The premiere won the first place in satellite TV ratings, which is worthy of being the most "pretending" national drama this year
In today's Chinese drama market, who can firmly grasp the audience's attention except CCTV?
That must be Hunan Satellite TV.
I know what you want to say, Hunan Satellite TV, what else is there besides dog blood idol dramas?
However, let's be honest and say that with the rapid development of the audience's aesthetics, "dog blood drama king" and "suspended youth idol drama" have long been eliminated by the market.
And Hunan Tai, which is good at seeing the wind and rudder, has already changed the direction of the wind and changed its former style.
From "In the Name of the People" in 2017 to last year's "The World is Long", Mango TV has not only begun to broadcast serious dramas, but has even become the best satellite TV station in addition to CCTV to capture realistic themes.
One of the most representative is urban dramas.
In 2021, a "I'm Very Good in Another Country" was scored by 220,000 people with a high score of 8.1, refreshing the audience's cognition of urban dramas.
When urban office workers squeeze onto the subway, the protagonist of the once dreamy Chinese drama enters the "mortal world".
Hunan Satellite TV, which washed away the title of the king of dog-blood idol dramas, has found a new explosive password for domestic urban dramas.
However, the tail of this summer file, when the ancient puppet dramas on major platforms have ended, Hunan Satellite TV, what else can it do?
Unexpectedly, as soon as he made a move, he directly dark horse -
Urban drama, "Apocalypse".
Liu Cuihu adapted from the novel of the same name, starring Cai Wenjing and Han Dongjun.
The director is Li Mo, the director of "I'm Very Good in Another Country".
The director spoke: "Other Country" is about young people who have just entered society, while "Pretending" is aimed at adults who have already taken root in the city.
But, this hard bone is so easy to gnaw?
Looking back at this year's adult-themed urban drama market, even CCTV's "Dragon City" and "Mature Year" are only mediocre.
There are also so many urban dramas, under the guise of urban workplace dramas, making up plots and talking about bloody love.
Can the audience endure?
Unexpectedly, "Apocalypse" debuted, only released 2 episodes, and the ratings were the first in direct satellite TV TV series, second only to Zhejiang Satellite TV's "The Voice of China" on Friday night.
Such a cow, quickly stay up late to brush 2 episodes, instantly full of blood: urban theme, it has become again!
Unexpectedly, the apocalypse that was said to be good, but in a suspended national drama, let the audience see a rare resonance.
The delicate and poignant scenes in the play make the migrant workers feel from the bottom of their hearts - "The world is real!" ”
Then look at this year's most "pretending" drama, how to "pretend".
01, into the play: easy and funny and heartache blood and tears are intertwined, there are really not many urban dramas so grounded
"Apocalypse".
The name alone is enough to dissuade the audience.
But when I clicked on the feature film, I understood the good intentions of the name.
The original author, Liu Cuihu, worked as a lawyer for two years and found that the elites around him were "quite capable" in life, so he used this as inspiration to write a novel.
and was filmed into a drama by the chosen director Li Mo in the author's mouth.
When it comes to domestic urban workplace dramas, the audience is annoyed when they see it - pretending to be a male and female protagonist.
Dragged 2580,000, shiny hair, and dressed the workplace as a catwalk.
The opening of "Apocalypse" is again a female lawyer and an investment banking elite, no, another suspension drama.
But as soon as I looked inside, I understood.
At the beginning of the story, the male and female protagonists Tang Ying and Xu Zixuan met by chance on the plane, the male protagonist had a blanket, and the female protagonist made a joke, "You all talk to the little girl like this." ”
Plus the male protagonist pretends to be stupid.
It seems to be an urban drama routine, but behind it is the needle on the needle in the adult world——
There is no romantic encounter, but it is a reality label, simple and rude first to do a regional division, but as friends, Pingshui meet, no feeling, very annoying - well, this is the unromantic encounter of urban adults.
As soon as I got off the plane, I put on my sunglasses, and my phone was turned on,
The two workplace lines are divided into two -
On the heroine's side, as a legal newcomer with an IQ online but who has not experienced social beatings, the heroine came up to carry a pot for her boss.
The law firm has a big contract, the boss is not there, let the heroine get it, Ni Hongjie played by Party A rolled her eyelids, "Your work attitude is much better than Wang Li." ”
Praise the heroine? In fact, it is a secret poke to express dissatisfaction - no way, you have to connect to your mobile phone.
As a result, a phone call passed, and there was a crematorium conference call directly.
The effect of this meeting is a very explosive existence in domestic urban dramas.
For Wang Lu's sake, the contract was negotiated.
But the heroine went back and looked dumbfounded, the most critical commission part of the contract was 10 percent less.
The heroine was directly scolded into the ice cave by her superior.
The boss used this as an excuse by the way: recommend a promotion to a formal lawyer? No drama. Obediently give me a late night and overtime!
