K-Drama 
A gem far from artifice!
This is my second traditional drama after Pursuit of Jade, which I loved. I have tried to watch more traditional dramas, but I always leave them because I never connect with the history. Sometimes they're too fantastic and exaggerated; other times, the scripts are too violent or predictable.
Against the Current is a deliberate, measured drama. I read some comments complaining that it's too slow. But for me, no. Every chapter is a succession of events, plots, conspiracies, and action scenes. However, It’s filmed in a very measured way to make the spectator think and consider the different points of view behind the action.
The script is a gem! You're always surprised by how it all comes together, and one wrong move can trigger disaster, especially in a time with so many realms, marquis, ministers, and eunuchs.
I love the sisterhood and the feminist point of view—the fight for women's rights, and the defense of knowledge as an instrument of freedom. I sincerely love it. I feel the director didn’t try to sweeten all the problems women faced at the time, and even reflected the setbacks and obstacles other women faced in the fight for more rights.
Maybe 39-41, in this sense, were too much for me. But later, there is a recognition of the FL's exceptionality when the Old Master remembers what she was like as a kid.
Visually, it's so beautiful!! For me, much more than the artifice of some dramas like POJ. POJ is for platforms like Netflix and for Western audiences, more used to Hollywood artifice. I liked it, but for me, it was too focused on reaching other countries and making viral social media videos (which is good but maybe too much). On the other hand, Against the Current is an old-fashioned Chinese movie. The film is exquisitely shot, with every detail beautifully captured. The palace scenes, the images of the Capital, the vestments, the jewelry… everything is so beautiful.
As for the love story, I heard some comments saying it is not a love story. If what you are looking for are kiss scenes, then there is no love. But if you are looking for true love, a love beyond everything, this is the drama. A couple built on admiration and respect, who sacrifice their own lives for the other, who break conventional norms and risk their titles, possessions, and even their family reputation for each other.
Both characters are different; FL is restrained and discreet. But she is always the same; since she was a kid, she has made her discretion her most powerful asset. Risking her life to save him, burning proofs that may condemn him… are obvious tokens of love. ML, on the other hand, is passionate, tempestuous, and ambitious, as he should be in that time. But it's beautiful to see how, over the years together, they take some of the other's features. Something that happens in reality.
Apart from them, there is the love in capitals: the filial love, the love for the family, the love for the friends.
And the music??? Amazing!!! I can’t stop listening. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a drama that is already at the top of my list.
An ode to love and knowledge.
Against the Current is a deliberate, measured drama. I read some comments complaining that it's too slow. But for me, no. Every chapter is a succession of events, plots, conspiracies, and action scenes. However, It’s filmed in a very measured way to make the spectator think and consider the different points of view behind the action.
The script is a gem! You're always surprised by how it all comes together, and one wrong move can trigger disaster, especially in a time with so many realms, marquis, ministers, and eunuchs.
I love the sisterhood and the feminist point of view—the fight for women's rights, and the defense of knowledge as an instrument of freedom. I sincerely love it. I feel the director didn’t try to sweeten all the problems women faced at the time, and even reflected the setbacks and obstacles other women faced in the fight for more rights.
Maybe 39-41, in this sense, were too much for me. But later, there is a recognition of the FL's exceptionality when the Old Master remembers what she was like as a kid.
Visually, it's so beautiful!! For me, much more than the artifice of some dramas like POJ. POJ is for platforms like Netflix and for Western audiences, more used to Hollywood artifice. I liked it, but for me, it was too focused on reaching other countries and making viral social media videos (which is good but maybe too much). On the other hand, Against the Current is an old-fashioned Chinese movie. The film is exquisitely shot, with every detail beautifully captured. The palace scenes, the images of the Capital, the vestments, the jewelry… everything is so beautiful.
As for the love story, I heard some comments saying it is not a love story. If what you are looking for are kiss scenes, then there is no love. But if you are looking for true love, a love beyond everything, this is the drama. A couple built on admiration and respect, who sacrifice their own lives for the other, who break conventional norms and risk their titles, possessions, and even their family reputation for each other.
Both characters are different; FL is restrained and discreet. But she is always the same; since she was a kid, she has made her discretion her most powerful asset. Risking her life to save him, burning proofs that may condemn him… are obvious tokens of love. ML, on the other hand, is passionate, tempestuous, and ambitious, as he should be in that time. But it's beautiful to see how, over the years together, they take some of the other's features. Something that happens in reality.
Apart from them, there is the love in capitals: the filial love, the love for the family, the love for the friends.
And the music??? Amazing!!! I can’t stop listening. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a drama that is already at the top of my list.
An ode to love and knowledge.
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