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Life is a Long Quiet River
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So, I believe this is another PCC request to which the movie industry had to abide, this time illustrating the PCC policy regarding the integration of the rural population into the cities, Shanghari to be exact.
As in other movies set in the present times that I watched with great pleasure, the writer and the director do a stellar job with getting past cernsorship ideas I could not believe were possible to air.
Yes, the main protagonists are two female characters: one is the Shanghai born, financially succesful bitch, while the other is her sister in law, the good girl from outside the city, who married into this Shanghai family which exploits her work with no sign of thanks or recognition.
However, as the story progresses, not so are the two female protagonists who, in spite of their trials and tribulations, prove in the end to stay as they were in the beginning.
The real gem is that this movie adds layers and layers of parallel stories, illustrating the same idea: that marriage, be it fake or for real, works as a main vehicle for assending to the coveted status of Shanghainite, with one of the parallel stories taking a more dramatic turn, very much like in John Braine's "Room at the Top".
The real bummer are the last 30 minutes or so in the last episode, when the writer and the director team rush towards an ending which is counter to the whole previous development. But I take it, if that is the price to pay to go past censorship the previous hundreds of minutes of sheer brutal realism.
The acting of the Chinese actors is so good, at no matter what size of the role, that it aches. One feels like wanting to die and be reincarnated into one of them.
Very good are the male actors Feng Shao Feng and Zhang Song Wen, who, in their supporting roles could have fallen off the horse, but managed not to. The first had a very challanging linear and somewhat clinically depressed character, while the other was in charge with providing the comic relief.
To both of them, cudos, for walking on such a narrow path and yet providing rounded and powerful characters.
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Beautiful and dark all around
This is a beautiful, dark and superb drama. It is dark both in subject matter and in aesthetics, but boy, what a treat ... No love interest present there, yet there is a quest for the truth which resembles the singlemindedness of a smittened lover. It is intense, it is fast paced, it is consistent and it is all rounded. And it is relativelly short, as Chinese series go. So, I am not saying anything other than: do watch it and enjoy it as much as I did.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Most underwhelming series, after The Story of Minglan
This one and The Story of Minglan, of 2018, have the same original author. However, what a huge difference screenwriters and directors make ... The Story of Minglan was a rich tapestry of characters and story lines that put that production in a class of its own. Superb! 'while this Love like the Galaxy, of 2022, was one is a pain to watch. Other than superb acting, everything was underwhelming. Soooo, so lacking. Sooo, so schematic that it was painful to watch the poor actors delivering so well on skinny characters which had nothing to deliver other than cheesy monologues; horibile sound track, with tunes which sounded like free downloads from the Internet, and the list can go on. I give a ten for perfect make up. And a 20, again, to the wonderful Chinese actos. But other than that: a pain to watch and see what botched job poor screenwriters and directors can do from work originally created by a very good writer.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Heartwarming!
Young woman enters the palace. How many Chinese dramas have started with such a premise. And yet, what a joy and what a startle to see this series' fresh take on a subject matter overly done in Chinese period dramas ...I loved every minute of it, every bit of acting and story line.
It really gave me the fuzzy heartwarming feeling as when I am enjoying comfort food. Do give it a try. I am sure you will experience the same.
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An absolute masterpiece, here to last
I watched this series for the first time in 2024. As I am hooked for the past two years or so to binge watching Chinese dramas, I have to say that this 14 year old series is the absolute best. It lands on you like a ton of bricks. Perfection, perfection, perfection! Naming a few would not do justice to the rest, who moved as one to deliver this story. Superb work went into the translation too. That did justice to the scriptwriter and to the actors delivering the lines, because it let us, the non Chinese, fully enjoy this masterpiece too. I saw comments from people yearning for more, and hoping for remakes. That would not do. A masterpiece is a masterpiece. One cannot conceive of a second "Casablanca", or a second "Rashomon". One can only watch the original, again and again and again.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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An absolute delight
This is such a beautifully crafted piece of cinema. It leaves you with the fuzzy warm feeling of touching your heart, after having done a lot of laughing and a bit of crying. It is a well balanced story, that leaves room for proper development to all characters. Like in all good Chinese films, there is no clear line between what a "main role" and a "support role" are. The whole cast moves the story forward like the fingers move forward into a whole hand to deliver the strike.The only problem I could see was a technical one, and it had to do with the sound, which started to collapse in some parts, in the latter episodes. I hope that problem is easily fixable.
I came here, to see this title, lured by the names of actors Lui Lin, Yang Hao Yu and Chang Long.
They all held so called support roles in productions I have seen before, but delivered such outstanding performances, in similar outstanding surroundings of professionalism, that I could do nothing but stop by and see what they are at right now.
They did not dissapoint one bit.
Lui Lin was a stunner in "The Story of Minglan", of 2018, and "The Long Season", of 2023. Yang Hao Yu equally delivered to the hilt as in the "I will find you a better home", of 2020, while Chang Long balanced wisely comedy and drama in his character, as he did in the "New Life Begins", of 2022.
I highly recommend all of the above titles for you to see.
Cudos to all the people working for this beautiful production.
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Very underwhelming
I got here, at this series, because I followed the work of both leads in the 2018 production of the "Story of Yanxi Palace". That was a gem and a reference point to me, when it comes to Chinese dramas at their best.This is why I was shocked to see the lack of chemistry between two actors who played being in love before, albeit a doomed love, in the "Story of Yanxi Palace".
Also, the lead actress did not really look like her former self not only in terms of acting, but also in terms of physical appearence. She did not look older, but different. And that was strange.
