Regina de Sá

PM: a jewel produced through the lens of art and aesthetics.

Shakespeare wouldn't feel embarrassed signing this brilliant series. Really Perfect!

Many have tried to reduce and drag PM into a small, unfounded discussion about misogyny, when what is really in scene are the dichotomies of human nature, light and darkness. What is most curious about this criticism is that it is an unequivocally matriarchal story in which men, naturally arrogant and oppressive as a reflection of the education and culture of the time, when they get married, they become docile husbands to their wives, all of whom are very strong-willed women. This transformation does not harm the dignity of men, but balances the forces between man and woman.

The series manages to bring together all human virtues, innocence, honor, compassion, generosity, in counterpoint with villainy, misunderstandings, family intrigues, compromising pasts, murders, revenge. I identify, in PM, traces of Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies. But if you ask me how similar these works are, the answer is simple. Shakespeare's work builds plots exploring virtues, human flaws, intrigues and surprising twists, whose stage is the intra-family and palace life, of society in all its shades. Perfect Match has the same atmosphere.

The plot has the merit of, from a single thread (the Li family), weaving an intricate network that begins at home and expands to other layers of society, until reaching the powerful.

The series is a light and very fun comedy, with a dynamic rhythm that unfolds in many twists. Like all comedy, it also has its space for tears, whether in lyrical scenes that address the sensitive side of human beings, or in scenes that bring out the painful side of life.

The PM scenes are constructed with theatrical logic, in small spaces and intimate actions, such as the garden, the rooms, the meals, even palatial and noble environments, is framed in a small spatial perspective, giving the feeling of proximity that we have in the theater. I also highlight the theatrical way of acting of three burlesque characters in particular: Madam Li (Ni Hong Jie), Le Shan (Huangyang Tian Tian) and Fan Liang Han (Huang Cheng Chi), with their facial and body expressions, vocalization, reactions, gestures, temperaments, performed with exaggeration, exacerbation, are theatrical concepts that enrich the characters' dynamics and color the narrative. The scene cuts resemble the curtain closing. This combination takes us into the scene, as a local spectator.

I could not fail to mention the first daughter Shou Hua in the context of the non-negotiable defense of woman's dignity. This character does not seem to be understood in her human greatness, and this incomprehension has made her the target of many unfair criticisms, since what some viewers consider to be resentment, grudge, inability to love is, in fact, the non-negotiable defense of woman's dgnity. Shou Hua has a monastic aura and deserves to be understood as a woman who asserts her dignity at a time when women were nullified and according to the law of the time, they were worth less than men. The ironic detail of this criticism made against Shou Hua is that precisely the women who accuse the series of misogeny are the ones who most criticize this character who gives stature and dignity to women. In my opinion, she is the best-crafted and most beautiful character in the series. It is very rare for series to portray women with this depth and delicacy.

The family is the microorganism that constitutes society, PM shows these entrails with mastery. PM is a precious mosaic of microstories that involve a sophisticated cocktail of successes and mistakes inherent to life that gain dimension and life of their own in the expansion of family ties. These microstories have no other theme than virtues and human miseries. In this complex cocktail, everything related to human behavior is on the screen.

In addition to PM having visual beauty, with photography that offers aesthetic pleasure, its narrative interweaves the best of Chinese literature (present not only in quotations from works, but in the deep and delicate universe of Chinese Poetry, recited throughout the series), painting, philosophy. This artistic conception amplifies the beauty of PM's messages.

PM portrays the daily lives of ordinary people, like us. The seesaw of the characters' human flaws and virtues oscillates, and this gives grace and life to the plot, but at the same time, it leaves open the possibility of everyone redeeming themselves.

Why should we be such strict judges? We all deserve this chance.

Read More

Shadow Love has the flavor of Romeo and Juliet

This review is a journey exploring the universe of sensations and feelings that Shadow Love can lead you to experience. Although the story is simple, it deeply explores love as a powerful experience of strength and resilience, capable of overcoming the most brutal and painful challenges.

Shadow Love is a powerful love story that straddles the real world of the realms and the mystical world of Wulin Mountain.

The series is unforgettable: I laughed, I cried, I vibrated... I went through all the emotions and waited for each episode with a delicious anxiety.

I trusted the plot, and above all, I trusted the signs the story gave toward a happy ending.

