The drama "Flowers", which is being broadcast on CCTV TV Drama Channel (cctv-8) during the New Year's Eve, adds a gorgeous and confusing tone to the end of the year and the beginning of the year.
The Era of the New Shanghai Beach Trendsetters
Reform, opening up, and social transformation are endless topics that have created countless stories of the era that are closest to us. Through each and every vivid character, a diverse collective memory and Regional customs include the generosity of Song Yunhui and Lei Dongbao in "Dajiangdahe" , and the ups and downs of Zhou Bingkun, a state-owned factory worker in Northeast China in "The World" .
This time "Flowers" brings us the story of Shanghai - including the turbulent business wars of Mr. Bao, Lingzi, Ms. Wang, the proprietresses of Huanghe Road, "Li Li" and "Ms. Fan" who were the top trendsetters of the era, as well as Their experiences, pain and growth.
Reform and opening up, Shanghai’s long-standing and strong economic genes, customs and humanity are the background for the characters’ activities.
Shanghainese were the first to feel the trend of the times, trading stocks, doing foreign trade, building domestic clothing brands, opening restaurants, doing business from state-owned units... The craziness of stock trading, love and human nature cannot resist the temptation of money, and the movie "Stock Madness" ( Starring Pan Hong and Liu Qingyun), there is a subtle intertextual relationship; the stock market business war in "Flowers" has become more dangerous due to illegal speculation by institutions, and the original intention and determination in the ups and downs of the business world make the business war not just a competition of money and strength.
The business war drama is the skeleton of "Flowers".
The plots of Sanyang brand T-shirts selling like hotcakes, the landlady bosses on Huanghe Road teaming up to squeeze out Li Li’s Zhizhen Garden, the boss Bao and the powerful boss on the stock market are trying to show off their tactics, etc. are smooth, full and exciting. These prove that director Wong Kar-wai is not only a master of tone creation, but also a master of screen storytelling. The
series does not stop at business wars.
Amidst the turmoil, "Flowers" tells the trivial fireworks in the Shanghai city, which also lays the foundation for the whole drama to be delicate and warm.
At night in Tokyo Restaurant, several fellow diners including Mr. Ge, Ling Hong and Tao Tao and the proprietress Lingzi were chattering noisily. From A Bao to Bao, there is always a myth of soaring to the sky, and there are also people wearing suits and ties eating rice.
After being hit, he treated others generously, got along with his uncle and little brother Tao Tao, and led Xiao Lehui's old friends to make money by trading stocks. What was inadvertently revealed was Mr. Bao's warm kindness.
The self-reflection and growth of Mr. Bao’s confidante Lingzi and Miss Wang have a touching impact:
Lingzi’s emotional pain and excitement are twists and turns in the old walls and old furniture that were smashed and abandoned during the renovation of the Night Tokyo restaurant; Miss Wang When his love and career suffered setbacks at the same time, he shouted "I am my own dock".
"The narrative of "Flowers" is meticulously crafted, and the writing is frugal and restrained. Many contents can easily be covered in multiple episodes, and they will never be overshadowed by sideways. The rhythm of the whole story is tight and powerful.
Sentiment and grief are the core of the emotional line of "Flowers".
While the speeding train of the times creates the myth of wealth, it also destroys the innocence of classical love. In film and television works, people walking to high places are everywhere. "Business" , TV series "The Empty Mirror", "Ten Years of Marriage" ... were once one of the keynotes of emotional narratives in the reform era.
"Flowers" here goes beyond the excessive moral judgment of emotional stories of that period, and presents a richer complexity of human nature:
Perhaps the expectations of men and women for emotions in getting along are originally different, just like treasures. Total and Reiko;
Maybe wealth and love bring passion and happiness to people, and they have the same origin and similarity. It is natural that it is difficult to have both or to consider one at the expense of the other;
Maybe the ability to love is inherently related to the individual's view of the world and the world. It is difficult to grasp the certainty and trust of others in the outside world. It is normal to retreat into your own little world, but it is not easy either.
The choice of bread and roses is a must-answer question for men and women of every era. It is also a modern question that is closest to individual life experience.
This also makes the emotional narrative of "Flowers" more commensurable - it also has emotional enlightenment for current audiences across the ages.
The name of the small cigarette shop in the play changes from "Jingxiu" to "Passenger", just like the flowers blooming and the love is deep and far-reaching.
The vendors, like spectators, have a panoramic view of the affairs of the bosses, and also represent the wait-and-see of the creators and the audience outside the screen.
Different from the desolation and compassion of the original work, the TV series presents the openness and warmth of "trees and flowers blooming again".
Wong Kar-wai’s image temperament and transcendence
"Flowers" adapts to the ontological requirements of TV drama art, inherits the director's image aesthetics and has new development breakthroughs.
The work’s representation of Shanghai’s urban scenery and regional characteristics does not rely on landmark buildings. Although the Oriental Pearl Tower flashes at the end of the play, the prosperity and splendor of Shanghai can be felt everywhere.
The neon lights in front of the gate of Zhenyuan from Huanghe Road are flashing and blurred. Inside the restaurant, there are mingled glasses of wine. The doors, windows, and partitions block the light and shadow, which perfectly accentuates the atmosphere of the story.
Characters are most expressive under the director’s lens.
Reiko stood on the roof and stared at Abao like an oil painting, with the manners of a woman in love;
The graceful Li Li was sexy and charming, and the soft light hit the side of her face and the back of her neck, with a sway. The lingering sense of mystery hints at her complicated life experience and unpredictable fate.
As Mr. Wang Zengqi said, "the atmosphere is the character" - in "Flowers", audio-visual elements such as light, shadow, color, etc., not only create the atmosphere, but also carve the characters, outline the background and express the mood.
Full of action and movement, each character has his or her own unique tone.
The popular songs and old Cantonese songs in the play are the embodiment of the sense of time and age, echoing the emotions of the characters and arousing the audience's memories of the past era; in order to avoid a straightforward narrative, the plot occasionally jumps or briefly hangs. Putting it aside is like setting up a mystery, which enhances the drama, and then flashes back to supplement the plot and the psychology of the characters.
The narrative aesthetics and image beauty of "Flowers" in the TV series are harmonious and balanced. It is a successful application and innovative development of the director's film art. It overcomes the common image squeeze narrative and transcends the embarrassment of form external to content, completing the TV series. A revolutionary improvement in image quality.
