Wang Xiao Shuai had everything but didn't do enough with it
For a three hour film you really REALLY need a GREAT story. I know there are exceptions to this rule but all great stories are told chronologically, from A to Z.SO LONG, MY SON has an okay story. To artificially make it seem better, the writer/director Wang Xiao Shuai decided to tell it out of sequence. What this does is turn many simple events in this story into fake 'reveals', creating an artificial tension.
An analogy. Everyone knows the alphabet, right? A, B, C, D, E, F... and so forth. Great writer/directors take the very familiar alphabet and make it compelling. Just the way any Christmas tree starts plain and dull but can be decorated into something lovely.
Writer/Director Wang Xiao Shuai decided that simply moving the letters around -- A, E, B, D, C, F is far more interesting.
But not really. All it does is make the story a little difficult to follow. This trick also hides the fact that the sequential story turns are tepid instead of clever. I believe someone should edit this story back into chronology so that you'd see it isn't really a masterpiece but just a long okay story shot beautifully.
You'd also see that despite 3 hours they did very little with the actors. I had just finished LUOYANG and was desperate to see more of Yong Mei. Here she was the female lead and I was waited and waited to see her skills in action. But because the film lacked compelling dialog exchanges Yong Mei was wasted as basically a 'prop' sitting in rooms or disappearing into walls.
The direction, the photography, lighting, OST -- were all the stuff of a possible masterpiece. But the story wasn't as emotional and dynamic and COHERENT enough to justify its length. Wang Xiao Shuai had everything but didn't do enough with it.
I will say this: the 2nd viewing will be less confusing and therefore I may be able to enjoy the story instead of wonder where the hell I am and which boy is which.
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A Pile of China Can Do Stories INSTEAD OF One Compelling Feature
I was tricked by the description of this film. On this site it says, "It tells about the Chinese people's blood connection and spiritual inheritance." I knew it was four short films and presumed it was a generational story, meaning a character that was, say, a boy in the first film would be a man in the second one... and... perhaps that man's daughter would be a woman in the next film. A 'blood connection' that would have made these four films a coherent whole.Instead what we get is a 'pile' of 4 stories, moving forward in time but really with no relation to each other. No, there's no 'spiritual inheritance' to speak of. It's simply 4 stories about what China CAN DO when they set their minds to things, and in this way is like a cultural victory walk.
I'd say the first two segments (war, space research) were excellent dramatic pieces. But the second two segments change to comedy and sort of silly sci-fi, which is a little jarring. It leaves the viewer with the feeling these four films were part of some contest and were never intended to be shown together.
I gave the overall story rating a 6 out of 10 for this reason. Please understand each individual story was better than that, say about an 8 on average. But the feeling these were all originally different projects just stapled together really hurts this otherwise well made, well acted and well intended film.
By the way -- Zhang Zi Yi stars in another film just like this, RUN FOR LOVE, except the theme tying it all together is love. It feels even more disjointed than this and I'm convinced it's simply some short films by graduate school students. Zhang's "So Long My Love" is rather excellent. Better than her segment 'Poem' in this film that is also rather amazing. I must confess I'd love Zhang to create another short or two and tie them all together as a Zhang Zi Yi collection of stories.
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This review may contain spoilers
Worthy Premise, Good Execution, but Slightly Lacking Somehow (MIld Spoilers)
I eagerly awaited to see this film because THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN makes anybody a fan of Huang Yang Tian Tian. She is one of the young leads here and I was willing to forgive the TV movie budget just to see more of her.In CRAFTSMAN Tian Tian was a dynamic character that demanded your attention and fellowship. Here she's kinda wasted as one of two girls with physical ailments. Anyone could have played either of the female leads. I actually found the Dad and Mom giving the most nuanced performances.
Don't get me wrong. If the trailer entices you to try this movie, your instinct is correct. But I felt they got lost in some unnecessary subplots. The violent man in the hospital, the 'Carrie' apartment, and the helicopter sequence were all 'alarms' to keep the audience awake. The Mom's Dad was so unnecessary the story itself removed him midway.
I think the better story would have been to have the Dad pursue the Mom romantically, only to learn he had an additional motive. And everyone involved, including the audience, would wonder did he actually love her... and suspect 'yes'. In this way the four leads could have become this lovely accidental family and therefore make an important family 'decision' together rgarding the daughters.