All the actors delivered impeccable performances. I hadn't seen any series with Song Yi before, and I had just watched LOTFG (I loved it!), with Cheng Lei, whom I also hadn't seen before: now I feel like I can't live without them both.

The story is easy to understand, flows smoothly, and the plot and subplots are well-organized and fit together seamlessly. It evolves at a good pace, balancing happy, funny, tense, and sad moments. It manages to move the story steadily throughout its 38 episodes, keeping the viewer very engaged, until it reaches the totally satisfying climax. It explores human values ​​and virtues amidst villainy and cruelty, all very well balanced.

The camera wanders, explores and expands angles and frames that enhance the aesthetics and support the wordless narrative, where only the image dialogues with the viewer, both in the amber luminosity of the love scenes, suggesting innocence and purity, and in the dark scenes, where the light-dark contrast emphasizes the focus on the character, amplifies the dramaticity, volume and depth of the environment, recalling works by Rembrandt characterized by the Chiaroscuro (light-dark) style.

In that regard, the cinematographic aesthetics offer a delight for the eyes with countless scenes constructed with art and lyricism that clearly allude to Chinese paintings. These scenes remain etched in the retina like sweet memories.

Song Yi gave greatness and humanity to the character, virtuously conciling femininity with the soldier's unyielding rawness , without losing elegance, always with her bow and arrow, reminiscent of the character Diana, from Roman mythology. She masters facial expressions and gaze from the subtlest to the most evident: I was overcome with sadness in every scene where she cried, and I found myself smiling at the soft light that bathes her entire face when she smiles. She has in her eyes the eloquence of the heart.

There is also a poetic beauty in the scenes where Li Shuang nourishes Jin'An with her own blood, which does not resemble in any way mere vampirism, whose logic is in mere benefit and parasitism, resulting in the discarding of life, but recalls the legend of the pelican who, having nothing to offer its chick, pecks its own breast until it bleeds and feeds it. This image symbolizes sacrifice and dedication, exactly Li Shuang's most striking virtues. Nurturing is such a feminine function, no matter the bond; it's a woman's trait, and this was greatly valued in the character of Li Shuang, a symbol not only of courage but, most especially, of self-sacrifice and self-denial for the greater good.

Cheng Lei overflows with charisma, his penetrating and indefensible gaze magnetizes and leads us to surrender. All three characters he embodies are impetuous, so passionately compelling, that he leaves us no choice: we fall in love with all three. They combine two forces that enchant women: masculinity and sweetness.

Shadow Love's originality is truly impressive! As the episodes progressed, I clearly noticed that the story's construction deviated from the standard plot structure that virtually all dramas follow. An example of this is the way LS acts and behaves: she breaks away from the standard passive woman in love scenes; she surprisingly boldly takes the initiative in these scenes.

There's also a modern touch that makes Shadow Love stand out as a genre, giving Jin'An, when he undergoes the transformation, a superhero character rather than a mere mutation. The character's specific theme song itself has a very positive tone, composed in a typically heroic melodic structure, suggesting a heroic nature (a specific theme song for each character, object, idea or emotion is called 'leitmotiv', free translation 'leading motive', musical resource created by the German composer Richard Wagner). Another touch of originality was to endow this character with an identity that preserved his humanity and defeated Mo Yin's predictions about the loss of self-control, the rupture with himself to give way to an irrational beast. The strength of love prevailed in him, his strongest nature, that of a man in love.

The story conveys this message of extraordinary power that reverberates in real life: love is not just a physical memory within time and susceptible to oblivion, but a transcendental experience, as it transcends the human condition and, therefore, immune to oblivion, regardless of the trauma.

Finally, the songs... They are profoundly beautiful and frame love with hope, perseverance, resilience, and renunciation. The reward for this challenging pilgrimage faced by Li Shuang and Jin'An could be none other than a Happy Ending, freed from the past to resignify the present. I will miss them so much!

Read More

An intelligent, coherent and impeccable plot. It is a production made with a refined sense of Art.

