"From now on, when we fall in love, it is not a love for the purpose of marriage." "Heartbeat is the only criterion for supremacy." "Not for the purpose of marriage does not mean that you cannot eventually go to marriage"...
Recently, the TV series "Warm and Sweet", directed by Liu Jiang, written by Mao Yunfei, and starring Song Qian, Chen Yanxi, Lu Yi, Jing Chao and Sun Jian, released the first film flower. The protagonists Nan Fei (played by Song Qian) and Qi Jiayi (played by Chen Yanxi), the emotional declarations of these two thirty-year-old mature women, are embedded in their sudden marriage trajectory, which is very eye-catching.
Directed by the famous director Liu Jiang and starring Song Qian, Chen Yanxi, Lu Yi, Jing Chao and Sun Jian, the first trailer of "Warm and Sweet" is coming! On the road of chasing love, laughing and crying, crying and laughing, no matter how difficult it is, never regret it, because love, never will be!
The film flowers open with a sweet couple frolicking scene, and in less than 30 seconds, the marriage and love dilemmas faced by the two heroines are all revealed: hidden divorce, ma Bao male, cold violence to urge marriage... If you say that ten years ago, marriage is still a mandatory question for every marriageable young person; ten years later, marriage is only a plus on the life examination paper. But to do or not to do is for young people to choose. Everyone is pressured from many sources, especially for women. The two heroines in the play are looking for answers for us.
From the perspective of women, it shows the reality of newlywed love they face. It is not difficult to see that "Warm and Sweet" has the effort to resonate with the pulse of the city, and there is also the sharpness to face new emotional issues.
Marriage is okay, it won't be
As a sample of popular culture, film and television works can reflect the emotional patterns and ways of thinking of an era. From the perspective of the genre of urban drama alone, from the flow of its emotional theme in the past ten years, we can observe the continuous changes in young people's views on marriage and love.
In 2010, the hottest urban emotional drama on the screen was "The Belle Epoque of Daughter-in-Law", and the focus of the story was on the handling of the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. This reflects the general distress of young people at that time: there were serious differences between ideology and concept and the older generation, and how to reconcile contradictions and quickly adapt to married life became a problem.
In 2013's "Let's Get Married", it is also about the issue of marriage and love, but the life stage focused on by the story is advanced. The object of attention has changed from marriageable young people to "leftover men and leftover women", and the proposition has become "how to overcome the fear of marriage".
By 2022, the younger generation's attitude towards marriage is no longer "mandatory" or "avoiding answers", but has reached the stage of pursuing high-quality emotions of "doing the best to do". What "Warm and Sweet" wants to show and explore is the question of what kind of attitude contemporary women should grasp their emotions and egos in order to enter a good marriage.
The story of the whole drama unfolds from the perspective of Nanfei and Qi Jiayi, two mature women of 30+. Different from the ideal state of "warmth" and "sweetness" in the title, what Nanfei and Qi Jiayi have to face at the beginning of the chapter is precisely the anxious intimate relationship and the choice of marriage and love that is more wronged than complete.
"I have a legitimate girlfriend, why do I have to live like Xiao San?" In the film, Nanfei's dialogue is like a bomb, setting off terrifying waves in the hearts of the audience. Continuing to read, it turned out that this plastic surgeon in the top three hospitals who was in the ascending stage of his career was misunderstood by everyone as "Little Three" because of a curatorial report about her boyfriend Chen Fang.
On the one hand, it is the mother who worries about the lifelong happiness of her daughter who constantly urges marriage, and on the other hand, it is difficult to give herself a boyfriend who is further committed to because she has to take on the family responsibilities to her son and ex-wife. At the same time, there is also career pressure that escalates due to emotional turmoil. Sandwiched in the middle, Nanfei chose to take a step back and press the pause button on the relationship.
Nanfei's good friend Qi Jiayi, although he and her boyfriend Xu Xi went to the step of talking about marriage and marriage, they met a tricky mother-in-law who frequently made rules for herself. But compared with the mother-in-law's difficulties, what makes Qi Jiayi collapse even more is her husband who has no ability to solve the problem between herself and her mother-in-law - she chooses to divorce and stop the loss in time.
In real life, many women of the same age in similar situations may have a hard time giving up the emotions they have been operating for many years like they do. The temporary departure of the two protagonists from marriage is an artistic question in film and television works: How will it be to restart marriage and love after thirty years old?
The names of the two heroines are also quite interesting in this situation. Flying south, like a migratory bird that chooses to fly away from the bitter cold land, goes south to find a new home; Qi Jiayi, Yi room IKEA, Qi family joy, with the hope of starting a family into marriage, but was "Ma Bao" warm man sounded the alarm bell.
Are today's young people really reluctant to get married? Not really. From the choice of Nanfei and Qi Jiayi, it can be seen that they have a natural yearning for the combination of love and the establishment of a family. But their pursuit of emotional quality and independent self determines the renewal of the concept of marriage and love: marriage is OK, but it will not be.
What "Warm and Sweet" wants to show is this new trend of emotional value. It can be seen from the piece of flowers that with the conclusion of the Nanfei and Qi Jiayi girlfriend alliances, the follow-up emotional clues of each of them have gradually unfolded, and the multiple conceptual challenges encountered have also been paved. The turmoil and personality growth of the two women will be the main line of "Warm and Sweet".
