Cool, sober, sexy, intelligently handled drama on insecurities
This is the best Chinese 'vertical' dramas that I've seen. Another one of the ML's dramas, 'Love Lost and Found' (also known as 'Divorce, My Happily Ever After'), also has a very good story and execution as well. And both are a pleasant surprise. Unlike the usual C-short, V-dramas where the primary goal is to show a cold 'CEO' being hot and cold towards the 'cinderella' FL or makes an alliance with her to bring someone down, with those hand grabs and pushes and make out scenes splintered about, 'Summer Rose' actually HAS depth and a deeply moving story and character arc for both ML and FL. And it's been shot and edited really very well.FL is an artist, she is a talented photographer and is a bit of a hippy, mercurial, having colorful friends and associations. She is a cynical and jaded young woman whose tycoon father had an extra marital affair, which ruined her mother's already fragile mental health (mother was bipolar). Her mother killed herself, while the father married his mistress and had another child with her. So the FL's biggest desire is to be loved but her biggest fear is that the husband won't be faithful, and this thought process makes her accept an arranged marriage with someone who has been rejected by her step-sister. This thinking also leads her away from that man when she sees herself falling for him.
ML has been raised to be a serious, responsible, sensible, studious professional (I think he is heading a bank). He is a typical workaholic who went from education to work and has neither had time for 'girlfriends' nor had the inclination by the looks of it. He is called 'dull' 'dry' 'robotic' by various people in the drama. He is definitely a quiet person, not a chatter box. To the FL, however, he is stable and sexy. I've watched both the version with music and the one without background score and I think the story works better with the silences than with the music, because FL's fears and ML's desires are unspoken but apparent. And it is good to hear his side of the story in the second half of the drama.
These two are a classic example of how two people may not be perfect for others, but are well-suited and well-matched for each other. FL's insecurities and assumptions; ML seeing FL having a life around him and beyond him, in her travels abroad for work; His realization that he is not seeking FL out of duty or an arrangement between their families, but because he likes; Her high opinion and regard for him; His passionate steadfastness towards her, and their final heart-to-heart communication about expectations from love and marriage, etc. are all handled in a subtle manner.
The entire cast is fine but the FL and ML are excellent. I've seen a few other dramas of the FL and she's a naturally beautiful girl but she is picturised exceptionally well here. She shines in this role and proves she can act. The ML is a brilliant actor who can actually emote, and has a face that actually moves (no obvious fillers / cosmetic work like other MLs). No matter what his actual or reported age, he looks 32-35 and that's ok. In my opinion, he is prettier in 'Love Lost and Found'.
Highly recommended.
Was this review helpful to you?