I'm not saying the film doesn't drift towards that idea. I'm saying it would have been a much stronger movie if it had committed to that idea.
One last thing: this is the DEFINITION of a weepy cry cry flick. Oddly it didn't pull as many tears as the premise warranted. Maybe if the Doctors didn't seem so aloof.
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A short student film stretched out to 90 aimless minutes
I found this film because I'm a fan of THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN. In that show an actress looks like Betty Boop and I wanted to see more of Jiang Hong Bo. Despite her being one of the three leads -- she spent very little time on screen.This is because this director has no idea how to create dramatic scenes with actors. So many opportunities were missed. It was as if a cinematographer made this film instead of a dramatist.
It's not a student film. It's the 4th of 6 features by this director. But it sure feels like a student.
I know some will defend this director and say, "Not all films are action packed super hero films!" I know it. Get it. The problem is this film was the complete opposite. The premise is promising but almost nothing happened inside the film.
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An Elusive yet Potential Masterpiece
The show boasts a fantastic cast, terribly engaging soapy story, in a Republican Era setting that is needed break from Imperial Chinese dramas. It is way better than a "7.8" thanks to Wallace Huo and Yang Mi knocking it out of the park.I knew Wallace from RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE and thankfully he's given more breathing room here. I can't imagine he's had a better role than Qi Nan. He is just terrific here. But as good is my first introduction to Yang Mi -- who has as difficult a role to pull off. My wife and I watch an hour of this 3 times a week, but after the halfway point it was around 5 times.
All the supporting actors were great, many of these faces new to me. For American viewers like myself having trouble keeping all the names straight, I recommend these nicknames: Daddy Fu, his wife Nasty Fu, Dandy Fu, Minister Du, Momma Du, Dandy Du, Minister Wu -- and for that woman in the club that looks like an older Betty Boop -- simply 'Boop'. It made it much easier for us to speak about them without getting confused.
Okay, the single worst thing about this series is the availability in America. It is ELUSIVE. So much so I can't recommend the series until Mango fixes these issues.
The main issue is that there is no way to see the series unedited with proper English subtitles. The series on YouTube 'forgot' to include subtitles for about 10 episodes in the middle and I think Ep 58 the subtitles were broken. And the subtitles themselves were poor quality. And anytime a song happened instead of muting the song they simply cut the entire sequence out, often eliminating important story moments. ARRRGGGHHHH! There's a 'cool' 'Drama' site that has the series in low quality resolution. The subtitles are better but, get this, the audio is out of sync the entire time.
With all these headaches I can't recommend the series to anyone until Mango offers a proper version of CRAFTSMAN with quality English subtitles, which I'd gladly pay $20 for the series.
What's maddening is the series is nearly flawless otherwise. You can count the mistakes on one hand.
1. The series starts with terrific child actors. When they are replaced with adult actors, you can't believe you must let them go. Thankfully they re-appear in flashbacks a lot. My complaint is the older actor playing eldest brother (Li Dong) looks nothing like the boy he replaced. Not even close. It took me like 25 episodes to accept him where Qi Nan, Han Jun, and Lucy took seconds to accept. Don't get me wrong: the actors playing Li Dong were solid, but I guess they needed a different skinny intense kid to play him young.
2. The series spent a little too much time discussing architecture. As well as too much time speaking about business deals. Yes, it was interesting, but often I suspected it was 'filler' to extend the length of the series. I'd say about 20% of all of it could have been cut. That could have shaved about 3 episodes off the series.
3. The last 10 episodes were getting a little sloppy or lazy. Maybe they were all exhausted and the show's amazing quality was slipping to merely 'good' sometimes. I felt the entire elevator incident was rushed. And there was a scene going on between Momma Du and Dandy Du that seemed... odd. It was like the series didn't know what to do with her character and that scene showed it. I also felt the explosion in the flour factory should have shown who that was the flew out a door. But I felt
4. -- the final episode let us down. It seemed more interested in resolving Minister Du than providing the romantic climax we were all waiting for. What was delivered wasn't as majestic or poetic as I hoped. And Li Dong's departure and discovery off camera in the last moments seemed rushed. Certainly there could have been a way to tie in the 'discovery' into the court scene somehow. That person could have read the court case and made the connection to show up?
That's really all I can complain about. The final episode failing to be what this series deserved took an entire half point away, dropping from 9.5 to 9. But still -- despite all the agony of finding a way to watch this show -- a solid 9 is a WOW.
