24th Floor Cinema Star "★ Oh~
Remember the 2014 Japanese drama "For N"?
The multi-line parallel suspense narrative, the character relationship full of complex entanglements and strong emotions, and the resonant lines made this drama gain a high popularity in that year, with 80,000 people scoring 8.7 points on Douban.
This season's autumn Japanese drama, the original team of people and horses joined forces again to sacrifice an equally sadistic suspense Japanese drama -
"The Favourite"
Fans will find that the Japanese drama "The Favourite" is full of "for N" from the story, characters and emotional atmosphere.
The same case reasoning across time and space, the same emotional relationship of mutual bondage and mutual protection, the same pure love and sadomasochism core, the latter is like an old dream revisited by a change of Cass, which is difficult to resist.
This sense of familiarity comes from the director Ayuko Tsukahara's implementation of the style of editing, scenes, and soundtrack on the one hand; on the other hand, it is also inseparable from the story of the strong emotional flow constructed by screenwriter Sadoko Okutera through the plot and lines.
In the cast of Kas, although a new cast has been used, whether it is the oxygen beauty Yuriko Yoshitaka who has performed well in "Seinosuke Yokomichi" and "Noriko's Table", Shin Iura, who played a forensic doctor in "Unnatural Death", or Matsushita Kihei, who has shown her prominence in recent years, all of which are very suitable for the roles in the play, ensuring that you can easily enter the play.
Like For N, the series begins with an emotionally rich monologue that leads to a tragic love story that is destined for it.
White shirts, track and field juniors, tram platforms, eternal smiles in memory... Adolescent male and female protagonists meet in an atmosphere with soft light, and then fall in love. With the sound of the flute in the early and distant past, the romantic and innocent past of a pair of green plum bamboo horses is told in a poetic way.
However, this poetic shot is followed by a series of thrilling and bloody shots that flash by quickly. At this time, the girl not only did not have the smile of the past, but also had blood on her hands and calmly walked into the police car.
What happened in between? The series builds a sense of suspense at the beginning, which is fascinating.
Sanada Isayo, a young girl played by Riko Yoshitaka, lives in a small mountain village with her father and brother. My father ran a full-time men's dormitory, which housed members of the local college athletics team.
Young brother Xiaoyou has symptoms of intermittent memory loss caused by an accident, and Li Yang, who blames himself, is determined to apply for a pharmacy major, hoping to develop a drug to save his brother.
At that time, Li Yang was a cute girl full of vitality and enthusiasm, she was a hardcore fan and support team of the track and field team, and she took good care of the living of the team members, which was loved by everyone.
The track and field team teenager Miyazaki Daiki gradually developed feelings for her, and Iriyo's smile was all the motivation for him to keep running. And Li Yang also expressed love for this sunny teenager. Although several confessions are wrong, the love between the two has long gone without saying.
I thought that the young boys and girls loved each other, guarded each other, chased their dreams of Tokyo together, and were going to run to a beautiful life, but an accident on a rainy night made the two go to different destinies.
That night, Rieyo, who was preparing for the exam alone downstairs in the dormitory, met Kosuke Watanabe, a college student who suddenly came to visit. The two chatted for a while, and Li Yang fainted inexplicably.
When she woke up, she couldn't remember what had happened, but the scratches on her arm, the panicked look of her father who came home afterward, and the bloodied clothes in the washing machine reminded her that terrible things had happened that night.
And the only father who knew the truth chose to keep his mouth shut. Soon after, his father also died unexpectedly, and Kosuke Watanabe's father came to the dormitory to question Li Yang and look for news of his missing son.
In the face of questioning, Li Yang was vague, she did not dare to speak falsely without knowing the truth, and the news of receiving the enrollment notice made her avoid everything that happened that night.
After that, she was taken to live in Tokyo by her mother, and became a strong mother with high hopes for the family business, and lived a very different life than before.
Fifteen years later, a murder case involved Li Yang and Dahui, who had been separated for many years. The deceased was the father of Kosuke Watanabe, who had disappeared many years ago.
At this time, Li Yang is a young female entrepreneur and a social celebrity, and there is no innocence in the eyes of the past, and even the great brilliance in front of him is not recognized. And Dahui also chose to become a policeman because of a series of changes in that year. In the investigation of the case, it was found that Li Yang was an important suspect.
