After a long wait, the first drama "Flowers" directed by Wong Kar-wai has finally started. watched four episodes of the Shanghainese version in one go, and there was only one sigh in my head:
The world of flowers is fascinating. ”
It's been a long time since I've seen a TV series like this.
is mainly what can be provided in film and television dramas now, there are too many same experiences. This also makes "Flowers" look particularly special. The drama series is adapted from writer Jin Yucheng's "Five One Project" and the Mao Dun Literature Award award-winning name**, produced and directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, and Xin Zhilei.
In the play, Hu Ge (as Mr. Bao) is handsome and takes off on the spot, Ma Yili (as Lingzi) is a little more aggressive, Tang Yan (as Miss Wang) is a little more coquettish, and Xin Zhilei (as Li Li) is even more glamorous.
In the first 4 episodes, in addition to the dozen or so characters who appear in turn, the narrative rhythm is also fast and the amount of information is huge.
The beginning of the episode is a contrasting drama. On the one hand, the ringing of the New Year's bell, lively, laughter, fireworks, on the other hand, the car accident fell from the sky, banknotes flew all over the sky, and the life and death of Mr. Bao were uncertain.
A large crowd was waiting at the hospital, concerned about whether he was alive or not.
Some people really care, some people have ghosts, and some people want him to live and continue to be for himself....It all started with a 414** that had been leaked.
After Mr. Bao's car accident, the design of the police interrogation on the one hand creates a sense of suspense, and more importantly, it smoothly brings out the identities of several main characters, the relationship with Mr. Bao and the background of their personalities, and highlights the small abacus in each character's heart at a fast pace through a few short lines, which is a very ironic metaphor for human nature.
When something happens, it's clear who is eating melons, who is worthy of deep friendship, and who wants to cut the table.
The first two episodes are character appearances and background introductions, with a huge capacity, not only explaining the history of Mr. Bao's family, outlining the relationship between the characters on the Yellow River Road, but also completely inserting a condensed version of the story of **Fengyun. Mr. Bao was plotted by others, generously betrayed the blame, did a thorough job of human affection, secretly investigated the mastermind, and paved the way for the follow-up story development. The third and fourth episodes focus on the foreign trade business, there are no tricks to win, and the first round of pulling with Li Li is over.
Different from the general linear narrative dramas, a large number of transitions and flashbacks in "Flowers" are to bury various narrative threads more widely and lay out a basic framework for the appearance of all beings in the big era. For example, at the end of episode 1, there was a wedge of "who hit Mr. Bao", and in episode 2, there was a wedge of "how to settle accounts with Commander Cai in the future".
The multi-line narrative firmly grasps the rhythm, the plot rhythm is very fast and crisp, the amount of information is too large, the clues are intertwined, the relationship between the characters is entangled, the background is constantly supplemented, and the characters' inner battles are open and secret, which constitutes the hearty and refreshing feeling of this drama.
As a result, in terms of narrative density, in fact, "Flowers" is not "Wong Kar-wai".
The rhythm of the business war in the first 4 episodes is relaxed, and even a little distraction can't keep up with the development of the plot, there is too much information, and a lot of information points are hidden in the clever and sharp lines between the characters, many times it is a line that has been brought over, and the lines are often basically extraneous, and if you miss a few seconds, you may not understand the plot, which will cause many people to say that they feel a little "messy". In fact, if you immerse yourself and look carefully, you can sort out the background and relationship between the characters, and you can also taste the previous history of the characters, as well as the background color of the characters' personalities.
For example, in fact, a large number of scenes of life and eating in the play are full of market fireworks, and the daily simple meals that seem to have no plot are all emotional flows.
Such a subtle and unobtrusive tone is more charming and fascinating.
Flowers focuses on the urban ecology and the hearts of various characters, which is not closed and self-appreciative, but an open and inviting gesture.
As long as you enter the context of the series, Shanghai is like a magic mirror, what you lack, you will see.
