The Heaven Has Tears (1998)

First of all, what’s with the weird cover picture? It’s not from the series at all. It looks like someone doctored photos of the actors and pasted them together. That bothered me because this was a beautifully shot series. It was filmed on location, not in a studio. The costumes were simple yet elegant. Everything felt so natural, except the acting.

Shui Ling and Athena Chu shined here as the Xiao sisters, Yu Feng and Yu Juan. Both looked beautiful albeit in very different ways. The wardrobe department made sure their outfits matched their personalities. Yu Feng wore soft pastels while Yu Juan wore bright and vibrant prints. Their musical numbers were absolutely charming. I rewatched this series just to see them sing their hearts out (yes, I know it was dubbed).

The plot was mainly driven by the Xiao family tragedy, which was supposed to heart wrenching. Yet my heart didn’t feel wrenched in anyway. The actor who played the father was not convincing in whatever little screen time he was given. You never get a sense of the happiness and security that the Xiao children had and lost. By extension, you don’t empathize with Yu Juan’s need for revenge. You certainly don’t get Yu Feng’s self-loathing when she fell for Zhan Yun Fei, the son of the family responsible for her father’s death.

The Zhan family dynamic was much better developed. The veteran actors who played Mr. Zhan and his first wife were excellent and had the best lines. They showed us a couple whose marriage seemed fine but had hidden cracks and festering wounds. Mr. Zhan, as the patriarch, was clueless when it came to his own wives and sons. His family was the polar opposite of the Xiao family - filthy rich in money and dirt poor in love.

Zhan Yun Fei could have been the most interesting character. He had his own personal tragedy that led him to live a double life, one as the heir of the richest man in town and one as a lowly traveling writer. His relationship with his father and younger half-brother, Yun Xiang, was complicated. Tuo Chung Hua failed to grasp this in his portrayal of Yun Fei. Instead of being the complex man he was written to be, Yun Fei came off as wildly inconsistent. Well, he was consistent in one thing: his love for Yu Feng.

It was strange to see Vincent Jiao as the villain. He was not good. His Yun Xiang was mostly a caricature who looked more silly than scary. Vincent is obviously a much better actor than this, so I resent the director for making him act so hammy.

Fans of the classic Hong Lou Meng would be thrilled to see Deng Jie here. She once again played a strong, practical female character. The other major guest star was Liu De Kai as the chivalrous Mr. Zheng who swooped in and solved everyone’s problems. It was deus ex machina, the hallmark of lazy writing. I never expect anything clever from Qiong Yao's writing anyways. Her strength was in laser-focused family dramas.

This story had so much potential that I wish they would do a remake. With the right cast and a good director, it could become a hit.

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