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Poetically bleak, melancholic, and utterly hopeless... but beautiful
Why Try to Change Me Now (2023) is a very atmospheric series, and it needs to be, to carry you into a world full of deeply broken characters who try to fit in but cannot, who don't know how to communicate. Its deliberately slow pace and the cinematic execution, across six episodes averaging 75 minutes each, are perfect for that.
Set in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, during the deindustrialization of the 90s and its consequences in the 2000s, the drama is based on Moses on the Plain (平原上的摩西), a novel by Shuang Xuetao, one of the leading figures of what is known as New Northeastern Fiction literary movement or the Dongbei Renaissance.
But the strongest feature of Why Try to Change Me Now is its uniqueness in cdramaland. It feels like a series filmed as a movie, or a movie filmed in a series format. And not just any movie, but what you could call "slow cinema." Director Zhang Dalei makes films, and it shows: the use of the camera, the long shots, the light, the ambient sound... and the soundtrack! Because when it does come in, it's a real treat.
The slow start had very Tarkovsky vibes for the most part, at least for me. What I saw on screen during the first episode reminded me of something he said:
"I think people somehow got the idea that everything on screen should be immediately understandable. In my opinion, events in our everyday lives are much more mysterious than those we can witness on screen. If we attempted to recall all the events, step by step, that took place during just one day of our life and then showed them on screen, the result would be a hundred times more mysterious than my film." (**)
Contrary to the usual setup, where the mystery or the shocking murder triggers the story within the first minutes after the opening credits, here you'll find it only in the last ten minutes of the first episode, just before the end credits. And by then, I was completely hooked and immersed in the atmosphere and the story, together with the characters.
The pace gave me time to appreciate every detail in the frame and everything that was happening, including dialogues taking place off camera. I never liked being rushed, and in an era of fast editing, tight close-ups and blurred backgrounds, I truly appreciate the freedom this kind of production gives me from time to time.
As the drama moves on, it slowly starts to behave more like a thriller, but that isn't really the point of it all. So don't look for gripping suspense or a thrilling climax. Just trust the director and what he's trying to convey, and let yourself be enchanted by the story, the atmosphere, or some sequences. I particularly love the last 20 minutes of episode 5, and the relationship between Li Fei and Zhuang Shu as children, among many other parts. The latter is so beautiful and powerfully told that it cuts like a sharp blade, and its eloquence lingers way beyond the drama's ending.
I don't dare recommend it widely, yet for slow cinema and atmospheric pieces lovers, it´s a must watch.
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(**) — Christie, I. (1981). Returning to the Zone: An interview with Andrei Tarkovsky. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, (14), 31–33.
Set in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, during the deindustrialization of the 90s and its consequences in the 2000s, the drama is based on Moses on the Plain (平原上的摩西), a novel by Shuang Xuetao, one of the leading figures of what is known as New Northeastern Fiction literary movement or the Dongbei Renaissance.
But the strongest feature of Why Try to Change Me Now is its uniqueness in cdramaland. It feels like a series filmed as a movie, or a movie filmed in a series format. And not just any movie, but what you could call "slow cinema." Director Zhang Dalei makes films, and it shows: the use of the camera, the long shots, the light, the ambient sound... and the soundtrack! Because when it does come in, it's a real treat.
The slow start had very Tarkovsky vibes for the most part, at least for me. What I saw on screen during the first episode reminded me of something he said:
"I think people somehow got the idea that everything on screen should be immediately understandable. In my opinion, events in our everyday lives are much more mysterious than those we can witness on screen. If we attempted to recall all the events, step by step, that took place during just one day of our life and then showed them on screen, the result would be a hundred times more mysterious than my film." (**)
Contrary to the usual setup, where the mystery or the shocking murder triggers the story within the first minutes after the opening credits, here you'll find it only in the last ten minutes of the first episode, just before the end credits. And by then, I was completely hooked and immersed in the atmosphere and the story, together with the characters.
The pace gave me time to appreciate every detail in the frame and everything that was happening, including dialogues taking place off camera. I never liked being rushed, and in an era of fast editing, tight close-ups and blurred backgrounds, I truly appreciate the freedom this kind of production gives me from time to time.
As the drama moves on, it slowly starts to behave more like a thriller, but that isn't really the point of it all. So don't look for gripping suspense or a thrilling climax. Just trust the director and what he's trying to convey, and let yourself be enchanted by the story, the atmosphere, or some sequences. I particularly love the last 20 minutes of episode 5, and the relationship between Li Fei and Zhuang Shu as children, among many other parts. The latter is so beautiful and powerfully told that it cuts like a sharp blade, and its eloquence lingers way beyond the drama's ending.
I don't dare recommend it widely, yet for slow cinema and atmospheric pieces lovers, it´s a must watch.
----
(**) — Christie, I. (1981). Returning to the Zone: An interview with Andrei Tarkovsky. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, (14), 31–33.
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