"Beginning" should be the first small explosive web drama in 2022, right? After all, the time loop is a rare occurrence in mainland dramas, telling the story of the male and female protagonists who "come back to life" again and again in the bus explosion, and in order to escape the cycle and prevent the explosion from happening, they gradually piece together the truth of this case through various attempts.
The slightly sci-fi setting and a large number of realistic descriptions are enough to let the audience enter the play, and the investigation of the male and female protagonists and the police in the play will bring the audience the pleasure of solving the puzzle. "Beginning" is out of the loop because of the plot, so that the production of the drama returns to the content itself, which is still quite gratifying.
Liu Yijun's eyes were all drama
Liu Yijun is one of the middle-aged actors who have become popular in recent years, he has a face with a story, his temperament is both good and evil, and his plasticity is very high. Most of the roles he plays are calm and introverted, so he often plays with his eyes, with a pair of eyes that seem to be able to speak.
This time in "The Beginning", Liu Yijun played Lao Zhang, a veteran criminal policeman with rich experience. Although Lao Zhang's emotions in the play did not fluctuate too much, his micro-expressions were different in different scenes.
When Lao Zhang and the heroine first met to record a confession, the first second said that she was used to seeing big scenes, so she was relieved to say, but the next second she said that she encountered a "dream in her dreams" and kept returning to the bus explosion before the incident, Lao Zhang was a little panicked. At this time, Liu Yijun's eyes first widened for a few seconds, and then he leaned back, and his eyes scanned up and down at each other, expressing that Lao Zhang was quickly adjusting his emotions.
Although Lao Zhang did not believe the words of the heroine at all, these nonsense actually coincided with the facts, so he would still feel surprised in his heart. Whenever Liu Yijun performs surprise, he will stare, but he is not the same every time, sometimes looking directly at each other, sometimes avoiding each other's eyes, and will adjust according to the lines.
Although Lao Zhang's process of recording a confession to the heroine made him a little surprised, reason told him that the heroine only had mental problems, so he finally tentatively asked her if she had similar symptoms before. In the process of Liu Yijun saying these lines, he touched his mouth, chin and neck with his hands, and his eyes glanced up and down and finally looked directly at each other, this series of expressions and limbs, showing the uncertainty of Lao Zhang's heart.
In a certain cycle of the male and female protagonists later, Lao Zhang asked them informally, and at this time his state was not blindly serious, but a little kind in majesty, so that the male and female protagonists could relax their vigilance.
After the male and female protagonists are eliminated, Lao Zhang's smile will be brighter.
Liu Yijun has a cold face most of the time in the play, because he needs to maintain majesty out of professional needs, but the emotions of people on different occasions are different, so he will have different micro-expressions, especially good at expressing emotions with his eyes, saying that he has good acting skills, and no one should object, right?
Liu Dan's portrayal of the character into three points
The aunt with the red plastic bag on the bus is probably the most terrifying character in "Beginnings". The actor who plays "Aunt Guo" is named Liu Dan, graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, and can often see her figure in film and television dramas.
Liu Dan had very few scenes in the early stages of "The Beginning", but she also left a deep impression, after all, her eyes were too terrible, always with a murderous spirit.
Liu Dan's acting highlight scene is in the latest episode, when the police are interrogating "Aunt Pot" about the details of the bombing, and she feels that the police would rather spend energy tracking her than restart the investigation of her daughter's case five years ago. At this time, Liu Dan's whole person was in a state of weakness, and his eyes were full of disappointment and confusion.
When the police comforted "Aunt Pot", she felt that this was just a comforting line from the police, so she cried and laughed as if stimulated. In fact, if you don't grasp the measure of crying and laughing, it will appear contrived, but Liu Dan controls it well, the mood changes very quickly, and the final deep breath can see that she is trying to control her emotions, making people feel her collapse and unwillingness.
