Author: Han Haoyue
The new drama "Warm and Sweet" directed by director Liu Jiang has recently been broadcast exclusively on Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV.
Starring Song Qian, Chen Yanxi, Lu Yi, Jing Chao, Sun Jian, etc., the play tells the story of the protagonist "finding his true heart and marrying love". As an urban emotional drama, the broadcast of the play interweaves and presents the topics of family affection, friendship, love, career, workplace and other topics faced by urban people every day in front of the audience, and I don't know how many people will have some resonance with the characters or plots in the play.
A romantic manifesto that reinterprets warmth and sweetness
Regarding the title of the play "Warm and Sweet", director Liu Jiang has collaborated on interpretations in many scenes, the most intuitive of which is that the title of the play is inspired by Lin Yutang's summary of the concept of Chinese happiness. In addition, the more implicit statement is reflected in a fixed poster of "bees and ice", on which a bee rushes to a crystalline ice flower, which means that if you want to get sweet feelings, you must pay warmth to melt the cold.
The initial plot of "Warm and Sweet" is: Nan Fei, a plastic surgery doctor played by Song Qian, fell in love with Chen Fang, a curator played by Lu Yi, and Qi Jiayi, an interior designer played by Chen Yanxi, almost married Xu Xi, who was born in a small town played by Cao Zheng, both heroines encountered love problems, Nanfei was distressed because the divorced Chen Fang was unwilling to disclose his relationship because he was concerned about the feelings of his minor son, and Qi Jiayi had doubts about marrying Xu Xi because of the intentional difficulties of his mother-in-law.
Judging from the content of the episodes that have been broadcast, although there are scenes where Nanfei fights with hospital colleagues in order to confirm his identity as a "real girlfriend", and there are scenes where Qi Jiayi competes with his mother-in-law for Xu Xi, it is clear that "Warm and Sweet" does not want to spin in this plot vortex, and after Nanfei and Qi Jiayi bought a house in partnership and became neighbors with Jiao Yue, played by Jing Chao, the main master of Qi Jiayi's love, the temperament of the play has been set out - the emotional foundation built by friendship and love has become the sustenance of urban young people.
This is one of the main reasons why the story of "Warm and Sweet" is set in Shanghai. As a testing ground for new concepts and new trends in lifestyle, Shanghai is actually an outpost of the emotional life of young people in Chinese cities, and the discussion and practice of women's values and women's situation are often conveyed through film and television dramas set in Shanghai.
There is a touching detail in the play, Qi Jiayi found that the neighbor who was designing and renovating the house was going to sell, and immediately bought it with his friend Nanfei, and agreed that unless they found true love to marry, the two would always live in this favorite house and never separate. This is certainly a romantic declaration, but it has convincing credibility in the current social and public opinion environment, or in other words, the audience actually expects and wishes such a lifestyle in their hearts. Of course, they went around in circles, but they each met their true destiny and returned to the warm and sweet main road.
Women's independence is not just a noun
Women's independence is an old topic, which has been fully integrated into the most daily thinking and action from early sensitivity to gradual desensitization to bold discussion and practice. "Warm and Sweet" does not obviously highlight the proposition of female independence, just because it has long passed the stage that requires special emphasis, therefore, the play adopts a moisturizing and silent way, focusing countless women in the exploration and experimentation of female independence, in-depth practice and pursuit, to the two characters of Nanfei and Qi Jiayi, if these two characters resonate deeply, it must be because the audience sees their own shadow in them.
Nanfei's strength and self-confidence have actually transcended the shallow scope of women's independence, and her defense and defense of personal rights has helped the audience draw a clear boundary line, such as: when the hospital leaders asked her to prove her innocence and asked her to post her boyfriend's divorce certificate to calm the public opinion of the WeChat group, she was determined to say that she would not compromise; For example, when colleagues around her cast strange eyes and even refused to cooperate with her, she was very frank in expressing dissatisfaction and attacking this working environment that violated personal privacy... Compared with the independence of economy and career, the independence of women's spirit has been vividly embodied in Nanfei, and this embodiment would have been called "pioneer" in the past, but now, it has long been a common and common quality.
