John Hart

I'm at the halfway point now. I have to share that it's now one of the faster paced C-Drama's I've ever seen, where stuff really happens instead of talking about what has happened, what is happening, and what might happen. All that talk is gone and things simply happen!

But I must say I'm losing my mind over Wallace. I have no clue how he fits into this story and the suspense is killing me! (Don't spoil, I'm just venting!)

I adore the FL, yet it's so hard to find her in projects worthy of her talent. Once you see her in RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE you need to see a lot more of her. She was fun in JOY OF LIFE but I want her to have global recognition yesterday.

It really improved then, yes. I was coming here to tell people to try doing something on Episode 10. Here's the recipe,even if you haven't seen this show at all --

1. Cue up the show to this moment, and mute the sound. Have it PAUSED
https://youtu.be/dgFNwP44Rn8?t=438

2. Go to this song and push play -- https://youtu.be/1DlWBOFvDJw

3. Hide that window and get ROSE back up and push PLAY fast!

THEMATIC SPOILER which is to say I believe I can explain why this series exists without spoiling the plot: relationships require emotional openness and sensitivity, like fine art.

Thank you. And what's ironic here is that C-Dramas can run longish and talky, and so it's up to the creators to edit as much as possible -- INSTEAD OF -- meet some episode requirement. So I have compassion for the viewers as well.

I just completed something called THE YOUTH MEMORIES and sometimes they went into way too much detail about running specific aspects of specific businesses. Americans would abandon American series that did this.

But I love the detail Chinese Dramas do with people. Instead of getting the best minute of a 20 minute talk, you get like like 5 full minutes. This makes romantic scenes feel more real. In Rose it's like you're watching her affairs in real time.

But if any show gets dull 3 episodes in a row, ditch the show and tell people. This will inspire Chinese Dramaland to EDIT!

I was merely raising the question for discussion. I can't speak for this drama but I've noticed many Chinese dramas avoid kissing and contact at all costs, including their romantic leads.

And so if a minor is portraying how things actually happened back then, and it's tastefully dramatized ( as C-Dramas typically do), is it creepy or history?

Why not answer that question with reasoning instead of accusation?

I want to try this show because it's lead actress has appeared in 3 of my favorite dramas: RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE, THE REBEL PRINCESS, but especially THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN where she was terrific. And for reactionary commenters like yourself: she followed me around in my shows before I noticed -- and it was on the third one I decided to follow her career.

That said, if I watched a few episodes of this and found it 'creepy' I'd not only ditch it but leave a review here proclaiming it as inappropriate.

Oh, and I see you haven't learned there is beauty in all people of all ages who are kind.

"The Tik Tok generation is not able anymore to watch a movie 1.5 hours long. They are used to see 2 minutes of action and then want something new, and again something new, and so on. They have no patience and they lose their focus after some minutes".

Interesting. Two responses --

1. I think it predates Tik Tok and goes back to smartphones. I was unable to go to cinemas pre-Covid because what I observed is that younger people only watched action sequences. So in any MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film the in between scenes made them pull out their phones. The lights of their phones in my eyes were distracting and I simply couldn't go any longer.

2. This inability to connect to characters who weren't moving and active means they didn't care if any of them died. Or kissed. These 'human' concerns were foreign to them. But this predates technology.

There are people who don't understand the point to protagonists and antagonists. They see the Joker in Nolan's DARK KNIGHT films and love him . Not because he's the anti-hero but because he's inhuman. He, like them, doesn't understand why you should care... about anyone.

"I have also seen that this generation do not read books, they prefer to watch the movies"

I must confess at my ripe age of 60 years I gave up on books in my 20s. Most of them were overlong. In fact most C-Dramas from being overlong. I adore that these dramas slow things down, but in the case of THREE BODY I was losing my mind at how sllllllllllooooooooooooooooowwwww it was.

But the funny thing was the Netflix version was designed for no attention span types and I ditched it within minutes. This Rose show, so far, could use about a 4% cut, which for a C-Drama ain't bad.

"It's exactly what schools in some parts of the world do, they do not teach young people anymore critical thinking, they give the problem and the solution."

I'm not aware of that. But maybe I am a different way. I find these days people take a position on a topic that stops discussion of it by stating it. It's the "I'm offended so shutup and listen!" position that both political sides use .

In my country, I have a Presidential candidate who says, "My election win was stolen and so eveverything I say is true." His opponent recently did poorly in a debate, and his supporters ignore years of decline and say, "He had a bad night, so shut up!"

Sigh. Hence hiding in a world where my only worries are Rose's boyfriends.

Thank you for your kind words.

