After a long time, Wong Kar-wai's "Flowers" is finally here.
It was broadcast on CCTV 8 for 10 minutes, and the ratings broke 2, with a peak of 26, Wong Kar-wai is very capable of fighting.
Flowers has received so much attention for several reasons.
First, because the TV series is adapted from the writer Jin Yucheng's eponymous **, which won the 9th Mao Dun Literature Award in 2015.
You must know that the last TV series adapted from the Mao Dun Literature Award** was the hit drama "The World" in 2022.
The series won dozens of awards such as Best TV Series, Best Male and Female Lead, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Best Director Award.
Therefore, the audience's expectations for "Flowers" are also very high.
The second is because the cast is very luxurious, and the heroes and heroines Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, and Xin Zhilei needless to say, have both traffic and strength.
In addition, the supporting roles in the play are also one and the same, Wu Yue, Dong Yong, Huang Jue, Lin Xilei, Yu Entai, Yang Haoyu, etc.
There is also the 90-year-old man You Benchang, such a lineup instantly filled the audience's expectations.
The third is because the director of this drama is Wong Kar-wai, and the king of sunglasses directs a TV series for the first time, which is inevitably a little surprising.
Wong Kar-wai's decades of directorial career, although there are not many works, but most of them are high-quality works, such as "The True Story of A Fei", "East Evil and West Poison", "Chongqing Forest", "In the Mood for Love" and so on.
directing the TV series this time really whetted the audience's appetite.
He also revealed that "Flowers" will be the third part of "In the Mood for Love" and "2046".
Wong Kar-wai's last work was "The Grandmaster" in 2013, and he spent a lot of thought on preparing for this drama.
"Flowers" has been filmed since 2020 and will not be broadcast until the end of 2023.
lived up to expectations, "Flowers", which "sharpened a sword in three years", hit a new high in popularity and ratings after it was launched.
Not only has the online platform given enough face, but it has been promoted on a large scale on the homepage of the platform, and the launch of Weidao has also received great attention.
I have to say that the combination of a great director, a luxurious cast, and an excellent original work is really charming.
01, dedicated and attentive crew.
In order to shoot this TV series well, the entire crew can be said to be doing their best.
Since the story takes place in Shanghai in the last century, in order to better show the storyline and regional characteristics, when the original casting, director Wong Kar-wai took "being able to speak Shanghainese well" as the first screening condition.
The leading actors Hu Ge, Ma Yili, and Tang Yan are all authentic Shanghainese, and they are all proper "old drama bones", and this drama also has two versions in Mandarin and Shanghainese.
During the filming, Wong Kar-wai also continued his style, shooting a lot of pictures, and striving for perfection in every scene.
Dong Yong, a 55-year-old actor this year, has rich acting experience and acting skills are obvious to all, but Rao is so, he has filmed more than 30 scenes alone.
In addition, in order to better restore the scenes in the story, the crew did not hesitate to spend a huge amount of money to restore and build a number of streets in Shanghai 1:1.
According to the analysis of relevant people, the investment in this TV series can shoot 3 S+-level ancient puppet dramas, which shows how much Wong Kar-wai attaches importance to this TV series.
02. Polarized word-of-mouth.
Proportional to the attention, is a huge audience group, but with the update of the series, the overall reputation of the TV series has encountered an embarrassing situation of polarization.
Some people think that the realm of a big-screen director is high, and the TV series reveals a movie-like delicacy everywhere, the texture and light and shadow are really amazing, and every frame is good-looking.
After watching it, some people sighed that this is the coolest domestic drama they have ever seen, and they are looking forward to the plot later.
In addition, the performances of the actors have been unanimously recognized by the audience, and Ah Bao played by Hu Ge is a panache in every move, with the temperament of a male god with a sense of age.
Tang Yan is no longer a silly and sweet image, she is decisive and neat in the play, and her heart is delicate and soft.
Xin Zhilei and Ma Yili perfectly deduced that boldness and charm can coexist, and the image of all manners is eye-catching.
In particular, the old man "Jigong" You Benchang gave people a great surprise, he is 90 years old this year, but the sword is not old, and his acting skills are still perfect.
showed a strong aura in a group of acting actors, his eyes, expressions, and movements were all dramas, and his line skills were not bad, and netizens sighed that this is the acting skills worthy of winning the Best Supporting Actor Award.
But along with the good reviews, there has also been a flood of bad reviews, and these bad reviews basically revolve around three aspects.
First, the rhythm is chaotic.
After watching the first two episodes, many viewers thought that the show was "too much of Wong Kar-wai's style".
The plot is too fragmented, the chronology changes too quickly, and it just gives people the feeling that each year is in a hurry and things are not explained clearly.
This made the audience feel that the plot was a little fragmented, and they couldn't see the core of the story, and some viewers even called this drama "the flowering era of the small era".
The second is that the sense of the times is out of order, and the actors are a little greasy.
The story takes place in the 90s of the last century, when Shanghai has faded from the atmosphere of ** and is quite modern.
But the lens of "Flowers" seems to be deliberately portraying a sense of age, and as a result, it brings the audience a feeling of ** period.
This sense of confusion about the times makes it difficult for the audience to bring it into the plot, and the sense of separation is even more serious.
In addition, the appearance of each character is a little too violent, with upward shots, overhead shots, large close-ups, and staggered virtual and real, resulting in the actors' appearances being a little exaggerated and their expressions a little greasy.
The third is that the plot is floating and ungrounded.
In recent years, many TV series that have been recognized by the audience are mostly quite realistic, such as the big hit "The World" and "The Long Season", etc., which are closer to people's lives and make the audience more immersive.
As far as the current episodes are concerned, the plot of "Flowers" is relatively floating, and some overemphasize the tone and blankness, resulting in some confusion.
In addition, some of the soundtracks are also a little out of place, obviously a story that takes place in Shanghai, but they use the Black Panthers' Beijing-style "No Land for Self-Containment".
However, Wong Kar-wai interpreted this, he said, "It ("No Land for Shame") represents the vitality of countless Po in that era, with surging passion, mixed joy and sorrow. ”
In a talk show, even Wong Kar-wai himself once said that there were a lot of blanks in the original book, which caused him to be a little clueless when directing.
However, the original book is already excellent, and Wong Kar-wai's level is also obvious to all, and "Flowers" is a drama that is getting better.
After surviving the first 2 episodes, I can't stop at all in the back, and I desperately want to know Ah Bao, Lingzi, Miss Wang, Li Li, where they will go.
One more thing, I recommend you to watch the Shanghainese version, which has a more sense of substitution, so you might as well give it a try. (Written by West Window Snow).