"Nanya's encounter can be called the Chinese version of "Dark Glory", it's so distressing!" "Please hurry up and update, I want to see the heroine blackened." ”...... As the first drama of Youku White Night Theater, the emotional suspense drama "Faint Fire" has a compact plot and a realistic texture, and since its launch on April 27, it has continuously aroused heated discussions and reminders from the audience.
In 2023, Dong Eun, who was forced to drop out of school due to school bullying in "Dark Glory", returned from being blackened after many years of hibernation, forbearance and coldness, and set off another wave of revenge with the mantra "Yeon Jinna".
In the first five episodes that are currently on the air, Nanya killed her husband Xu Yi with her own hands, and when faced with police interrogation, she counter-killed with one move, revealing the bridge collapse case of her husband's company, which made the audience have a hunch that the next story development will not be simple. Industry insiders pointed out that just like "She Who Disappeared", "Faint Fire" may be a script kill that is constantly reversed.
"Faint Fire" is produced by CCTV, Youku, and Enlightenment Pictures, and jointly produced by Alliance of Gods Pictures and Ruyi Pictures, with Yao Xiaofeng as the director, Zhang Shuwei as the chief producer, and Mao Yunfei as the screenwriter. Since April 27, it has been broadcast simultaneously on CCTV-8 prime file and Youku.
"Faint Fire" starring Tong Yao and Zhang Xincheng tells the story of a murder case that happened in a small town around the turn of the millennium.
As the plot unfolds, the characters related to the story are constantly introduced. When the police Lin Fanglu questioned Zhou Luo, an eyewitness to the case, and his three friends Zhang Qingli, Chen Jun, and Jiang Bingbing's timeline and action trajectory on the night of the case, Zhou Luo always answered at home, so that Zhang Qingli, who had come to him halfway through the fireworks, found out that he had lied, and then the two had a private conversation, so that Zhou Luo's action trajectory at that time was revealed.
Lin Fanglu went to Lao Chen's house as a guest and met Lao Chen's daughter Chen Ling, and after outlining the relationship between Nanya and the Chen family through the words of Lao Chen's wife, the camera directly turned to the hospital where Chen Ling worked, and the nurses discussed Nanya, Chen Ling, Xu Yi, and Dr. Jiang's gossip. The emotional entanglement between Nanya and Xu Yi was also shown in front of the audience, and her cursed words back then and her gloating expression now inevitably made people wonder whether she had something to do with this case.
It was also with the reappearance of Dr. Jiang in the mouths of the nurses this time, and the follow-up Lin Fanglu and Zhou Luo brought Nanya's daughter to the hospital for treatment, and Dr. Jiang, a person related to the case, also officially appeared and accepted Lin Fanglu's interrogation. Later, Dr. Jiang's warning to Zhou Luo, his preoccupation in the office, and the book "Murder of a Dentist" that Zhou Luo read, etc., also indicate that Dr. Jiang's story line is completely solved.
In addition, such as Zhou Luo's reasons for dropping out of school, as well as his acquaintance with Nanya, Lin Fanglu's acquaintance with Nanya when he was young, etc., all create suspense between the unrevealed.
In addition to suspense, "Faint Fire" also expresses deep human care. Industry insiders pointed out that after watching 5 episodes, it is not just a suspense drama. Under the art, dream, and suspense, "Faint Fire" brings the audience a deeper, profound, and even richer care and expression of human nature.
"In the suspense drama, we have made a leapfrog exploration and taken a big step forward. It is not an ordinary conventional suspense drama, there are many new breakthroughs in form, carrier, and structure, and it has jumped out of the framework of a suspense script, and has also broken through the boundaries of suspense dramas, and has done more excavation and display of human nature. Yao Xiaofeng, director of "Faint Fire", analyzed.
Xie Ying, vice president of Youku and general manager of the drama center, said that "Faint Fire" is different from ordinary pure hardcore suspense dramas, it is highly artistic, and uses an innovative narrative to present a murder that happened in a closed town around the millennium. This drama not only brings an immersive audio-visual feast, but also shows deep human care.
As the opening work of the White Night Theater, Youku has also consolidated the innovative exploration and content cultivation of the suspense drama genre through "Faint Fire". It is understood that on April 22, Youku announced that the suspense theater was upgraded to the White Night Theater. "White Night" means "the long night will end, the truth will be revealed", and the audience will solve the mystery in the cocoon. On the basis of the genre lens language, the White Night Theater will explore more profound social issues, show deeper human care, and provide a more immersive viewing experience, arousing the audience's empathy and empathy, thereby expanding a new path and new space for the quality of Chinese dramas.