"Flowers", the first TV series directed by Wong Kar-wai, can be said to have opened with much attention. The TV series takes three years to sharpen its sword, and one trailer is released every year to whet your appetite. Before the broadcast, the number of online reservation users exceeded 3.5 million; CCTV's eight programs were broadcast for only 10 minutes, and the ratings exceeded 2.
has watched a few episodes of the plot, and the biggest feeling is that "this is very Wong Kar-Wai". Whether it is the use of light and shadow, frame extraction, or narrative style, it all has the director's personal distinctive color. At the same time, this is also a Shanghai story. The modern Shanghai of the 1990s is vividly displayed on a road along the Yellow River; a group of popular Shanghai actors and some lines that can only be expressed in Shanghainese make the drama "Flowers" full of Shanghainese temperament. Watching the drama version of "Flowers" is like opening the pages of a book full of the flavor of the times, and you need to read it carefully.
"Flowers"
On December 27, "Flowers" premiered on CCTV 8. At this time, it has been ten years since Wong Kar-wai and Jin Yucheng, the original author of "Flowers", first met. It took six or seven years from the purchase of the copyright to the launch of the film; another three years from the launch to the broadcast. Overall, the difference between the TV series "Flowers" and the original novel is obvious. Characters grow out of books and are embodied in movies and TV shows. The TV series "Blooming Flowers" talks about its own "Blooming Flowers".
"Flowers" has a very fast narrative pace. In the detailed plot content, the characters sing and I appear. The time lines are intertwined from time to time, pointing out the causes and consequences of the events, and also conveying the atmosphere of the market economy in the 1990s.
Taking advantage of the rapid economic development, Shanghai young man Abao speculated in stocks with his left hand and engaged in foreign trade with his right hand, transforming himself into a well-known Mr. Bao on the Yellow River Road. At the beginning of the series, Mr. Bao encountered a bizarre car accident in front of the Peace Hotel. At a time when his life and death were uncertain, his master and uncle, Ye Tokyo's partner Reiko, and the ordinary people who followed him in stock trading appeared one after another, each with their own thoughts and calculations. At that time, on Huanghe Road, Jin Fenghuang fled Shanghai overnight due to stock losses. Li Li, the proprietress of Zhizhenyuan from the Northeast, appeared and was thinking about sending the opening invitation to Mr. Bao's ward. Mr. Bao’s social relationships and worldly sophistication are clearly visible. The rivalry in "Flowers", business history and the background of the era are revealed through this car accident.
As the main plot place, "Flowers" ends the plot on a Yellow River road in the 1990s. Yellow River Road is only a few hundred meters long, but it symbolizes the commercial world of Shanghai in that era. There are many restaurants there, which are places to eat, but not just places to eat. Men and women coming and going while eating and drinking, changing cups and cups were all aspects of Shanghai citizens' life at that time.
"Flowers" was filmed at: Shanghai Film Group Shanghai Film and Television Park "Yellow River Road"
"Flowers" filmed a business war full of aesthetic style in the 1990s. Yellow River Road is the battlefield of Mr. Bao, and the boss lady Li Li from out of town is He is both friend and foe. In the Zhizhen Garden, the scenes of Mr. Bao looking at Mr. Li and Li Li looking at Mr. Bao are quite worth pondering. Zhizhenyuan is a place for business discussions. Whether Mr. Bao should go to Zhizhenyuan and how to get there. On the surface, it is a meal to decide whether the contract needs to be fulfilled, but secretly, it is a distanced confrontation between Li and Mr. Bao. In this business war, Mr. Fan of Huxi Knitting Factory, who was carrying 800,000 pieces of clothing, came to the door and asked for directions.
Confrontations on the Yellow River Road are interconnected and there is no permanent winner or loser. Every move of the protagonist and every line he speaks on-click are all trials full of intention. In terms of creating suspense in the plot, "Flowers" can be said to be like a snake with a gray line, and the pulse is thousands of miles away. The "cause" or "effect" in the front is just the strand of wool sticking out of the ball. Only by continuing to pull backward can it be achieved. Understand the intentions of the characters in the play every step of the way. When the audience followed the drama, just like the anxious Ms. Wang in the drama, they finally saw that Mr. Bao had a "backup" to stay on the Diaoyutai, and suddenly realized it.
If you have no problem understanding Shanghainese, then to watch "Flowers", it is best to read the Shanghainese version. It is difficult to describe in specific words the impact of dialects on a city and the people in it. But it is most appropriate to tell this story that happened in Shanghai in the original Shanghainese dialect.It took the actors three years to film the entire "Flowers" in Shanghainese, which is also commendable.
"Flowers" is not just the story of Abao, he represents a type of people in the great era, and those around him are the lives of the people of Shanghai. TV dramas show the director's skill when describing various characters. Sometimes, only a few strokes can reveal the characters' distinctive traits.
For example, Uncle Ye, played by You Benchang, has concise and to the point lines. He is the person who led A Bao into the stock market and is also the man behind the scenes who turned A Bao into Mr. Bao. The newsstand owner on Yellow River Road is inconspicuous, but he is the most well-informed person on the entire road. As for Jin Meilin’s boss lady Lu Meilin, she is the representative of the fierce Shanghai boss ladies. From their tone of voice, demeanor and even actions, the audience seems to always be able to find similar characters around them. "Flowers" is a hit, and everyone in their circle of friends is sharing the major events of Shanghai in 1992, and the Yellow River Road there is also lined with such signs. This is the impression Shanghai gives people.
When watching the TV series "Flowers", the most important thing is to pay attention to the details. The regional characteristics of Shanghai are hidden in the details, as well as the accents of the characters. The ubiquitous Shanghai flavor is the secret to tasting "Flowers". Shanghainese value face. When changing from A Bao to Mr. Bao, the first thing to change is the appearance - the outfit and every detail. The "rizi" of Shanghainese may be a bowl of rice dumplings in Tokyo at night. In general, Yu Bao here is like another home. At home, eating a bowl of rice is called "stomach-falling" in Lingzi's words.
There are more than a thousand "silences" in the original work of Jin Yucheng's "Flowers", which has a long aftertaste. In these blank spaces, readers need to figure out in "Silence" why characters like A Bao, Lingzi, and Miss Wang were born in Shanghai. Wong Kar-Wai said: "What made Po become President Bao and become a trendsetter of the times overnight is not reflected in the book. We can 'fill in' to complement each other."
But Wong Kar-wai's "filling in" is sometimes like a dragonfly's touch of water, and the audience needs to pay attention carefully. taste. Sometimes the key plot is just a casual chat between the protagonists. The timelines flash back and intersect, and the faces of people, things, and things gradually become clear. Going back to the car accident at the beginning, it started from the stock market. In this case, Mr. Bao was willing to take the blame for Commander Cai. The TV series first told the ending, and then inadvertently pointed out the reasons. It turns out that in the era of "stock madness", Commander Cai's push launched Mr. Bao; Mr. Bao's first pot of gold in the stock market was due to Commander Cai's lame leg. The uncle's comment that it is hard to repay a favor may seem light, but it points out Mr. Bao's motivations for his behavior and his character background of attaching importance to love and justice. When the Yellow River Road becomes more and more turbulent and various characters appear on the scene, how should Mr. Bao, who cares about friendship, deal with it? The audience is full of expectations for the unfolding of the subsequent plot.