Mao Jian once said that in this world, there is no more suitable image annotation than Wong Kar-wai for "Flowers", and I hope that the wind of the times and the powder sweat and rain in the original work can be vividly remembered.
As mentioned above, in terms of narrative transparency and rhythm control, "Flowers" is actually "de-Wong Kar-wai", making the story and characters as clear and exciting as possible. In terms of image and texture, the director's style is still there, which is why some netizens lamented that the shots of the series are so silky.
For example, the tone of "Flowers".
The cautious costumes, style and taste of dressing revealed everywhere in "Flowers" are all eye-catching. This kind of aesthetics, fashion and taste can be the process of rebuilding Mr. Bao from his thinking and cognition to his external image. It is also reflected in the discussion between Reiko and Linghong about pearl stud earrings, for example, "Jewelry is like a man, you can't compromise." ”
How did Uncle turn a Bao into a treasure on the beach?
Uncle Bao is Mr. Bao's military advisor, he is good at human feelings, takes precautions, and can see everyone's weaknesses.
"Three steps to make money" is the business experience passed on by his uncle to Bao, and it is also a means to test his human character. When Uncle and Po first started working together, they specially invited a professional old tailor to tailor a suit for him. The tailor wanted to fool his uncle at first, but the uncle blurted out a few professional terms, and as soon as the material was touched, a look scared the tailor.
Shanghai people do business, pay attention to the panache, gimmick, sprouts, this bit of the body is your panache, this private room is your gimmick, the sprouts are your 3 wallets ......”
This is a very real icon packaging logic.
The most stylish suites in the Peace Hotel, several sets of the most stylish suits, meticulous hairstyles.
As soon as the camera turned, the light and shadow changed, and Ah Bao became Mr. Bao.
This is Wong Kar-wai's skill, and it is also Wong Kar-wai's tone.
In the first episode, Mr. Bao went to Mr. Bao's transformation, and in the second episode, Mr. Bao decided to appear in two shots of the Yellow River Road, and it can be said that the camera unscrupulously stared at Hu Ge in all directions, and fully showed this gaze through his uncle's reaction shot. Looking at Po's straight appearance when he put on the suit, Uncle saw himself when he was young in a trance, and he was full of spirit and indispensable. And now that he is old, his unfinished ambition has to be realized by Mr. Bao, so tears are shining in his eyes.
And Hu Ge's every move is all about style.
There are a lot of shots in the series that outline the demeanor of the characters through the changes of light and shadow details, and they are also very particular about the composition, such as symmetry and frame-within-a-frame. This may seem to the average viewer as simply mistaking the light as dim.
Men have tones, and women have them.
The woman is not only smart and capable, but also Yu Luo Xiangze, with a gentle voice, a tall figure, and beautiful eyes.
Bao is always the protagonist and does not affect the landing of other characters, Bao always has three women who are closely related to him in Shanghai, namely Reiko, the proprietress of Tokyo, Miss Wang, the staff of the Foreign Trade Building, and Li Li, the proprietress of Zhizhenyuan.
The three golden flowers in Shanghai each show a branch, each has its own merits, and the skirt is in full bloom.
Reiko, played by Ma Yili, and Po open a local restaurant full of market fireworks on Jinxian Road. She is exquisite, able to bend and stretch, affectionate and righteous. If the Yellow River Road is a battlefield for Bao, then Night Tokyo is a haven for him to recuperate.
Lingzi and Bao Zong's verbal confrontation is also the same, lunch, dinner, tea, obviously made tea for Mr. Bao, but turned around to let Mr. Bao take the tea and pour it out, so he could only pour a glass of water by himself. Ma Yili is not only tasteful enough in her lines, but also in her language, demeanor and details similar to various small body movements, which are too exquisite, making Reiko a woman vivid, shrewd but cute.
Miss Wang, who works in the Foreign Trade Building, is the first generation of female white-collar workers, she has a flamboyant personality, is honest and principled, and dares to rush and take responsibility.
The growth line of this female character is actually very plump, and it will be slowly revealed later.
