With such a wonderful character, this drama has become ah!

What kind of drama can be called a good drama?

I think maybe everyone has their own criteria.

Some people will feel that those big investments, big scenes, big productions, let you see that every play is a drama with burning funds is a good drama; And some people think that dramas with tense plots, wonderful excitement, and constant reversals are good dramas; Or some people think that what can be close to life and reflect everyone's joys and troubles is a good drama...

In short, everyone has their own opinion, and everyone has their own answer.

And in my heart, there is also a very important criterion.

That's the character.

In the washing of time, most of the characters left in our minds in the end of a drama are characters with different personalities.

Those vivid and memorable characters are as important as the subtlety of the style and form, and even more to the heart.

After "The Long Season", Tencent X Theater's new drama "Huan Yan" recently entered the audience's field of vision, and after chasing the recently updated episodes, I found that in addition to the widely acclaimed advantages such as fast pace and many reversals, what impressed me the most was the character portrayal of this drama. In addition to the exciting feeling of chasing dramas, it also contributed several unique and life-filled screen images such as Xu Tian, Lao Sun, and Yu Yixiu.

Lao Sun: Chameleon VS Guardian

The story begins in the chaotic era of warlord division, when Lao Sun is ordered to escort Xu Tian and three gold bars to Shanghai. On this seemingly ordinary beginning, Lao Sun splits a unique story path with his unique personal charm.

Lao Sun is like a "guardian", standing between the rivers and lakes and the revolution, abiding by the decency of the Chinese tradition, the inherent rules of the rivers and lakes, and the sincerity of the revolutionaries' hearts.

With the far-reaching journey, Lao Sun's "guardian" image gradually presents many aspects such as small traders, old rivers and lakes, and revolutionaries, piecing together the richness and legend of this character little by little. 

Originally, Lao Sun escorted Xu Tian and three gold bars to Shanghai, and the two pretended to be merchants along the way, which did not seem to be wrong. But when the train robbery occurs, Lao Sun's sophisticated, decent, and well-behaved response allows us to see that this character is definitely different from the character characteristics of ordinary merchants or ordinary revolutionaries.

Rules and face are the words that Lao Sun hangs on his lips. When he encountered a robbery on the train, Lao Sun was not strange, did not say much, did not persuade much, and only said to Xu Tian from beginning to end - "bow your head".

Above the rivers and lakes, words are like gold, and there is no need to explain in words, and the rivers and lakes have their own rules. At this moment, Lao Sun was like a very cautious merchant pawn, afraid that if he looked at it more and said more, he would cause trouble.

When he went to the pawnshop to help Xu Tian ask for a wallet, Lao Sun still said little, but at this time he was no longer a nobody, who was worried about causing trouble on the train, but turned into a mysterious "old jianghu" who didn't talk much. 

"When things come in, there is always a time to spit them out."

"Where is there a business that only comes in but does not come out."

"Give me the wallet, thank you."

"A wallet to make a friend."

Every sentence is polite and unhurried, but every sentence makes people feel the depth and can't see the origin, and the pawnshop treasurer has to bluntly ask, "What are you from?" Even put down the arrogance in the end, and explained that he could not agree because "what I eat is this meal on the counter."

In a few confrontations in the pawnshop, Lao Sun's calm and sophisticated sense and mystery were rendered to the extreme, and we, like the people in the play, could not understand the details of Lao Sun, and could not see where his penniless but humble confidence came from.

Curiosity about Lao Sun was hung up in this way.

This is the mystery and charm of the "old rivers and lakes", as if covered with a veil that people cannot see.

After that, he was provoked by Wu Da, the old man of the Yu family, and Lao Sun simply said, "Your surname is Wu, go back and ask you surnamed Yu to talk about things", four or two thousand pounds, and the needle in the cotton directly poked Wu Da's sore spot, with the deep hiding of the people of the rivers and lakes, relaxed as if he was the one who controlled the overall situation.

Even if Wu Da gathered a group of supporters around him, in Lao Sun's rivers and lakes, rules are rules, a person's decency is not excessive, and he respects others and gives himself dignity.

Here, we see that behind the "mystery" and "ruthlessness" of Lao Sun, it is the morality followed in the hearts of people walking in the rivers and lakes, and there are some people who are not shocked.

When Lao Sun took Xu Tian to find Yu Yixiu, at this time, Lao Sun changed from a jianghu person who "didn't talk much" to a decent person with morality, rules, and respect for each other.

This change is very subtle, in front of different people, Lao Sun shows different sides to meet with him, always can find the loopholes and flaws of the other party, and establish his own initiative in several confrontations. This is Lao Sun's greatest skill trait, and it also shows his chameleon-like versatility.

He and Yu Yixiu reached a tacit understanding on the adherence to rules and face, and the communication between them was no longer fierce and fierce in the rivers and lakes, but a higher level, which was the moral trust of idealists, and was related to the dignity and decency of the eldest husband walking between heaven and earth.

So far, our understanding of Lao Sun has completed three transformations from a merchant hawker who has more than less, to a quackless jianghu big brother who is less verbal and ruthless, and then to a big husband with feelings and righteousness.

Perhaps, it can't be called a transformation, but just the chameleon-like Lao Sun presents us with three aspects of his humanity.

In the midst of so many faceted human natures, he leads us to think, what supports a person to face the world with an unpredictable personality dimension?

At the end of his life, Lao Sun gave the answer - faith, the belief that revolution can save more people.

Peeling back the layers of Lao Sun's personality shell, his background color is the red of the revolutionary, and he constantly changes himself to adapt to different environments in order to protect the red fire. He also sincerely believes that only by adhering to his inner ideals and beliefs can a new world be created in this land.

