The audience of male frequency dramas often insists more on "seeing is believing". Don't confirm it with your own eyes, they won't recommend it easily, and they won't fan a certain drama just because the IP is famous or the starring actor has traffic.
Recently, Amway has been rumored by many people on social media, and it is "Tianxingjian", which was broadcast on Tencent Video and iQiyi on May 8.
The script of this drama was originally written by Bai Yicong, and the directors are Lou Jian, who has filmed "The Royal Gift" (Douban 8.0 points), and Wei Lizhou, who has filmed "Ultimate Notes" (Douban 8.2 points). The story focuses on the martial arts theme of the special era, with strange cases, strange heroes, treasures in troubled times, and patriotic feelings.
Although Douban has not yet opened a score, the word-of-mouth fermentation is fast and good. After the first 4 episodes, it was scored 9.2 by Tencent Video's drama users. The day after the broadcast (May 9), Tencent Video's popularity exceeded 20,000.
Whether it is on social media such as Weibo and Douban, or in the barrage of the two major broadcast platforms, the discussion about the details in the play is always very hot. For example, the exposure of Lin Jingjing (played by Chen Siche) in the latest plot has already been "guessed" by the audience through various clues.
Under the high leadership of the theme of national salvation, "Tianxingjian" organically integrates various elements such as martial arts, legends, treasure hunting, and solving crimes; Through the ingenious use of audio-visual language, "Tianxingjian" not only achieves the ups and downs of the story and the three-dimensional vividness of the characters, but also always maintains the clarity of the internal logic of the tripartite perspective.
In the process of chasing the drama, the audience will often silently recite the second half of the title in their hearts - "The gentleman strives for self-improvement". Immersive and refreshing experience + strong patriotic feelings, "Tianxingjian" is a genre masterpiece that strives for excellence, and it is also a unique original masterpiece.
Three men, three visions
Just as "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an" deepened people's understanding of Tang poetry, "Tianxingjian" also deepened people's understanding of "a gentleman strives for self-improvement".
As a screenwriter and producer, Bai Yicong has adapted many novels with multi-protagonist characteristics, such as Jin Yong's "Dragon Babu", "Old Nine Gates" by the third uncle of the Southern School, and "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin. This gave him a wealth of experience in disassembling and assembling multiple protagonists and storylines.
In this original script, Bai Yicong gave full play to his ability to disassemble the characters, and divided the same theme of "gentlemen with self-improvement" to three different male protagonists, presenting and deepening the theme from three perspectives.
Wang Jialuo (played by Pang Hanchen) is a county government catcher, also known as "Wang Dibao". With his meticulous observation of the world around him, he has a top-notch tracking ability. Coupled with his dedication to arresting the murderer, he took on a story line of chasing the murderer for thousands of miles.
Wang Dibao has the original ecological "self-improvement" quality, and even seems to be very axial. Although he said that he was "setting his heart for heaven and earth and establishing his life for the people", he was limited by his personal vision, and he actually could not achieve "continuing to learn for the saints and opening peace for all generations".
Wang Dibao is more responsible for himself, just to ask for a clear conscience, even if justice is awe-inspiring, the vision is too small after all. Combined with the experience of being forced to abandon his pen and follow Rong due to the abolition of the imperial examination, his self-improvement is somewhat used to hide the taste of inferiority.
Zhuo Bufan (played by Liu Yuning) has a vision that is one level larger than Wang Dibao. One of the phrases he often puts on his lips is "Everyone in the Sword Sect is here, so it is called the Sword Sect." It can be seen that Zhuo Bufan's "unremitting self-improvement" stems from being responsible for the Rongtian Sword Sect, and his vision has expanded to the collective.
From the mouths of different people, the audience can piece together the dilemma of the Rongtian Sword Sect: the former head of the sect is dead, the sect has neither prestige nor economic constraints, and the main altar in Lingxi has even been rented out for money. In the eyes of outsiders, they are a group of "refugees" who have no permanent home.
