"It's so hard for you to place an expression on his face".
Since I watched it once years ago, since I read the books at least twice, since I spent a year or so subbing it, and since I watched it again with Henry, it's only proper that I give Dream of Red Mansions (2010) a proper review.
Back when this drama came out, there was a lot of backlash against it. People didn't like the women's hair. People didn't like the speed-up walking scenes and general mood/music that makes them feel like they're watching a "horror movie". And from there, general opinion determined that the production shitted on Cao Xueqin's work.
Well, here I am to try and spread my contrary, unpopular opinion. I don't claim to be some Redologist. I read the English translation twice. I'm trying to read the Chinese text now (second attempt). Still, based on subbing this drama, I feel like I have a good grasp of the basic plot of the original book and can voice some opinions on it.
Cast and Characters:
There are obviously a lot of characters, so I'll write about the notable ones.
Spoiled rich kid Jia Baoyu is played first by Jim Yu and then later by inexplicably famous Yang Yang (Love O2O, The Lost Tomb).
Probably the most "acting" Yang Yang has ever done in his life.
Jim Yu is very good as young Baoyu. I feel like Baoyu is one of those characters that, if done poorly, can be very creepy and annoying. But Jim Yu does a good job of mixing innocent/spoiled/endearing.
Yang Yang is just there. He's not as terrible as his later acting efforts where he does nothing. I guess casting knew what they were doing to pick him to play Baoyu after Baoyu becomes idiotic from the loss of his jade.
To go out on a tangent, Yang Yang is one of those actors that I just cannot understand how he got popular. His is a face that I'm just blind to. All of his features just look so average to me. After watching this, Love O2O, The Lost Tomb, and attempting to watching King's Avatar, I still cannot recognize what Yang Yang looks like. Yet, the internet keeps telling me how handsome he is despite being a crap actor. He basically plays the exact same character in Love O2O, The Lost Tomb, and King's Avatar: the cool guy without an expression that's awesome at everything. Boring! He doesn't even bother to try to look slightly-inconvenienced when he acts. He just does nothing.
Exhibit A: Love O2O.
Exhibit B: King's Avatar. Not sure which one is Yang Yang? He's the expressionless one.
Exhibit C: The Lost Tomb.
Other spoiled kid Lin Daiyu is played by Jiang Mengjie and I don't know how she's not more popular.
Jiang Mengjie plays Daiyu really frustratingly well. She's annoyingly sensitive about thing yet so pitiful whenever she plays her orphan card. I like to imagine she plays Daiyu so well that she's one of the few young actors that end up playing their character through the whole drama rather than being replaced halfway when there's a time jump.
The less spoiled kid Xue Baochai is played by Li Qin (Princess Agents, Fights Break Sphere, The Wolf) and her annoying delivery. Older Baochai is played by Michelle Bai.
I don't really care for Li Qin as an actor and I continue to not really like her here. There's just something about her delivery that's really unnatural. But somehow she's one of the more popular actors to come out of this drama. Michelle Bai does a better job. But I think overall, Baochai as a character is given less to do. She's the standard virtuous woman in the story and is generally given less to do as a result.
Scheming Wang Xifeng is played by Yao Di and I really like both the character and the acting.
She's just so good with her scheming side-eyes, insane rage, and ingratiating niceness. I think Yao Di does an excellent job of portraying Xifeng.
Yang Mi (Palace, Chinese Paladin 3, 3310, Swords of Legends, Return of the Condor Heroes, Storm Eye) is also in this drama, playing Baoyu's maid, Skybright.
I like those two feathers...they're like upside-down devil's horns.
I generally have a positive opinion of Yang Mi since she actually tries to have facial expressions when she acts. So I'm fine with her fame.
However, I'm not fine with Zanilia Zhao (Princess Agents), playing Xing Xiuyan.
Zanilia Zhao...another inexplicably famous bad actor. I guess not having an expression on one's face is the way to get famous in China.
Special mention goes to Irene Chow (Joy Luck Club) as Grandmother Jia.
