ibisfeather
An awesome epic weeper
A really awesome watch. An epic 2-tissue-box weeper. A love triangle which will make you feel that all other love triangles are but shadowy caricatures of the real thing. The script overall is truly powerful, but this is a 10star watch because the plot, character arcs/characterization and the acting power of the leads are so magnificent that an 11stars would have been a nice option for them alone. Pay careful attention to the prophecies of the blind face-reader and the three cat metaphors (kitten, shameless and genuine/false clay). The lyrics of songs in a chinese soundtrack always carry extra clues to the plot -- I loved the opening credits particularly.
The magnetic and charismatic Ren Jia Lun (as Wei Zhao/Wu Xia) can really act, even with his face in a half-mask for 1/4 of the movie -- watch him fall in love with his eyes. Landy Li (as Xie Jiang Ci) is the best actress I have seen in a long time -- across her face roll waves of love, fear, happiness, sorrow and the best glare ever. Jeremy Tsui (as Pei Yan) with the mellifluous voice (a separate v-actor?) has amazing stature and dignity; he also carries off beautifully a fine transition between obsessive love to facing reality; I also have never seen an actor do this so well.
The actors playing the most important 'supporting' roles, Zhang Feng Yi as the Emperor (Xie Che) and Wen Zhang Rong as the mother of Pei Yan (Rong Yu Die) give powerful, finely understated and magnificently ambiguous performances as the two poles of the "interesting times" in which our 3 true lovers are caught. Here is a question for you: how would the lives of Pei Yan and Wu Xia been different had Jiang Ci not left her master and mountain village behind to go see the world of 'rivers and lakes'?
I enjoyed the finely detailed and solid structure of the provincial corruption. I dont like battle scenes or overly confusing palace intrigue generally; less melodramatic and stereotypical than usual, these here held my attention. There were some very fine moments visually, but overall I think the battle scenes do not match the expertise of the rest of the series. The imperial intrigue, less claustrophobic than usual, was run from the outside of the palace. Wait for the most nerve-wracking 24 hour build-up to a wedding ever seen!
There are moments where the soundtrack, cinematography and script do not mesh well, marring an otherwise masterfully written and structured show. A few cheesy or schmaltzy moments during the two wars, mainly due to an out of control soundtrack which did not match the action. The impressionistic storyline of the wars was closer to a realistic experience than the usual easy-to-follow narrative. Many other minor sequences also had interesting, more modern storytelling structures. I think this might make the show a rewatch possibility.
The costuming was really intensely beautiful, very little of the standard pink and blue filmy drapery. The cinematography was overall excellent and professional with many really great shots. The director is only eight years into the business and was able to pull off this cast-of-thousands epic, so I look forward to his next shows.
The magnetic and charismatic Ren Jia Lun (as Wei Zhao/Wu Xia) can really act, even with his face in a half-mask for 1/4 of the movie -- watch him fall in love with his eyes. Landy Li (as Xie Jiang Ci) is the best actress I have seen in a long time -- across her face roll waves of love, fear, happiness, sorrow and the best glare ever. Jeremy Tsui (as Pei Yan) with the mellifluous voice (a separate v-actor?) has amazing stature and dignity; he also carries off beautifully a fine transition between obsessive love to facing reality; I also have never seen an actor do this so well.
The actors playing the most important 'supporting' roles, Zhang Feng Yi as the Emperor (Xie Che) and Wen Zhang Rong as the mother of Pei Yan (Rong Yu Die) give powerful, finely understated and magnificently ambiguous performances as the two poles of the "interesting times" in which our 3 true lovers are caught. Here is a question for you: how would the lives of Pei Yan and Wu Xia been different had Jiang Ci not left her master and mountain village behind to go see the world of 'rivers and lakes'?
I enjoyed the finely detailed and solid structure of the provincial corruption. I dont like battle scenes or overly confusing palace intrigue generally; less melodramatic and stereotypical than usual, these here held my attention. There were some very fine moments visually, but overall I think the battle scenes do not match the expertise of the rest of the series. The imperial intrigue, less claustrophobic than usual, was run from the outside of the palace. Wait for the most nerve-wracking 24 hour build-up to a wedding ever seen!
There are moments where the soundtrack, cinematography and script do not mesh well, marring an otherwise masterfully written and structured show. A few cheesy or schmaltzy moments during the two wars, mainly due to an out of control soundtrack which did not match the action. The impressionistic storyline of the wars was closer to a realistic experience than the usual easy-to-follow narrative. Many other minor sequences also had interesting, more modern storytelling structures. I think this might make the show a rewatch possibility.
The costuming was really intensely beautiful, very little of the standard pink and blue filmy drapery. The cinematography was overall excellent and professional with many really great shots. The director is only eight years into the business and was able to pull off this cast-of-thousands epic, so I look forward to his next shows.
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