Women's independence begins with the economy and ends with emotion
One is a doctor in the ascending period, the other is a home improvement designer, and from the perspective of career development, the two protagonists in "Warm and Sweet" are independent women by social standards. But in the relationship, in the relationship with their parents, they still stumble.
Although "Warm and Sweet" is about the love of mature women, it can be seen from the film flowers that the story draws two complete arcs of character growth.
The first thing to grow is in intimate relationship thinking.
In the relationship between Nanfei and Chen Fang, spiritual resonance and paying for love are the main tone. But the complex external pressure makes the two have to give in step by step at a certain stage, and the balance of love is also out of balance.
Qi Jiayi chose Xu Xi as her husband, not because Xu Xi was excellent, but because she wanted to save her mind and be stable. However, when the dispute arose, Xu Xi still had a sense of superiority and believed that marriage was a favor to women.
The "will" in marriage cannot be exchanged for peaceful coexistence. Can "no will" allow the two protagonists to restart their intimate relationship? This makes people look forward to it.
The second growth comes from the processing of intergenerational relations.
Children and parents get along, understanding and empathy are always the key words. In recent years, urban dramas, in order to strengthen the drama, always like to do polarized play on the original family, and the image of the parents of the brother demon and the "vampire" is not uncommon, as if only by drawing a clear line can the problem of the original family be solved.
But in real life, the relationship between more people and their original families is in the middle of "loving and fighting". We don't want to be like our parents, but when we grow up, we are surprised to find that we always have the shadow of our parents.
"Warm Sweet" also constructs intergenerational relationships in this way.
For example, Nanfei's mother, Dong Bihua (Yang Qing), is an uncompromising strong woman. Since she was a child, she has demanded Nanfei to be "strong", and has single-handedly managed Nanfei's life under the blessing of cleanliness and control. It was not until the contradiction of "forced marriage" appeared that Dong Bihua found that Nanfei's various personality characteristics were the same as his own, and his interrogation of his daughter's concept of marriage and love that "did not agree" became powerless.
Nanfei, who knows that he has reproduced his mother's shortcomings, will understand his mother and reconcile with himself in what way, and this plot thread is also full of highlights.
Growing up is a lifelong proposition. Women do not grow up to be completed after the awakening of an independent consciousness and economic independence. Finding the way forward on the seemingly insoluble emotional map, finding a balance between giving for love and stretching yourself... These are all problems that women encounter when they grow up.
The experiences of the two women in the play are typical. After encountering a series of encounters, they found the "razor principle" of life of "no will". "Not for the purpose of marriage does not mean that you cannot eventually go to marriage." In the chaotic life, they have explored a quiet path to achieve inner self-consistency and personality growth.
Fighting the urban topic drama again, director Liu Jiang went all out
In 2019, as early as the broadcast of "The Old Tavern" directed by director Liu Jiang, the drama "Warm and Sweet" has already begun to brew. Subsequently, director Liu Jiang took over the creative task of "Glory and Dreams" and delayed the start of "Warm and Sweet". But the refinement and in-depth development of the script has been advancing.
To this day, the younger generation's "not will" concept of marriage is still a cutting-edge emotional topic. The awakening of women's independent consciousness in the new era, the ideal gender relationship from the perspective of women, the understanding of love and marriage by the younger generation, the marriage and nurturing of the elders... The theme areas covered by "Warm and Sweet" are still the boiling point of public opinion.
Director Liu Jiang is determined to express the latest rhythm of urban emotions, and he also hopes to use a sincere attitude and realistic observation to transmit the temperature of life and transmit value orientation.
Director Liu Jiang once expressed in an interview: "As a creator, we want to reflect life, reflect this era, it is important that we create a series of vivid characters in such a story, not for the sake of the topic." "Warm and Sweet" is not a thesis, not a reportage, but a vivid drama. It does not shy away from the bitterness, glitches, and even sufferings of life, but the overall tone is still warm and sweet. ”
Audiences familiar with Director Liu Jiang's works know that his urban dramas have always maintained the style of scene life, vivid characters, and delicate image texture. The film flower of less than five minutes of "Warm and Sweet" this time has been able to perceive the richness and diversity of the scenes of the series, the exquisite landing of the art style, and the exquisite composition of the mirror.
This is also in line with the director's artistic expectations for the show: both a warm family story and a sweet female narrative.
It is worth mentioning that the performances of Song Qian and Chen Yanxi in the play are also extremely tense.
Director Liu Jiang praised Song Qian's performance: "When filming the crying scene, there is no little idol baggage, and the logic of each scene is true and exquisite. Chen Yanxi's evaluation is "a particularly smart, well-intentioned actor." In addition, the performances of Lu Yi, Jing Chao and others also made Liu Jiang appreciate that it was "a state that had never been seen before", and the enthusiasm of the actors on the set was obviously fully mobilized by the crew.
Warm, sweet, true and grounded, this is director Liu Jiang's positioning of this drama, and it is also a beautiful expectation for the marriage and love life of contemporary young people. It remains to be seen how "Warm sweet" will show the latest rhythm of contemporary urban emotions.
【Text/Shiyi, Tin Drum】