It's sort of depressing to know that, of the three of the most famous actors to come out of this drama, only Yang Mi is capable of having expressions while Yang Yang and Zanilia Zhao just do the least. The other, much more capable actors, end up being much less famous. There's no justice in this world.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Production and Production Design
Screw the bitter people and their negativity towards this drama. The scenes and settings are beautiful.
The opening and ending title sequences use Sun Wen's paintings inspired by the book from the Qing Dynasty and it's obvious the production tries to mirror the feel of those paintings when they have wide outdoor shots. So looking at those scenes is like looking at a painting.
Asides from really liking that style of painting (what I call "little people in scenery paintings" - since I know nothing about art), it also reminds me of my favorite painting, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".
The setting of the book is an unspecified dynasty in imperial China. So the production took liberties with hair, makeup, and dress and I'm okay with that because it's not supposed to be set in a specific historical setting asides from general imperial China. But many people in China hated the women's hairstyles.
But somehow, no one ever complains about the fake, stupid, face-lift tight wigs thrown on all the male characters in all historical Chinese drama ever.
The women's hairstyle is obviously inspired by Chinese opera.
It's a bold choice to make since modern dramas don't use that hairstyle. But I respect that production tried something different. The hairstyle from this drama is probably instantly recognizable versus the hundreds of historical dramas with uninspired hair design.
Pro: Partially not dubbed
For unknown reasons, the drama is only partially dubbed (which means it's partially undubbed!). Young Baoyu is dubbed, as is Grandmother Jia. I believe Young Baochai, Aroma, and Patience aren't dubbed and probably Lady Wang isn't dubbed. I'm less sure about Skybright (she has a shrill voice, but not sure if it's Yang Mi's shrill voice) and Wang Xifeng. Still, even the characters that are dubbed aren't dubbed annoyingly. There's not a lot of the exaggerated sighing thing that dubbers do that get on my nerves.
Pro: It's pretty faithful to the book
There are some parts of the book that they cut out, like Jia Baoyu's doppelganger, Zhen Baoyu. They also shuffled around the order of some events happening, but I think they're very minor shuffling. So in general, I would say this is a good, faithful adaptation of the book.
Con: Narrator being too faithful to the book
A criticism that I actually agree with is that the narrator is too unnecessary at times and he narrates lines straight from the book. I don't remember specific instances, but for example, there would be times that the narrator talks about how a character said this or that. Then the character goes right on to say this or that. If they were going to film the actors saying the lines, then there was no point in having the narrator tell the audience the character is going to say those lines!
Or that Lin Daiyu was so sad that she cried...then they went and showed Daiyu crying. There's no need to narrate what the character is doing if that character is doing so right on the screen!
Similarly, the narrator would narrate an event taking place right in front of us. I remember for Daiyu's first dinner at the Jia's, the narrator has to tell the audience how quiet everything was even as a bunch of servants went about serving the meal. The scene was shot with none of the servants saying anything so the audience can see that it's very quiet. So there was no need to have the narrator tell the audience.
It felt like they put in those lines for the narrator to say because those were the exact lines from the book. But it's one thing to have descriptors in a book because there's no visual aid. It's quite another to narrate what is going on during the scene.
Pro: Those "horror movie" elements
The criticism that this drama has the feel of a creepy ghost story baffles me. Did people not read the book? Visions, dreams, possessions, black magic, and hauntings were all part of the plots of the actual story.
And I think the drama pulled off the visuals of those really well, starting with Baoyu's dream of the twelve beauties of Jinling.
Baoyu reading the register is probably one of my favorite scenes in the book and it's very well-done with the moving pictures in the drama.
People also found fault with the makeup of characters like Qin Keqing, saying she's more like an evil spider spirit than a lady of good breeding in historical times.
But I think people are forgetting that Keqing is a character that had some sort of undefined, potentially scandalous relationship with her father-in-law. The way her room was decorated also hints at comparisons to famously beautiful historical women that brought disaster to those around them (ie. Yang Guifei, Zhao Feiyan). Keqing is not supposed to be some sort of virtuous character. Was it too heavy-handed to give Keqing that makeup/dress combo? Maybe. But it's very standard in visual media to have characters take on outward appearance of their inner characterization.