"Aunt Pot" is actually a mother who lost her daughter, the daughter was killed on the bridge across the river, when she went to the bridge with her husband to remember her daughter, the husband advised her to put it down, but she was unwilling to accept mediation, so her attitude towards her husband was angry. But a second later, when she heard her husband say, "Let's take my daughter home," she immediately couldn't help but burst into tears. Liu Dan's emotions change from anger to sadness only through the eyes, as the audience can feel the mother's difficulty.
Liu Dan has many scenes in "The Beginning" that are impressive, whether it is collapse, sadness or fierceness, she has a good grasp of it, and hopes that such a good actor can have more opportunities in the future.
Bai Jingting and Zhao Jinmai were pleasantly surprised
The two young leading actors, the acting skills are not up to the level of Liu Yijun and Liu Dan, but there is absolutely no drag in "The Beginning", on the contrary, they have acting highlight moments.
The heroine encountered the time loop several times before, although she felt unbelievable and scared, but that feeling was not too strong, so Zhao Jinmai only used the most basic acting method of staring and opening her mouth to express it.
With the increase in the number of cycles, the heroine's panic mood is getting stronger and stronger, and she is so scared that she wants to cry. Also afraid, Zhao Jinmai performed different levels.
And Zhao Jinmai's acting highlight moment is the part where she was stabbed in the neck by "Pot Auntie", when her eyes were full of panic and collapse, because the heroine could not push away the "Pot Aunt".
After being stabbed, the heroine gradually lacked oxygen, looking at her surroundings in pain and unable to speak.
After being stabbed, the heroine re-entered the cycle and woke up on the bus again, when she recalled the scene of being killed, she was so scared that she cried. This scene Zhao Jinmai performed very well, which allowed the audience to maximize their empathy for the role.
Bai Jingting's highlight scene is the section where he fights with "Aunt Pot". When the male protagonist fights with all his strength, Bai Jingting's face is vicious; when the male protagonist accidentally kills the "pot aunt", Bai Jingting performs the complex emotions of being broken and overwhelmed.
Especially after running away from the bus, the male protagonist still felt scared when he recalled the moment of the killing. At this time, Bai Jing first had his eyes unfocused, and then his lips trembled slightly, and his voice trembled slightly plus sobbed, whether it was the expression of emotions or the transformation.
In general, Bai Jingting and Zhao Jinmai, a 28-year-old male actor and a 19-year-old actress, although their performance in the play is not "sealed", it is definitely a face for young actors.
Liu Tao's acting skills are slightly blunt
Unexpectedly, the most general performance in "The Beginning" was actually Liu Tao, who had acted in drama for many years. In terms of image, she is definitely a sacrifice this time, wearing a super short wig, applying dark colors or foundation that fits the original skin tone, and the whole person is very capable. However, in addition to the breakthrough in appearance, Liu Tao's acting skills did not surprise people at all, but because his expression was too single and blunt, he was complained about by many audiences.
Liu Tao plays the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, although the role is not much, but her performance is indeed very single, and some deliberate, the routine is to press the low line to say the line, the eyes are slightly squinted, and the mouth is sniffed. That's how it comes when interrogating suspects.
The same is true when listening to witnesses.
There was a scene that obviously allowed Liu Tao to play her acting skills, but she did not seize the opportunity.
In that scene, the deputy director learned about the death of his good partner Lao Zhang in the line of duty from the phone, and Liu Tao looked like he was fixed by the dots from the beginning of answering the phone.
After a while, Liu Tao finally frowned.
Immediately after, her lips tightened and her fists clenched, presumably to express anger and pain, right? And then the scene ends.
It is a pity that the emotional changes of the characters are not seen from Liu Tao's eyes, and when he learns that his colleagues who cooperate seamlessly die, they may not cry at the first time, but there will be more or less a little disbelief and disappointment, right? Liu Tao's performance is not bad, but there is still a big gap with Liu Yijun and Liu Dan.
Of course, the quality of acting depends on the aesthetics of the individual, so the above views only represent the individual. Which actor in "The Beginning" do you think has the best play?