FUN TRIVIA
I can't be certain but I'm nearly certain that a music composer from the show was inspired by Ennio Morricone's work on DAYS OF HEAVEN. There are scenes where Qi Nan is out in fields and that entire movie is about people working in fields. Go to YouTube and seek out Track 9 (The Return) from the DAYS OF HEAVEN soundtrack. It's not a theft, but I'm pretty sure the similar theme from this show HAD to be inspired by that track.
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Action Movies are TEDIOUS but this one isn't bad at all
MILD SPOILERS, nothing terribleI see a lot of people harshing on this film. I don't know why. I find this genre tedious and so I expected to abandon the film before the first hour. Turns out I made it all the way thru and was happy for the two hour diversion.
This movie isn't entirely cohesive and so I'll just drop you some notes and hope it gels into something useful.
1. Eddie Peng stars? I'm in.
2. Xin Zhi Lei as the female lead? I'm not only in but watching this mostly because of her. (If you have no idea why someone would flip their shinola for her -- you haven't seen RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE, have you?)
3. I'm not sure rescue forces exist to this degree. If they do, wow. If they don't -- I love Gerry Anderson's THUNDERBIRDS.
4. The visuals/FX are rather stunning. However, I'm not used to Chinese films spending THIS much $$$ on them, and so -- sure enough -- the film can get talky sometimes to save money. Mainly revolving around --
5. -- a cute young kid. I've watched enough C-Drama media to know cute kids are a thing to kinda force 'endearing' onto the movie. In America we don't stick cute kids into all sorts of movies for fear of damaging the premise. What was wrong here is that --
6. -- with him came scenes with dopey cartoon music. With little bells ringing 'comically' in a movie they don't belong in. Are we in an action drama or not? Later on that kid was used for another classic trope --
7. -- which I can't spoil but is the stuff of soap operas. Not action movies. However, the way they ultimately resolved this trope (inside the closing credits) made it almost worth it and definitely tolerable.
8. Xin Zhi Lei was great when she was given something to do. Unfortunately the story didn't give her enough to do. There was a natural coupling she needed to be a part of but the story got either scared or distracted.
9. The original 'Stand By Me' song appears in this film and, sorry, the film by the same name owns the song and no one else should be using it. Like I don't want to hear Garland singing 'Rainbow' in this film anywhere for the same reason.
10. If a sequel is being planned -- I'd see it. Because it might give Xin Zhi Lei more time.
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A nice little film and diversion
Many of these lower budget films start okay but get kinda lost. This one hangs together well.The tale debates how communities should work together when possible riches await. You'll enjoy this film for that, the lush soundtrack, lovely visuals, and most of the verite acting of the kids and villagers.
The lead girl was kinda a two trick pony: big sweet smile OR tears down her face. But that's okay because the rest of the cast had lots of wonderful moments. Don't miss the Mouse Guy or the Leek Man. Or the two tiny boys who didn't seem to be aware that they were in this charming little movie.
I'm not sure I'd recommended a paid rental for this, unless inexpensive. I found it on America's YouTube for free and in 1080p.
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Relentless video game
I'm a RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE fan and so Zhou Xun brought me here. I predicted she's be a bait and switch -- and she was -- but it was nice to see another RUYI actor in the lead.To me this film felt like a video game staged for the big screen. The quest was a video game quest, the actions the stuff of video game players. It didn't feel like real people at all -- which great diminishes a work like this. The story was so busy with plot the characters were nearly irrelevant.
I fear this film is for younger generations who cannot stay awake if two characters speak quietly in a room. That said it is an impressive spectacle. But I had to pause it several times and go take a mental break. If you have a mild headache this piece will turn it into a migraine with 20 minutes.
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As Interesting and Beautiful as it is Overlong and Sleep-Inducing
This is a weird duck. And so bullets --1. The production quality is really movie like, especially in the flashback sequences set around the Red Coast. The only time it strangely looks like Cheesy TV is during the International Board Room meetings
2. This is post modern Arthur C. Clarke/Issac Asimov stuff, where the science is science fiction is meant to be your only entertainment. As a kid in the mid-70s, I read this type of SCIENCE fiction a lot but in no time backed off of it because they were slow lifeless reads. All good stories are about the human condition. THREE BODY had the perfect opportunity to explore this very topic because a character within makes a major decision about humanity -- yet -- it barely touched upon it.