Let me be clear and say I'm not implying this show is good and people don't get it because they watch TV wrong.

Suppose you've seen dozens of C-Dramas about girls in the office finding their first loves? Adding this show to the pile may be tedious and ditch worthy. I feel it's aimed at ladies 16 years to 24 years old, to inform them of what life and work can be like.

The reason I'm enjoying this is I was recently introduced to the FL in A DREAM OF SPLENDOR, where she impressed as an actress. She continues to impress here. As does Tong Da Wei, the male lead of THE DISAPPEARING CHILD. The director of this series directed RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE and this alone makes it worth trying.

The series is free on YouTube to try. One other tip to watch TV properly , a mistake I make myself: put down your phone! :)

LET OLD PU YI TEACH YOU KIDS HOW TO WATCH A TV SHOW

(this is slightly tongue in cheek)

Hi. I'm older than most of you. That doesn't mean I'm smarter, it just means I smell more than you. But seriously, here in the comments and elsewhere I've observed something that's driving me crazy.

It seems almost anyone under 40 doesn't understand how to watch TV shows. I don't know if it's gaming or social media, too much sugar, too much Starbucks -- but too many of you are making it clear you either lost your attention spans... or never had them.

Here are THE 3 WARNING SIGNS you're watching TV the WRONG way, and if even one of them is true, Dr. Pu Yi is here to help --

1. If you ever increase the video speed to get thru an episode faster
2. If you ever skip episodes to 'get to the good part'
3. If you binge episodes, watching like 3 or more a day
4. Can't watch a show because characters suffer, smoke tobacco, are divorced, someone is a fattie, not enough fatties. (the entire notion of tags is ludicrous)

Let this retired screenwriter tell you that stories are emotional journeys. You are NOT watching to find out what happens. You are watching to FEEL what happens.

Rose? There's nothing original going on here. I promise. Plot twists in her life are very predictable. There's like a big bag of plot twists somewhere and once you've watched 3 such series you've seen'em all. What happens is so less 'dramatic' than --

-- feeling things when they happen. Episode 10 has a moment where our two leads are standing in two different locations with glass between them. This is not to be sped thru. This is not to be seen after you just watched the last 5 episodes on the same day.

It's meant to be savored. It's such a lovely sequence you might even wish to rewatch it again IMMEDIATELY or minutes later. Feel for these characters. Have COMPASSION.

Rose is the protagonist. Do you know what you're supposed to do when she's on screen? Laugh with her, cry with her, get mad at her for making a stupid decision, celebrate when she makes a great one. She's more than your TV 'friend' you visit. She's YOU, no matter your age or gender.

Now suppose someone is mean to Rose, right? Don't skip over that part. This is that moment where you say, hey, this reminds me of when a jerk was mean to me. If it makes you cry, good -- that's called cathartic. Sharing the HUMAN experience. That's a good show.

Bad shows are bad because you're having trouble doing this. They're not engaging enough for you to FEEL for anyone or anything. At that point, when you realize you just don't care -- don't skip ahead. Just plain DITCH!

I just saw Ep 11 with the wife. We're like, "What will she do now?!?" I know a part of us wants to keep going today, but holding onto that compassion and mystery will make the next episode even better. Taking the time to absorb the humanity of these people... makes them more human.

I hope this makes sense to someone.

P.S. Forgot to mention the insipid notion of 'tags'. Some of the best movies ever made would be ignored because of tags. THANK DOG they never had them.

The best anti-war movie EVER is THE DEER HUNTER. But if you didn't like deer being shot you wouldn't see it. So you'd think war wasn't that bad. Don't be triggered -- be bold.

Ask yourself this: is it important for every man on the planet to understand that rape is bad.

If you just answered yes, then all men need to see stories that they can FEEL for the victims. China's own IMPERFECT VICTIM not only offers men an understanding of how damaging rape is, but forces a male to see the world thur the victim's eyes and heart, thru her female attorney, thru the female cops, thru the rapist's wife's eyes, thru the rapist's mistress.

A bad story will alienated male viewers who can't feel what these women feel. Luckily IMPERFECT VICTIM is an excellent story. Ignore the tags, just watch.

Forgive me, Nerine, but I was making a joke. My services are Netflix, Amazon Prime, iQiyi, and Viki!

Please translate 'iQiyi' ;)

Yay! A Jia fan!

In my review above I claim they didn't quite sew up the ending properly. Feel free to tell me that they did, but this is why I wasn't feeling it.

So if you've watched this film you know the big spoiler: the Dad's harsh way with his daughter resulted in a screwed up kid -- or further screwed up a screwed up kid. That's why she, in turn, was raped and raped her own body with a knife.

