Not long ago, the lively "Great Qin Fu" finally ended with a dismal score of 5.8 points on Douban, however, another new work of the "Fu Zi Generation", "Shangyang Fu", started with the same score.
The same costume drama, similar top-stream configuration, did not expect to be poor in word of mouth.
With the name of the first drama of Zhang Ziyi's acting career, "Shangyang Fu" actually has a good appearance from the perspective of skin and flesh.
The big heroine + a lot of drama bone assistance + exquisite costume Taoism, how to look like a piece of slow-selling products that will collapse in an instant.
Although the show's rating has risen to 6.2, it is still difficult for most viewers to buy it.
Perhaps from the beginning, fans of the drama have been difficult to adapt to the disorder of the story level and the refutation of the relationship between the characters under its overhead history.
01
Different from "Great Qin Fu", although "Shangyang Fu" belongs to the same costume drama, it tells a story of power and love with a large number of characters and complex relationships between monarchs and subjects in the context of overhead history. In this Dacheng kingdom with the Ma royal family as the center of rule, two clans occupy an important position, one is the Wang clan and the other is the Xie clan.
Emperor Ma married The Daughter of the Wang Clan as empress, giving birth to the Crown Prince Zilong, and took the Daughter of the Xie Clan as a noble concubine, giving birth to the third prince Zi Tong.
The clan leaders of the Wang Xie and Xie families were also the mainstay of the dynasty.
Empress Wang's brother Wang Lin (王蔺) was appointed as the Prime Minister, below one person and above ten thousand people, while Xie Yuan, the brother of Concubine Xie Guifei, was the Marquis of An Ming, who was also the Emperor's chancellor.
However, compared with the Xie family, the Wang family obviously has a more refined family lineage, that is, there have been twelve empresses in the Wang family, which have been endless and have been protecting the Wang family. The Shangyang County Lord, played by Zhang Ziyi, is the daughter of Wang Lin, and the emperor of the dynasty is both her uncle and her uncle. From an early age, she was loved by thousands of people and fostered in the palace, no different from a princess.
Just when Wang Yan reached the age of Ji Zhen (the ancient woman turned fifteen years old) and could marry, her innocent romantic and unrestrained girlish life changed. In fact, Wang Yan and the three princes have been in love since childhood, and the two have agreed for life and intend to become relatives in the future. But on the one hand, the prince also fell in love with Wang Yan, on the other hand, because the daughters of the royal family must become empresses and be political victims, so the marriage that Wang Yan thought could be pleasing to the two lovers has actually irretrievably gone to the other end.
Just when Wang Yan's father, Wang Lin, was planning to give his daughter Xu to the crown prince, due to the prince's misdeeds, Yin and Yang mistakenly pushed Wang Yan's marriage partner to Xiao Qi, played by Zhou Zhouwei.
Xiao Qi, who was sitting in the division of 200,000 tigers and wolves, was originally just a general of Ning Shuo who was not involved in the government and only wanted to guard the frontier, but the struggle between Wang Xie's two families made him unable to stand alone and had to choose a faction. At this time, Emperor Ma was suddenly poisoned and critically ill, disrupting the originally balanced situation. On the other hand, the previously low-key and absurd, indulgent second prince zi law began to show its sinister and cunning side.
At this point, the political undercurrents of Emperor Ma and the Xie clan, the strong forces of Empress Wang and the crown prince and Wang Lin, the behind-the-scenes manipulation of the second prince and the Huan clan, and Xiao Qi, who tried his best to maintain a neutral attitude and hold heavy troops, began a temple dispute in which open strife and secret struggle and mutual game. Wang Yan, who was used by all parties and couldn't help herself, became the key chess piece that affected the final trend, where should she go?
02
What is known to the world is that in the history of ancient China, the ultimate male power, let a woman become such an important role, and balance all forces, it is not difficult to see that "Shangyang Fu" actually has the background of the Mary Sue heroine. Indeed, "Shangyang Fu" is adapted from the web novel "Imperial Industry" written by the Whisperer. Soon after its release, it became the favorite of many fans of online novels. After its official announcement at the 2017 Youku Autumn Drama Conference, it has attracted the attention of many fans.
In the following four years, the name of the play was changed from "Imperial Industry" to "Emperor Huangye", and then to "The Old Man of Jiangshan", and finally became "Shangyang Fu", which now seems to be cursed. However, for this drama, everyone's focus is still on the heroine Zhang Ziyi. Because in the early years, Zhang Yimou once spoke to him: Your road is in the movie, and it is ruined to act in a TV series. Therefore, many melon-eating masses who see the hilarity and do not think it is a big deal want to see the whole process of self-destruction of the international chapter.
But Zhang Ziyi himself actually attaches great importance to this drama, and does not play tickets at will. The producer of "Shangyang Fu" is Kashgar Feibao Culture Media Co., Ltd., behind which is Shanghai Feibao Culture Media Co., Ltd., and this enterprise, in addition to the investment company, is Zhang Ziyi's shareholding ratio is the highest, reaching 9.35%, even exceeding the 8.13% of Ali Pictures. Because of this, the show is indeed impeccable in terms of staffing and hardware. Director Hou Yong, who has cooperated with the fifth generation of big names such as Tian Zhuangzhuang and Zhang Yimou, is a famous photographer who has filmed "Horse Thieves" and "Heroes".
