Preface
With the advent of the Internet era, the way and standards for everyone to watch TV dramas are quietly changing. Today's young people no longer have the patience to enjoy slow-paced, dark-eyed art films.
What they crave to see is a wonderful plot, excellent acting, and if there are surprises from time to time, it will be even more perfect.
So, when the much-anticipated CCTV drama "Flowers" started broadcasting its first episode at half past nine in the evening, why did the critics and the audience react so coldly and even disappointed?
Shouldn't this big production, directed by Wong Kar-wai and bringing together A-list stars in the film and television industry, become a sensation and become a landmark work that opens the year of Chinese TV content in 2024?
A protracted "struggle"
The story takes place in an ethereal city where people from all over the world gather. They each hide unspeakable secrets and are eager to find a habitat for their hearts.
The male protagonist Xu Fusheng (played by Hu Ge) has the ability to read minds, and has been regarded as a freak since he was a child. He wandered here, trying in vain to establish a spiritual world, but he fell into the entanglement of reality and imagination and could not extricate himself.
The heroine Fanhua (played by Tang Yan) has the talent to heal the wounds of others, but it is difficult to heal her own pain. The two meet in this city and search for the meaning of existence together.
However, this seemingly wonderful city contains dark secrets that no one knows. As Xu Fusheng and Fanhua go deeper and deeper, they are caught in a protracted struggle against the absurd "struggle" of the city.
Director Wang has been brewing for 6 years, and there are many incurable diseases
As Wong Kar-wai's new work after 6 years after "The Grandmaster", the preparation of "Flowers" is not smooth. It has been reported that the pre-production of the play encountered many problems, and Director Wang once had the idea of giving up.
In the end, with the strong support of CCTV, Director Wang rekindled the hope of production. In order to present a unique artistic style, Director Wang did not hesitate to invest heavily in creating virtual scenes, which is the first time in the history of Chinese TV dramas.
At the same time, he also adheres to the consistent style, minimizes the use of post-production special effects, and strives to realistically reproduce the scene in his mind. However, during the filming process, due to the actor's lack of Xi to virtual scenes, coupled with repeated revisions to the script, the shooting cycle continued to be extended.
It is reported that the pre-production of "Flowers" cost hundreds of millions of yuan, the shooting took as long as 4 years, and the post-production special effects and color grading took nearly 2 years. As a director, Wong Kar-wai knows the audience's expectations, so he has been adjusting the screening, and finally finished at the end of last year.
Uninformed viewers don't know the hard work behind the crew. When everyone's long-awaited premiere of "Flowers" was released, the comments were so cold, it was really suffocating.
The common problem of domestic dramas has reappeared?
In fact, the problems that arose after the premiere of "Flowers" have become a common problem that has plagued the production of Chinese TV dramas for many years. The main thing is that the quality of the script and performances does not meet the expectations of the crew.
As a magnificent costume drama, whether it can tell a good story is very important. "Flowers" tries to construct an alternate fantasy world in 48 episodes, and contains a grand theme.
However, in the first 10 minutes of the premiere, the audience was disgusted by the audience because of too many unreal scenes and a lack of a compelling story line. They commented that they could not immediately enter the world that the show was built on, and even experienced fatigue.
If you only look at the picture effect, the premiere of "Flowers" is really difficult to eye-catching. Whether it is the scene, the service, or the special effects, there is a certain gap with the expected movie-level effect.
When the audience thinks they can see the audio-visual feast, they are disappointed by the gray and lackluster picture, and they will inevitably feel empty and boring.
The actors' performances have also become the crux of the matter
In addition to the shortcomings of the story and pictures, the actors' performances in "Flowers" also seem to have become an important reason for the audience's disappointment. Despite the star-studded cast, their performances did not surprise fans.
The male protagonist Hu Ge plays a withdrawn and mysterious thinker in the play. However, judging from the performance of the premiere, his emotional expression is slightly dull, and it is difficult to bring it into the inner world of the character.
Some viewers commented that they hope that as the plot deepens, Hu Ge can strengthen emotional expression and make the characters more plump and three-dimensional. The performance of the heroine Tang Yan was also questioned. The character she created in the play should have been gentle and fairy.
But the overly gaudy costumes and makeup don't quite match the character setting. In addition, Tang Yan's performance is not delicate enough, making it difficult for the audience to truly appreciate the inner activities of the characters. Some netizens even joked that she was completely relying on clothing to support the scene.
Other major actors, such as Ma Yili and Michael Douglas, are also facing the problem of insufficient three-dimensional character portrayal and single performance. This makes the whole play seem that the actors' individual performances are too heavy, and there is a lack of organic combination, which makes it difficult for the audience to really integrate into it.
Director Wang failed to control the overall situation, and his achievements were questioned
If you only look at the superficial results, the premiere of "Flowers" is indeed substandard, which is a big surprise. However, as a recognized artist and film master in the industry, director Wong Kar-wai's achievements and strength are beyond doubt.
The reason for this situation is more that Director Wang failed to control the theme of the story and the rhythm of the performance well in the specific production process.
As the person in charge of a huge project, Director Wang needs to take into account many aspects such as scripts, performances, and special effects, which puts forward extremely high requirements for his comprehensive directing ability.
However, judging from the current repercussions and comments, Director Wang has certain deficiencies in the layering of the storytelling, the portrayal of the characters, and the creation of the picture atmosphere. This is also an important reason for the worrisome reputation of "Flowers" after its premiere.
Of course, as an artist with a 40-year film career, it remains to be seen whether Wong Kar-wai can adjust his state and further improve his works in the future.
After all, his relaxed and moderate narrative technique, which is extremely rare in the Chinese TV industry, is also the core of attracting the audience's constant expectations.
epilogue
To sum up, the CCTV drama "Flowers" suffered a word-of-mouth waterloo after its premiere, mainly because it was difficult to meet the audience's expectations in key aspects such as story persuasion, character building, and picture effects.
However, it is obviously too early to question Director Wang's personal strength and achievements. We should not simply judge a work by the dualism of success or failure, but try to understand the production hard work behind literary and artistic works from a more rational and inclusive perspective.
Moreover, most of the plot of "Flowers" still needs to be unfolded. We might as well continue to be positive and optimistic to discover the value and meaning that may be hidden. This is not only the basic respect for content creators, but also the posture that mature and civilized audiences should have.