After six years of polishing and three years of shooting, a "Flowers" has completely exploded!
Flowers" is adapted from the Jin Yucheng Mao Dun Literature Award of the same name**, and was hailed as "one of the best Shanghai** and one of the best cities**" when it was published.
When "Shanghai Story" meets "Wong Kar-wai Aesthetics", "Sunglasses King" tells the ups and downs of Shanghai's business in the 90s of the last century with classic camera movement, composition, color and soundtrack.
Shanghai in 1992 was bright with neon and a sea of flowers. The times are changing, the times are creating heroes, the protagonist A Baobai is under the door of the "old mage" uncle in the business world, with one hand and foreign trade with the other, and has become the head of the Shanghai business community.
"Flowers" is exquisite in the details of Shanghai in the 90s of the last century, 1:1 real scene to build the buildings and street scenes of Huanghe Road and Jinxian Road in that year, and the plot is inseparable from three main scenes: Peace Hotel, Huanghe Road to Zhenyuan Hotel, and Jinxian Road Night Tokyo Restaurant.
Why are they all restaurants?
The romantic and high-spirited city, the glorious years, in the final analysis, are inseparable from a meal, a glass of icing on the cake.
Looking back on the series, "King of Sunglasses" has pointed the camera at the dinner table and wine glasses many times, and there are endless details in the staggered scenes, and they are counted one by one.
In the 90s of the last century, brandy and whisky brands first landed in Hong Kong and then entered the mainland.
Bao "transformed" into the personable Mr. Bao, in addition to the straight suit, the "foreign wine" in his hand is also a symbol of successful status.
Rémy Martin x0
The wine that is clearly given in the play is from the official sponsor of "Flowers". In the 70s of the last century, Hong Kong genius Huang Zhan wrote the advertising slogan "As soon as Remy Martin opens, good things will come naturally", which has been passed down to this day.
In the 90s, under the influence of Hong Kong businessmen, Remy Martin xo Become a high-end product for business hospitality, the restaurant on Huanghe Road is not a business for eating, but a business of resources and connections. Drunk and golden, it is naturally indispensable to appear.
Hennessy
Except for Rémy Martin xo, in the flashing images of the episode, another well-known cognac brand, Hennessy, also appears.
Johnnie Walker
The "Black Cube" mentioned by the proprietress of Zhizhenyuan, Li Lee, comes from the famous whisky brand Johnnie Walker. In 1993, the average monthly salary of workers in Shanghai was 471 yuan, and the price of a bottle of black was as high as 980 yuan, which was more than twice the average monthly income.
As the reading of "Flowers" reads, "In 1993, on Huanghe Road, a 755-meter-long street, more than 100 restaurants were opened. Every night, it attracts countless large sums of money to spend here. In this year alone, hundreds of thousands of foreign wines poured into the throats of these Shanghainese. ”
Changyu
In addition to foreign wines, there are also some local wines in the Yellow River Road Zhizhen Garden, such as the "Changyu Grand Champagne" at the celebration banquet, which was later renamed "aerated cider", which can still be purchased today.
Zhizhen Garden, located in the ** section of the Yellow River Road, can import and sell rich alcohol products, which also means that the strength behind it should not be underestimated, and it must have found a lot of ways. Now, if you want to buy these high-end brand wines at one time, there is also a way, which is much easier than back then. Find a nearby Huazhi liquor store, not only can you collect the "three oceans" Martell, Hennessy, Remy Martin, Royal Salute, Louis at one time.
Ten. 3. Johnnie Walker and other products are also readily available.
For a long time, Huazhi Wine Store has maintained long-term strategic cooperative relations with world-renowned wine companies, such as Lafite Group, Fortune Group, Montes Group, etc., as well as international spirits head companies such as Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Moët Hennessy, Suntory, etc.
At the night Tokyo restaurant on Jinxian Road, the proprietress Reiko has worked hard in Japan, so from her personal style, to the restaurant's cuisine and wine style, she has integrated a bit of unique Japanese style.
Back to Night Tokyo, "Mr. Bao" returned to "Bao", ate a bowl of rice, drank a few glasses of old wine, and celebrated the New Year.
Asahi beer
Night Tokyo is small and fine, and it is a local dish with a taste of a traditional Japanese izakaya, often revealing beers, including Asahi beer, which began to enter the Chinese market in the 90s of the last century.
ThreeDeli Whisky - Hibiki
There are a lot of whiskey shots in "Flowers", and most of them are not exposed. Among them, the most impressive is the Suntory Hibiki 21 Year Old Blended Whisky.
Suntory has three core whisky brands: Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki. Launched in 1989, it is a classic of the brand and has won the title of "World's Best Blended Whisky" at the WWA World Whisky Awards many times. In the 90s, the 21-year-old golden flower was topped, and the current collection ** is about 9,000 yuan.
At Huazhi Distillery, you can buy whiskies such as Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Hibiki at one time, and experience different charms.
Moutai
Inventory of the good wines in "Flowers", you can't miss Moutai that appears many times.
In the play, Mr. Bao was about to go out to meet guests, and his uncle asked what he was drinking tonight, and he blurted out that it was Moutai. On the night of Tokyo's celebration, Mr. Bao was full of friends one by one, and it was also Moutai.
In the 90s of the last century, it was in a period of rapid economic development in China, with the rapid development of all walks of life, including the liquor industry.
At that time, Moutai's ** was stable at about 200 yuan. Nowadays, the value of Moutai in the 90s is rising in the collector's market due to its small production, old age and scarce stock. At the 2023 Autumn Auction of Beijing Poly, 6 bottles of 1990 Kweichow Moutai (iron cap) were sold for 224,250 yuan.
Moutai has witnessed the historical period of the rapid development of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics, and the collection of Moutai is the precious memory of the times.
There is a Moutai Collection in Beijing's East Second Ring Road, which not only has rare items such as the top ten bronzes of Moutai, but also a considerable number of iron-covered Moutai and "white-skinned" Moutai, and in 1958, Jinlun Kweichow Moutai became the award-winning collection of the "Moutai Collectors Association Award".
In addition to Moutai, in fact, many precious old liquors bear the imprint of the times, which has unique commemorative significance and collection value. In Tongzhou, Beijing, there is also one of China's largest old wine collection and famous wine appraisal center, covering an area of 10,000 square meters, with a collection of more than 250,000 bottles, not only covering all kinds of Moutai and old Moutai, but also the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and 53 excellent old wines. The memories of the 90s presented in "Flowers" are treasured here in the form of fine wine.
After taking stock of the wine in "Flowers", I couldn't help but sigh that Wong Kar-wai not only understands the times and people, but also understands wine too well.
After the drama addiction, it is difficult to solve the addiction to alcohol, so I will open a bottle of good wine tonight!