Blood and tears alternate with extreme strength and beauty, cruelty and Poetry interact with vigor and grace. Human turpitude, vile ambitions, virtues, courage, lightness and fragility move in an absolutely precise game of chess. From an aesthetic perspective, the use of theatrical concepts is simply genial, including Greek theater elements in its conception. This theatricality causes a great visual and sensorial impact, enormously expanding emotional strength and plastic beauty. The characters are very well structured. The intricate relationship between the characters, despite being complex and rich in details, is easy to assimilate. Music is powerful and has important role, endowed with melodies and lyrics of great beauty and strength, it is an essential ally that enhances feelings, sensations, perceptions, emotions. The beauty of the images also impacts. Numerous scenes stand out as paintings that resemble masterpieces of Chinese painting. Everything done with extreme subtlety, from the point of view of ancient Chinese culture, its discreet, gentle and delicate art, its relationship with the mystique of death, its profound ability to observe the most imperceptible detail. How much beauty is the tea rite, a philosophical and poetic act. The actors’ synergy is enchanting. The performance of the actress Wu Jin Yan (A'Li), is simply masterful. It demands versatility in all the nuances of the immense human universe of pain, helplessness, loneliness, humiliation, indignation, love, joy, generosity, overcoming, hope. She's independent character, elevates women and removes them from the unfair and imposed passive and defenseless role. Also masterful is the performance of Wang Xing Yue (Duke Su). Through exclusively subtle nuances in facial expression, gaze, body gestures (as manly as he is kind) and voice intonation, he vigorously brings out a universe of feelings that dialogue with the viewer and leads them into this universe. The couple has an overwhelming chemistry, with a relationship that progresses with intensity, making the blood flow boil and the heart beat strong. This excepcional plot has the power to engage the viewer within its world. The plot flows with agility and reconciles hope with justice. I'm grateful for the aesthetic and emotional enjoyment of this series. I reluctantly leave the screen richer than when I entered this universe of ''The double". I'll miss it...

Read More

A dive into human nature, your search for yourself and the meaning of life

A masterpiece full of poetry, human beauty, intelligent plot It is a deep dive into human nature, its conflicts, the search for oneself and the meaning of life, based on the complex universe of family and social relationships. The plot unfolds in the magnificent setting of important South Korean cities full of history, culture, rites, spirituality, cuisine. This set of aspects plays the fundamental role of connecting people with their own stories and alterity. Despite the different and multiple personal experiences of each character, the existential dialectic is a preponderant factor that unifies all the characters, reflecting on the existential dialectic of the spectator himself, who sees himself, unavoidably, as part of the plot, reflecting on his own existence. All the actors deserve applause. However, actress Lee Na Young's performance is sublime!

We get emotional and laugh, we get involved with the softness of the story, we recognize ourselves in the characters. Park Ha Gyeong not only opens her own door to go out into the world, but she also opens our doors, inviting us to walk, eat, let our minds wander and be comfortable anywhere...

Read More

A hymn to love

Do I recommend the series? Yes, I do. There are wonderful, iconic, unforgettable moments and with a bright and promising happy ending for the lieds, Nie Jiu Luo and Yan Tuo.

If you read my review, consider all the very positive aspects of LOTTL. Are there any drawbacks? Yes, like everything in life, but LOTTL will please you.

Although these observations lie between subjective and technical perspectives, the series is extremely captivating. There are countless scenes that I will keep with immense affection for their poetic beauty and because the story of NJL and Yt is a hymn to love!

Abbreviations for the names of characters mentioned in the review:

NJL - Nie Jiu Luo
YT- Yan Tuo
LXR -Li Xin Rou
XS - Xing Shen
LX - Lv Xian
XH - Xiong Hei
LL - Lin Ling
(Yu Rong, Que Cha and Lu Jie are also mentioned, but I didn't use abbreviations)

■The qualities of the series:

The leads

Dilraba's performance reached a level of maturity and magnetism rarely seen in actors, especially those of her generation. It's no wonder she's so persecuted, as people only throw stones at trees bearing fruit. It's challenging to define her performance in a few words, but even so, I dare to highlight her ability to convey a multitude of subtle microexpressions that carry a powerful emotional charge that kidnaps and mobilizes the viewer's emotions to the very limit. Dilraba's character is the most complex, the most challenging to interpret; she manages to reconcile wild firmness, femininity, sweetness, fury, compassion, love, pragmatism, childishness, maturity, vigor/strength/courage in opposition to her fragility as a human being susceptible to trauma, such as her phobia of water. This character, Nie Jiu Luo, is already consecrated as legend and a classic that shines in the pantheon of great heroines.

