Speaking of the most popular types of TV series, period dramas must be among the top three. The down-to-earth plot and unpretentious acting skills make period dramas always popular among audiences. Therefore, period dramas are indispensable in the army of TV dramas that have gained both reputation and popularity in recent years.
For example, the 2022 drama king "The World", the 2023 word-of-mouth masterpieces "The Road of Life" and "The Glory of Fathers", as well as the CCTV period drama "Dajiang Dahe 3" that is currently airing these days.
Perhaps the platform has also seen the strong appeal of period dramas. Just last night, January 18, another 30-episode period drama was launched on the LeTV platform. Although this drama has been broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV in 2013, it still gained a lot of popularity once it was launched last night.
This drama is the period drama "Workers' Courtyard" starring Wu Yue, Ma Li and Guo Xiaodong. It is a drama that is truly full of the flavor of the era.
So why does this period drama from ten years ago still have such strong appeal after it was re-launched? We might as well find out.
1. Story: A love affair spanning decades, a history of historical changes over decades.
The play tells the story of Qiao Fangcao (played by Wu Yue), a rural girl who was unmarried and pregnant. After experiencing a series of setbacks and hardships, she finally came together with her first lover. The protagonist's ups and downs emotional experience is intertwined with the vicissitudes of the workers' compound over the past few decades. It is profound and unforgettable.
Looking at it as a whole, this drama has at least three major highlights.
The first one is the unpretentious atmosphere of the times.
As a period drama spanning recent decades, the first thing that gives people the deepest impression of this drama is the strong atmosphere of the era.
The atmosphere of the factory in the 1980s, with steaming heat and thick smoke, also reflects the rapid development of industry in that era;
The unpretentious portraits of workers, harmonious and harmonious like the factory and family homes of neighborhood families;
and , the situation that young girls have to face if they become pregnant out of wedlock: they cannot stay in their hometown. Even if they change places, if people around them know that they are pregnant out of wedlock, they will face great pressure from public opinion and point fingers;
It is very unfortunate that , the heroine Qiao Fangcao in the play has such a fate.
These things are all unique characteristics of that era. If you are not from that era, you really won’t understand them.
The second one is the ups and downs of the fate of ordinary people in the play.
"Workers' Courtyard" is down-to-earth because it examines the lives and destiny of the most ordinary people.
Among them, there are several core clues.
One is the rough love story of the heroine Qiao Fangcao.
Qiao Fangcao was originally a rural girl, but unexpectedly one year a wave of senior technicians came from large places to provide technical support for the heroine's village. Coincidentally, one of the senior technicians, Lu Zhenhai, lived in her home. Lu Donghai's handsome appearance, outstanding talent, and daily interactions with each other made the girl fall in love with the man, and the two got together.
So the bumpy fate started from here.
Lu Zhenhai soon returned to the big city, but Qiao Fangcao unexpectedly discovered that she was pregnant. Not wanting to embarrass him, she decided to give birth to the child alone, so she traveled all the way to her sister's big city to prepare to give birth secretly. Unexpectedly, in the same factory compound, he met Qiao Fangcao, who had just been transferred here.
Unfortunately, in the end, by mistake, the two did not get together, but each started a family with someone else.
The second clue is the second female lead Yang Yuhuan. Yang Yuhuan is young and beautiful. After graduating from a medical school, he was assigned to the medical office of a large state-owned factory. Because of her beauty and good temperament, she is the beauty of that factory. Because of this, Yang Yuhuan was attracted by the factory director, but in the end Yang Yuhuan insisted on her own idea and married her favorite Lu Zhenhai. Unexpectedly, life after marriage was not as satisfactory as she imagined. Yang Yuhuan's life was also the same. Full of ups and downs.
The fate of ordinary people has its ups and downs in the changes of history, which is also a major attraction of the play.
The third one is the historical changes spanning thirty years.
What makes this drama attractive is that it not only looks at the fate of ordinary people, but also presents a panoramic view of the entire era and the development of social history over the past few decades. The
drama series starts from the Great Leap Forward period in 1958, and goes through historical events such as people's communes, collective canteens, three years of natural disasters, reform and opening up, and overseas business. It can be said to be a panoramic review of the development history over the past few decades.
has both the ups and downs of the fate of ordinary people and the ups and downs of history. The fate of ordinary people is intertwined with the tide of the times, which also makes the background of this drama deeper and more profound.