Con: Changing actors
I really like the cast of young actors. Then when they aged Baoyu up, they also aged up most of the cousins with the exception of Daiyu. All the maids also stayed the same, even though they're around the same age as Baoyu and the rest of the girls. So asides from it being visually jarring, I also feel that the younger cast was better than the older cast.
I can kind of see why they would age Baoyu up since the Jim Yu looked too young to be carrying on any sort of romance with any of the girls. But there seems to be no reason to replace any of the other young actors while keeping Daiyu the same age.
End Thoughts
Since the book is incredibly popular in China, I feel like there's no adaptation that's going to please everyone. People often talk about how the adaptation from the 1980's is far superior. I haven't watched the whole thing, so I can't really compare. But I did watch the first one or two episodes and felt it was unwatchable due to age of the production.
I mean, people think those bad bangs on everyone is superior to the Chinese opera hair? Or that red ball on top of Baoyu's head is more "historically" accurate? That's probably also inspired by Chinese opera, but I guess it's more acceptable in the 1987 version somehow.
If people want to criticize the 2010 production based on hair and makeup, they're forgetting that the 1987 version doesn't have good hair either and the makeup is incredibly dated.
From all the criticisms I read, people seem either hung up on minor details (makeup/hair...someone even complaining that Daiyu has a double chin and that one of the younger cousins has bad skin) or they don't seem to have a grasp of some of the characters. One common complaint I read was how stupid and out of the loop Lady Wang seemed. But that's her exact character in the book! She is a loving, doting mother. But she is not somebody that takes action even when she knows something is wrong. That's why Aroma had to pull her aside and tell her that it would be trouble to keep Baoyu with his female cousins in the garden; That Baoyu liked Daiyu more, etc. Even then, Lady Wang's reaction was, "yes, I know...but what can I do about it?" She is not someone that takes the initiative unless there are other people pulling her along, like when Patience had to practically drag her around to save Qiaojie from being married off.
Given the above, I feel this drama has an unfair bad rep. It's actually a totally well-made drama that's worth the watch. Are there bad things about it? Yes. But I feel that the good way outweighs the bad.
Back when this drama came out, there was a lot of backlash against it. People didn't like the women's hair. People didn't like the speed-up walking scenes and general mood/music that makes them feel like they're watching a "horror movie". And from there, general opinion determined that the production shitted on Cao Xueqin's work.
Well, here I am to try and spread my contrary, unpopular opinion. I don't claim to be some Redologist. I read the English translation twice. I'm trying to read the Chinese text now (second attempt). Still, based on subbing this drama, I feel like I have a good grasp of the basic plot of the original book and can voice some opinions on it.
Cast and Characters:
There are obviously a lot of characters, so I'll write about the notable ones.
Spoiled rich kid Jia Baoyu is played first by Jim Yu and then later by inexplicably famous Yang Yang (Love O2O, The Lost Tomb).
Probably the most "acting" Yang Yang has ever done in his life.
Jim Yu is very good as young Baoyu. I feel like Baoyu is one of those characters that, if done poorly, can be very creepy and annoying. But Jim Yu does a good job of mixing innocent/spoiled/endearing.
Yang Yang is just there. He's not as terrible as his later acting efforts where he does nothing. I guess casting knew what they were doing to pick him to play Baoyu after Baoyu becomes idiotic from the loss of his jade.
To go out on a tangent, Yang Yang is one of those actors that I just cannot understand how he got popular. His is a face that I'm just blind to. All of his features just look so average to me. After watching this, Love O2O, The Lost Tomb, and attempting to watching King's Avatar, I still cannot recognize what Yang Yang looks like. Yet, the internet keeps telling me how handsome he is despite being a crap actor. He basically plays the exact same character in Love O2O, The Lost Tomb, and King's Avatar: the cool guy without an expression that's awesome at everything. Boring! He doesn't even bother to try to look slightly-inconvenienced when he acts. He just does nothing.
Exhibit A: Love O2O.
Exhibit B: King's Avatar. Not sure which one is Yang Yang? He's the expressionless one.
