It can already be seen that we'll get some substantial flavor of the historical background and atmosphere. This is not just fiction; 1986-1988 SK was still under military rule. Director Park says “It explores how a rural community in the capital region was affected by serial killings in the mid-to-late 1980s, and why the killer wasn’t caught at the time.”
No, it's not. That is clear misinformation. Did you not read the article? Entirely different country and culture and historical situation. Pls, why are you on this site?
It can already be seen that we'll get some substantial flavor of the historical background and atmosphere. This is not just fiction; 1986-1988 SK was still under military rule. Director Park says “It explores how a rural community in the capital region was affected by serial killings in the mid-to-late 1980s, and why the killer wasn’t caught at the time.”
I'm a fan of director Xu Bing hence I see this a bit differently. Like Fearless Blood, this is a wild road trip…
some of my favorite scenes/things: - the magical flute fight (mindblowing) - Feng Cheng throwing herself off the cliff (she didn't die btw. Wonderful landscape) - Oyang Feng having a serious conversation with Dan Min with whilst entirely buried and only his head sticking from the ground - Oyang Feng mud battle - the headgear getting thrown around in the tailor shop fight - how our 2 MLs are masters of martial arts but deep down childish and immature (I thought that was cute) - Chai Qiong and his conversion: "no matter how great a martial arts master your are, there's always someone better" (what a great funny character)
I'm a fan of director Xu Bing hence I see this a bit differently. Like Fearless Blood, this is a wild road trip that revels on cinematic gorgeousness with a pronounced emphasis on quirkiness and absurdity. Alexander Jodorowsky is the closest reference point. Expect heroic (without reason) sacrifices, lots of duelling and ridiculously gorgeous fight scenes. This is first and foremost a feast for the eyes and doesn't really care to explain the world in which it takes place (even, doesn't take it very seriously). I can see why people who like the original work would not like this at all. 9/10.
"Repetition leads to an upward spiral" is the motto of this drama. We see the evolution of police work and criminal investigation tech through decades. I find this a very interesting and sympathetic drama. Although a drama about ordinary crime solving police work without no action action scenes and zero flashiness is probably not everyone's piece of cake. All the cases are basically "impossible to solve" cold cases. We get to see police doing the basic legwork from house to house checking inhabitants to narrow down the range of suspects, watching hundreds of hours of videotapes. Just to get one lead to continue with. How to get police units from different cities to adopt a common goal and collaborate seamlessly. How to get seasoned investigators to drop their favorite theories and start anew from scratch. The camaderie between the main investigators and between police teams is very nice to watch. Anyone familiar with Yu He Wei's acting knows to expect a lowkey but magnificent performance. Qin Hei is the epitome of persistence and patience but occasionally looses his marbles (as anyone would). Highly recommend this drama.
Wow! The car chase on ep 22 was truly awesome! This is such a marvelous drama about PTSD, undercover police works…
I find the action scenes in this drama *riveting* and I don't usually pay attention to such things at all! I've seen the villain actor in many dramas but here his androgynous looks just suits the character so perfectly!
However he acts out later on, Jiang Cheng is a tragic character. Imagine the incredible stress and loneliness…
Completely agree. The moment when Jiang Cheng talked with his supervisor Yao in the stadium was really heartbreaking. JC so tired and desperately wanting to get out of the criminal scene and go home. And then the police were treating him as a criminal when he finally was saved and returned. That was hard to watch. Jiang Hangshen is basically still the little boy who is lonely and left out of everything, at heart. Has no self respect. No wonder his mentor calls him "pup". (I love this veteran actor playing Wang btw). We get hints that Jiang Hansheng still is hiding bigger secrets from Zhou Jin so I'm not ready to trust him before the last second of the last episode! This drama reminds me somewhat of a similarly absolutely tragic older k-drama Cruel City where the ML was also an undercover cop leading a crime syndicate for more than a a decade, in the end deceived and used by his superiors. (Luckily SSR is a Chinese drama so police are not corrupt.)