As the end of his life draws to a close, this belief is sown like a seed in Xu Tian and Yu Yixiu's hearts, Lao Sun gives them the token, and the rest of the escort gold bar journey will be completed by the two together.

Lao Sun's appearance time in the whole play is not very much, but the multi-faceted character and the changeable temperament of the characters are vividly presented by Liao Fan. In the concise dialogue with a touch of dark humor, in his free-flowing performance, the character's attachment to faith is deeply imprinted in our hearts.

Yu Yixiu: Dignity VS freedom

When Lao Sun was about to leave, he chose a person to take over his mission of guarding - Yu Yixiu. 

If Lao Sun uses the "chameleon" as a cloak to cover his guardian status, then Yu Yixiu is an unreserved and sincere naïve school, representing the distance and freedom of spiritual pursuit.

Yu Yixiu has an English mantra "far away", a person trapped in the bucket room but with a distant heart, in the process of going from the bucket room to the distant place, he paid face, dignity, and even life and death.

"The two things in life are the most difficult to let go, dignity and life", the former "headman" Yu Yixiu would rather endure the "humiliation of the crotch" for freedom and distance, leaving the dignity of the so-called manly husband out of the clouds. A person who can even put down his dignity, life and death are nothing to fear for him.

Yu Yixiu is a naïve and enthusiastic seeker. There is an intellectual innocence and enthusiasm in him, and the biggest breakthrough in the shaping of this character is his choice of dignity. Through Yu Yixiu's "crotch humiliation", the whole drama completes a huge metaphor for the word "freedom" - all the humiliation that must be borne will be transformed into the power of people to pursue freedom.

Is freedom bought with dignity really freedom?

The question of the soul on Yu Yixiu's body is not only for the character, but also in this way to trigger deep thinking about you and me in front of the screen. 

Although he loves freedom by nature, between promise and freedom, Yu Yixiu, who has made a promise, adheres to the traditional spirit of "taxi", accepts and practices the trust of life and death of Lao Sun, and goes to Shanghai with Xu Tian in order to fulfill his promise. The road ahead is vast, but Yu Yixiu and Xu Tian are searching up and down together, looking for a better direction.

In the role of Yu Yixiu, Zhang Luyi used his unique dramatic performance method to raise his innocence and sincerity to a very high dimension, making people unforgettable his eager and sincere eyes and undisguised desire for freedom.

To some extent, both Lao Sun and Yu Yixiu are new idealists in the old world, they are in the dark corners of decay, and their hearts are full of longing for a bright and hopeful tomorrow, and even willing to sacrifice themselves to reach a better tomorrow.

Through the eyes of Xu Tian, a young man, we substitute the perspective of a real and life-oriented young revolutionary. There are no slogans or declarations, and some are all kinds of "ordinary people" like Lao Sun and Yu Yixiu, trying their best to build a common and beautiful future in their world. For this future, they are willing to use their lives to lay the ladder for more young people to grow.

Xu Tian: Teenager VS Hope

What role does Xu Tian play in this process? I think he should be the epitome of a teenager who has grown up rapidly in the midst of great change.

Through those predecessors, Xu Tian is growing rapidly, and he is experiencing real life and little changes. The New World was no longer for him his father's plantation, silver mine, shop, or lover he had never met in a distant place, but embodied in every meal, every conversation, and everyone he met.

With his journey, we have seen how young people with ideals and beliefs who want to change China strive to achieve "equality for all".

He was cowardly and retreated, but under the subtle influence of Lao Sun and Yu Yixiu, he sowed his faith little by little on the Chinese land with his steps. Not shouting slogans and singing high notes, but simple and simple actions - to feed and clothe the toiling peasants.

The ideals of countless teenagers Xu Tian have come together to form a better hope for China. This hope spreads in the mountains, beside the fields, and on the ox carts where the peasants plow their fields.

The old farmer driving the ox cart did not care about Yu Yixiu's trigram box, did not care about the world, but only cared about whether he could have a house to sleep, food, land, and clothing. The world can be changed, even if, as the coachman says, "I guess I am not lucky to see it..." but their children and grandchildren will live in that world.

In the bland whispers of life, Lao Sun, Yu Yixiu and Xu Tian's description of the beautiful new world is "no one will rob your cattle, seize your land, no one will steal your rations... Everyone can work more..."

From changing their destiny with their own hands to fighting for the fate of more people, Lao Sun, Yu Yixiu and Xu Tian may have long been ready to sacrifice for this world. A new world, a new destiny for a country, is getting closer and closer in their bravery.

Even though we have seen many ideal stories and heard many deafening declarations, we will still be deeply moved by the picture of faith depicted in this play.

It is not a slogan, but a beautiful pastoral life scene of mountains and rivers, chickens and dogs.

It respects our intellectual expectations of the plot, and with a bright rhythm, ups and downs and vivid characters, it allows us to experience a tortuous and bizarre journey of faith under the stylized high aesthetic.

Lao Sun, Yu Yixiu, Xu Tian, and even those characters who will appear in the future, they are so special and so vivid, they have the cunning of an elder, the crankness of a child, the heroism of a teenager, they are so different, but they are all so moving. Through their stories, we go back to that time, smelling hope and light in the turmoil and unrest.

We follow in the footsteps of Lao Sun, Yu Yixiu and Xu Tian, and care about their every choice, and these people who worry us are precisely the real soul of this drama.

Maybe in the next plot, we will meet other very attractive characters, and I am very much looking forward to this encounter.

And this also happens to be the charm of "Huan Yan", which allows you to form a certain connection with the character.

Therefore, having such a wonderful role is the luck of "Huan Yan", and it is also the luck of the audience.