During the Spring Festival in 2023, the anti-gang drama "Hurry" made the 46-year-old actor Zhang Songwen an instant star, directly becoming a first-line star.
Why is Zhang Songwen so angry because of Gao Qiqiang? In addition to his unique acting skills, another important reason is his unique and charming villain character.
It is a pity that after "Hurry", apart from playing supporting roles in two movies "" and "", Zhang Songwen has almost no drama series broadcast, let alone playing the villain again.
But don’t worry, a new drama in which Zhang Songwen plays the villain is coming. On the evening of February 21, a police drama " Ice Hunting " was launched in Goose Factory.
This drama stars Zhang Songwen, Han Geng, Yao Anna, Bao Wenjing, and is directed by Gao Qunshu, Wanpeng. In this drama, Zhang Songwen once again plays the biggest villain in the drama - the drug lord Huang Zongwei, who starts a life-and-death battle with the anti-drug police.
Just one day after it aired and three episodes aired, "Ice Hunter" immediately exploded onto the Internet, topping major hot lists and becoming the most popular drama these days.
So why did "Ice Hunting" achieve such results after its launch? After finishing 3 episodes in one go, Qiqi found the answer.
1. The first two scenes firmly caught the audience's attention.
The first scene is the policewoman Zhao Younan played by Anna Yao, who is ordered to break into a drug trafficking den.
At the beginning of the episode, the anti-narcotics police made arrangements to arrest drug dealers.
The village where the drug dealer lives has complex terrain and is extremely exclusive, making it difficult for outsiders to enter easily. You can only sneak in by pretending to be a buyer when there is an open market every month. Even so, there are many dangers. Therefore, undercover agents should be more skillful.
Zhao Younan, a young police officer in the police information room played by Anna Yao, has been transferred from the army and has excellent professional skills. He is selected to act as a buyer and spy on the location of drug dealers.
Zhao Younan, after dressing up in disguise, is really cool. If the image of
really got involved, it would be difficult to arouse the other party's suspicion.
So Zhao Younan relied on the temperament of such a street girl to successfully deceive the drug dealer's external contact and was let in.
After many rounds in the village with complex terrain like a mouse hole, Zhao Younan finally found the true location of the drug dealer in a thrilling way.
Unexpectedly, she just offered to buy something, but the other party wanted to test her.
Under the critical situation, Zhao Younan flew up and kicked the drug dealer away. The drug dealer realized that the person who came was evil, and immediately ran away from the door, with Zhao Younan chasing after him.
chased him out of the house and outside, Zhao Younan quickly sent out a flare according to the agreement to tell him the location of the drug dealer.
There is an interesting point here. Many people think that as a police officer, it is too childish to use firecrackers to send signals. If the firecrackers fail to light due to any accident, wouldn't it be a mistake?
But looking at it from another angle, this may be the detail of the series.
Although Zhao Younan is a retired soldier with excellent professional skills in the army, since she returned from her career, she has been working as a document clerk in the police station's data room. She has never been out in the field or participated in any cases. From a case-handling perspective, he is completely clueless. So this kind of behavior fits the character setting very well.
In addition, the series must also show the character's gradual growth and maturity from a fledgling police officer. So it makes sense to start with this setting.
Overall, the scene of arresting drug dealers is thrilling, fast-paced, and very gripping.
The second scene is the drug lord played by Zhang Songwen, and several details are used to create the character.
When the police were arresting drug dealers, on the other side, the drug lord Huang Zongwei, played by Zhang Songwen, appeared.
As soon as he appeared, he was sitting on the bed at home, looking at the sleeping child, his eyes full of love;
Then, in the drug manufacturing factory, Huang Zongwei was very calmly checking the production progress; to be honest, Huang Zongwei at this moment was gentle and amiable, and he couldn't see There is a little shadow of a drug lord;
The second scene of characterization is Huang Zongwei chatting on the street with two customers who purchased his "onion crystals". In front of merchants, he seemed humble and kind, even a little cautious. Especially when the other party mentioned that a new type of drug had appeared in the local area and whether it was produced by his factory, the panic on his face and the pale face with fright made people think that this man was so innocent. How could it be related to drug dealers?
But after the two merchants left, Huang Zongwei’s behavior became a bit intriguing. He slowly knelt down and extinguished the cigarette butts still burning on the ground with his bare hands. To be honest, this move scared the audience. Teacher Zhang Songwen conveyed the ferocity of a villain in such a detail as putting out a cigarette butt with his bare hands, and conveyed it with ease.
Then, he immediately turned around to settle the score with his disobedient subordinates.
Faced with the fact that he disobeyed his own instructions and sold products to the local area without authorization, almost exposing his subordinates, Huang Zongwei smiled lightly and said: "You didn't tell the truth", which already made him feel oppressed.
Then, he said something intriguing: "If you are sick, you must treat it. Early detection and early treatment."
At this time, his subordinates were probably scared to death. Because the boss's words were very obvious, he wanted to fix him or even get rid of him. Throughout the whole process, Huang Zongwei had a smile and a kind expression. This expression is really scary to think about.