(There's a funny irony here. Okay, when I was a kid I was reading a monthly Sci-Fi magazine called ANALOG. There was a story once about a really cool concept but the story itself was dull beyond imagination. It was simply an excuse to share a hard science idea and make anyone go WOW.
The idea was that if man could manufacture a strong enough material that was also very lightweight -- we could build an elevator shaft from Earth and attach it to a satellite in space, hence eliminating rockets. Imagine -- you could have a giant bar in space that people would travel up to for the wildest cocktails ever. And imagine the damn view of Earth and Space!
I forget most of what I read in that magazine over the decades -- except for this. And the same exact concept is mentioned inside of THREE BODY in one episode. And so... I was either reading this Chinese author all those years ago... OR... he was reading Analog magazine, lol.)
3. So many characters just... stood there. It was like COVID all over again where no one was allowed to touch anybody, social distancing, you know? Yes, of course, it's trite to create a love story just to make it like any other Chinese drama -- but this one really needed it. BADLY. If it doesn't matter later in the series, I would have made the ML a FL scientist -- so that -- there would have been some sexual tension between the lead and our favorite cop ever, Shi Qiang (Yu He Wei). That said --
4. -- if it wasn't for this cast I would have walked after six episodes. I knew two of them from other dramas (Yu He Wei, REBEL PRINCESS and he was even better here) and (Johnny Zhang who was better in THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN). I loved being introduced to Chen Jin and Wang Zi Wen, two ladies who masterfully played Ye Wen Jie in two different eras.
5. In general this show literally induces sleep. I'm not kidding but there were about 12 nights I had to fight from sleeping to finish it. Perfect for early day viewing but it's Ambien after 9PM. I'm not being mean, this is the truth. The characters rarely clash with each other, they're often shown in shadows in dim rooms, and there's this droning song at the end of most episodes which could best be described as a Trisolorian Lullably.
6. Okay so our lead dude with the glasses has a special clock that ticks and ticks downward. Was I asleep when it got 'turned off' or did they simply forget to show us where the clock was by the end of his part of the series. I thought our Trisolorians were going to arrive just as his clock reached zero.
I'm happy I saw this and somehow I want to see the 2nd Season of this but I can't recommend it with any enthusiasm. Oh, and I don't give a damn about how good the books are -- because I'm not reading the book. I'm watching a series. If the series puts me to sleep, they either picked the wrong series of books or they've made the series way too long.
A third of THREE BODY should have been clicked and erased to make the rest of this stronger.
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SUPERTRASH. (I'll try not to spoil too much)
I only watched this because of Xin Zhi Lei. My wife and I adore her. The producers of SUPERSTAR, unfortunately, seemed blissfully unaware that her best roles are where she plays strong women.Here, in this train wreck, she plays a lonely hotel owner. A hotel where we never see her do any work. A hotel with no staff. And here's the best part: you'll never see ONE guest. And the writers didn't even bother to have her say, "Business is slow these days." Nope, nothing. You're just supposed to overlook this because LAZY.
The show is rated 13 and over, but a pathetic relentless flaw like this makes it really 10 and under. And that's an insult to many 10 year olds. And it's not just this mistake.
Our lead male -- Zhang Yi -- is treated like garbage by her. Yet this doesn't make her strong in the viewers eyes but instead a complete jerk. So she sits in her 'hotel' hoping this okay guy will fall in love with her, which is ridiculous because Xin Zhi Lei is one of the prettiest actresses on the planet. Her character should be fighting off constant advances from men (and women) but instead sits in her home cooking and sighing... waiting for her white knight.
Meanwhile our lead is presented with a real romantic prospect, a charming young lady who is head over heals for him. The audience loves her but she might as well be invisible to Yi who really remains only interested in Xin Zhi Lei because it says so in the script. And this fine young actor's worst scenes are with Xin Zhi Lei because neither can figure out why their characters would be interested in the other. It's THAT bad, trust me.
In Episode 1 we learn funny aliens from space have decided to rescue our hero and make him live a virtual life re-do. We don't really know why, though. Like if the aliens wanted to study mankind -- why a simulation? Why not just look down and observe with the tech they already have? And why not use alien 'tech' to manipulate the real players in real situations instead of nuking the dramatic tension with a simulation?!?
