#精品长文创作季#
Text | Mu Ran
Edit | Ternary
Have you noticed that in several domestic dramas in 2024, all the two elements of Shanghai and finance are successful?
The closest to us is Wang Yang, "The Wind Chaser" starring Wang Yibo, this drama has just ended, and its performance in terms of word-of-mouth, ratings and popularity is quite good, and even pushed the spy war drama to a boom again.
And this drama has a distinctive feature, that is, it is set in the Shanghai financial circle.
On the one hand, it presents a thrilling spy war, and on the other hand, it talks about the treacherous financial industry, with a strong atmosphere of the times and industry characteristics, which makes people want to stop.
The other drama is "Flowers" starring Hu Ge, Ma Yili and other actors at the beginning of the year, directed by Wong Kar-wai.
The series is about Shanghai in the thirties and forties of the last century, the ups and downs of the fate of a generation of Shanghai trendsetters, which is also a familiar location, and closely related to the fate of the characters is the turbulent stock market and business wars, and it is also related to finance.
This is because finance seems to be far away from us, but in fact it is closely related to our lives, even if the background of the times is not placed in the present, it still empathizes with the characters through the economic context of the plot.
So, if there is a drama that still combines the two and puts it in a modern context, will it be easier to become popular?
"City in the City" is such a drama that is full of highlights and advantages, and even at a time when it is difficult for industry dramas to produce excellent works, this drama has been stamped and recognized by CCTV.
Could it be that Shanghai plus finance is really a must-explode king bomb combination?
However, if you look at the word-of-mouth evaluation of "A City in the City", which CCTV is optimistic about, you will know that all the bad reviews have even been asked to stop broadcasting and take them off the shelves.
Why did the same combination not work in this drama, why did the audience scold?
One, the layman can't understand it, but the insider is angry
I believe that the plot in the early stage is confusing for many ordinary audiences.
President Dai asked his apprentice Zhao Hui (played by Yu Hewei) to sign a document, but the other party just glanced at the words on the document and refused without opening it.
Subsequently, President Dai invested one billion yuan in Jiaxiang Industry, but he also died.
It is understandable that "City in the City" wanted to use a murder case to improve the scale of the drama at the beginning, so that the audience can feel that the shopping mall is like a battlefield, and the work of the president is no different from leading soldiers to fight, and it is possible to put your life into it every minute.
However, the drama is roughly introduced, and people can't feel how high-risk the financial industry is, neither explaining what kind of document Zhao Hui would rather offend the master than signing, nor explaining how tricky the problems encountered by Jiaxiang Industry are.
Just a few shots to show the chaotic situation abroad, as well as the decline in stock numbers, the experienced and veteran President Dai was frightened to heart attack and died in a car accident.
Such a drama will only make people feel that the president's endurance is too weak, so for the layman, how can it become like this if he doesn't understand it at all?
And in the opening scene, the most eye-catching thing is one billion.
I feel that the director and screenwriter want to use one billion to attract attention and create the effect of money on the wall, on the bed, and in the refrigerator in "In the Name of the People". But I didn't think that in real life, when banks embezzle such large amounts of funds, they need to be reviewed layer by layer.
It must not only comply with laws and regulations, but also have the signatures of various leaders, and report to the head office, not like this drama, the president of a branch can directly embezzle a large amount of funds from the bank, and he can also sign with the front foot and release the loan with the back foot.
This is also the reason why many viewers give bad reviews, especially many viewers who have been engaged in the financial industry, are so angry that they can't help but report with their real names and ask for removal from the shelves.
This makes both laymen and insiders feel the charm of the financial industry when watching this drama.
Even if you look at the plot setting regardless of the industry attributes, it is a pile of various coincidences. Tao Wuji, played by Bai Yufan, has no background, just by asking the president two questions at the conference, he can get a job opportunity in the bank that others want to enter.
It's obviously a little minion who works at the counter, but he ran to the floor of the bank president to go to the toilet, trying to block the president's self-recommendation.
And ordinary people who really go from a small city to a big city to work are often cautious about this hard-won job opportunity, how can they take such a risk as Tao Wuji?
Tao Wuji's girlfriend Tian Xiaohui (played by Xia Meng) is looking for a job with her golden finger, and she has a cousin of the wife of the president of the trust group, who can make her the president's secretary in minutes, is this still called no background?
It can be said that the plot is the main reason why "City in the City" dissuades the audience.
Second, the pain points of industry dramas are frequent, and there is nothing that can be done about the drama bones
Facts have proved that Shanghai Plus Finance is not a combination of profits, and the key is to read the script.
"City in the City", like most domestic industry dramas, has the problem of suspension and impracticality, although judging from the early plot, there is no sheep's head to sell dog meat, but talking about finance has become a problem for middle-aged Mary Sue.
But the follow-up story line of Zhao Hui and Zhou Lin (played by Lonnie) is most likely to talk about middle-aged love under the guise of beauty.
What is certain is that the next plot will be dominated by Tao Wuji's counterattack by the little people and the business war between the big people, but the start is unfavorable, and it is even more difficult to reverse the reputation in the future.
And similar industry dramas, in recent years, the national drama market abounds, Jin Dong and Song Jia starring "The Wind Rises" is about the public relations industry, but after the actor of the play went bankrupt, he restarted his business in a short period of time and succeeded.
The actor who was notorious by the heroine has no reputation in the industry for a long time, but he can still confront the leading companies in the industry, let alone the public relations industry, no matter which industry it is in, it is a fantasy!
And these two dramas are the same, there are many powerful actors sitting, and the old drama bones are even more grasped, but they are all ruined by the script, no matter how good the actors' acting skills are, they are not able to recover.
It is undeniable that the acting skills of actors such as Yu Hewei and Wang Jinsong in "City in the City" are still at the ceiling level in the national drama market, including Wang Xiao, Tu Songyan, Feng Jiayi and others are also quite outstanding, and even the starring lineup does not have a single traffic star.
But it doesn't help with such a configuration, once the industry drama is ruined in the plot, no one can save it.
What do you think of the quality of the show "City within a City"?