Even if the heroine has returned home, a phone call immediately returns to the office -
So next, the whole drama made the most angry and angry boss paragraph of the beaters -
"Wang Lu, it's useless for you to be in a hurry, you can't finish it in one night."
"What, what do you mean?"
"I mean, this cross-border merger and acquisition case, I want to participate as a formal lawyer!"
"I also participated in the merger and acquisition, and I also went to the competition! People are not professional intellectual property majors, and Han Li gave him high marks! ”
"What about you, what are you doing, squeezing my remaining time every day, beating me not to let me go out, not letting me rest to translate for you, turning it is all your credit, turning it is not good, it's all my pot, why."
"I'm tired, I want to rest, I want to sleep." "I'll come to the chores, the pot is also my back, and the bread won't be brought to me to paint, so I want to get me to death."
"None of the animals live like this, the animals all eat, sleep and drink, and I tell you tonight I just want to rest." I tell you what time it is still drinking coffee, be careful to drink it and kill you! ”
Good guy, you can feel a huge righteousness of workers across the screen, and it is simply hearty and comfortable after watching it.
The only regret is that all this is just the brain supplement of the heroine Tang Ying.
The brain cursed and roared, the old lady wanted to go home to sleep, and in reality obediently replied: Okay, I will do it.
Instantly empathize with people: try to ask which migrant worker did not make up in his brain to rebel against the boss's sitcom.
If the female protagonist has a little happy taste in the sigh, then the male protagonist is a more realistic and tense urban workplace.
Investment banking elite, high above? Wrong, it's on call 24 hours a day.
A customer battle, the male protagonist is flying to meet customers, and he participates in meditation to get along with customers.
As a result, it was all in vain.
An investigation, it turned out that there was a bureau behind the scenes.
The boss also does not talk nonsense with him: if this year's results are not completed, you can imagine the results.
Don't let me down!
What I want to see more than the process is the result.
What to do? You can only put on the cavity.
How did this start? Very good.
What's so good? Fortunately, it is a very domestic urban drama, and it is also very non-domestic urban drama.
Like urban dramas, it is the legal and investment banking elites, red men and green women, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and billions of big business.
Unlike domestic urban dramas, it is the story that is full of reality.
The original author obviously did not do research, but wrote his own personal experience.
Sense of reality, bursting.
Hit the workers, empathize.
It's time to get down to business - pretending, drama.
02. Pretend: Three pretense dramas explain three realities, pretending not only to tone but also to human nature and human heart!
"Apocalypse in the Cavity", it will definitely not work without the cavity.
But I didn't expect that the big drama in the play not only has the joy of pretending, but also the subtle depth of human nature, and there is also a discussion of the actual nature of urban migrant workers.
Three pairs of cavity combinations, not only the cavity, but also the adult world, those unspoken rules.
The first pair: Dawang and Liu Meiling, family banquet style.
This is definitely the most joyous scene in the opening.
A legal elite, an upper-class lady, all are masters of daily dressing.
When a master meets a master, it is necessary to pretend to be stylish and level.
For example, you should show off your vision and pressing with discerning taste, such as adding origin to food.
Also, if you can speak English and never speak Shanghainese, if you can speak French, you don't speak English, in short, the mouth is full of Chinese and English and French mixed to appear to have a tone.
Also, the movie after the meal can not be conventional, you must come to a new wave film to enrich your amateur life, anyway, the more incomprehensible, niche, philosophical, the more powerful the weapon.
This pretense scene, coupled with Shimeng and Ni Hongjie's rivalry play, two words: excellent.
Pretending to be a cavity, it may be pretending to be joy.
The second pair: Xu Zixuan and Tao Hong's rich sister, wine taste.
The male protagonist Xu Zixuan wants to win big customers, and he must look around for news, so he inquired about Tao Hong's rich sister.
A bottle of white wine becomes a starter culture that opens the chatterbox.
This pretense can be described as a chess match against the opponent, and the drunk does not mean to drink, each has its own ideas.
The male main is the news in the hands of the rich sister, and what the rich sister wants is the male protagonist.
A pretense reflects the gap between class and circle.
Pretense, sometimes a tacit game of interest.
The third pair: Lin Xinzi and Xu Jiabai, bar decoration taste.
The man is a playboy, and the character of Bao Shang'en is a love player waiting for the willing to take the bait.
One pretended to understand foreign wine, and the other pretended to appreciate it, but was demolished on the spot by the heroine Tang Ying.
This pretense game also explains several points of pretense: for example, throwing out professional terms and terms to express their level and taste.
For example, if you accurately grasp the other party's mistakes and come to the present, that is the highest state of pretending.
Pretense is sometimes a tool for testing and pulling to measure sincerity in love games.