These aliens insist our hero achieve great fame to escape the simulation, but why do two aliens from across the galaxy care if this suicidal kid becomes famous in a simulation? And these aliens don't quite give us a way to know how close he's getting to his goal AND WORSE disappear from the story almost altogether.
So really, at the end of the day, this giant piece of trash is just an excuse to have some of the cast singing songs. Which could have been achieved with a simpler and far better premise. This isn't just the worst C-dramas I've ever seen -- this is one of the worst TV shows I've ever seen period. And I started seriously watching TV in 1974.
Sure, I could say the lead was doing a great job. Or that most of the cast is pretty good. But what's the point in a story that makes absolutely no sense. I wasn't feeling bad for our hero. I was instead numbed by the idiocy of the story.
Don't get me wrong. I can enjoy and was actually looking forward to light-hearted bubblegum. For that I recommend MAKE A WISH, also on iQiYi.
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SEMI-ENGAGING MEDIOCRITY
I understand the type of show MEET YOURSELF wants to be. And I celebrate that ambition. And I wanted the hype around the show to be true. But in almost every facet possible this production underwhelms. I can't recommend it to anyone.As to not spoil much, what I will share is this series treats all characters as supporting characters. The FL and ML aren't really the thrust of the show. This choice makes the series feel really long... because it's almost like looking out a window and watching real life. There's no real plot.
Now, many around here seem to love this. Me? I love an ensemble show, but I need it to have some discernible direction. THE YOUTH MEMORIES is a show like this show that has a great ensemble. It's slice of life too but there's more ups and downs, twists and turns, and so many things that are not predictable.
This show seems to be developed for people who are going thru so much personal stress that they cannot handle any fictional stress as well. Like a show someone in a hospital might like to watch. I love CDramas precisely because many of this very relaxing quality that makes for calmer entertainment before bed, but is overlong series is too calming for my tastes and I'd predict most tastes.
------------- DETAILED ANALYSIS -------------
PREMISE -- Our FL lead experiences an immediate tearjerking event, which breaks her heart and sends her off to an extended vacation in a village. Once there, said event quickly fades off and we're stuck with a stranger in a strangeland situation. It only takes a few more episodes to realize this shock and awe opening was a cheap unnecessary trick to engage us into a show that goes into a completely different direction: a warm cozy sweater.
PACE -- Terribly slow. This story could have been done much better in 28 episodes instead of 40. I read people who binge this show. Of course they do: you have to watch 3 episodes to get 1 episode's worth of story. And the most maddening talking point about this is 'slow burn'. The implication is that there's small flame growing larger and warmer. Completely false. What happens is that our main story is lit like a candle... that goes out often.
DRAMATIC STAGING -- is painfully weak. SCREENWRITING 101 insists you avoid putting two characters in a room simply talking at each other, because that's 'radio' and not taking advantage of 'the moving pictures'. But over 95% of the time these characters are either talking while preparing a meal or eating the meal. That's not only crazy lazy -- but I'm dieting and the show isn't about cooking.
PLOT -- is almost non-existent. And it's not only predictable but inevitable, since this story abhors conflict and therefore doesn't offer alternative resolutions. There are countless subplots, however, and most are wordy filler. Fans wax poetic about these characters and plots -- but have these fans ever seen another CDrama? Almost every other drama I've watched has stronger characters and subplots. THE YOUTH MEMORIES is a great example of being on the edge of your seat with almost every character in the story. MEET YOURSELF? As the story repeatedly suggests, it's two grannies taking an afternoon nap.
LI XIAN -- our ML is... okay... but I didn't love him. Yes ladies, I'll grant he's cute and sweet. In the first half of the show I felt he was over-using his squint, tilt the head, and laugh thing. I sensed he wasn't much of an actor. As the series progressed, though, his charm won me over. I really didn't like his costuming sometimes. (You know that blue denim-ish shirt he had, made of different denim panels? Yuck. And he'd often wear this white teeshirt that made him look like someone named Skippy.) Often I wondered if this show would have worked better if he had been the lead.
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS -- There are waaaay too many. Less is more.
Remember the lady that had a heart attack at the end and wound up in a hospital. My wife and I spent minutes trying to figure out who she was. Why? Because she wasn't a major character.
Many of these supporting characters just don't feel real. I'm not asking for sex, drugs and rock and roll, mind you. I love stories about kind and nice people, but you need darker characters to contrast against the nice ones.
