新年快乐，恭喜发财，身体健康！
新年快乐, or Happy Lunar New Year, and welcome to Year of the Pig, the last of the twelve zodiac animals before the cycle starts again.
Being one who loves long braided stories, I am still enamored of Chinese historical dramas. The one I've been hooked on the most lately is The Story of Ming Lan, currently running. It was made by the Nirvana in Fire team, so I had high expectations. And so far, it's been exceeding my expectations.
The only way I can describe this one is a comedy of manners, or in the usual PR terms, Jane Austen meets Chinese historical drama. I evoke Austen here because, like in her novels, this one primarily focuses on the women, though there are plenty of men. But in this particular drama, like in Austen's work, what the women think and do matters. And so we get a glimpse into the lives of the servants and those farther down the social hierarchy--while looking at the various burdens and expectations on those higher in the social pecking order.
At the center is Ming Lan, only daughter of the second concubine in the household of a mid-ranking scholar-merchant. The main wife is at loggerheads with the beautiful first concubine, whose fragile, die-away airs hides about as mercenary a heart as any rebelling imperial prince.
You discover by the second episode (the first introduces the whole complicated fan-damly, including the kids, with superlative acting from all, as the eldest daughter of the main wife and husband is married off), that the first concubine manages to kill off Ming Lan's mother by deliberate though indirect methods, kicking off the entire story arc.
Part of the story is how she gets justice for her mother, but that's only half the tale. The second half is about her own emotional journey from that little kid who had to take back seat to everyone in order to survive, while watching and calculating. Ming Lan is very intelligent, and very intelligent, but she also has a strong moral center, inculcated by her grandmother, a superlative character.
After a few eps we make a jump to their teen years, and all the complications of family and social dynamics. About midway there's a violent shift in government, ringing changes all through the social strata, people marry or pair off.
One of the deep pleasures of the second half is watching the evolution of Ming Lan's marriage. It's not done yet, and I hope they don't drop the ball at the end, but so far, it's the best thing I've been watching of late.
This entry was originally posted at https://sartorias.dreamwidth.org/997817.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Being one who loves long braided stories, I am still enamored of Chinese historical dramas. The one I've been hooked on the most lately is The Story of Ming Lan, currently running. It was made by the Nirvana in Fire team, so I had high expectations. And so far, it's been exceeding my expectations.
The only way I can describe this one is a comedy of manners, or in the usual PR terms, Jane Austen meets Chinese historical drama. I evoke Austen here because, like in her novels, this one primarily focuses on the women, though there are plenty of men. But in this particular drama, like in Austen's work, what the women think and do matters. And so we get a glimpse into the lives of the servants and those farther down the social hierarchy--while looking at the various burdens and expectations on those higher in the social pecking order.
At the center is Ming Lan, only daughter of the second concubine in the household of a mid-ranking scholar-merchant. The main wife is at loggerheads with the beautiful first concubine, whose fragile, die-away airs hides about as mercenary a heart as any rebelling imperial prince.
You discover by the second episode (the first introduces the whole complicated fan-damly, including the kids, with superlative acting from all, as the eldest daughter of the main wife and husband is married off), that the first concubine manages to kill off Ming Lan's mother by deliberate though indirect methods, kicking off the entire story arc.
Part of the story is how she gets justice for her mother, but that's only half the tale. The second half is about her own emotional journey from that little kid who had to take back seat to everyone in order to survive, while watching and calculating. Ming Lan is very intelligent, and very intelligent, but she also has a strong moral center, inculcated by her grandmother, a superlative character.
After a few eps we make a jump to their teen years, and all the complications of family and social dynamics. About midway there's a violent shift in government, ringing changes all through the social strata, people marry or pair off.
One of the deep pleasures of the second half is watching the evolution of Ming Lan's marriage. It's not done yet, and I hope they don't drop the ball at the end, but so far, it's the best thing I've been watching of late.
This entry was originally posted at https://sartorias.dreamwidth.org/997817.html. Please comment there using OpenID.