This made Zhuo Bufan's burden on himself very heavy, even so heavy that he completely hid his inner emotions. Whether it is to become the number one swordsman in the world, or to work hard for Prince Qi (played by Liu Peiqi), all of Zhuo Bufan's principles of doing things are to make the Rongtian Sword Sect stronger.
His vision seems to be larger than that of Wang Dibao, but his limitations are even greater. Wang Dibao is passively restricted, while Zhuo Bufan is actively restricted.
Ilgen Jueluo Mu Qing (played by Qin Junjie), nicknamed "Door Three Knives", is even more complicated. He used to be a guard with a knife in front of the palace, and now he works for the Internal Affairs Office, and the case he investigated is still a major case that endangers national security, such as "Prince Qi's intention to rebel".
He has the greatest vision, because he is responsible for the whole country; His "unremitting self-improvement" is also limited, because the rotten imperial power to which he is loyal is not worth it.
After the three knives were pardoned, he asked him to report to him what had happened in the past twelve years. The historical knowledge points that were tested in middle school came to me in a new way. In the process of telling historical events, the main creator also added black and white expansions, which further strengthened the impact of these land reparation treaties on the characters and the audience.
This impact gave Men Sandao a preliminary awakening. Later, the farther away he was from the capital, the more he realized that the world had changed.
In Shanghai's French Concession, Men Sandao was completely aware of what "self-improvement" was. Previously, he could be unhindered by virtue of his status as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but here he was told that "the concession is not our own territory".
When he came up with his usual threatening words, "Can you afford to let go of the responsibility of the imperial court?" , but was ruthlessly replied: "I don't have to bear it." ”
After being persuaded, "Don't offend foreigners because of such a trivial matter, it's not worth it", Mensandao, who has always been arrogant, also became angry and didn't dare to speak, but just clenched the handle of the knife.
I believe that when you see these passages, everyone will silently recite in their hearts: "A gentleman strives for self-improvement".
It's easy to literally memorize a famous aphorism, but it takes an opportunity to understand it deeply from multiple dimensions. The three male protagonists designed by Bai Yicong for "Tianxingjian" all have a background of self-improvement, but because of the difference in social status, there are different limitations of the initial vision.
This makes them all growth roles. With what they heard, saw, and encountered along the way, one thing and one person constantly alerted and knocked on them, and finally let them break through their initial limitations and grow into a stronger version of themselves.
Because of this, when the audience follows the drama, they not only expect to see their masters, but also look forward to seeing them join forces when they grow up. Only by chasing the final chapter of the series can the audience open the widest vision and realize the most true "Tianxingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement." ”
Three forces, three tensions
As a male frequency drama, "Tian Xingjian" does not take the confrontation between good and evil as the only dramatic tension. By setting up three forces, the dramatic tension created by the series has also reached a new form of pluralistic integration.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the most openly first-party force in the play, and it is an extension of the power of the imperial court. They traced the theft of the treasure map hidden in the Pure Altar, and rightly so. They can label anyone else a "thief." They seem to be doing the great cause of "supporting the building to fall", but in fact they are the biggest stumbling block in front of the wheel of history.
The Melting Heaven Sword Sect and the Prince Qi behind it are half-concealed second-party forces. Prince Qi's move of "opposing the Qing Dynasty for the sake of the Qing Dynasty" reflects that the times have reached a point of change. He himself felt that his approach was somewhat "absurd", but he still split constitutionalism and democracy into one can and one cannot do. This doomed him to be the last struggle of the old forces.
The mind of the Melting Heaven Sword Sect is the purest, and it is easy to be grasped by Prince Qi's promise. They do not observe the direction of the tide of the times, and only pursue the most immediate things - the martial arts secrets in the secret collection of the Pure Altar and the general altar comparable to Wudang and Shaolin. They are lovely, but even more pathetic.
The Japanese are the most covert third-party forces, and they are also foreign forces that should not be involved. Their covetousness for the secret vaults of the Pure Altar stems from pure greed. They are not afraid to use despicable means, and they are not afraid to tear their faces with any other force.