Exhibit C: The Lost Tomb.
Other spoiled kid Lin Daiyu is played by Jiang Mengjie and I don't know how she's not more popular.
Jiang Mengjie plays Daiyu really frustratingly well. She's annoyingly sensitive about thing yet so pitiful whenever she plays her orphan card. I like to imagine she plays Daiyu so well that she's one of the few young actors that end up playing their character through the whole drama rather than being replaced halfway when there's a time jump.
The less spoiled kid Xue Baochai is played by Li Qin (Princess Agents, Fights Break Sphere, The Wolf) and her annoying delivery. Older Baochai is played by Michelle Bai.
I don't really care for Li Qin as an actor and I continue to not really like her here. There's just something about her delivery that's really unnatural. But somehow she's one of the more popular actors to come out of this drama. Michelle Bai does a better job. But I think overall, Baochai as a character is given less to do. She's the standard virtuous woman in the story and is generally given less to do as a result.
Scheming Wang Xifeng is played by Yao Di and I really like both the character and the acting.
She's just so good with her scheming side-eyes, insane rage, and ingratiating niceness. I think Yao Di does an excellent job of portraying Xifeng.
Yang Mi (Palace, Chinese Paladin 3, 3310, Swords of Legends, Return of the Condor Heroes, Storm Eye) is also in this drama, playing Baoyu's maid, Skybright.
I like those two feathers...they're like upside-down devil's horns.
I generally have a positive opinion of Yang Mi since she actually tries to have facial expressions when she acts. So I'm fine with her fame.
However, I'm not fine with Zanilia Zhao (Princess Agents), playing Xing Xiuyan.
Zanilia Zhao...another inexplicably famous bad actor. I guess not having an expression on one's face is the way to get famous in China.
Special mention goes to Irene Chow (Joy Luck Club) as Grandmother Jia.
It's sort of depressing to know that, of the three of the most famous actors to come out of this drama, only Yang Mi is capable of having expressions while Yang Yang and Zanilia Zhao just do the least. The other, much more capable actors, end up being much less famous. There's no justice in this world.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Production and Production Design
Screw the bitter people and their negativity towards this drama. The scenes and settings are beautiful.
The opening and ending title sequences use Sun Wen's paintings inspired by the book from the Qing Dynasty and it's obvious the production tries to mirror the feel of those paintings when they have wide outdoor shots. So looking at those scenes is like looking at a painting.
Asides from really liking that style of painting (what I call "little people in scenery paintings" - since I know nothing about art), it also reminds me of my favorite painting, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".
The setting of the book is an unspecified dynasty in imperial China. So the production took liberties with hair, makeup, and dress and I'm okay with that because it's not supposed to be set in a specific historical setting asides from general imperial China. But many people in China hated the women's hairstyles.
But somehow, no one ever complains about the fake, stupid, face-lift tight wigs thrown on all the male characters in all historical Chinese drama ever.
The women's hairstyle is obviously inspired by Chinese opera.
It's a bold choice to make since modern dramas don't use that hairstyle. But I respect that production tried something different. The hairstyle from this drama is probably instantly recognizable versus the hundreds of historical dramas with uninspired hair design.
Pro: Partially not dubbed
For unknown reasons, the drama is only partially dubbed (which means it's partially undubbed!). Young Baoyu is dubbed, as is Grandmother Jia. I believe Young Baochai, Aroma, and Patience aren't dubbed and probably Lady Wang isn't dubbed. I'm less sure about Skybright (she has a shrill voice, but not sure if it's Yang Mi's shrill voice) and Wang Xifeng. Still, even the characters that are dubbed aren't dubbed annoyingly. There's not a lot of the exaggerated sighing thing that dubbers do that get on my nerves.
Pro: It's pretty faithful to the book
There are some parts of the book that they cut out, like Jia Baoyu's doppelganger, Zhen Baoyu. They also shuffled around the order of some events happening, but I think they're very minor shuffling. So in general, I would say this is a good, faithful adaptation of the book.
