orz
Spent the last two days more or less crashing. Would have slept this entire day if I could.
A bit late now, but Happy Mooncake Day? :P
- - -
Finished watching The Great Revival and had this big long rambly post written up on it (I took notes while marathoning) but I decided to spare you all. o_O
To summarize:
- Chen Daoming is a truly riveting actor. I keep saying this, I know, but it's true. He is Gou Jian: mercurial, charismatic, proud as hell, forced to learn humility and bitter, bitter forbearance. Humbled, but still defiant. Kingly, which is a quality actors rarely manage to capture. It is absolutely incredible to watch. I'm not sure anyone else could have played the transformation so convincingly.
Although the post-captivity attempts at painting his motivations as noble and heroic in a classical Chinese sense were kind of funny to me because frankly, real life Gou Jian was one hell of a ruthless and persistent bastard. And that's what makes him awesome. (I recently realized that the reason I like FE's Innes so much is because Innes is a toned down version of historical Gou Jian. the resemblance in personality is uncanny.)
- Yayu and Fan Li were also awesome. (I still think the Fan Li actor needs more than two expressions, but towards the middle of the series his characterization started settling down to something more consistent, and this is by far the best Fan Li rendition I've seen to date in terms of both writing and acting.) I hated one of the things they did with Yayu's storyline, but everything else about her was amazing and the acting especially was incredible. Definitely a queen to match Chen Daoming's king.
I loved in particular these two actors' chemistry with Chen Daoming. (A Fan Li/Gou Jian friendship is, again, something I had never considered. But it works and it is a thing of beauty.)
- I ended up not liking this version of Xi Shi (despite liking the way her story ultimately turns out here). Partly it's the writing, and partly it's Ady An, who I still think was terribly miscast.
- The writing is overall pretty strong, but it's weakest when attempting to reconcile historical record with the internal narrative. Fu Chai and Wu Zixu were victims of this in particular (although Hu Jun is a good enough actor to mollify some of the effects for Fu Chai). On the other hand, Bo Pi was handled remarkably well. Wu Zixu I just ended up hating, which is weird -- Wu Zixu traditionally is a (tragic) hero, despite his own often ruthless brilliance. But this rendition of him -- all ruthlessness, no brilliance. No power in his presence. His characterization relies far too much on telling as opposed to showing. Just because Fuchai is the tragic but noble villain in this rendition doesn't mean Wu Zixu can't have heroic qualities too... (I think they *did* try to make Wu Zixu sympathetic, but it totally fell flat for me.)
- Oh yeah and the random additions to the plot mostly fell flat too. There's already a strong plot inherent in the historical record, no need to "spice it up". Some of the additions didn't even make sense, whether in terms of the narrative or historically.
- I seriously wish they had filmed in the same area as Yue Wang Gou Jian, which aired at about the same time. (Yue Wang Gou Jian sucks as a drama and is kind of crack. But the setting is spot on, at least. Or at least feels more "right" than the dry, dark, barren coldness of The Great Revival. Yue Wang Gou Jian is green, has rivers, and is WET.) It just bothers me A LOT because The Great Revival otherwise makes all this wonderful effort at being "accurate" or historically believable.... but they totally screwed up the setting/climate for dramatic purposes. WU AND YUE WERE RIVERINE CULTURES. Sure, they liked their mountains too, but fundamentally, they were river people.
Along similar lines there didn't seem to be much thought put into the battle scenes in a cultural sense (aside from the costume/armor design as I mentioned before). I realize this was probably due to budget issues, but even Yue Wang Gou Jian pulls this off better. Basically, the lack of war chariots in the brief northern scenes and the overall lack of archers and the overabundance of cavalry in the southern armies is totally OFF.
Hilariously, the battle scenes are something the recent Confucius biopic starring Chow Yun Fat -- which I think I mentioned before that I didn't care for much as a movie -- pulled off very well. Exact same time period, albeit different location. Whatever else I might say about the movie, the research done is lovely... and as a result the movie!world feels real, like something people actually lived in, as opposed to a set. (The Great Revival in contrast is so bleak, you wonder why people even bother. And of course this is probably symbolically/thematically intentional but mehhhhh.) Anyway, Confucius is a beautifully shot film, and if it's true that the more controversial aspects of the movie resulted in a lot of cutting/editing, I'd KILL to see a proper director's cut, because as it stands it's nearly unwatchable...
Speaking of cinematography -- this is the one thing I found almost unbearable about The Great Revival. This is not even the sort of thing I normally notice, to give you an idea just how bad it is. The camera is way too damn static. Far too many talking heads. No sense of space. The acting/writing just BARELY makes up for it, especially since the writing does have its flaws.
... Aren't you glad you don't watch TV with me? (Yes that was a summary)
- - -
On Bleach: Yay Urahara. He looks so resigned. :[ Yay plot finally. (I like Urahara because Urahara means more plot! :P) I like the implications in this chapter, but they've been a long time coming.
