As a popular genre of film and television dramas in the market, every innovation and breakthrough of urban romance dramas will trigger discussion among the audience and the attention of the market. "Summer Flower", which is recently being broadcast exclusively on Tencent Video, is such a work. The play is adapted from the novel "He Stands in the Splendid Summer Flowers", written by Zhao Xiaolei, directed by Chen Zhufei and Zhao Xiaolei, starring Yan Chengxu and Xu Ruohan, telling a series of romantic love stories between a seriously ill young girl and a down-and-out uncle.
It is difficult to define what type of romantic drama "Summer Flower" belongs to, the love story it tells has a certain sense of distance from reality, but it makes people see that love is more authentic and pure; The characters it shows are somewhat extreme, but many people project into the "self" from it, and then listen to the true voice of their hearts; It strives to create a beautiful and romantic fairy tale world, and it is embellished with a little sense of fragmentation; The dreaminess, emotional flow, and imagery texture it presents are more like an innovative experiment in urban romance dramas.
Fairy tale love that you want to love
On a sunny afternoon, in a roadside barbershop, He Ran (played by Xu Ruohan), a girl in the flower season, met No. 33 "hair washer" Xiao Han (played by Yan Chengxu), one is a customer who accidentally enters the store, the other is a short-term worker who takes time to help, two people who have no intersection in life, because of a chance encounter, an unforgettable love story begins.
The sweetness in love is a thick stroke in most urban romance dramas, but the expression of "Summer Flower" is bolder, more direct and faster. He Ran's feelings for Xiao Han should be interpreted as "love at first sight" in previous romantic dramas, but in "Summer Flower", it is more like an "instant head" under dopamine secretion. Cleverly, this story, which has a certain distance from reality, allows the audience to be quickly brought into a romantic and beautiful fairy tale world in the rapid laying of a series of plots. Here, the heroine is like opening the door to a new world and opening a journey of "no turning back" in love. Here, true love has nothing to do with the family, regardless of origin, and even transcends life and death.
Take a car to the place where Xiao Han lives to find him; deliberately leaving the phone behind to create an opportunity to meet again; Design the nanny to meet with the fellow villagers and sneak out to find Xiao Han by herself; left home on the grounds of participating in Han Yu (played by Ma Sichao) concert, and ran halfway to Xiao Han's house; Go to the studio to be an art teacher, let Xiao Han be a model, and increase the time to get along... He Ran's series of "chasing love actions" vividly shows a young girl's desire for love. The bold confession, sweet interaction, and ambiguous atmosphere in the process of getting along between the two not only make the CP sense of this pair of "New Year Love" full, but also let the audience feel the refreshing feeling of "straight ball love".
While increasing the speed of love, "Summer Flower" does not lose the pulling sense that urban romance dramas should have, making the plot a little more dramatic tension. In strong contrast to He Ran's unrestrained enthusiasm and irreverence, Xiao Han's hesitation and hesitation not only add a sense of mystery to the character story and fate, but also leave suspense for the subsequent narrative, "If I easily promise you today, the person who will really be hurt will be you." When the "straight ball" girl captured the heart of the fallen uncle became the answer that the audience was eager to get.
Even the love in fairy tales can be mixed with a little sadness and obstacles. Because they hid their lives and experiences from each other, He Ran and Xiao Han's newly ignited flame of love was dying. They have their own unspeakable sore spots, insurmountable reality obstacles, and taste the bitterness of ordinary couples' love. "In the days when Xiao Han was away, Xiao Ran often went to the empty house to see, and I also tried the taste of longing, bitter and sweet" "He just wanted to get a sincere emotion, but he was deceived again" "If a person appears in your heart and dreams but can't accompany you, how much it hurts"... Many netizens recalled the bitterness and sweetness of their love life while watching the drama, and felt the same way.
At a time when most urban romance dramas tend to show the rationality and pain points in love, "Summer Flower" cuts open the hearts of many people who are wrapped in reason or even suppressed, show the blood and impulsivity in love, and encourage more young people to temporarily put aside rational deliberation in the face of love, start from the "heart", and easily invest and enjoy a beautiful emotion.