In contrast, Xiaojia Biyu-style Qi Jiayi gives the impression of lack of independence and autonomy, she endures the hypocrisy of her fiancé and the difficulties of her mother-in-law, the kindness and weakness in her body, once regarded as a "virtue", but before the wedding because of a serious distrust of her fiancé and almost became a runaway bride, and quickly filed for divorce after the wedding ceremony, which can be regarded as a "struggle awakening", her hesitation is real, and her "broken arm self-preservation" is also real, If Nanfei's value castle has long been reassuring, then the action of Qi Jiayi and Xiansi Qi is worthy of admiration.
As the male number one, Chen Fang is talented but forbearing, and the label characteristics of traditional men are obvious. The character of Xu Xi, as a unit character, symbolizes a kind of pedantry and collapse. It was not until the appearance of Jiao Yue that the male character pulled back a game in the process of "elevation in competition" in the relationship between characters.
Jiao Yue is young, handsome, and cheerful, but more importantly, he loses the prejudiced definition of male and female gender in the play, and especially truly exudes the temperature of being a human being (not distinguished by gender, identity, and class), and his egalitarian spirit and optimism will make people sincerely expect more from the younger generation of men.
The love trilogy, responding to the observations of the times directed by Liu Jiang
2010 "The Beautiful Times of the Daughter-in-law", 2013 "Let's Get Married", 2023 "Warm and Sweet", these three dramas together constitute the "love trilogy" directed by Liu Jiang. The first two dramas are separated by three years, and the "love trilogy" created by the third drama is ten years apart from the previous one and took fifteen years, respectively, in response to the observation of the times directed by Liu Jiang.
"The Beautiful Times of the Daughter-in-Law" creates the status of "the light of mother-in-law drama" in a comedy style, summarizing the internal structure of the new generation of families from the perspective of the new century; "Let's Get Married" invisibly stepped into the popular saying in the society at that time that "love without the purpose of marriage is playing hooligans", and sorted out and summarized the relationship between love and marriage; "Warm and Sweet" inherits the advantages of the first two dramas, expands the vision and concepts, and is more open-minded and tolerant in terms of conceptual understanding.
Director Liu Jiang once talked about a keyword "truth" during the broadcast period of the three dramas, from the truth of characters and stories, to the truth of art and makeup, and then to the truth of emphasizing human nature, which ensures that the "love trilogy" can step on the pace of social and era development. True expression requires a sincere attitude, and a sincere attitude requires the creator's deep thinking, specific to the drama "Warm and Sweet", its thinking level is exactly the opposite of the title - cold and bitter. Corresponding to reality, we can find that the desire for warmth and sweetness in the current era is not precisely because of the undercurrent of cold and bitterness that pushes people to seek change?
Of course, in terms of look, "Warm and Sweet", like the first two parts of the "Love Trilogy", is a sandwich chocolate, but some of the sandwiches are sweeter, and some are astringent or bitter. From the overall introduction of the series, the storyline that will be broadcast, although there are entanglements and conflicts, but what hits the face will eventually be as warm, gentle and intoxicating as May - as the finale of the "love trilogy", the last one left such an impression on the audience, that is, it successfully ended.
【Film and Television Vane】Edited by Hu Jianli, a senior media person, secretary-general of the China Film Critics Society, secretary-general of the New Media Literary and Art Critics Committee of the China Literary and Art Critics Association, member of the Theoretical Review Committee of the China Film Association, and secretary-general of the Australwood Film Critics Association. It covers WeChat public account, people's account, Weibo, Baijia number, Penguin number, Sina, Netease, Sohu, Toutiao, Little Information, Big Fish and other self-media platforms.