When she meets Dahui again as the respondent, the two have changed from a first love couple to the most familiar strangers. What did Liyang go through 15 years ago? How does she relate to the death of Watanabe's father today? Who are the real perpetrators of the two cases?
It can be said that the first two episodes of the show are narrated in a dual time and space, and the multiple character relationships weave a puzzle that looks simple but is actually difficult to solve.
The Liyang family is undoubtedly the core of this mystery, the mysterious death of the father, the mysterious disappearance of the younger brother Xiaoyou many years later, so that the core of the mystery is clearer, but the secret details between them are more and more carefully considered.
Although the drama focuses on the banner of suspense and reasoning, it is in line with "For N", and the most touching thing about this drama is indeed the delicate depiction of the emotional bondage between the characters.
The drama is based on 15 years later, When Daihui investigates his former lover and uncovers the truth of the two cases, it tells the story of Li Yang's emotional dilemma under the pressure of the nightmare of the old days.
The innocent love of the green plum bamboo horse represented by Daiki and the meticulous maturity of the family lawyer Kase constitute a set of contrasting emotional patterns, and the viewers and the female characters are caught up in the classic problem of choosing a bamboo horse or falling from heaven.
And the most successful thing about "The Favourite" is that it presents such a slightly dog-blooded triangle relationship with sincerity and delicacy.
At the end of the first episode, Ewyang, who is determined to go to Tokyo, wants to say a final farewell to Daiki who is competing, and the series uses a set of parallel editing shots to depict Rieyang's complicated state of mind at this time.
Dahui on the radio was struggling to compete, she could only secretly nervous for him, when she stuck her head out of the window, saw that everything in her hometown was retreating, and saw The figure of Dahui running the field, Li Yang finally couldn't help it, rushed out of the car, and ran wildly in the direction of Dahui.
But in the end, she could only stand on the bridge from a distance and applaud him, silently saying goodbye in her heart.
The nostalgia for the things of the hometown people and the pace of being pulled forward by fate are intertwined, so that this sadistic love is extremely heart-wrenching at the same time without losing romance and beauty, making people feel infinite empathy.
Yuriko Yoshitaka has a proper grasp of the different personalities of the character of Iris Yoyo in the two stages before and after. The youthful innocence of her student days and the cautious indifference after the nightmare reappeared were all accurately presented by her with subtle expressions.
Under the presentation and contrast of this past, the delicate care of the family lawyer Kase and the guidance of Iris in dealing with various problems are very ironed, so that a mature feeling looks warm and not greasy, leaving enough aftertaste.
Not only the emotional drama, but also the family affection presentation in the play is also very touching.
In the play, the precociousness and intimacy caused by the younger brother Xiaoyou's illness and family changes are heart-wrenching. After his father's death, he obviously needed his sister's companion more than anyone, but he pretended to be a little man and said such heart-warming words as "a real man should watch women go out and break in."
Li Yang's father is more like most Chinese fathers, silently taking on everything for his children.
His deep exhortations before the Examination in Liyang, and finally his eyes at the station, conveyed the unreserved love of an old father through the screen.
It is surrounded by such overflowing love that Iris can bravely move forward, escape from the nightmare of his hometown, and see a whole new world in Tokyo.
But when the past of fifteen years strikes again, can she easily cope with it and live up to her father's instructions? At the same time, has her love for Dahui changed? Can the silent protection of lawyers be worthy of the weight of innocent love?
All of these bonds around the accident that arose fifteen years ago will converge somewhere, allowing us to see the real "favorite."
Rather than saying that the drama is about the real murderer of the case, it is better to say that it is through the shell of suspenseful reasoning to explore the complex love formed by people in the process of fighting against fate. This love is not just simple affection, love, but pure love that transcends all worldly norms.
Just like in "For N", everyone's love-hate puzzle woven with lies is for the person in their hearts who is most important to them. For Sugishita it was Ando, for Naruse it was Sugishita, for the police it was a wife...
These guardians of each other may not be remarkable in ordinary days, but in dark days, they are the positive forces that support each other and take us out of the haze.
It is so precious, so rare, that's why it has the power to shake people's hearts.
Friends who want to relive the sadistic emotional drama in "For N", you must not miss this drama.
Let's chase the drama sadistically and happily!