain different aspects of a problem). We all know that the real life writes the most incredible stories but it isn't easy to find someone really capable of telling them with consistency this drama has from the first to the last minute.
4. Educational/universal moral value
Beside its intrinsic historical and extrinsic narrative value which are quite obvious from my descriptions above, the drama conveyed smth even more precious: by depicting Macau's troubles and the ways how they were resolved, many different - even mutually conflicting and opposing - interest groups (Chinese businessmen-official administration, Portuguese businessmen-transportation gangs, Kuomintang financial supporters-Communist guerrillas, + British agents working practically with all of them) ought to come to terms in order to resist "the greater evil". This coming to terms shaped Macau as a unique "unified" community and although its unity was out of necessity, it affected a number of heroic or deeply human decisions as well as honest, respectful and durable relations. In ST, Macau is not only the location, it's a unique spirit of a common ground, of sense of reality and humanity which permeates the city and its people, becoming stronger as a "human being", a character in itself which transforms and grows up gradually, growing up on you as well. Explaining along the way why this city was able to maintain that apparent neutrality status while incessantly working behind the lines for the resistence till the end of the Sino-Japanese war.
5. HQ production assured listenable lines delivered in foreign languages, a rarity in C-dramaland
The dubbing of one marginal character could have been better, but overall, the entire backstage offered highly accurate interiors, exteriors and props
6. Great acting.
Most of the time, you'll have an impression you are watching real people, not actors. Making the characters so credible can only mean they've truly gave their best.
7. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Not a minute is wasted, smth happens - bad, worse, good or great - continuosly.
There are also other great reasons why you shouldn't miss it I can't include in this review (MDL's limit of characters) but at this point you'll discover them on your own 😁The only advice I'll give you is to try not to binge-watch it but to take some time to relieve the tension in your blood and muscles...
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