With a few scene changes and a few performance details, the image of a drug lord who appears to be gentle and kind, but is actually ruthless, emerges before his eyes.
I can only say that he is indeed Zhang Songwen. Every role he plays is unique and has endless aftertaste.
2, Zhang Songwen's sophistication, Yao Anna's immatureness, and the amateur actor's simplicity create a wonderful chemical reaction.
Many people may not know that director Gao Qunshu, who created the classic mainland police and gangster theme "Conquest", has two characteristics in filming. One is that he likes to use new actors who are not majored in science. According to him, it is challenging and highly malleable.
has another one, that is, he likes to use vegans. He has used authentic Shanxi farmers and police station deputy directors to make several award-winning films, which shows his strength.
But this time, under the guidance of the director, the actors in the play, whether they are from majors, non-students, or pure amateurs, all performed admirably.
Let’s talk about the professional actor Zhang Songwen first.
I believe that with the popularity of the 2023 opening drama "Crazy", almost no one does not know Zhang Songwen.
The gangster Gao Qiqiang played by Zhang Songwen was so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people that after "Hurry Up" was aired, Gao Qiqiang had countless fans.
From "The Hidden Corner" to "Heart Residence" and then to "Hurry Up", Zhang Songwen finally left the industry completely.
In the new drama "Hunting Ice", Zhang Songwen once again plays the biggest villain in the drama, the drug lord Huang Zongwei.
is another person who loves learning.
is kind and amiable on the outside, but extremely cruel on the inside.
But this time, Zhang Songwen's performance is different from "Hurry Up". Because there are only 18 episodes, there is not much time left for the actors to slowly reveal their characters. Therefore, the director chose to use several very representative scenes to reflect the characters' personalities. The many small details designed by Zhang Songwen to show the characters' inner feelings have become the finishing touch.
Let’s take a look at non-professional actors, Yao Anna, who plays the heroine for the first time.
As we all know, Yao Anna is the second princess of Huawei and is considered a newcomer in acting. Therefore, when the series first aired, many of the doubts about the show were focused on this new actor.
After a few episodes, it can be seen that the female police officer Zhao Younan played by Anna Yao is indeed a little immature.But the heroine of this drama is a newcomer who has never handled a case before. So from this perspective, Yao Anna's appearance and temperament fit the character quite well.
As for the performance, as the director said, for a small-budget drama, the budget is too small and the time is too tight. If there is more time, I believe it can be trained better.
In third place is the same non-major actor Han Geng.
How popular was Han Geng when he debuted? He is the first Chinese artist to debut in South Korea in the history of domestic entertainment, a professional dancer who debuted as a trainee, and an idol that countless girls once worshiped.
When the group was at its peak, Han Geng announced that he would quit the group and return to China to become an actor.
So far, Han Geng has participated in many film and television dramas. The most popular one is the 2017 movie "The Ex 3". In this movie, Han Geng plays the male lead Meng Yun, truly using his acting skills. Proved myself.
In the police drama "Hunting Ice", Han Geng plays the role of the drug lord Adong. He has not appeared much so far, but he seems to be a ruthless person. However, given that Han Geng has mostly played positive roles in the past, it is difficult to say whether this character will be reversed in the future.
fourth place, Li Shaoting.
There is also Li Shaoting, a professional bad guy.
Except for these few, most of the actors in the play are non-famous actors, even amateurs.
However, this casting result unexpectedly brought a simple and unpretentious style to the work. In addition, there is no plastic surgery in the show, so many viewers exclaimed that this show is very documentary, just like watching a documentary legal program.
3. Despite the high popularity, the reputation is highly polarized. Is this drama really worth following?
Although "Ice Hunting" is very popular, as the series becomes popular, the evaluation of this drama on the Internet has gradually become polarized.
What has been praised the most is of course Zhang Songwen's acting skills and realistic lens language. The most criticized thing by netizens is the acting skills of the new actors and the plot with many logical loopholes. What's more, there are even more rumors that the show's producers were bought off by capital.
In response to this situation, on February 23, Gao Qunshu, the chief director of "Ice Hunting", posted a long response on his personal social account.
To sum up, Director Gao’s response has the following key points:
First, it has not been bought by capital. A certain actress was selected not because of her identity and background, but because she was suitable for the role and was a newbie actor without a major. This is in line with the director's consistent hiring style.
Secondly, the logic loopholes in the script were mainly due to the tight time schedule. I wrote several versions of the script but were still not satisfied with it. In the end, under the tight schedule, I chose a script that, although not perfect, was better in texture and texture.
Third, regarding the actor’s performance. The director believes that as long as there is enough time, there is no actor that cannot be recruited. Just because the budget of this drama is very small and the shooting time is only 55 days, it is a truly low-cost drama. Therefore, it is left to the director to train the actors, and the actors do not have much time to grow.
Finally, the director believes that such a drama with an investment of only 40 million has become so popular after it was broadcast, which is beyond everyone's expectation.
What can I say? After reading the director's explanation, many people, including Qiqi, suddenly felt that "Ice Hunting" was much better than those dramas that invested a lot of money but had very unsatisfactory final results?
What do you think?