The sense of brokenness is intertwined with the sense of healing
Bloom with brilliant vitality
To a certain extent, He Ran and Xiao Han are broken, and "summer flowers" are healing, symbolizing a splendid and blooming life. He Ran, a girl in the flower season, suffers from congenital leukemia, and her mother Qiu Jiarong (played by Huang Yi) firmly watches her at home in the name of love, does not allow her to go out at will, is not allowed to contact people outside, what clothes to wear, what to eat must be strictly in accordance with her mother's requirements, even the clothes she bought online must be thrown away. Such a girl with good material conditions and trapped in a "cage" for many years has a more desire for freedom in her heart, and she will also fall in love because of a side of the relationship.
The complexity, sense of contradiction, and blazing feeling on He Ran's body are rare in many urban romance drama heroines at present. She is not "silly and sweet", nor is she a strong woman, she has the throbbing and shyness of a girl, and there is a rebellious heart under her well-behaved appearance. In pursuit of love, she will even use some small tricks. Her growing environment made her have a strong "suffocation feeling", and only when facing Xiao Han, her breathing was free and relaxed. Xiao Han's appearance allowed her to see a faint light in her dry life.
"Xiao Han has a kind of loneliness when he wants to laugh but is difficult to smile", some netizens described the male protagonist. Xiao Han's appearance has a sense of mystery and fragmentation, and he seems to have an unknown past. He should have been confident and free to chase his dreams and be brave to love, but a painful relationship he experienced before made him almost lose hope in life. He lives in an isolated fishing village, reluctant to communicate with others, and lives in his own world. He Ran was like a raging fire, igniting the flame in his heart, and also opened the closed door of his heart, making him full of hope for the future.
When a love journey stimulates the exploration of self-worth and character flaws by both the male and female protagonists, self-redemption is a reward for the growth of the two after a series of twists and turns. "Do you know what gerbera flower language is?" In the play, He Ran looked at the oil painting on the wall and asked Xiao Han. Xiao Han did not answer, she immediately added, "Not afraid of difficulties, pursue the life you want." Xiao Han, who had always been silent, had light in his eyes. Then, the camera pushes up, and the colors on the oil painting are bright and full of life, as brilliant as summer flowers.
Despite the huge differences in age, family situation, and experience, He Ran still fell in love with Xiao Han without hesitation, and Xiao Han was also moved by He Ran's sincerity and enthusiasm, and they found the important but missing parts of their lives from each other. Regardless of the outcome, the two gave each other the hope of healing. "Love is growth, nourishing each other, achieving each other, and elevating the level of life." Some netizens expressed such feelings after watching the play.
Freehand images highlight the cinematic texture
The sense of atmosphere reinforces the sense of substitution
"Highly saturated blue sky, white clouds, flowers, waves, everything is so fresh" "The picture has some retro tones, I like a little nostalgic feeling", "Online dramas shoot movie texture", "Many scene screenshots can be used as wallpaper"... While watching the play, many viewers praised the visual effects of "Summer Flower".
In the environment of blue sky, white clouds, sea, and green trees, nostalgic style seaside wooden houses, plank roads, and tidal flats, with some radios, glass bottles and other props, the BGM that sets the atmosphere is inserted into the plot, and the whole play has a sense of Hong Kong style. In such an environment, kisses by the sea, hugs in fireworks, rushes in the sea of flowers, every scene is a witness of love, and the creative team has just the right sense of atmosphere in the love drama.
"Summer Flower" constructs a fairy tale world for the audience, which not only strengthens the story and atmosphere of the drama, but also leads the audience to briefly escape the reinforced concrete urban living environment, perceive the germination of beautiful emotions in the dreamy "mimicry environment", and get spiritual healing. "The abandoned house by the sea is a specially built real scene", according to the main creative team, the play is set in Sanya, Lingshui, Wanning in Hainan, color grading, setting, shooting, music, all strive to present the quality of the movie.
The image style of "Summer Flower" is quite distinct, which is also relatively rare in urban romance dramas in recent years, and it is more inclined to freehand, trying to show the hearts of the characters through stream of consciousness, emotional lens language and color rendering. In the opening credits of "Summer Flower", a hazy light hits, the surrounding halo spreads, and the highly saturated blue and red intertwine into a brilliant blooming flower. A red fish and a blue fish swim towards each other in the deep sea, close to each other, and the theme of the work is reflected in the freehand image picture, and after two people who feel a strong sense of depression and suffocation in their respective lives, they may be able to redeem each other and heal each other, and their originally withered lives may blossom into brilliant flowers.
"Summer Flower" is on the air, and while chasing the drama, we also expect that this exploratory work can bring the audience a unique viewing experience and stimulate more thinking and inspiration for urban romance drama content innovation.