In the past, Tomato always praised Korean suspense movies for dumping us more than a dozen streets.
However, after brushing "The Long Season", I took a long breath - the debts owed by Chinese suspense movies seem to have been repaid by this TV series.
This time, Tomato will take you to dig deep into the key characters in the play, and let the old irons see the various metaphors and details hidden in the play.
The first story line in the play is the old case that happened in Hua Gang: the girl was slaughtered, the Hong Kong businessman disappeared, and the youth drowned. The plot of this crime is indeed twisty and scary enough, and the reversal is thrilling enough.
The focus of these stories is the heroine Shen Mo played by Li Gengxi.
In recent years, tomatoes have paid attention to two small flowers, one is Zhang Zifeng and the other is Li Gengxi.
At that time, Zhang Zifeng was well known to the audience with "Little Parting", and the sister "Little Huanxi" became popular with Li Gengxi.
Zhang Zifeng sought transformation with suspense dramas such as "Secret Visitor" and "Daughter Back", but he did not expect that Li Gengxi led "The Long Season" to achieve corner overtaking.
Terrifying native family, minimalist violent revenge, cruel shredded corpse blood case.
It is enough to come up with a theme at random, but the director arranged these elements on a character. If we go back to the roots, the story must start with her life.
Shen Mo's parents died when he was very young, and he was homeless and could only be fostered in his grandfather's house. Uncle treats Shen Mo well on the surface, but behind his back, he treats her as his forbidden and plaything.
On weekdays, he takes pleasure in voyeurism and harassment of Shen Mo, and if Shen Mo dares to resist, he will wantonly ravage the girl under the banner of "strict tutoring".
Perhaps in the eyes of her boyfriend Wang Yang, Shen Mo is just a weak little girl.
But life in harsh environments often has a unique self-protection mechanism!
Shen Mo has a younger brother named Fu Weijun, who is deaf and mute.
His deformed childhood made Fu Weijun a fierce and troubled youth, he was like a beast hidden in Shen Mo's shadow.
Some people say that "Long Season" is the northeast version of "White Night Travel", in fact, Shen Mo is regarded as Tang Ze Xuesui, and Fu Weijun is regarded as Ryoji Kirihara. If you pay a little attention, you can see that several violent scenes of Fu Weijun seem very abrupt, but they are actually traceable.
The first time was when Fu Weijun led people to beat and harass Shen Mo's guests, and at that time, the plot had not yet explained the relationship between Shen Mo and Fu Weijun, and Tomato also thought that Fu's behavior was just picking quarrels and provoking trouble.
The second time, Fu Weijun quite cruelly broke the arm of a strange boy, and we later learned that this boy was the son of the uncle.
These people's retribution often comes extremely quickly, which shows that Fu Weijun is only a tool for violence, and the initiator behind it is Shen Mo himself - under the hint and instruction of his sister, his younger brother is like a wild beast and frantically tearing at all people and things that may hurt his sister.
By the tenth episode, the truth of the murder was gradually revealed.
Hong Kong businessmen Lu Wenzhong and Yin Hong used dirty means to drag Shen Mo back to the abyss, and at this time, Shen Mo had completely completed blackening.
Shen Mo first made an appointment with a Hong Kong businessman.
With the help of Wang Yang and Fu Weijun, she successfully injected anesthesia into Hong Kong businessmen.
The two boys had thought about teaching each other a hard lesson, but they never thought that Shen Mo would directly use medicine to send people away.
Then Yin Hong, who betrayed Shen Mo, also came to die.
In her eyes, Shen Mo is still the scheming woman who relies on fake purity to ascend to the top. But she never expected that as soon as she turned around, she was knocked down by Shen Mo.
At this time, the plot also has the first major reversal!
The girl who was crushed at the beginning of the film is not Shen Mo, but Yin Hong, a dead ghost.
After Shen Mo brutally killed Yin Hong, he used his knowledge of anatomy to divide his corpse.
Not only that, but she also packed her identification with the body in order to create the illusion that she was killed.
In fact, instead of saying that Shen Mo is Tang Ze Xuesui in "White Night Walking", Tomato feels that she is more like Shoko in "Train".
also suffered from all the torments of life;
also have a longing for a better future;
It also underwent a heart-rending blackening process;
In the end, other women are also killed and dismembered, allowing others to die in their place, while they take the place of others and survive in the world.
It is also regrettable that there is Wang Yang played by Liu Yitie.
He was originally the son of a Huagang employee, and although he was not admitted to university, he never worried about his future future.
When Wang Yang saw Shen Mo's first glance, he was already in love with this beautiful-looking girl. It's just that what he didn't expect was that his whole life would be swept into the whirlpool.
Liu Yitie's acting skills are not inferior to Li Gengxi.
The sunshine and rebellion when he first appeared, the boldness and impulsiveness when he came out for his lover, and the panic and anxiety after the destruction of the corpse were all vividly interpreted by this young man.
In the end, Shen Mo finally told the truth about Wang Yang's drowning.
In order to save his lover who fell into the water, this young man who dared to love and hate sacrificed his young life; And the truth of Wang Yang's death has tugged at the heartstrings of many audiences and has become difficult to calm in people's hearts.
However, in Tomato's view, although the suspense setting of "Season" is wonderful, what really raises the score is the drama's excavation of life's suffering.
The director uses an extremely down-to-earth perspective to witness the changes of the miniature society of Huagang Steel, which is also the epitome of the historical changes of the entire Northeast.
Ordinary people who are wrapped up in the torrent of history seem to have a bad life in this life.
Following the bald appearance in "The Secret", Qin Hao once again challenged the style of Fa Fu. Although I already knew that Qin Hao was the leader in this play, I still recognized him several minutes after the appearance of the "oil man" Gong Biao (Biaozi).
