Foreword:
At present, how important is the ratings in the film and television industry?The crew of "Yi Nian Guan Mountain" seems to be catering to the ever-changing fashion trend, and has intensified and destroyed the precious art form of "ethnic minorities" in ancient puppet dramas. Even with the best script and materials, if the interpreter can't really get into the play and vividly present the character's characteristics, then even the most perfect story will be difficult to show the real charm. Therefore, the biggest problem in "Yi Nian Guan Mountain" may be the casting and performance of the actors.
Four major failures:
The first is the performance of the heroine Liu Shishi, which is unsatisfactory. She has not been involved in costume dramas for six years, and she is fully armed in "Yi Nian Guan Mountain", but she presents a "silicone face". The overly serious beautification and filter effects not only blurred the picture, but also overshadowed Liu Shishi's facial features due to unclarity. This significantly affected the viewing experience, and her demeanor was even more unbearable. In the film, regardless of emotional joy, anger and sorrow, she seems to always maintain a "dignified" posture, and even in the face of the death of her classmates, she seems too stiff and lacks real sadness or despair. She insisted on using dubbing and failed to fully adjust the lip shape, resulting in the "synchronization" of the lines and lips throughout the play, which further weakened the authenticity of the perception.
The actor Liu Yuning is even more indescribable. As a singer, he tried to perform on the silver screen, but was criticized as "completely unaware of how to navigate a complex role with rich connotations". One of the most obvious problems is that he has never been able to get rid of his hunched chest and dejected standing posture, which is completely inconsistent with the cold and handsome image he plays. The attitude of "disdain" and "casually knocking down one enemy after another" in the fight scenes is even more contrary to the character's deep and introverted image. In addition, Liu Yuning seems to have his eyes half-open throughout the play, which makes the whole performance seem to lack a sense of agility. Whether he understood how to portray three-dimensional figures also raised questions. The lack of chemistry between the two leading actors makes their rivalry extremely awkward and difficult to arouse the audience's interest.
Chen Xiaojun lost his expression due to excessive facial filling, and Chen Youwei's hairstyle and styling also failed. Such a cast of "four failures" has made this series that could have shined lose its due brilliance, and their performances have become an important reason for the audience's disappointment, causing word of mouth to plummet.
Slow motion vs. content issues:
In fact, when the actor problem can still be adjusted, the crew of "Yi Nian Guan Mountain" chose to publicly "sing" the heroine Liu Shishi. In the interview, Miss Liu mentioned that she understood that the female director Ruyi was very similar to a "lone wolf", but a certain character in the crew posted an emoji on social networks, denying the "lone wolf" statement and expressing doubts. This kind of incongruous internal contradiction of the crew is not only incompatible with Liu Shishi's position, but also slows down the work efficiency of the entire crew. This kind of open and secret fighting makes the two factions fight endlessly, which may affect the smooth progress of the follow-up work, and make the audience worry that "Yi Nian Guan Mountain" will become a "half-finished product" that ends without a problem.
Summarizing the End-Time Prophecy:
Combined with the above analysis, we may have to make a cautious judgment on the prospect of the drama "Yi Nian Guan Mountain". This drama has problems with the internal contradictions of the actors and crew and the perfunctory content handling, which is a great disappointment. Perhaps, it has become a footnote to the bottleneck period of the development of ancient puppet dramas, indicating that the vitality of this niche drama may gradually weaken. The reason for this phenomenon may be the lack of investment in production and the lack of innovation. The crew doesn't seem to realize that the ancient puppet show itself is on the cusp and needs to go all out to make a breakthrough. In an IP era, the crew failed to fully understand the characteristics of ancient puppet dramas and failed to innovate techniques, which led to unattractive audiences. For this kind of detached practice, the audience's reputation is self-evident. It is hoped that the crew can learn lessons from this failure, carry out deep reflection and innovation, and only then can they reverse the decline and usher in new glory.