She says stuff like "He threw me in the water knowing I was afraid of the water" and "he went away too long when sailing". These are the beginnings of a more polished idea, but not as compelling as it should be.

I'd have advised, look, at the beginning of the story -- have the daughter talk about what an amazing Dad she had. That when he wasn't finished he taught her how to take care of herself, even as a little girl. He taught her how to be strong. And she absolutely positively loved him for it, so much that she was terrified of ever disappointing him. Almost pathologically so.

And so at the beginning of the story the Dad couldn't be more of a hero, according to his daughter. But at the end of this story we learn a variant of what we were told.

We learn that she lived to please her Dad upon his returns from fishing. That being alone for 15 days was fine for her. That she was strong. And didn't mind. But you get a feeling from her watery eyes she does mind, but can't tell herself this -- for fear of disappointing her Dad.

One day, when she 12, while he was away too long -- she was raped in her home by 3 men. She couldn't possibly tell her Dad this or he'd 'blame' her for not being strong. So she erased this event entirely. And erased it the 2nd time it happened a year or two later.

Her Dad was always so proud of her for being so strong her mind breaks. She can't face it. And when she gets raped in the story it opens up these old wounds. And the only way she can stop the pain? 17 more wounds. On her phone her last words are, "I'm so sorry I disappointed my Dad."

This would DRILL into the story the guilt that is uncovered. In his interests of making her strong, his neglect broke her. He never wanted her to be strong. He needed her to grow up too fast.

There's elements of what I just told you in this story -- but it didn't PUNCH you hard like this does. Maybe they were being to kind to the Dad? I don't know.

When I was a kid girls would hit the beaches with summer romance novels. Thick books about being a 'Rose' in a world of men. Pure Cotton Candy.

This show is like those novels. Don't over-think this show. It's sweet lemonade. I'm at Ep 8 and it hasn't gone sour yet. It it does I'll come back and let you know. ;)

Question contains a spoiler

If you enjoyed the feeling of this film I recommend the bleak but just as amazing BLACK DOG movie. https://kisskh.at/photos/XdEZLn_4

"Well if you thought I was rude thinking you got it wrong, that's on you; your answer is not exactly gracious?"

So I post a simple recommendation to others to see a very similar genre film, you erupt with a wordy condescending professorial lecture on the true meaning of TO THE WONDER -- but you were being gracious?

I'm afraid not, Frosty. You were and continue to be a rude narcissist.

You offer unnecessary offense.

As if it's rude to suggest American cinema after seeing this wonder of Chinese cinema. (It's short enough to be less of a series and more of a 6 hour movie, which is why I say 'cinema'.)

Anyway, your offense is blinding you to the possibility that I'd make the exact same recommendation backwards. If I'm on a Chinese site recommending an American classic, I'd recommend this Chinese series to anyone who loved DAYS OF HEAVEN on an American site. In fact I already have.

In this way your reply completely collapses. And by the way, DAYS OF HEAVEN is a classic, not a relic. If you think I missed that condescending subtext, I didn't.

Now if you think I'm implying that the Chinese can't come up with an original idea, that's all in your head. I just know that it's any quality filmmaker's obligation to know as many classics as possible, no matter the national origin.

I compare films to films. I don't care about their story source. I need not read the writings of anyone to evaluate a film, another subtextual jab that I'm not 'in the know'.

Sorry Frosty, I'm perfectly aware of something you're not. There are three moments in TO THE WONDER that are practically copied from DAYS OF HEAVEN, the shots and the music cues. But not copied in a bad way as much VERY inspired from specific frames.

It's possible that these are coincidences, but I doubt it. It's more likely that Teng Cong Cong and/or her DP adore the look and feel of DAYS. Not to mention your awkward for you point that this film makes a direct reference to Terrence Malick's film with the same name.

If I thought Teng Cong Cong was unoriginal, I would have said that. The sad fact is Malick's film of the same name was so poor I forgot it even existed.

Please don't rain on my parade of celebrating this genius filmmaker. She's made a wonderful cookie. Since I'm a 'relic' (lol) I know of 3 as tasty cookies that -- as your own argument admits -- most Chinese fans are unaware of.

So I shared. Trying to make others happier, a practice you should consider.

Hi. The comment about the animal is a spoiler. Please adjust your commment.

Thanks. Wife and I somehow lost those details in answer to question 1.

Oh, I'm leaving this note everywhere but if you liked this you'll enjoy DAYS OF HEAVEN, LOCAL HERO, and THE BIG COUNTRY.