The story line sometimes feeled like in a stop and go movement, and overall I kept on going till the last episode just hoping that I will be proven wrong in all my negative assessments.
I was not.
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Lovely performance of Feng Shao Feng (who played the epic male role in “The Story of Minglan”, as well as the dramtic role in “Life is a long quiet river”). This actor is unafraid to show his skinny naked self if it is to go for comedic effect.
A joy to watch indeed.
Still, while laughing my head off I kept feeling a bit uneasy about the switcheroo of the sex of the main characters. I mean, really? A female who is a vixen, a fox? How lame is that? To fall on an ages old preconception, across all cultures, that is. However, I could not stay long concerning myself with women portraied in a stereotype manner. I was too busy laughing.
Cudos!
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A true bore
At the expense of turning myself into a bore too, I repeat: it was very, very boring. I have no idea what took me up to the 22nd episode. I guess, hope. Hope that somehow things will come around. They did not. And the review must be 300 words to get through. So, what am I to do if nothing of substance can be said of nothing of substance? I am amazed at the current score on MDL: 8,9?! Why, oh, why? Are there 300 words now?Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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An absolute gem!
Everyting is perfect in this series. On top of coherent story line, fast paced, action pacted, superb cinematography and great dark mood and overall aesthetics, one has the benefit, once again, to watch the Chinese actor at work. Actor, like in singular, like in type of actor. I am in awe seeing again and again, in this series and in others I watched online, how Chinese actors make true of the saying "there are no small parts; only actors". Indeed. no small parts and no small actors here ... Cudos!Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Loved it!
I will not embarass myself with writing praise after praise after prasie. But they, all of them, the creators of this work deserve it.It was a joy to watch, fast paced, entertaining, consistent, with beautiful acting and superb cinematography. A joy to watch all around. So, give it a try, for I will not give you the spoilers.
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I Will Find You a Better Home
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Outstanding on all levels
Outstanding acting, and story and character development. There are no small roles in this series. The actors make them big. Really! Shocked to see that communist China is a place of cut throat competitiveness and survival of the fittest game. How did it get past censorship? The sweet tones, the humorous lines or characters cannot erase the brutal reality exposed: having a home in Shanghai is a big deal, sometimes unattainable, or attainable at the cost of trampling over other people's lives. Also intertwined with the personal history of the two protagonists is the question of being filial to the point of being bullied by one's own family. Again: outstanding work and an eye opener for someone like me, living outside of the Chinese culture.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Liu Wei is an actor out of this world
I am writing from Bucharest, Romania, a country which was communist until 1989. To my thus trained eyes, this movie is obviously answering to a PCC request to portray the policies aiming at the transformation of the countryside to the point of "errasing the differences from citylife".However, in spite of that, the Chinese director and scriptwriter really knew how to deliver ...
It was sheer joy to watch such an intellectually rewarding script, with ample character development and plot turns, which provides a stark view into a vry brutal Chinese contemporary society.
The title role is played by Zhao Li Ying, who also had the female lead in “The Story of Minglan”.
She is good, outstanding are the supporting cast, but out of this world is Liu Wei, the 65 year old actor playing the local PCC leader.
I put Liu Wei in a chategory of his own, as stays Anthony Quinn, for instance.
The series starts with a bang, when at a wedding party in a village, the bride saves her sister from being raped with bashing the asailants head. The would be rapist was the son of the local PCC leader.
From there on, to the very end, it unfolds the uphill battle of the female protagonist with the family she married into, with the villagers, with the PCC local leaders. For a long time she is the underdog, and stays the underdog.
The last 30 minutes in the last episode rushes in the positive and politically acceptable outcome, but this fact cannot erase the rest of the episodes of sheer brutal realism.
Cudos for getting past the censorship such a movie!
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An absolute masterpiece
Perfection is the word for all the actors envolved, but I need to name here Duan Yi Hong for his portrayal of chancellor Lu Buwei. He is so, so subtle in his rendition of the multifaceted personality that Lu Buwei was ... It was a joy to watch. I was annoyed by the choice the casting directors had for the character of the first emperor: while the scripted words and the historical records said he was a teenager, the actor's age was obviously 40. Good actor. However, it was easier on the viewer to let go of this blatant discrepancy, only when the script dropped the constant reference to the character's age. Other than that, of course, there is the issue of translation into English. While I commend anyone's effort for providing it, still, that should be handled with much more care. I read a lot of comments from bilingual people, those who understood both Chinese and English, who were unhappy with it. I for one, have no hint of what I really missed from Chinese, but I got an idea that something was amiss from the English lines. So, when translating for us, the international viewers, do not work harder, but better. Thank you.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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So well done, that it pains to watch
This drama it is so well done on all levels, the performance of all professionals it is so outstanding, that the end result for me was that I could take it in only in small doses. No binge watching for me. This is something to be savoured. But also something to be weary of: the subject matter is dark and its rendering touches one deeply. It reminded me my first watching of Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of "The Shining", with Jack Nicholson in the leading role. I was literally hiding behind the door frame and looked at the TV with one eye only, ready to take refuge behind the wall. I am a grown up now, no hiding behind walls for me. Just pretending to have chores to do, so that I can take in, in small doses, this beautifully crafted Chinese series. Also, among the great cast all around, it was great for me to recognize actress Liu Lin whom I first spotted in a support role in "The Story of Minglan" series, of 2018. There, she and many other so called support role actors, delivered to the hilt, to the point that there were more "main role" performances than the casting presumed to be.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?