At the actor level, there is the blessing of yu Hewei, Shi Ke, Hui Yinghong and other drama bone masters. With a production cost of up to 700 million yuan, the show has also made great efforts in the costume crowns of different characters, the style decoration of different scenes, and the exquisite carving of different props. However, these eye-catching costumes and moralization hardware can not let the audience ignore the problem that has been ridiculed the most by the group so far in this film: the age of Zhang Ziyi and other actors.
Turning over the Douban score, complaining about the tenderness, no girlishness, and the older voices of the actors abound.
Even Zhang Ziyi himself responded on Weibo to the so-called "over-marketing of girlishness".
In "Shangyang Fu", do the older actors playing young roles really seriously affect the perception? The answer is self-explanatory.
In addition to the 38-year-old Zhang Ziyi, relying on the small skills of the delicate grinding, barely revealing the innocence and playfulness of a 15-year-old girl, 53-year-old Shi Ke, 57-year-old Hui Yinghong, and 63-year-old Zhao Yazhi, all had to brush off their own sense of grandmother, forcibly exuding the mature taste that only 35-year-old women have. This makes it difficult for many viewers to identify with the age of the characters.
In fact, this kind of problem has been pointed out by fans in the previous "Ruyi Zhuan" starring Zhou Xun, the "Deep Love Origin" starring Liu Jialing, and the "Great Qin Fu" starring Zhang Luyi. The reason is that when a young actor can play a convincing role in an older role, we will lament his unworldly understanding and talent. For example, Puyi, who is young to old age in "The Last Emperor" played by Zun Long.
However, when an older person is forced to play a role younger than her, even if her bones reveal a sense of green onion, it is difficult to hide the embarrassment of her naïveté. The reason why Lao Laizi's colorful clothes and entertainment relatives make people feel awkward and uncomfortable is the same reason.
03
However, in addition to the problem of the collective age of the actors, "Shangyang Fu" is also difficult to satisfy in terms of plot point and core. In fact, similar to this kind of overhead history, or the domestic costume drama fabricated in the background of real history, there are roughly two ways to win high reputation.
One is a fantasy high-energy setting, coupled with a power struggle with a male perspective as the main tone, and a deceitful plot to construct a breakthrough drama, such as "Langya List", "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" and "Qing Yu Nian". One is based on basic historical facts, placing the main battlefield in the harem, using palace fights and tricks between concubines, as well as secret connections between them and the courtiers of the temple, to weave plots, such as "The Desire of the Golden Branch" and "The Biography of Zhen Huan". However, "Shangyang Fu" is not willing to let male characters be alone, so that Xiao Qi or Wang Lin will stir up the situation like Mei Changsu, and finally reverse the situation; it also does not want to repeat the theme of palace fighting, so that Wang Yan and other female characters can fight each other.
At present, it gives the biggest impression, one is to constantly use lengthy and boring bridge sections, such as letting Wang Yan fall off the wall and be caught by the male character who loves her, or letting the male and female protagonists take a day trip outside, eat and sleep in the wind, talk about love, and present a routine that is no different from other Mary Sue dog blood dramas. Or is it the thunder and rain that is small, making the emperor pretend to be stupid, making the second prince secretly provoke trouble, and the result is that they all stop without suspense, and the reason is only that the key characters involuntarily fall in love with the heroine.
Most typically, the emperor and the Xie clan secretly contacted the foreign prince Helan Zhen to get rid of Xiao Qi by kidnapping Wang Yan. However, the failure of this plan was not through any precautionary plan, but to make Helan Zhen fall in love with Wang Yan, thus losing the best time to get rid of Xiao Qi. This way of using the protagonist's aura to solve important problems in the series makes "Shangyang Fu" only inferior. Not to mention the core meaning of the series.
If "Langyabang" uses all the precision schemes to reverse the situation step by step, its purpose is only one, that is, to overturn the confession of the Red Flame Army case many years ago and wash away the grievances; then "The Biography of Zhen Huan" is to let Zhen Huan, a simple and innocent girl at the beginning, experience the waves of the harem, and finally become a woman who is still glorious and defeated, reflecting the poison of the feudal dynasty on women.
But in "Shangyang Fu", except for a few male characters who fall in love with Wang Yan without warning, and the seemingly hilarious but messy dynastic struggle, you can't find any reference to this story. This is probably the biggest weakness of "Shangyang Fu".
With the development of the plot, the age of all the actors can be matched with the age of the characters, and the age is no longer the problem, which may also be the reason for the recent rise in the Douban score of the play.
However, if after all 68 episodes are updated, we can still only enjoy Zhang Ziyi's "prosperous appearance", then its final rating may be worse than "Great Qin Fu".
Flowers without feast