That said, there's cuteness everywhere. I loved Aunt A Gui because she was identical to an Irish Aunt I have, which is strange but true. Annabel Yao stole every scene she was in -- and the producers wisely kept her comic relief lovelorn struggles to a minimum. My heart absolutely went PITTER PATTER every time I saw Ma Meng Wei, the struggling writer. It's hard to believe she only has supporting roles in her future projects. Wake up, Producers -- she's cute as hell.
One character I had a little trouble with was Shen Xiao Mei (Hao Wen Ting). She is our ML's business partner. She was smart, pretty, pragmatic, an excellent business partner -- and even looked like our ML. The story failed to notice they should have been interested in each other, because why not.
Another eye-candy character to note was the handsome young actor playing 'Woodworker Boy'. (I can't find him on MDL.) It's rare to find such a handsome actor (or actress) that convinces you they are not aware of their attractiveness. So many CDramas are loaded with pretty boys pretending they're not and this actor pulls it off, which is funny because netizens swarm him and say how cute he is and he completely pulled off how unaware of this he was... and embarrassed.
(By the way, in later scenes -- we watch him carve wood. He smashes his palm against a tool that chips the wood. OUCH. I winced every time he did it, because within two weeks anyone would be crippled doing that.)
CRYSTAL LIU -- is spectacular in A TALE OF ROSE. If you'd like to see her act, watch that. MEET YOURSELF was a career waiting room, where she smiled pretty in pretty clothes and did next to nothing else. The show didn't need her as the lead. I'd have cast the young lady that plays the 'struggling writer' instead. Oh, yes, speaking of that --
NAVAL GAZING -- or what I like to call WRITER'S WRITING ABOUT WRITING. Bad writers have a terrible habit of writing about 'the terrible struggles of writing'. Who... umm... cares? What's really going on here is the writer of MEET is insecure about their script, and so they insert themselves into the story to say 'how hard writing is' and then characters swarm that character and say 'but you're so good'. It's sickening. And this story did it two more times, with a songwriter and a vocalist.
THE SCENERY -- Most fans LOVE THE SCENIC SHOTS and such. Do I need to see an eye doctor or is over 94% of this series shot in a cafe set and that 'homestay' set? And when it does go outside here and there, the photography is ordinary. Uninspired. Some of it looks like file footage too. See TO THE WONDER and learn what real cinematography is.
I should say the sets were gorgeous! (Unrealistically so, but still eye candy.)
MUSIC -- Oddly the shows strength, even though there's miscalculation even here. This show loves playing the same six songs over and over, so that sequence after sequence is a montage. It's filler for a story that's barely there. And my favorite song, SADDLE OF MY HEART -- was translated poorly into English. It's so indicative of a show that means well but keeps misfiring. Like the opening sequence which is all 'sitcom' bouncy but the show isn't. 'Wind' should have been the ending song.
SO IF IT WAS SO BAD -- why did I watch it all the way through?
1. This is my 3rd Crystal show, and her quality acting, unique beauty, and lovely outfits do not disappoint.
2. I love a show attempting to stage a community based on kindness.
3. At the halfway point I wanted to walk, but I was interested on how it would end.
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Rather interesting and good... but not great
Greetings,I'm stunned no one has written a review yet. Maybe it will encourage people to try it, since the show so far is pretty good.
1. I've watched this dynamic director before with LOUYANG. He's less about nuance, more about keeping things moving. My only annoyance with this director is his overuse of flash-zooms. I don't know what they're called but it's like you're watching something in the distance moving and then BOOM you're a lot closer. It's fake exciting and upsets my stomach. I will say in Episode 36 there's some amazing camerawork with drones in a forest during a chase scene.
2. My silly nickname for this piece is BULLETS OVER BURMA.
3. I felt this story suffered from... umm... gender imbalance. I wanted to see more of the women they had, like the Geisha and the ballerina. More romance between the obvious suspects. This plot would have benefited greatly by balancing the political inhumanities with romantic humanity. Speaking of that plot --
4. -- the idea of a man losing his memories and spending 40 episodes slowly recalling them was too complex, too drawn out, and kinda not worth it's central plot status. Personally I stopped caring at the 2/3rds point. That said --
5. -- the story becomes more addictive the deeper you go, but you must get about a third of the way in to stay in. I'd recommend watching two episodes a pop. Two episodes at a time would also help keep the MANY characters in your head, especially if Chinese names are hard for you to remember.
