As soon as the news came out that Wong Kar-wai was going to direct a TV series, I was shocked and curious. In the Hong Kong film industry, there are always people who compare him with Wang Jing. One is good at speed, makes a movie at every turn, and the hype overshadows everything;while the other works slowly, just to create unique art, regardless of the cost. This difference makes me a little worried about Wong Kar-wai's TV series - after all, a two-hour movie can be made for three years, so a twenty-hour drama has to be filmed until the end of the world, right?But the final result surprised me: "Flowers" only took three years to prepare and shoot, and it was completed in four times.
This is simply the pinnacle of Wong Kar-wai's TV series. After the broadcast, the results were so "good" that they couldn't do it. CCTV broadcast eight sets, the network was launched, the ratings instantly broke 2, and the online popularity also went straight to the top of the list. With such a shock, who can really stay out of it?This drama has not only become the hottest topic in the entertainment industry on December 27, but also the king of dark horses in 2023.
But success is always controversial. The reviews of "Flowers" are mixed, and even have a tendency to polarize. Admirers praise Wong Kar-wai's unique imagery charm, and there is no doubt that he is truly outstanding in presenting images.
But there are also those who criticize the dislocation of the Shanghai setting and the confusion of the narrative in the play. Some people feel that the plot is out of touch with reality, and others criticize the narrative for being too complex and difficult for the audience to understand. I don't think it's a problem with Flowers, it's a poison of fast food culture – we're all used to quick deliveries and miss out on the real essence. This play shows the style of the 30s, which is Wong Kar-wai's unique portrayal of the sense of the era. He is good at freezing history through the lens and capturing the passage of time. For him, Shanghai in the 90s was more about showing the characters and mapping the entire era through the characters. Maybe this is different from the impression of the audience, but this is a true portrayal of history.
Besides, the cinematography of this drama was directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Bao Dexi. The camera presentation is completely Wong Kar-wai's style, and the various techniques are dazzling, and even the supporting roles have exclusive shots. In the TV series, this style has a unique charm, but some people ignorantly compare it with "Little Times". It's simply a confusion between oil painting and printing**.
As for the plot, Wong Kar-wai adopts a complex narrative style, and perhaps the first two episodes are a bit confusing, but each plot has its cause and effect, and the appearance of each character is full of story. It may be that under the fast food culture, the audience has lost the patience to understand, so the follow-up plot is somewhat disliked and too conventional.