Li Li, played by Xin Zhilei, is a very eye-catching character in the drama "Flowers". In his first appearance, after Li Li inquired about the news of Golden Phoenix at the newsstand, he turned around and drew frames, which was simply a Wong Kar-wai movie.
When Zhizhenyuan opened, there were many "silent" moments between Li Li and Mr. Bao.
The rivalry between Mr. Bao and Xin Zhilei has a lot of tension and a strong sense of confrontation - the classic visual scene is that the two of them look up and down, one is in the Zhizhen Garden, the other is in the red heron, looking at each other through the window in the misty night.
After Mr. Bao's car accident, the Yellow River Road was full of legends of Mr. Bao. In the plot of the first 4 episodes, how Li Li asked Mr. Bao to come to Zhizhenyuan to talk about business is the biggest goal. Li Li "airborne" on the Yellow River Road, and the operation was all a show of double business. A very refreshing detail is how she fired the manager and promoted the little girl who accompanied the wine, and reminded the waiter that making money is not a button, but a brain. And, how did she use a tip of 200 yuan to get information about Mr. Fan's mysterious goods through the way of cleaning the lady.
These big and small ways of dealing with it show that she has the means to deal with it both externally and internally, whether it is business or management.
Li Li moved between Mr. Fan, Mr. Wei, and Mr. Bao, judging the situation, tossing and turning, and gaining benefits for Zhizhenyuan;Miss Wang is energetic, and her performance has been achieved, and Mr. Bao is always strolling around and strategizing at a low priceMr. Fan also opened the market on the Yellow River Road;Mr. Wei also won fame after all.
The business war in the first 4 episodes of "Flowers" is actually the answer to all win.
At the same time, the three characters represent the different appearances and personalities of Shanghai women in the tide of the times, showing the diversity and vitality of Shanghai women.
At first glance, the characters appear like marquees, which may be difficult to locate and dazzling.
When the personalities of these characters are first revealed, they are staggering, and each character is real and believable, and they are ready to come out.
Other characters, such as Mr. Fan played by Dong Yong, are a small person who is out of tune at first glance, but he is actually the father of domestic products in the 90s. He always smiles innocently, but he is always observant, and he is a thoughtful old fox. This character is full of joy and is not obnoxious.
There is also Mr. Bao's brother Tao Tao, who also repeated the borrowing paragraph, which portrays his righteous character at once. At the same time, it also echoes the dignity of Tao Tao when Mr. Bao tried to save Tao Tao when Tao Tao and Mr. Wei's subordinates disputed in the later text, forming a contrast, and the deep affection between brothers was established convincingly.
Wong Kar-wai, as always, has a unique taste in the picture and **, which is very in line with the impression that the Shanghai entrepreneurs who seized the trend of the times in that era always maintained their tone.
And the vitality shown by these characters is realistic, vivid, and vivid, which makes people deeply immersed in it and unable to extricate themselves. I gradually feel that everyone is quite sharp and full of vigorous vitality.
Their way of living, their attitude, is still very exemplary in the present.
In this way, "Flowers" has three levels. The first layer is, **foreign trade and business economy.
The second layer is the humanity and principles of the protagonists.
The third layer is the grass-colored gray line, which is finely arranged, grasping the objects, people, space, and smells, and they will merge the trickle of the story.
Mr. Bao, Lingzi, Miss Wang, Li Li, Uncle, Tao Tao, Mr. Fan, Manager Pan, etc., and other small characters, each character has its own character characteristics, in the torrent of the times, it is destined to have intricate stories to unfold, there are conflicts that are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and entanglements in the love mall.
"Flowers" is about eating men and women on the surface, but inside it is the changes of the times.
When I watched it, it was like returning to the era when the future was full of infinite hope, a time when enthusiasm was surging and positive, and everyone had room to show their strengths.
Everyone was very excited, and they looked very rushed.
The exuberant energy in "Flowers" stores our imagination of the future full of vitality.
It has a strong taste, and it accompanies us on New Year's Eve, so you can taste it slowly.