The three forces have a violent pull and subtle checks and balances in the play, which greatly enhances the coolness of chasing the drama.
Between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Prince Qi, it was a court dispute. Prince Qi said that it was to save the Qing Dynasty, but his personal ambitions had not yet been revealed. Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs is to protect the Qing Dynasty, it is actually protecting the glory and wealth that it has obtained.
The Rongtian Sword Sect, as a pawn of Prince Qi, used the rivers and lakes to stir up the court dispute. In their mouths, even the League and the Revolution can be explained by the concept of rivers and lakes. They dragged the Internal Affairs Office into the mud of grievances in the rivers and lakes, and forced Men Sandao to borrow the power of Wang Dibao, the low-level "lonely brave".
As an external force, the Japanese can only take advantage of the chaos to rob. So far, they have not taken advantage of the head-to-head confrontation with other forces, but the operation in the dark has been smooth, and it can be said that they are the most dangerous and most likely to upset the balance.
The pull of the three forces is, first of all, visually good-looking. After Tan Xian (played by Zong Fengyan), who has hidden clues, appeared on the stage, the three forces have been on the same stage many times, and each time they can present a tense atmosphere on the scene, and even achieve a rather interesting "cosplay closed loop".
At a deeper level, the construction of this tripartite force is like ukiyo-e in the late Qing Dynasty, which integrates the three dramatic tensions that the audience likes to see, such as the dispute between the court and the court, the grievances of the rivers and lakes, and the road to national salvation, which is very enjoyable.
There is no one in the wave of history
Unlike other dramas, after the launch of "Skywalker", few people in the barrage discussed common topics such as decency, villains, layouts, and spoilers. This is because this drama, as an original series, has a very high position, abandoning the male frequency routine of practicing to upgrade and fighting bosses, and instead focuses on the shaping of people by historical waves.
In that turbulent era at that time, there were many progressive trends of thought in society, and the collision between new and old forces was also very fierce, and it was difficult to distinguish between right and wrong. The characters in the play are difficult to divide between decent and villainous. In the face of the tide of history, a single person is not enough to become a layout.
Whether it is those who are rushing to the front line or those who are behind the scenes, they can only do their best to clear the fog in front of them and move forward cautiously. There are too many accidents and inevitabilities in the development of history, and everyone cannot do black and white. Most of them start from their own perspective and stick to what they think is right, meaningful, and valuable.
The tide of history can always implicitly convey the direction it should go to all beings, and the characters in the play have intersected with those who have gone the right way more or less, sooner or later, but the sparks of intersection flashed, some of which were quickly extinguished, and others remained and became sparks.
An impressive little person in troubled times is Tang Yu (played by Tan Quan) of the Rongtian Sword Sect. Because of some accidental "contact" with progressive thoughts, he woke up earlier than the three protagonists, but he was killed because he was regarded as a murderer by Wang Dibao.
Observing the footage before Tang Yu was killed by Wang Dibao, it was found that Tang Yu was on the left side of the picture and Wang Dibao was on the right side of the picture. It can be seen that at the beginning of the creation of this play, some hints were embedded in the script stage through "audio-visual design preposition", so that the audience could predict the fate of the characters in advance.
An overall design is the position of the characters. Characters who are usually more advanced in the present, or are expected to be more advanced in the future, tend to be on the left side of the frame. Another overall design is the proportion of light and shadow on the figures. The more characters in the bright area, the brighter the fate; The more people in the shaded area, the more conservative the stance.
Perhaps it is the reason why Bai Yicong is both a screenwriter and a director, and this kind of advanced "audio-visual design pre-positioning" has been well implemented in the production. The audience is no longer chasing a result, but savoring every delicate process.
The floating world is vast, wandering, love and hatred, struggling and hesitating. In the context of everything going unknown and only human nature is eternal, every struggle and every choice of all beings is beautiful!
[Text/Full Hoard]