03, group portrait: Han Dongjun enters the play, Cai Wenjing is surprised, Ni Hongjie and Jiang Shimeng have online acting skills throughout the process
To be honest, I didn't have high expectations when I saw the lineup of "Apocalypse".
There is no top stream or first line.
Can this work? Don't say it, it's really okay.
First of all, the male and female protagonists are online.
The first thing to say is the heroine Cai Wenjing.
Originally, I was somewhat skeptical of her acting skills, but I didn't expect that she would play the heartache of the workers so much at the beginning, and accurately grasp the delicacy of CBD white-collar workers and the exhaustion behind the pretense.
Especially in the imaginary scene of the king law, the lines are said crisply, and they are in love in one go, and the close-up shooting is not afraid, and finally speaks the hearts of many people.
I have to praise: This acting skill, no need to pretend.
Besides, the male protagonist Han Dongjun is also better than I thought.
In recent years, Han Dongjun has acted in more period dramas, and I was originally worried that he would not enter the play.
It turns out that he is thinking too much, he plays a shrewd, calculating, and non-stop investment banking elite clearly, and there is no exaggerated acting of the boss's grinning teeth at all, but the whole process shows restraint and precision.
Several rivalry scenes with the boss played by Huang Weide, that kind of restrained pandering, let me substitute for the worker in minutes.
But to say that the most outstanding are the next two supporting roles.
The first one, Ni Hongjie.
The Shanghai noblewoman played by Ni Hongjie is simply amazing.
Mainly a Shanghainese Mandarin English mixed speaking, a rich circle party, a sentence of 800 pits, per capita 800 heart eyes, with the softest tone, the most ruthless words!
Top noble lady circle, high-end bureau! It's not just bags, it's people's feelings.
Ni Hongjie's performance directly made me think that she was not acting, she was a noble lady.
This makes me look forward to her opponent scene when she is punched in the face by Li Yuan's role.
The second place, Jiang Shimeng.
Facts have once again proved that actors who can act in comedy will not be bad at acting.
Pretend to be very a daily basis, criticize subordinates fiercely, and be full of aggressiveness.
One move and one style is all drama.
Pretending to be a cavity, every sentence allows the audience to feel the psychology and tone of the characters at that time.
Funny, but not outrageous.
It's totally a textbook for comedy acting for actresses.
04, how to "not pretend" domestic urban dramas, finally filmed
Domestic urban dramas, not easy to shoot.
First, there are too many hot dramas in the past, and the story is easy to fall into the trap.
Second, each audience has a different understanding of the city, and once it is not handled properly, it is easy to appear very "pretending".
However, "Apocalypse" holds the two characteristics of the urban theme, and makes this theme that is increasingly spit on by the audience shine a new light.
The first axe is the control of the realism of the workplace.
The role of the heroine Tang Ying in the play has a strong sense of substitution.
It directly reminds me of "I'm fine in another country".
Daily life is roll, continuous overtime, boss PUA, answer the phone late to be scolded, obviously the boss's fault to back the pot, home is also endless overtime work, the suffocation of the workers is enough.
But life is a chicken feather, but also to appear in front of others exquisitely, this is not vanity, but the basic quality of urban professionals.
"Apocalypse in Dressing" captures the humility of workers and the reality of the workplace to the bone.
The second is to shoot the meaning of urban people's pretense.
The good thing about the episode is that it is not looking down at the "pretense", nor looking up at the "pretend", but looking at it heads.
Pretense, its pompousness, its absurdity... All built on delicate daily life and solid details.
Pretending is to let others see a better version of yourself, but is this wrong?
Pretend, why not try to live?
Life, sometimes requires cavity to provide you with temporary paralysis.
In a sense, pretense is to fight with you in this city, mourn together, and comfort each other together.
Roommates, comrades-in-arms, friends.
There is a scene in the play where Tang Ying looks at Audrey Hepburn in the large floor-to-ceiling window in the middle of the night, eating the small cake that was going to be given out, with tears in her eyes.
The domestic urban drama at this moment has the power to shake people's hearts, because it allows ordinary people to enter the small screen and become the protagonists in the picture.
It's not easy to pretend, life is harder.
But "Apocalypse in Costume" instead chooses to use a relaxed painting style to show each pretend story, to show the sadness of the lives of small people, and those very real social animal daily life.
Pretend taste, pretend to be exquisite, pretend to be confident, pretend to be hand-pinched, pretend to be free, modern society, who does not pretend?
Perhaps, this is the meaning of the series.
Behind the pretense is the heart of urban people who are not willing to be mediocre.
Pretending to be elite and pretending to be tasteful may not necessarily bring a better life destination, nor may it be exchanged for true peace of mind.
But pretending is a daily need, and every urban person needs a mask.
Although the drama is filmed with a pretense, it filmed the most unpretentious appearance of domestic urban dramas: pretending to the end, or life.
This may be the biggest inspiration to the national drama in "Apocalypse".