I make this very personal point, and I ask for permission from those who think differently: NJL is nothing like Lara Croft. Nie Jiu Luo is unique because she has immense human depth, she is like us, someone truly made of flesh and blood. Her spirit bears the deep traces of ancient Chinese roots. She herself is a sculpture with carvings that did not copy models, that were inspired only by the subtlety of the worldview so peculiar to China. The black outfit (which would be the only similarity...), despite being daring and exuding sensuality, is sober and extremely feminine in contrast to Lara Croft, who has a masculinized, eroticized profile, almost like a soldier, clearly violent with her excess of pistols.

Nie Jiu Luo is a warrior who, with a simple knife, terrifies powerful enemies without losing her dragonfly aura.

Chen Xing Xu

Besides being physically a Greek god, CXX also delivered a sensitive and mature performance, portraying and giving dimension to a wide spectrum of feelings, behaviors, and gestures. CXX masters facial and body expression, magnetizing with his gaze, in a performance that expresses, with depth, the universe of those who love, those who suffer, those who strategically dissimulate, whether in the context of the conflicting and affectionate relationship between YT and NJL, in the context of tension or sublime moments, or in the context of depression, loneliness, and silent despair. CXX manages to reconcile masculinity with gentleness and sweetness, the dream of any woman.

▪︎Positive points of the series:

1- It offered a high-quality spectacle, with a refined line of thought that skillfully and balancedly utilized artistic, poetic, and psychological/psychiatric concepts.

2- It presented an intriguing, intelligent, daring, and even surprising story, focusing on affective relationships, philosophically rich, intricately woven with psychic and behavioral explorations, and permeated with originality.

3- It presented solid, strong, iconic, well-defined, and coherent characters, tinged with lyrical touches.

4- It produced a well-written plot, with well-concatenated and connected facts, well-developed, and permeated with artistic beauty and poetry. The novel even includes quotes from poems by Li Bai and Du Fu, two of China's greatest poets, which explains the production's clear attention to aesthetic aspects, not only visually, but also in the lyrical message in which the story builds the characters NJL, YT, LL, LX, LJ (yes, even LJ, who captivated everyone. They publicized a scene of her as a fiend and, without any explanation to the public, there was no development), all profoundly human and overflowing with lyricism, very subtle in their feelings, gestures, and behaviors.

5- Very well-structured aesthetics and cinematographic aspects that act on the viewer's emotional universe, with meticulously explored environments, enhancing the viewer's immersion, in addition to atmospheres that range from luminosity to shadow, from dim light to darkness, but always strongly contrasting with the light (Example: scene of Guo Ya's execution, episode 11).

6- The series has an almost dizzying pace that balances action, emotion, tension, violence, humor, anxiety, love, delicacy, lightness, and density.

7- An intelligent, engaging plot, unpredictable (although it lost coherence and rationality from episode 22 onwards).

8- Impeccable costume design.(with the exception of hunters, I'll talk more specifically about that later in the review)

9- Solid characters with well-structured characteristics, well-articulated and believable emotional and psychological aspects (up to episode 22).

10- Perfect chemistry between the leads, the direction explores sensuality without trivialization, and develops the relationship between the leads with an engaging progression.

11- Impeccable acting from all the actors.

12- Impactful fight scenes that don't exploit excessive blood, but well-coordinated blows with good choreography (The final scenes of the long-awaited final battle in the cave were disappointing, bland, lacking significant movement/choreography.)

▪︎Negative Points/Plot Holes in the Series

The pillars of the series began to crumble in the final 10 episodes. These are the main flaws/holes in the series:

1- The disappearance of YT's sister, is a deep wound in his life (and in ours...). This fact is presented to us throughout the series, however, we are left without a clear answer and with the mere presumption that she was murdered as a child. This assumption is suggested in episode 31, during a dream of YT, who was recovering from injuries sustained in the final battle in the cave. In the dream, she appears for the first time in a luminescent aura, evoking another state of life, and says that she has always been there, that she is very happy, and runs to a very bright portal and disappears upon entering it. YT wakes up... He, and we, also wake up to a nightmare that persists.

2- NJL's rescue: how did YT get out of that place, sweeping NJL away? How did he manage to reach and exit through the high ceiling where the hole he fell through was located, separating the river from the dry cave where NJL lay in a dome? How did he manage to carry her without supplemental oxygen, to get NJL to the surface of the river? This couldn't have been left to our imagination.

3- YT burned his hands to break through the scalding dome where NJL lay, but he didn't have ANY scars. It's therefore implausible.

