On December 27, the TV series "Flowers" premiered, and it has been ten years since director Wong Kar-wai and writer Kim Woo-cheng met for the first time. Wong Kar-wai looked back on this period and said that he was like Ah Bao in the play, "crossing the river by feeling the stones". There are more than 100 characters in the original book, and Wong Kar-wai cut quite a few characters during the production process. For this reason, after the first episode aired, many viewers were confused and expressed their incomprehension. Wong Kar-wai's biggest change to the original work is to change Ah Bao, one of the three male protagonists in the original work, to the only protagonist, and he showed the momentum of the boss as soon as he appeared, "grasping ** with his left hand, and grasping foreign trade with his right hand". First of all, let's talk about how Po became Mr. Bao. It is not reflected in the original book, but Wong Kar-wai illustrates this process through "filling" in the TV series. In this filler, a key character is "Grandpa" - Po's nobleman. In addition, the second factor of Bao's success is "affection", which includes many elements such as respect for the elderly, keeping promises, altruism, and responsibility.
The process of Ah Bao asking his uncle for advice reminds people of an ancient story, the story of Zhang Liang's "Xia Pi picking up shoes". In this story, Zhang Liang showed great respect for Huang Shigong, and finally won Huang Shigong's appreciation and the strange book "Taigong's Art of War", thus helping Liu Bang achieve hegemony. A similar plot also appeared in "Flowers", Ah Bao was also very obedient, and his uncle asked him to buy **, no matter how difficult it was, he had to find a way to borrow money and squeeze in the door to buy it;Uncle asked him to sell, no matter how high he was, he was not greedy, so he simply got rid of it, and finally succeeded in making a sack of money. In this story, Uncle has been secretly observing, and there are several tests here: trust, not greedy, and keeping promises. This "uncle" (played by You Benchang) who brought Po into the industry has all the refinements of the old Shanghainese, but there is no such character at all in the original book. On the contrary, what appears in the original book is a "grandfather" who lives in the pavilion, covets the young **Yinfeng but can't, is filthy enough to spy on other people's privacy, and vicious enough to report other people's private affairs.
Mr. Mu Xin once said: "Maybe if you have lived in the pavilion, you are worthy of being a Shanghainese from a professional class, and if you can't get out of the pavilion for a lifetime, you will be a Shanghainese in vain." Po's grandfather was a bourgeoisie, his father was an underground party, and the family was forced to move to the "workers' new village" on the outskirts in 1966. Of course, Ah Bao can be regarded as a Shanghainese in Mr. Mu Xin's mouth. Next, let's talk about the story of Lingzi, Miss Wang, and Li Li, the three golden flowers, competing for beauty around Po. In the original book, their background is as follows: in the bustling city center of Shanghai, there is a small restaurant called "Night Tokyo", and its story is closely connected with a group of maverick people. Among them, there is a woman named Reiko, who has lived in Japan for many years, and recently returned to Shanghai and opened this small restaurant on Jinxian Road in the center of the city. Reiko has a friend named Tao Tao, who is a vendor selling crabs. And the other main character is Po, a personable man who is entangled with Reiko's fate in a divorce lawsuit.
In addition, Ah Bao also has two friends, namely Husheng and Xiaomao, who are also inextricably linked with Lingzi. All these connections are closely intertwined with their destinies. The encounter between Po and Reiko was born in Shanghai. Husheng is Bao's friend, and Reiko is Tao Tao's friend, and the two finally come together through such intricate interpersonal relationships. This narrative seems to make the development of the whole story more confusing and full of dramatic tension. In this suspenseful story, each character has their own unique personality and destiny trajectory, and their relationships are intertwined to form the essence of this play. In addition to Reiko and Po, there is also a woman named Miss Wang, who is Po's partner and has a crush on him. Miss Wang's husband works in the ** department, and the two are not wealthy, but they have a daughter. However, Miss Wang is not willing to be just a housewife, she longs to have more children. However, in the era of family planning, her husband could not meet her demands.
So, she set her sights on Po, but Po ignored her hints. This kind of intricate emotional entanglement makes it impossible to predict the next development, and there is a lot of suspense. In addition to Miss Wang, there is also a woman named Li Li, who is a friend of Miss Wang and a businessman from Shenzhen. She walked through the catwalk, ran across the docks, saw a lot of things, and was even involved in the "underworld". Li Li came to Shanghai to open a restaurant, and Miss Wang introduced her to Husheng and Bao. When Po first met Li Li, he was attracted by her temperament and style. In this way, Po has another mysterious and striking woman in her life, adding more suspense and tension to the whole story. In this drama about love and fate, Po faces three very different women, Reiko, Miss Wang, and Li Li. Each woman has her own unique personality and charm, and the emotional entanglements between them are intertwined and make up the essence of this play.
Lingzi is strong and resolute, Miss Wang is witty and exquisite, and Li Li is deeply hidden, who will become Bao's official partner, and the winner is difficult to decide. Such confusing emotional entanglements and interpersonal relationships are intertwined, making this drama full of infinite possibilities and suspense. Where will Bao's fate go, we can only wait for the results to be revealed. "Flowers": Hu Ge's filming journey During the filming of "Flowers", Hu Ge never got the complete script. This made him feel a little confused, but he chose to trust the director Wong Kar-wai and follow his pace. Wong Kar-wai does not intend to shoot exactly according to the original book, so the audience can let go of the baggage of the original book and follow the director's narrative without any scruples. In the original book, Ah Bao and Li Li have a close relationship, but Li Li has never been able to get rid of his inner troubles, and finally chose to become a monk to seek peace of mind. In addition, Po also has many important character relationships, such as neighbor Betty and her first love Xuezhi. Audiences are curious about whether these characters will get more attention in the movie.
During the filming process, Hu Ge's Ah Bao was not easy, he went deep into the role and felt the emotional ups and downs of the character with his heart. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, and seemed to melt into the character's inner pain. The film is sure to allow audiences to witness Hu Ge's superb performance and the unique narrative style of director Wong Kar-wai.