A good revenge story
The Glory certainly knows how to hook you in.
The production design is damn good. Although the drama doesn't name in which dynasty it takes place but from everything you can see from the clothes to the set pieces and locations, it's clearly the late Ming Dynasty. A really important point of the story that confirms this, it's the subplot regarding a powerful eunuch. The Ming Dynasty was known for how Eunuchs gained unprecedented power over state affairs. The fact the main story of The Glory centres, in part, on the aftermath of capturing all the followers of a powerful Eunuch who angered the Emperor, confirms this is the late period of this particular dynasty.
The cinematography outstanding. I love it when a drama uses light and shadow narratively, to expand the inner turmoils of a character's emotions, this is particularly effective when you are trying to destroy your entire family from within the darken rooms and hallways of their mansion on a bloody, snowy winter. This also makes The Glory a really pretty drama to watch.
Narratively speaking, the drama relies on short and exciting highs and plot twits to capture the audience's attention. Especially as it builds up to capture the root of the family's inner problems. This means as a whole, The Glory might not be as cohesive but overall very entertaining.
As for the performances, this is only the second time I have seen Chen Du Ling in a tv show or film and I am impressed with her. I think she has a talent to captivate trough her performance, no matter if she has to be calm and collected, or screaming bloody murder.
This was also my first time seeing a drama starring Xin Yun Lai and ,to be honest, it was rather disappointing. I am not sure if there was a particular description in this scripts or a director's decision but the he was simply emotionless 95% of the time, which made it very hard to connect with his character or even understand why should I even care for his revenge story. There's being poker faced, and then there's this. And this is not good.
In stark contrast, our main villain and the other family members are outstanding. Yu En Tai (FL's father) absolutely devoured this role by playing meek and slowly but surely showing his true colours; Wen Zheng Ron (FL's mother) is a goddamn shakespearean actress trained to perform in this kind of story as if she was born for the role; and Wan Yan (Concubine Zhou) was a wonder to watch as she moved swiftly among the many traps put in place by our lead.
Overall, I would recommend The Glory for most of the performances, the entertaining and production value.
The production design is damn good. Although the drama doesn't name in which dynasty it takes place but from everything you can see from the clothes to the set pieces and locations, it's clearly the late Ming Dynasty. A really important point of the story that confirms this, it's the subplot regarding a powerful eunuch. The Ming Dynasty was known for how Eunuchs gained unprecedented power over state affairs. The fact the main story of The Glory centres, in part, on the aftermath of capturing all the followers of a powerful Eunuch who angered the Emperor, confirms this is the late period of this particular dynasty.
The cinematography outstanding. I love it when a drama uses light and shadow narratively, to expand the inner turmoils of a character's emotions, this is particularly effective when you are trying to destroy your entire family from within the darken rooms and hallways of their mansion on a bloody, snowy winter. This also makes The Glory a really pretty drama to watch.
Narratively speaking, the drama relies on short and exciting highs and plot twits to capture the audience's attention. Especially as it builds up to capture the root of the family's inner problems. This means as a whole, The Glory might not be as cohesive but overall very entertaining.
As for the performances, this is only the second time I have seen Chen Du Ling in a tv show or film and I am impressed with her. I think she has a talent to captivate trough her performance, no matter if she has to be calm and collected, or screaming bloody murder.
This was also my first time seeing a drama starring Xin Yun Lai and ,to be honest, it was rather disappointing. I am not sure if there was a particular description in this scripts or a director's decision but the he was simply emotionless 95% of the time, which made it very hard to connect with his character or even understand why should I even care for his revenge story. There's being poker faced, and then there's this. And this is not good.
In stark contrast, our main villain and the other family members are outstanding. Yu En Tai (FL's father) absolutely devoured this role by playing meek and slowly but surely showing his true colours; Wen Zheng Ron (FL's mother) is a goddamn shakespearean actress trained to perform in this kind of story as if she was born for the role; and Wan Yan (Concubine Zhou) was a wonder to watch as she moved swiftly among the many traps put in place by our lead.
Overall, I would recommend The Glory for most of the performances, the entertaining and production value.
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