2. Cast: Wu Yue + Ma Li + Guo Xiaodong + Che Yongli + a number of powerful supporting actors, the cast is strong.
From the perspective of the cast, this drama can be regarded as a gathering of powerful actors and a strong lineup. Among them, there are five people who impressed me the most.
ranks first, Wu Yue.
From the popular drama "Peace Era" in the 1990s to the hit dramas "My First Half of Life", "Anti-Gangster Storm" and "County Party Committee Courtyard" in the past two years, Wu Yue is really a middle-aged man, but he has become more and more mature. A typical representative of Lai Yuehong.
In the period drama "Workers' Courtyard", Wu Yue plays the heroine Qiao Fangcao. A woman who had a rough life because she got pregnant out of wedlock. The span of the characters is quite large, from young girls to adults to middle-aged people, spanning decades. Wu Yue interprets the characteristics of each stage of the characters very well.
second place, Ma Li.
Comedian Ma Li has become extremely popular in recent years. In this period drama "Workers' Courtyard" from ten years ago, Ma Li, who played a supporting role, was only in her early thirties, which was a different feeling compared to now.
In the play, Ma Li plays Luo Yuzhang, who is young, beautiful, lively and cheerful, and is somewhat similar to her own personality. Controlling such a role is quite familiar to her.
ranked third, Guo Xiaodong.
Guo Dongdong can be said to be a powerful actor with solid acting skills. He Jianguo in "The New Marriage Era", Jiang Shi'an in "The Colonel's Daughter", and Hu Ba, the villain in the movie "The Beauty of the Country", can easily handle any type of role.
In the period drama "Workers' Courtyard", Guo Xiaodong plays the male lead Lu Zhenhai, a technical master of a state-owned factory in the 1980s.
Not to mention, Guo Xiaodong himself looks simple and kind-hearted, and has an upright face. It is very flattering to play the image of a relatively educated technical worker in the 1980s.
ranked fourth, Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun, who was born in 1963, is an experienced actor. Han Laoliu in "Snowflakes Gone with the Wind", Le Laoba in "The King of Medicine of the Qing Dynasty", and Jiang Junling in "Ask the Heart" all impressed the audience.
In the period drama "Workers' Courtyard", Zhao Jun plays Tang Shiyuan, the brother-in-law of the heroine Qiao Fangcao, a senior electrician in a state-owned factory. To be honest, Zhao Jun's image and temperament fit this role very well. Coupled with his simple and natural acting skills, he really brought the image of a worker in the 1980s to life.
Guo Xiaodong, Zhao Jun
fifth place, Che Yongli.
Che Yongli is well-known to the audience for her role as Ah Mei in the hit movie "Love Call Transfer". Since then, she has starred in dramas such as "Warm Days" and "The World's Best Bodyguard".
"Warm Days"
In "Workers' Courtyard", Che Yongli plays the second female lead Yang Yuhuan, a nurse in the state-owned factory clinic in the 1980s. She is also a factory flower with outstanding image and temperament. It can also be seen from the character's name that she must be a beautiful woman. As expected, Che Yongli lived up to expectations, playing a beautiful factory girl who had just graduated very appropriately. No wonder she was attracted by the factory director as soon as she was assigned to the factory.
Yang Yuhuan
In addition to the strong leading cast, there are also many supporting actors in the play who are familiar to everyone. For example, Liu Zhibing, Liang Tian, Liu Lili, Hai Yitian, Liang Danni, etc. can also be said to be a gathering of powerful actors.
3. Creative team: Gao Mantang, the gold medal screenwriter of period dramas, + talented director, the series has a stable base.
In addition to the strong cast, the creative team of this drama is also very reliable.
screenwriter Gao Mantang is a gold medal director of mainland period dramas. Classic period dramas such as "The Canal", "Old Tavern", "Enter Guandong", "Wenzhou Family" and "Pearl River Family" are all screenwriters of his works. Gao Mantang is also one of the screenwriters of CCTV's popular period drama "Mountains and Seas".
Director Zeng Xiaoxin is also a powerful mainland director. The anti-special spy drama "Thrush", which was recently aired on CCTV, was directed by him.
As for whether the series can eventually become another hit in 2024, we will continue to wait and see.
