The Legend of Kaifeng (2018)

Justice though Heavens Fall

The Legend of Kaifeng Court is one of the greatest movies I’ve seen. Its plot is tight and unfolds at a rapid pace. Its characters are endearing and well-formed. Most importantly, it sticks the landing—the immediate threat is vanquished but the systemic problems endure. As in life, good deeds can go unrewarded. That doesn’t mean that good men should do nothing!

The protagonist is the famed Chinese jurist, Bao Zheng. The story leans more on the mythology that’s developed around the historical character. He’s very much an outlier among the show’s other characters in his unbending righteousness. The show heavily implies that he’s a god fallen to earth. Huang Wei De was spectacular portraying this alien who had to learn human.

In a world on the edge of ruin, there is little even a god can do. The Song Dynasty is beset by enemies abroad, traitors within and an unstable triumvirate between the Crown, Court and Frontier Military. Bao Zheng is very much a peripheral character. He’s so powerless in fact that were this a Ming or Qing-era show, he would not have made it past the first episode.

One of the best aspects of this show is how developed the characters are. In a way, it feels like an ensemble drama because events and disparate characters drive the plot forward. Bao Zheng is often the bit player in a wider game with active players possessing independent agendas and motivations. None of the side characters feel peripheral due to an excessive focus on the lead. That allows it to avoid one of the weaknesses of long Chinese serials where some episodes drag because they are fillers meant to resolve unaddressed plot issues or introduce characters previously unrelated to the plot. This show has no such flaws because storylines proceed in essentially self-contained arcs and its characters all feel like they have lives that do more than revolve around the whims of the protagonists.

The actors were superb. The writing deftly balanced humour and insight. But I must reserve special praise for the casting director. Action in Chinese dramas is typically unrealistic, but casting directors compound the disconnect by casting dandelions who can’t even throw a convincing punch. No such problems here. Every who fights looks like they can bang. Those who don’t look like fighters stay on the sideline or are quickly exposed.

More of that!

All in all, I love it; watch it!

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