janec

This drama is from a government-approved program and represents the slice-of-life genre. We will have young people entering adulthood and then about 10 years of their lives, or more. It will probably be about social problems and overcoming them through nobility of character and goodness of heart. (Sigh). It is unlikely to bring XZ hundreds of thousands of new fans, but it will strengthen his position as an actor. Either entertainment or prestige. you can't have it all at the same time.
That's why I hope his next drama will be entertaining :)

SweetStarlight is right. One of the titles of this drama was "Armagedon", but she ended up with a different one in the end. A big political-patriotic CCTV production. The role was very small, a few minutes in probably six episodes. The picture you saw is probably a scene of a student demonstration. That's what the leaks were that had to be shot again. Sure, it's a shame about the role, but most XZ fans wouldn't likely like the whole drama because the main characters were old generals and political activists.

An answer maybe late, but maybe others are interested - he is very strong. In my opinion ML is one of the strongest I've seen, but his strength is in his intellect and in his heart (he can fight too). I really enjoyed watching him and had reason to believe that his plans would come to fruition. Of course not everything worked out perfectly for him, but most of his few failures were really well and needfully written. He gives off good vibes.

For me, this situation was a curiosity from behind the scenes, a funny anecdote, that's why I quoted it. But after much reflection, there is actually something wrong with the fact that the actor is playing in the series in his private clothes. Why? Because it is the costume designer who is responsible, in consultation with the director, for the costumes. It is they who, in agreement with the makeup artist, create the visual side of the character. This is the division of labor at work. In each job, you have the scope of your responsibilities. It is one thing to wash your clothes, which every adult should do, and another thing when an actor is responsible for dressing the character he plays. Instead of learning a role, he has to remember which shirt to put on the set tomorrow, he has to iron it, he has to pack it, and what is the costume guy doing at that time? Learning the role of an actor?
Cool, I don't make a problem of it. I'm not attacking drama. I've only discovered something that doesn't fit with my vision of how to work in a drama production. If a few of my loose thoughts have affected you so much, then I'm sorry.

In fact, there is no actor loved by everyone. What goes to some people's heart may not necessarily go to the heart of others. I just can't imagine that, convinced that my parents, whom I desperately wanted to save, died before my eyes, to wonder what I had failed.
He, he, I can criticize my favorite acts if they fail, so it's nothing personal with LJK :)

I watched all the dramas with his participation. If I didn't like him very much, I wouldn't be able to look at him, would I? His acting doesn't convince me, and while I respect those who are his fans, I don't think we all have to be his fans. There's no reason to suffer when someone doesn't like acting of your favorite actor.

You're right, he is not credible to me. I think I've seen all the dramas with him, so he doesn't belong to a group that I don't accept, but for me he lacks versatility completely. In every drama I see exactly the same thing - a hyperactive wise man. I liked him in that drama where he was undercover agent in Thailand and in Arang and Magistrat, but I guess that was more of the story itself.
As for the "fake face" I mean rather artificial rejuvenation. I think they put a mask on him to make him younger, and it looks awfully artificial. I absolutely did not mean to insult the actor. I am not convinced by his acting, but that does not mean that I do not respect him as a human being.

Ok, earlier I said about my own perception of receiving the role, now I will use an analysis of a specific scene. Note, I give away the plot in the next sentence.
ML knows that his parents are going to die that night hit by a car. He tries to save them and puts all his hope into it. A car drives by, he pushes them away, the car hits something. "Mom, Dad! Oh no, I'm going to be an orphan again." Someone has just torn your hope apart. Your parents that you've missed for 20 years are dying before your eyes. Meanwhile, ML gives the viewer the impression of "Oh no, I'm going to be an orphan again." It wasn't shock, it wasn't devastation, it wasn't despair, not even sadness, it was. nothing. If an actor in such an important, such an emotional scene does not stimulate any emotion in the viewer, is the scene played well?
In my opinion, and this is a very personal opinion, no scene evokes any emotion in me and the actor for almost the whole two episodes only smiles and somehow says "e, everything will work out". He died - e, everything will be fine. He went back in time - e, everything will be fine. They want to beat me up, someone might waste their life - e, everything will be fine. Like those stupid memes. All in one rhythm and on one emotion. After all, everything will be fine because I've been given a new life.

I think you shouldn't listen to others, just check it out for yourself. Good acting is not necessarily something objective, at least in my opinion. Good acting is one that appeals to the audience. What one person likes, does not necessarily like another. It is not worth prejudicing yourself against a role on the basis of comments from others.
For example, I absolutely hated him in "Flower of Evil". It is a matter of personal reception.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly, but if a woman is 30, in my culture she takes care of her parents, not the other way around. I feel like YZ is missing out on being a normal, independent woman because being an actress forces her to have her parents take care of her business. Such close dependence on her parents for work inhibits natural independence. XZ, on the other hand, instead of focusing on acting, had to be his own costume designer, which is an added responsibility and takes up a lot of energy and time. In both cases, work intrudes into private life, making it difficult to relax. If you see your parents on set and at home, or if you have to wash the clothes you're acting in on set at home, where is your privacy and where is work? Where can you find a safe place to breathe and just be yourself? I think people because they don't have an understanding of how hard it is to be an actor in China, they don't give them the proper respect and understanding. They only see what the glow of the jupiter shows them. And yet actors are normal people with weaknesses, dreams, fears. Actors are people who have to provide their own costumes for the film, or their family does it for them. People who gave their roles much more than just acting.
So it makes me sad and I feel sorry that actors give so much of themselves and in return receive criticism that should go towards the production (I don't mean any particular case).