6. There's a weird moment where a character dies. She is laying on the ground grey as anything. What's weird is that it doesn't look like her, and so you're left wondering if said character is secretly still alive. The man that discovers her dead on the ground would know the difference. (Was the actress too busy or spooked to play dead?) I will say if this character is actually dead, it's a crime. She was one of the best and had that 'humanity' thing mentioned above.
7 . The music is a mixed bag. The background music is solid, but the two main songs belong in the credits only, but unfortunatelykeep appearing in the story itself. One is a riff of Bond's YOU KNOW MY NAME and when it appears in the show it's painfully out of place. If I were the producer of this series, I'd have made the ending credits song the opening song and composed a sad ballad for the ending credits, something most Chinese dramas of this seriousness level do with success. (Find an episode of IMPERFECT LOVE and play the ending titles. You'll want to watch the show it's so beautiful.)
8. Our lead actors are good but our story wastes them in countless talky exposition scenes. To me that story is too ornate for it's own good. Still, the actors are otherwise very talented. Xin Zhi Lei is stunning (as usual) but she -- like so many of the cast -- spends a lot of time reacting to what others say instead of doing anything. Luo Qiu Yun stands around corners or with her back to others and does the exact same reaction about 100 times. I'm not kidding. A subtle turn of the head, a subtle roll of the eyes -- over and over and over again. She's very cute/sexy/pretty but it gets old as hell.
The lead male is a little flat, like an athlete they begged to act. He has this great walk I've never seen another Chinese male actor have, which is kind of leading with his pelvis and simply commanding any room he walks into. He had a difficult role to pull off and was okay, but I felt there should have been more to him somehow.
Here is a special shout out to Dong Xuan/Michelle Dong who does wonders with exposition. She's new to me and lends this series a dignity and centered performance. I want to see more of her.
9. The overall production values are quite good... which makes me wonder why more people haven't seen it. Budget wise this show strikes me as a big deal.
10 . I'm completely unaware of the history of this period. From a Westerner's perspective it's all so new. And sad. I started a discussion below in the comments and the History Buffs shared some very interesting perspectives. I'm happy I'm watching the series and seeing things from this perspective. For those who fear it is propaganda, it is in the way any film about Good Guys VS the Nazis are.
11. Most Chinese Drama's I've watched end poorly. Like the story ends but the series drones on a bit, sometimes for episodes. This series ended properly in a satisfactory manner. Not my fave series but I'm happy I watched it.
I know I don't sound very enthused but it's a solid 8.0 for me at the moment. Don't let my critical self dissuade, give it a shot if you're looking for something a little different.
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A Summer Romance Novel -- you will LIKE the story, LOVE the cast
My wife and I really enjoyed this series as a 'happy place' to visit twice a week. The sets and cinematography are gorgeous, the story arcs mostly gentle, and I guess what is the shortcoming of this story is really its strength: SPLENDOR is a place to chill.The story focuses upon 3 (and eventually 4) (and eventually 5) female leads who light up the screen with their humanity. Although a fantasy depiction of women in historic patriarchy, enough of it rings true today. Female viewers will enjoy how strong ladies can but, but compassionate male viewers will swoon for their beauty as much as their predicaments.
Most of this cast were new to me. Only Jenny Lin & Guan Yun Peng were familiar, because we knew them from the director's next project, the must see and incredible IMPERFECT VICTIM. I had heard that people felt Jenny was weak in this piece, but I thought she was fine... especially since her character was weak anyway.
The lead couple were interesting. I've left the series a Crystal Liu fan for lead performance as Pan'er. This is an actress of gentle nuance, and the more you watch her the more you want to watch her. They paired her with new to me Chen Xiao, who was good but perhaps not as riveting as a Wallace Huo or Huang Xuan type which I feel the roll demanded. The roll was nicknamed The Living Devil, so really a more macho offering (like Yuan Hong, the General from REBEL PRINCESS who stole the Princess from her Kingdom). As AvenueX points out on YouTube, though, the leads chemistry was quite real.
On this issue of 'gentle'men, this female written/directed production did a lot of that. We had three men who were constantly swooning over the ladies. Chi the Whiny Child, Du Chang Feng the 'substitute' teacher terrified by bullying boys, and Chen Lian who simply melts at each moment of romance. Normally I'd kinda frown at this Wimp Squadron but it was crazy charming. And Chi was hilarious. So funny I suspect they started giving him extra scenes towards the end.