A bit late now, but Happy Mooncake Day? :P
- - -
Finished watching The Great Revival and had this big long rambly post written up on it (I took notes while marathoning) but I decided to spare you all. o_O
To summarize:
- Chen Daoming is a truly riveting actor. I keep saying this, I know, but it's true. He is Gou Jian: mercurial, charismatic, proud as hell, forced to learn humility and bitter, bitter forbearance. Humbled, but still defiant. Kingly, which is a quality actors rarely manage to capture. It is absolutely incredible to watch. I'm not sure anyone else could have played the transformation so convincingly.
Although the post-captivity attempts at painting his motivations as noble and heroic in a classical Chinese sense were kind of funny to me because frankly, real life Gou Jian was one hell of a ruthless and persistent bastard. And that's what makes him awesome. (I recently realized that the reason I like FE's Innes so much is because Innes is a toned down version of historical Gou Jian. the resemblance in personality is uncanny.)
- Yayu and Fan Li were also awesome. (I still think the Fan Li actor needs more than two expressions, but towards the middle of the series his characterization started settling down to something more consistent, and this is by far the best Fan Li rendition I've seen to date in terms of both writing and acting.) I hated one of the things they did with Yayu's storyline, but everything else about her was amazing and the acting especially was incredible. Definitely a queen to match Chen Daoming's king.
I loved in particular these two actors' chemistry with Chen Daoming. (A Fan Li/Gou Jian friendship is, again, something I had never considered. But it works and it is a thing of beauty.)
- I ended up not liking this version of Xi Shi (despite liking the way her story ultimately turns out here). Partly it's the writing, and partly it's Ady An, who I still think was terribly miscast.
- The writing is overall pretty strong, but it's weakest when attempting to reconcile historical record with the internal narrative. Fu Chai and Wu Zixu were victims of this in particular (although Hu Jun is a good enough actor to mollify some of the effects for Fu Chai). On the other hand, Bo Pi was handled remarkably well. Wu Zixu I just ended up hating, which is weird -- Wu Zixu traditionally is a (tragic) hero, despite his own often ruthless brilliance. But this rendition of him -- all ruthlessness, no brilliance. No power in his presence. His characterization relies far too much on telling as opposed to showing. Just because Fuchai is the tragic but noble villain in this rendition doesn't mean Wu Zixu can't have heroic qualities too... (I think they *did* try to make Wu Zixu sympathetic, but it totally fell flat for me.)
- Oh yeah and the random additions to the plot mostly fell flat too. There's already a strong plot inherent in the historical record, no need to "spice it up". Some of the additions didn't even make sense, whether in terms of the narrative or historically.
- I seriously wish they had filmed in the same area as Yue Wang Gou Jian, which aired at about the same time. (Yue Wang Gou Jian sucks as a drama and is kind of crack. But the setting is spot on, at least. Or at least feels more "right" than the dry, dark, barren coldness of The Great Revival. Yue Wang Gou Jian is green, has rivers, and is WET.) It just bothers me A LOT because The Great Revival otherwise makes all this wonderful effort at being "accurate" or historically believable.... but they totally screwed up the setting/climate for dramatic purposes. WU AND YUE WERE RIVERINE CULTURES. Sure, they liked their mountains too, but fundamentally, they were river people.
Along similar lines there didn't seem to be much thought put into the battle scenes in a cultural sense (aside from the costume/armor design as I mentioned before). I realize this was probably due to budget issues, but even Yue Wang Gou Jian pulls this off better. Basically, the lack of war chariots in the brief northern scenes and the overall lack of archers and the overabundance of cavalry in the southern armies is totally OFF.
Hilariously, the battle scenes are something the recent Confucius biopic starring Chow Yun Fat -- which I think I mentioned before that I didn't care for much as a movie -- pulled off very well. Exact same time period, albeit different location. Whatever else I might say about the movie, the research done is lovely... and as a result the movie!world feels real, like something people actually lived in, as opposed to a set. (The Great Revival in contrast is so bleak, you wonder why people even bother. And of course this is probably symbolically/thematically intentional but mehhhhh.) Anyway, Confucius is a beautifully shot film, and if it's true that the more controversial aspects of the movie resulted in a lot of cutting/editing, I'd KILL to see a proper director's cut, because as it stands it's nearly unwatchable...
Speaking of cinematography -- this is the one thing I found almost unbearable about The Great Revival. This is not even the sort of thing I normally notice, to give you an idea just how bad it is. The camera is way too damn static. Far too many talking heads. No sense of space. The acting/writing just BARELY makes up for it, especially since the writing does have its flaws.
... Aren't you glad you don't watch TV with me? (Yes that was a summary)
- - -
On Bleach: Yay Urahara. He looks so resigned. :[ Yay plot finally. (I like Urahara because Urahara means more plot! :P) I like the implications in this chapter, but they've been a long time coming.