The biao played by Qin Hao is a tribute to Fan Debiao in "Ma Dashuai".
Ma Dashuai, played by Zhao Benshan in "Horse", is a brother-in-law, he is calm and trained, and he has some of his own doorways in the world. And Brother Biao won the title of the first ruthless person in northern Liaoning with his embarrassment, and also left countless emojis.
Now in "Season", Fan Wei has finally been upgraded to a brother-in-law, and Qin Hao has filled the vacancy of his brother-in-law.
Qin Hao's role can be called a copy of Fan Debiao, the same impulse and brainlessness, the same vanity and stubbornness. "De Biao" became "Gong Biao", but Biao's energy did not diminish in the slightest.
In the first ten episodes, Tomato always felt that Qin Hao was just a green leaf this time, and played a gag clown image.
However, by the eleventh episode, I felt that Biao Zi completely supported another story line in "Seasons".
From being proud in youth to being greasy and sluggish in middle age;
What has changed drastically is Biaozi's appearance, and what has not changed is his dream-loving heart.
There are many fan messages saying that they saw themselves in Biaozi's body. Indeed, this is probably the life of a small person. We went around in circles, frustrated in the workplace, frustrated in the love arena, and ended up being a complete failure.
But life has to go on.
Watching Biaozi reconcile with his lover and release his life, the corners of the audience's mouths also smiled. The moment he released the pigeon, Tomato even felt that Biao Zi really understood.
But the director just wants to poke the audience's heart, and when he truly understands the true meaning of life, his life has also come to an end.
Finally, what to talk about must be Wang Xiang, played by teacher Fan Wei.
In fact, in "Season", instead of saying that Wang Xiang is the male protagonist, it is better to say that he is a newspaperman, a character who connects the timeline.
Wang Xiang is enthusiastic and regards the factory as his home, but he is always kind enough to do wrong things and make a scene of ridicule.
I have to say that Teacher Fan Wei is really outstanding. In middle age, he played first-class goods, but now he is older and is keen to drag racing and handling cases.
After tasting the sweetness in "Ligong", he has begun to build the detective universe of "Van De Yibiao", who is firmly in the top position of the security department.
And "Season" also has a dream linkage with "Ma Dashuai" led by Fan Wei several times.
The doorman of the entertainment city in the play actually played the same role in "Ma Dashuai".
After he saw Wang Xiang in the play, he exclaimed: I see why you are so familiar. In fact, this is "Season"'s cordial tribute to "Ma Dashuai".
At the same time, Wang Xiang showed his singing voice in the eleventh episode and sang a classic song by Jiang Dawei "In the Place Where the Peach Blossoms Bloom".
Wang Xiang's singing here is the same as that of Biao Ge in "Ma Dashuai".
However, Wang Xiang, like Biaozi, seems to be a comedian in the role, but in fact, there is a hidden core of tragedy.
His son drowned, his wife committed suicide, and Wang Xiang's life actually stopped that autumn. Why the title of the play is defined as "The Long Season" is actually saying that Wang Xiang trapped himself in the late autumn of that year.
Wang Xiang has always been reluctant to move, afraid that his son Wang Yang's soul will not find a home;
He never dared to accept Qiaoyun's love, because he also knew that he had not let go of the old things.
In the film, Wang Xiang and Qiaoyun have a poignant confession, no matter whether the old co-workers of Huagang have lived well or badly, everyone is looking forward, only he still remembers the old things.
It was not until he met Shen Mo again, until he knew the truth of Wang Yang's death, that Wang Xiang came out of that long season.
At the end of the film, he staggered on the bridge, and finally woke up in the arms of his adopted son. Whether it is Fan Wei's acting skills or the setting of the plot, they are directly sealed at this moment.
And the best place that Tomato feels is the heavy snow under the director Xin Shuang at the end of the film.
You will find that several key characters in the play have encountered this snow in different time, space and scenes.
Snowflakes are just a fictional hint, which hints at the farewell of the people in the play to the past and out of this long season.
Fu Weijun cried bitterly with Yin Hong's hairpin, she must forget this tragic lover for the sake of her sister;
Huang Liru looked at the snowflake and smiled slightly, she decided to stop being the underground lover of the factory director and pursue a new life instead;
Ma Desheng took a deep breath of cigarette, and he beat his uncle fiercely, although it may ruin his police career;
Shen Mo watched the police collect the body of her lover in the snow, her life was given by Wang Yang, and she must also live;
Gong Biao laughed in the snow and left, for Liru he fought against the factory director, he did not regret losing the iron rice bowl, but resolutely wore a green scarf and left rashly;
And Wang Xiang walked away with a smile in the snow, and at this moment, he really put down his wife and son Wang Yang; At this moment, he decided to look forward and continue to walk comfortingly.
"The Long Season" has officially ended, but the Douban score has soared from 9.0 to an astonishing 9.5 points, standing on the top of the gods.
In the Chinese suspense theme, director Xin Shuang pulled a group of acting schools to break through the ceiling created by "Hidden Corner", opening up a historic precedent for Chinese suspense.
The success of "The Long Season" is not accidental, this success is due to the director's superb interpretation of the hardships of life; thanks to the contrast between tragedy and joy created by Fan Wei with god-level acting skills; Thanks to Qin Hao's self-destructive image in order to shape the character; Thanks to the role creation of a group of young actors.
Looking at the series of the Misty Theater, "Crazy", "Thirteen Years of Dust" and today's "Long Season", the Chinese suspense drama has undoubtedly completed its quiet transformation and evolution in the past two years.
I sincerely hope that film and television people can continue to output better suspense masterpieces, so that the audience can witness the arrival of a golden age of film and television - look forward, don't look back!
(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Office: Gull Gull)