4- What happened to LXR's housekeeper? She was complicit in all the horrors committed by LXR, but she disappeared from the scene, as did the mansion and possessions that LXR stole from YT's family.

5- What happened to the children's asylum (in the middle of the forest, also implausible), an important part of the plot and where the series begins, it was part of YT's life.

6- Lu Jie, did they give up on explaining her identity? Or did they create two arcs and choose to keep her as the dedicated and maternal housetaker? Or was this scene created by AI? We'll never know...

7- And the Locust? They gave the simple solution of a team of biologists simply collecting it: end of its story, let's accept it. In other words, Locust had no function whatsoever.

■ Some personal impressions on the genre of the series

It is not a simple task to discuss the sources of Chinese cinematographic production, since even science fiction works resonate with the ancient roots of the country's culture, notably the influence of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" (Chinese: 山海经, Shanhai-jing), a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts.

The series blends mystic, legends, history, science fiction, suspense, horror, romance, and adventure, in a cocktail that reminds me of the atmospheres of Alien, Blade Runner, The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, and The Name of the Rose.

These impressions make no comparison between these works and Chinese cinematographic narrative, structure, and aesthetics, whose creative process is supported by its own technical elements, is inspired by national sources that have consolidated their own standard, in a movement that starts from within the country and extends outward, with a life of its own, because it's free from Western formulas.

■Final very personal considerations

It's not about leaving doubts in the air for a possible season 2, because, technically speaking, that's done by leaving narratives open, but what we saw was a narrative that lost cohesion, it was split in half, each half became another story, separate from the whole, the viewer falls into a dark abyss, I felt stunned in the pasty and opaque atmosphere of the final 4 episodes.

The leads, LXR, and other characters lost the impact of their significance and were excluded from the much-anticipated climax, namely, the elimination of LXR, which was given as a gift to NJL's mother, a secondary character who is merely a detail in the story. LXR, a strong, solid, and memorable character, didn't progress in the final four episodes, and the expected final battle never happened. LXR faded and perished without any real fight. Besides having a, let's say, painless death, given the speed with which she was decapitated, it offered no impact, not even visually, and didn't calm our hearts, because we all expected an epic showdown between her and Mad Blade that would live up to her reputation. We didn't see LXR being chopped to pieces, cleansing the soul of Justice. So, was decapitation enough to kill her? And if only NJL's mother's sword could kill LXR, it would have been so symbolic if she threw the sword to NJL and she fulfilled her last mission. The same I say about SH, ZERO emotion, no confrontation, merely pushed into the abyss. The self-sacrifice o XS didn't move me.

Another solid and captivating character, Yu Rong, with her rebellious personality and casual/grunge look, was completely deconstructed and transformed into a well-behaved lady, just like Que Cha, both running a teahouse (at the end of the series).

The climax of the plot, and of several subplots, was aborted, and in its place the director and writer planted these and other quick fixes, like instant noodles, dismantling the plot, the key characters, killing almost all the hunters and turning heroes into fools waiting to be caught by a single hook, in a simple, laughable, childish way. On the other hand, YT's acting in the battle was kind of pathetic, and that tranquilizer dart gun in the context of such a battle was beyond ridiculous.

Well...and at the end...Where did that character from the NJL exhibition come from, whose father buys all NJL's work? No connection to anything, he parachuted into the story. In the final scene, where a museum TV appears (I didn't understand this choice), his father, whom we don't see in the scene, only hear, is talking to him on the phone. From the dialogue, it seems to be a humanized fiend that's still left. If the goal was just to give the series an open ending, after so many deaths, both of civilians turned into blood bags and of hunters, it's regrettable because it undermines the moral of the story. If the goal is to suggest a second season, I feel totally encouraged to embark on this journey with Dilraba and Chen Xing Xu, explosive chemistry, impeccable acting.

Finally, that delightfully natural relationship between NJL and YT is lost in the final scenes, they've lost their warmth, they become artificial in impersonal, sumptuous scenes, as if they were about to parade on the red carpet. It wasn't the fact that they were dressed in a sophisticated way that made them seem artificial in their relationship, but rather that they seemed very formal with each other, considering the level of intimacy between them. It would have been more welcoming and in keeping with the story if the two had been camping on that iconic mountain, watching the sunrise as a clear symbol of a new life.

Read More