The other two things I loved about the drama are the music and the location. While the music really set s you in the mood, the drama is set in Harbin, a Chinese city that looks like Moscow. The location is a stroke of genius and really adds to the atmospheric effect.
Highly recommended if you are in the mood for a noir
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Solid story, riveting throughout
I got to know about this series as I was looking at some of the Light On Series installments. Burning Ice has a sequel in Light On Series: The Long Night though Burning Ice isn't one of the Light On Series installments.It's not often that we get a crime thriller with a solid story, excellent storytelling and nuanced characterization while also being thought-provoking. The gradual moral degeneration of Guo Yu, a lawyer who unwittingly gets embroiled in criminal activities is one of the best elements in this series. He can be naive, he can be devoted in love, he can be cowardly, he can be callous. Dai Xu brings the character to life, making Guo Yu both a person we can empathize with and a villain we condemn.
The suspense regarding the layers of truth beneath the serial killer dubbed Snowman is also maintained very well. We get to learn about the identity of Snowman early on, but even as we know more, the mystery deepens. Everything comes together very well eventually, and there isn't an implausible twist or unconvincing criminal motivation to mar the story.
In comparison to the sequel (a different story except for the character Yan Liang, the policeman), perhaps Burning Ice has a less exciting story. But it more than makes up for it with very compelling and interesting characters (who suit the story). My opinion is that The Long Night has an even more compelling plot, but most of the characters are not developed with the sort of nuance that we see in Burning Ice.
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I simply love this kind of story where normal people accidentally commit a crime and get caught in a spiral of shit as they try to conceal their guilt and get involved with real big criminals. Actually this drama reminds me a lot of Fargo but without the the dark humor.
This short length format really benefits the story, no boring moments, only what's relevant. I wish more cdramas would use this format.
The acting is very good, very on point, Qin Hao is a excellent actor. People say The Long Night is the sequel to Burning Ice but this Yan Liang is a completely different character with a completely different personality.
Cinematography is great and I liked that there was no dialogues preaching moral lessons as is very, very common in crime cdramas. We see through all that happens that crime doesn't pay and one can't hide the truth forever, we don't need anyone saying this. This way the viewer's intelligence is not offended and the screenplay becomes richer.
My conclusion
If you like crime stories just ignore the relatively low rating in this site and watch this great drama.
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Atmospheric thriller set in one of the coldest cities of China
This is a gripping, psychological murder thriller set in Harbin, China where a murder case intertwines the lives of the main characters, leading to unexpected results. I would describe this as one of those dramas that depicts one's choices - and how one decision can snowball and lead someone down a morally corrupt and dark path. While I enjoyed the cool cinematography and snowy setting that the drama was set in, I felt like the narrative/script could have been written tighter, especially near the end.CHARACTERS/ACTING
Yan Liang played by Qin Hao - a mischievous detective who is cocky and defiant, but has a superb sense of intuition. His predictions are usually correct (albeit lacking evidence). Qin Hao played him perfectly and I would say this is one of Qin Hao's defining roles. I felt like I wasn't watching Qin Hao the actor but Yan Liang the character
Guo Yu played by Xu Dai - he starts the drama as a fresh faced, naïve graduate who would do anything for his first love Xiao Ru , but towards the end turns into a manipulative and greedy narcissist who only cares about himself. Maybe because it was only 12 episodes, but I felt that his change was too abrupt. He started out the drama being extremely gullible and slow witted, but near the end turns into some kind of unrecognizable mastermind. Xu Dai did a good job overall, although some scenes felt a bit overacted. There was a scene in ep 12 where he confessed to Xiao Ru and was yelling in the apartment that Li Feng Tian should die and honestly that entire monologue was overdone and dragged out
Zhu Hui Ru (Xiao Ru) played by Deng Jia Jia - a complex character who starts out timid and soft spoken, but eventually starts to become hardened and jaded by the events around her. There were multiple times where I felt myself screaming at her not to run into dangerous situations ie. when she decided to deliver food to her eventual attacker/rapist ALONE in the middle of no where, or at the end when she confronted Guo Yu alone when she knew full well what he was capable of. I think Deng Jia Jia did mostly a good job, but not entirely consistent - she tended to show a lot of blankness in scenes that required emotional nuance
Luo Wen played by Yao Lu - a gifted forensic examiner turned serial killer, he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to his missing wife and daughter. In my opinion, I felt that his motive to turn into a killer wasn't as compelling as I was expecting. With that said, he was an extremely layered character - you know that he killed all those people but also can't help but feel sorry for him, and almost root for him. The actor did a superb job - the kind of actor that delivers his lines in a quiet, subtle manner that demands your attention.
Li Feng Tian played by Ning Li - a mysterious mortician by day, and a debt collector/assassin by night for triads. This guy was scary as hell. He was the original Snowman Killer who killed Luo Wen's daughter and wife, motivated by revenge (because Luo Wen was working on a case earlier that involved Li Feng Tiang's son who died). While Ning Li acted extremely well as the horrifying serial killer who kills without blinking, the character was a bit too god-like for my liking. I'm sorry but how the hell did he manage to kill all those people and the police somehow didn't realize they went missing? They just disappeared into thin air as if they didn't exist? For example, he killed Guo Yu's roommate and colleague but somehow the police don't realize he went missing?
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The strength of the drama is how stylized the drama was shot. The cold, snowy, and dreary setting in Harbin with its Russian architectural influences added a chilling atmosphere to the drama. A perfect setting for crime and murder.
OVERALL
In all, I enjoyed watching this crime drama - it kept me on the edge of my seat and I felt that the performances overall were quite compelling. I would say that the first part of the drama far outweighs the second half, due to some sloppy writing near the end. Not as good as The Bad Kids, but still one of the better crime/mystery dramas in the c-drama world.
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The purest form of crime drama.
Burning Ice is not exactly a show that will get you hooked on from episode 1, but by the end, you will be invested and dying to know how it will all conclude.While from the synopsis it might seem like a typical action thriller with an innocent good guy trying to prove he is not the culprit the police are looking for, it could not be further from the truth. Close to none of the characters are just good/moral or bad/evil. Most of them exist somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, and depending on the circumstances and potential consequences of their actions, they might sway further into either of the extremes.
It’s more of a character driven drama, than an action driven crime thriller. The investigation and the crimes are the frame in which the characters operate, but the core of the show are their interactions and desperate attempts to either uncover or hide the truth.
While I enjoyed most of the cast performances, I feel like some were a little bit diluted and not expressive enough. Zhu Hui Ru was a character that seemed the least consistent in writing, which made me care about her the least (that said, Deng Jia Jia’s performance closer to the end of the show was truly stellar and the character was the most enjoyable at the end of the journey).
Yan Liang, Wen Luo, Li Feng Tian - all with personal motivations and grudges that pushed them to take action. It was fascinating to watch how different people might act and how far they are willing to go when faced with tragedy and injustice.
The only thing I have to say about Guo Yu is the fact, he was perfect to hate - great portrayal from Dai Xu.
Visually speaking, the drama has this cold and dim atmosphere that perfectly fitted the grim reality these characters were dealing with. Any other setting and the show would not be as effective in creating the suspense.
Overall, a great story with complex characters and interesting dynamics between them.
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