On November 7, the TV series "Caster" can already be watched on the genuine video platform for two episodes. This TV series tells the story of two generations during the Republic of China years to build their own factories and build diesel engines. The drama starred Han Wenwen, Chun Yu Shanshan and other actors. Based on the current two episode plots, I think that the audience should lower their expectations of the plot of the show. The feelings of the play itself are pertinent, but the story of the play is relatively simple, the characters are relatively shallow, and the sense of heaviness is still a little less.
Let's start with the commendable side of the spirit. In "The Caster", the emotional core of the career is presented. In this TV series, the protagonists toil and run in order to build Chinese their own diesel engines. These contents have the audience's emotional identity. The diesel engine was built back then, and the chip we are making now is almost the same. In this process, it is inevitable to carry forward the spirit of Chinese arduous struggle. In this regard, the play has its emotional core that deserves to be affirmed.
Even from the plot synopsis that has been exposed, the follow-up to this TV series will also have the story of how the national industry fought against the Japanese during the War of Resistance. These contents also have a good emotional value experience. Obviously, the intention of the play is to sing the praises of people and things in the process of the rise of China's national industry. In the face of such a theme, the entire TV series has its own creative appeal of the main theme and positive energy. All of the above is good, to be sure.
Then, let's talk about the TV series' superficial problems in terms of story and characters. Republic of China drama, there are many classic works. The brilliance of these classic works makes subsequent Republic of China drama works need to be compared. In terms of theme content, "The Caster" is similar to "The Gate of the Great Mansion", both are things in the years of the Republic of China, are the stories of the nation's own family business, and are all to fight against the Japanese and foreign enemies. However, after getting "The Caster" and "The Gate of the Great House" together, the audience will find that the "Caster" that is being broadcast lacks a sense of heaviness.
The heaviness of the play comes from many aspects. The script, the shooting, and the actors' performances all need to go hand in hand. In "The Caster", at the level of the script, it seems that this sense of heaviness is not found. Among the plot content that has been broadcast, there are already many debatable bridges and character shaping. For example, the male protagonist who makes the diesel engine has a difference of opinion with the German engineer, and in the face of the German engineer's differences, the male protagonist directly shouted for him to go... This is obviously a loss of the demeanor of our countrymen. The script narrates in this way, and it loses the sense of being a human being.
For another example, the second grandmother's reaction to the content of the "third party" looking for the door is not calm enough. In "The Caster", the shaping of this paragraph is easy to get yourself caught in the dispute of family ethics drama. It is not that heavy TV dramas should not shape this kind of plot, but that when shaping, they should uphold the heavy sense of the character, not panic, and allow the maid and the "third party" to clash. This superficial physical conflict actually reduces the dramatic tension of the plot and the personal ability of the heroine.
At the script level, there is a lot of content that seems very impetuous. These contents discount the serious temperament of "The Caster", and make the dramatic tension of the play itself appear insufficient. A good work requires the script to use internal strength in character shaping and story grasping, rather than overly obvious external forces. At present, the script status of "Caster" is very similar to the temperament of the TV drama works broadcast by some of our terrestrial channels - the external force is very sufficient, but the internal force is seriously insufficient. My personal opinion is that the screenwriters of "The Caster" are not knowledgeable enough, and this work lacks the help of more professional screenwriters.
Based on the lack of drama tension in the script, "The Caster" also adhered to the assembly line operation principle of a TV series broadcast on a terrestrial channel when filming. This quick shooting in the assembly line operation mode can not find obvious problems, but in the details that should be enhanced, they are not taken care of. This is the "almost bad" in every link of the entire shooting process, and after the final formation, it is what "The Caster" is now. Comparing the same theme of "The Gate of the Big House", we can see what "differences" are at the shooting level. Too much "almost" will eventually become a lot worse.
In the performance of the actors, "The Caster" also uses external strength and lacks the awareness of using internal strength. In the plot that has been broadcast in the play, Li Youbin's performance is still pertinent, which is an actor who knows how to perform with internal strength. However, when it comes to the male and female protagonists, it is completely in line with the character design of the script, and they all pursue external performances, and the dramatic tension of the characters themselves is not easy to come out. The most restrictive place in such a performance is that the emotions are all called out by the actors themselves, and the audience is only left to watch the hilarity, and the audience has no emotions. I think that how the actor acts, it is caused by the script and the director, and the relationship with the actor is not too big.
Based on this, I think that "The Caster" is a work of very average quality and will not become a classic masterpiece. (Text/Ma Qingyun)