Really? Somehow it made me sad for the actors in China.

The ending of the first episode is so stupid to me that I quit this drama for 3 weeks. Episode two seemed more interesting, but it's painfully boring. The story doesn't engage me at all. The way it's shot, I mean the cinematography, editing, etc, is ok, but if I don't care about the fate of any of the characters, if I'm not interested in the mystery, it's basically nothing to watch. I still give it a chance, but I don't expect much.

I know I'm exposing myself to terrible criticism from fans but:
The directing, cinematography and editing were probably done by people who just graduated from film school and with not so good grades, because every scene, every shot is just textbook. The interrogation scene, where the camera shows at which side the advantage lies - pure classic. No finesse whatsoever. I don't know if it's a mistake on the part of the filmmakers, but to me this scene was just bland.
I know Lee Joon Gi has a lot of fans, and I'm sorry, but he should finally learn to act after so many years. The only thing I see in him in this drama is a fake face and an inner monologue that absolutely does not convey the emotion of the action happening. It totally deprives me of tension. That inner monologue is completely wrong.
I will rather not comment on the plot. It's just not an ambitious drama, so there's nothing to focus on.
I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings. But if I see a scene that should be emotionally charged, and I see a piece of log with a mask on its face, whose inner monologue sounds just like it sounds, my hands just drop

I actually hate this scene. The guy just got into huge trouble that he can't handle because he's in shock, he's terrified, and his girlfriend is resentful that he withheld the truth from her? After all, she broke up with him without even giving him a chance to cool off after what happened. FL sulked for so many days and even though before that she and her friends were constantly sitting on Weibo, suddenly no one knows that the whole internet is bullying her guy? How stupid do you have to be? And when she finally finds out the truth, she resents that he didn't run to her to cry about his problem.
If I were GW, I would want nothing to do with such a brainless creature.
Let me remind everyone that I am referring to one specific situation in TOoL.

I dislike him from start to finish.

Ha, ha, ha! I'm watching an old interview with XZ, from back in the days of Jade Dynsty 1's release, and XZ said he bought a washing machine and washes the clothes he's currently working in on set himself. Guess what the set was ? Poor guy, he was performing in his own clothes and still had to buy a washing machine to wash them. No wonder he said during one show that he does his own laundry.
I wonder if Yang Zi also had to wash the clothes she wore in TOoL by herself :)?

This guy always saves the day for me. When I'm sad and need comfort, when I'm stressed and need soothing, when I'm feeling bad and need to cry - I just need to choose the right drama (or movie), or scene, or interview, or vlog, or just a picture or, of course, my beloved Our Song and everything becomes beautiful as a winter sun :)

No worries, you were not dense. There are many times when people speak in jargon that I don't understand,so I ask too :)
If you search for information about XZ or this drama on YT, you will often see YuGu Yao. "The Oath of Love" is Yu Sheng or Lifeu, The Untamed is CQL (Chen Qing Ling) and so on.
This makes it easier to navigate through channels and articles in Chinese, like you're watching an interview that doesn't have subtitles, then at least you know which drama they're talking about :)

Yes, but it has long been known that this drama has strayed quite far from the book. Chinese censorship when it comes to dramas doesn't allow a lot of elements that are totally fine when it comes to the book. On top of that, you have to make allowances for XZ's public image and the fact that someone with that image can't play a character with too many negative traits and negative behavior. In a word - the character played by XZ will be outrageously whitewashed and moralised. If you have a living walking white Luke Skywolker or a white knight in shining armor, China won't do what Disney did and subvert the hero. Zhan Zhan is a hero, a role model, the censors will not allow him to play even one morally inappropriate scene. I can bet on that.
So if there will be any intention of genocide, it will only be under the influence of sorcery or to save the rest of humanity or to punish evil incarnate. And most likely this thread will be left out altogether.
But when the public incarnation of goodness and the light bearer admits that he is in a mutual torture relationship in the movie, it's a really interesting aesthetic experience :)
Can't wait!

I watched an interview with XZ yesterday where he mentioned this drama. When he mentioned that there is mutual abuse between ML and FL in this drama, I got a little numb. Xiao Zhan playing someone abusive? No way! I can imagine it and I'm excited, but XZ in a role that requires at least some cruelty and calculating is something incredibly exotic.
But to see XZ in a role where he abuses someone - my expectations for this drama have unexpectedly increased :)