Con: Narrator being too faithful to the book
A criticism that I actually agree with is that the narrator is too unnecessary at times and he narrates lines straight from the book. I don't remember specific instances, but for example, there would be times that the narrator talks about how a character said this or that. Then the character goes right on to say this or that. If they were going to film the actors saying the lines, then there was no point in having the narrator tell the audience the character is going to say those lines!
Or that Lin Daiyu was so sad that she cried...then they went and showed Daiyu crying. There's no need to narrate what the character is doing if that character is doing so right on the screen!
Similarly, the narrator would narrate an event taking place right in front of us. I remember for Daiyu's first dinner at the Jia's, the narrator has to tell the audience how quiet everything was even as a bunch of servants went about serving the meal. The scene was shot with none of the servants saying anything so the audience can see that it's very quiet. So there was no need to have the narrator tell the audience.
It felt like they put in those lines for the narrator to say because those were the exact lines from the book. But it's one thing to have descriptors in a book because there's no visual aid. It's quite another to narrate what is going on during the scene.
Pro: Those "horror movie" elements
The criticism that this drama has the feel of a creepy ghost story baffles me. Did people not read the book? Visions, dreams, possessions, black magic, and hauntings were all part of the plots of the actual story.
And I think the drama pulled off the visuals of those really well, starting with Baoyu's dream of the twelve beauties of Jinling.
Baoyu reading the register is probably one of my favorite scenes in the book and it's very well-done with the moving pictures in the drama.
People also found fault with the makeup of characters like Qin Keqing, saying she's more like an evil spider spirit than a lady of good breeding in historical times.
But I think people are forgetting that Keqing is a character that had some sort of undefined, potentially scandalous relationship with her father-in-law. The way her room was decorated also hints at comparisons to famously beautiful historical women that brought disaster to those around them (ie. Yang Guifei, Zhao Feiyan). Keqing is not supposed to be some sort of virtuous character. Was it too heavy-handed to give Keqing that makeup/dress combo? Maybe. But it's very standard in visual media to have characters take on outward appearance of their inner characterization.
Con: Changing actors
I really like the cast of young actors. Then when they aged Baoyu up, they also aged up most of the cousins with the exception of Daiyu. All the maids also stayed the same, even though they're around the same age as Baoyu and the rest of the girls. So asides from it being visually jarring, I also feel that the younger cast was better than the older cast.
I can kind of see why they would age Baoyu up since the Jim Yu looked too young to be carrying on any sort of romance with any of the girls. But there seems to be no reason to replace any of the other young actors while keeping Daiyu the same age.
End Thoughts
Since the book is incredibly popular in China, I feel like there's no adaptation that's going to please everyone. People often talk about how the adaptation from the 1980's is far superior. I haven't watched the whole thing, so I can't really compare. But I did watch the first one or two episodes and felt it was unwatchable due to age of the production.
I mean, people think those bad bangs on everyone is superior to the Chinese opera hair? Or that red ball on top of Baoyu's head is more "historically" accurate? That's probably also inspired by Chinese opera, but I guess it's more acceptable in the 1987 version somehow.
If people want to criticize the 2010 production based on hair and makeup, they're forgetting that the 1987 version doesn't have good hair either and the makeup is incredibly dated.
From all the criticisms I read, people seem either hung up on minor details (makeup/hair...someone even complaining that Daiyu has a double chin and that one of the younger cousins has bad skin) or they don't seem to have a grasp of some of the characters. One common complaint I read was how stupid and out of the loop Lady Wang seemed. But that's her exact character in the book! She is a loving, doting mother. But she is not somebody that takes action even when she knows something is wrong. That's why Aroma had to pull her aside and tell her that it would be trouble to keep Baoyu with his female cousins in the garden; That Baoyu liked Daiyu more, etc. Even then, Lady Wang's reaction was, "yes, I know...but what can I do about it?" She is not someone that takes the initiative unless there are other people pulling her along, like when Patience had to practically drag her around to save Qiaojie from being married off.
Given the above, I feel this drama has an unfair bad rep. It's actually a totally well-made drama that's worth the watch. Are there bad things about it? Yes. But I feel that the good way outweighs the bad.