Our lead ladies? Sigh. They were all terrific. San'Niang definitely grows on you as we roll along, all the imperial supporting actresses were solid, but I must confess our ZhaoDi (Daisy Li) was fantastic and eventually under-used.
Don't overthink this series. Go in and relax and it wraps up like a lovely summer sunset.
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I knew DREAM was garbage but had to be fair and give it a try...
So I noticed here and on Reddit this series was so RAVED about I could smell the social media campaign from a mile away. I knew it was yet another one of those shows that's mostly hype and little else.I've only watched the pilot. Episode One. But before you roll your eyes and tell me "it starts slow" or "that's not a fair way to judge a show" you have to remember what a pilot of a TV show is supposed to do: make you watch the next episode at least, and consider watching the entire series at best. The pilot failed on both fronts.
By the way, I recognize no one in this cast, and so I'm not bringing 'Idol' worship to this series. Seeing it objectively. The lead lady is definitely cute, the male lead is little pointy looking.
1. I'm getting up in years and I find these days that when something is childish and suspect, the trick to make it 'okay' is to simply give it a name.
Halloween is supposed to end around puberty. But now it's okay for adults to show up as Pokemon at Comic-Con because it's 'cosplay'. See? Just giving it a name erases the childishness of it all. "I'm giving my inner child a night out!"
Maybe. Or maybe you need to grow up a little more.
I know, I know, I sound like some grumpy old man telling kids to get off my lawn. I hear you. I don't mind childish fun. I fully enjoyed MAKE A WISH which was basically a feline rewrite of I DREAM OF JEANNIE. It wasn't perfect, but so much fun.
Anyway --
A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM is about an actress who falls into her TV show screenplay and becomes her character in a sense. That is she's aware she doesn't belong in the story she's in. And this one fact ruins all dramatic tension. Not an opinion, but fact.
WIZARD OF OZ wouldn't have worked if Dorothy was aware she was dreaming. GROUNDHOG'S DAY wouldn't have worked if we knew his character was in a screenplay.
So how can DREAM WITHIN A DREAM exist and be so popular? Because this kind of series has a name, don't you know? TRANSMIGRATION. See, that makes everything better, doesn't it?
No. It doesn't. Sorry. The real name for this genre is BAD WRITING.
2. Thanks to suffering thru JOY OF LIFE and MEET YOURSELF, I now give every series a litmus test now before I proceed past episode one. This series left a sourer taste in every way.
a. Are the opening titles and songs engaging or generic? Both the animation and the song were nothing special, leaving me disinterested. That's fair, right? If I see care and love put into such a sequence, it tells me the show has been carefully crafted.
b. Does the show deploy CRASH ZOOMS with 'wooshing' sounds or feel like a video game? Yup.
c. Do we have cutey cartoon sound effects to indicate humor, like a laugh track? Yup.
OZ had a great opening, followed by a song soon after the opening that is one of the best songs on the planet. OZ had no CRASH ZOOMS, no cartoon sound effects.
3. I appreciate that this series wants to be funny. I'm not opposed to the idea. But better writing suggests the following. Keep our lead in her world, make the world real, and have her fight for what she wants.
Suppose she had a Mom or a Grandmother giving her advice on how to deal with the male lead. 'Modern' advice, right? Kinda like a hyper feminist in ancient times. And the girl struggles to do what she says because it sounds like sage advice. But the girl ends up worse for following the advice, but then the world resets itself each day and only the girl remembers this, a la GROUNDHOGS DAY.
No screenplay. No present. No stupid TRANSMIGRATION excuse. Make it real, and that of course means a lovely opening song instead of pop drivel, no Crash Zooms, and no cartoon sound effects.
To overlook all this is YOUR choice.
But why this harsh review is here is that I don't think the young even understand what TV is any longer. I think they've spent so much time gaming or watching sped up TikTok super short vids that the very idea of actually watching a show with proper pacing is completely foreign. That attention spans aren't just shorter but outright GONE.
Don't believe me? There's a review one or two above mine about how someone felt the show started great but then got bland and they dropped it. That's my definition of 'crap' -- so bad you can't keep watching it. But then they skipped a bunch of episodes, came back -- and really liked it. If you can skip ten episodes of a show, it should have never been offered that way.
Real criticism is recognizing crap when you see it and telling others -- it's crap!
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