I've been praising this drama for how gripping and intense it is (see my comments down below.) . I truly laughed and cried with the characters. I love dramas where we get really close to the characters. I love sad sack stories. The love story was beautiful. The mother-daughter relationships with the push pull combats and control attempts were well written and a strong backbone keeping the drama on a high level and psychologically deep. The frienship forever storyline was beautiful.
The last two episodes had a weird genre change into a detached melodrama. This a huge letdown to me. In addition the background music was very offputting, torturous old-fashioned piano. It never sat well with the emotional depth of story. Maybe the change wanted to underline that real life is rarely this tragic. Dunno. -
We always have less than a 1000 watchers here who are interested in this type of psychologically deep noir c-dramas. The dramas that are the best (imo) tend to fly under the radar.
Yet in true MDL style, there are commenters (see below) who want to destroy the little attention these is to these kinds of immensely attention worthy c-dramas with attacks on other people's opinions.
You have the space to write comments and interpretations WITHOUT ATTACKING OR "CORRECTING" OTHER PEOPLE'S INTERPRETATIONS. PLS LEARN TO USE THAT SPACE IN A CONSTRUCTIVE MANNER.
12 
1 
It can already be seen that we'll get some substantial flavor of the historical background and atmosphere. This is not just fiction; 1986-1988 SK was still under military rule. Director Park says “It explores how a rural community in the capital region was affected by serial killings in the mid-to-late 1980s, and why the killer wasn’t caught at the time.”
It can already be seen that we'll get some substantial flavor of the historical background and atmosphere. This is not just fiction; 1986-1988 SK was still under military rule. Director Park says “It explores how a rural community in the capital region was affected by serial killings in the mid-to-late 1980s, and why the killer wasn’t caught at the time.”
- the magical flute fight (mindblowing)
- Feng Cheng throwing herself off the cliff (she didn't die btw. Wonderful landscape)
- Oyang Feng having a serious conversation with Dan Min with whilst entirely buried and only his head sticking from the ground
- Oyang Feng mud battle
- the headgear getting thrown around in the tailor shop fight
- how our 2 MLs are masters of martial arts but deep down childish and immature (I thought that was cute)
- Chai Qiong and his conversion: "no matter how great a martial arts master your are, there's always someone better" (what a great funny character)
Chinese dramas are not made for the overseas audiences.
Watch Man's Inhumanity to Man. I think every Japanese school kid should watch it.
Jiang Hangshen is basically still the little boy who is lonely and left out of everything, at heart. Has no self respect. No wonder his mentor calls him "pup". (I love this veteran actor playing Wang btw). We get hints that Jiang Hansheng still is hiding bigger secrets from Zhou Jin so I'm not ready to trust him before the last second of the last episode!
This drama reminds me somewhat of a similarly absolutely tragic older k-drama Cruel City where the ML was also an undercover cop leading a crime syndicate for more than a a decade, in the end deceived and used by his superiors. (Luckily SSR is a Chinese drama so police are not corrupt.)
The last two episodes had a weird genre change into a detached melodrama. This a huge letdown to me. In addition the background music was very offputting, torturous old-fashioned piano. It never sat well with the emotional depth of story. Maybe the change wanted to underline that real life is rarely this tragic. Dunno.
-
We always have less than a 1000 watchers here who are interested in this type of psychologically deep noir c-dramas. The dramas that are the best (imo) tend to fly under the radar.
Yet in true MDL style, there are commenters (see below) who want to destroy the little attention these is to these kinds of immensely attention worthy c-dramas with attacks on other people's opinions.
You have the space to write comments and interpretations WITHOUT ATTACKING OR "CORRECTING" OTHER PEOPLE'S INTERPRETATIONS. PLS LEARN TO USE THAT SPACE IN A CONSTRUCTIVE MANNER.