Preface
"The spring silkworm is dead to the end, and the wax torch turns into ash and tears begin to dry", if life is only as first seen, what is the life of romance? As a senior film critic, Li Hua often can't help but question himself after watching a new drama.
Are our theatrical variety shows gradually falling into formality? Are they becoming more and more difficult to impress people's hearts? Even if we firmly believe that art comes from life and is higher than life.
But when Li Hua saw that many new dramas were released in early 2024 and the response was mediocre, he couldn't help but be a little worried. So he decided to carry out systematic research to find a TV drama team that is still committed to the essence of art under the tide of marketization.
There is no good drama outside of flowers?
"If life is only as first seen, what is the autumn wind sad fan". When many big dramas such as "Shen Yin" and "The Three Teams" were released in early 2024, film critic Li Hua found that in addition to a costume drama called "Flowers".
Other new dramas failed to cause much repercussions, and the scene was deserted. This is very different from Li Hua's previous expectations, and he can't help but ask himself: Why is only "Flowers" able to stand out among many new dramas?
Before delving into the reasons for "Flowers", it is necessary to take a look at the performance of other new dramas. Li Hua noticed that although the material selection of "Shen Yin" was novel, it could not arouse the interest of the audience, and only aroused a little splash among the niche fans.
It can be described as obscure. And the once highly anticipated "Three Teams" had a good reputation at the premiere, but after the plot became more and more outrageous in the middle and late stages, the word-of-mouth plummeted, and in the end it could only be regarded as "opening high and going low".
As for other new dramas like "Minglong Boy" and "Off the Rails", they are even more lackluster and mediocre.
Why did "Flowers" dominate the list?
The director and script are important, but Li Hua believes that the performance level of the actors is the key to the audience's continued follow-up. After all, TV dramas should let the audience follow the emotional ups and downs through the emotional output and subtle changes of the actors, so acting skills are the key to success.
Therefore, he launched a detailed rating of the performance of several leading actors in "Flowers". Ma Yili finished at the bottom with a score of 8.6, and Li Hua pointed out that this was mainly because her performance was too pompous and contrived, not integrated into the role, and her eyes and emotions changed unnaturally.
Specifically, Ma Yili plays the role of businesswoman Reiko, which belongs to her comfort zone. But her every subtle expression, such as grinning teeth and exaggerated gestures, reveals too much of an actor's self-consciousness and is not really in the plot.
The most obvious example is the scene where Reiko discovers that her friend has betrayed her and her heart collapses. This should have been a complex psychological activity with multi-faceted emotions superimposed, but Ma Yili just squeezed her tears mechanically, and her wooden eyes couldn't feel the character's inner tear at all.
In contrast, Tang Yan ranked third with a score of 8.7, and she successfully created a delicate and touching image of a Shanghai girl. Specifically, Miss Wang played by Tang Yan is innocent and different from other female images on the Golden Yellow River Road.
She was unreserved when she cried for Po, but she was soon coaxed to be happy again. This extremely real emotional response successfully leads the audience to follow its ups and downs, generating an emotional connection.
The scene where Miss Wang waits for Po on the street is particularly exciting, the transition from anxiety to despair is natural and smooth, and there is no trace of acting skills in her sad eyes, which is completely integrated into the plot.
And the real MVP is none other than Xin Zhilei's 9.7 points and Hu Ge's full score of 10 points. Xin Zhilei vividly portrays the cold, domineering and fragile contradictions of a strong woman's inner world. Li Hua especially appreciated her delicate interpretation of the scene of saying goodbye to her lover at the pier.
The contradictory emotions of tears rolling in the eyes but persisting undoubtedly show the heroine's complex mental journey, making the audience deeply regret the weak side under the tough appearance.
And Hu Ge deeply understands and perfectly interprets the spiritual outlook of the male protagonist Ah Bao - confident, cunning, frank, and warm, and the rich changes in expression deeply impress the audience.
Li Hua believes that Hu Ge has devoted himself to the role of Ah Bao, a master of business warfare, and there is no fraud in his bright eyes, and every smile and sigh reveals the true emotions in the character's heart.
Especially in the scene of letting go of his sweetheart, the sadness in Hu Ge's eyes deeply touched countless audiences, and made Bao, a seemingly arrogant character, also show his lonely and fragile side.
It can be said that the reason why "Flowers" can become the key to the big victory of word-of-mouth is largely due to the wonderful performances of Xin Zhilei and Hu Ge. Their vivid and expressive acting skills touched the hearts of countless audiences and successfully pulled the audience into the emotional world of the people in the play.
The unique show of the old drama bones
In Li Hua's view, the brilliance of "Flowers" is not only in the leading actors, but also in the performance of the old actors. Among them, the 90-year-old You Benchang is the most prominent.
Although he doesn't have many scenes, his calm and old-fashioned temperament has revealed the old artist's acting skills - seemingly random small actions reveal the rich inner activities of the characters. Specifically, You Benchang plays the role of the heroine's father in the play.
He stands outside the main plot line, but examines all kinds of things in the world with a very wise eye. And this attitude of contempt, without too many words, has been revealed through his vicissitudes of life and gestures.
Stroking the beard, nodding, sighing, the small movements have already foreshadowed the various states of life. This kind of acting skills of "turning big things into small things" can only be perfectly interpreted by senior artists, which makes Li Hua once again respect the attainments of the older generation of actors.
In addition, Dong Yong's nouveau riche Mr. Fan is also quite happy, with a thick accent and exaggerated demeanor that vividly portrays the image of the new rich man. His mischievous mischievous in and out of the play successfully created an image of a buddy full of joy.
But in the key plot such as breaking up with his son, he successfully moved the audience through the sadness in his eyes, making people turn from disdain to pity for this morally degraded character who is a money fan.
This once again confirms one point: the cast of "Flowers" is at its peak, from the stars in the front to the old artists in the background, and it is this exquisite collaborative performance that makes the whole show brilliant.
Whether it is a youth idol or an old drama bone, everyone perfectly interprets the inner world of the people in the play, making the group portraits of the characters in "Flowers" lifelike, three-dimensional and plump, which is also an important reason for its praise.
epilogue
To sum up, the key to why "Flowers" can stand out among many competitors and become a dark horse at the beginning of the year is: director Wong Kar-wai's exquisite pictures and fascinating script.
The outstanding performances starring stars such as Xin Zhilei and Hu Ge highly restored and enriched the inner world of the people in the play; The peak performance of the acting skills of the old drama bones, even if it is just to follow, is also turning stones into gold in the subtleties.
It is the organic combination of these advantages that makes "Flowers" build an audio-visual feast, thus successfully capturing the hearts of the public. Although the plot is still on the air, the ranking may change.
But at least at the current node, "Flowers" has determined the trend of a double harvest of word-of-mouth. Regarding the overall downturn of the new drama, the performance of "Flowers" also gave Li Hua some inspiration.
Good selection of materials and rigorous performances are the only way to attract audiences; At the same time, filmmakers also need to work the details to make the inner world of the characters in the play more three-dimensional and full, because that ultimately determines the audience's emotional investment.
Perhaps, as Li Hua finally sighed: "The pace does not stop, and the answer is gradually approaching; Flowers are blooming, art can be expected. "Good works require attitude and hard work, and they need to continue to move forward; And "Flowers" has foreshadowed a bright future for TV dramas with its superb interpretation.