The tvb police and gangster drama "The Strange Case 2", produced by director Liu Jiahao and starring Chen Zhanpeng, Huang Zhixian, Lin Xiawei and others, will premiere tonight (April 1) on Hong Kong Jade Channel and Guangdong Television Hall TV, April The Mi Dui Dui app was launched on the 4th. In 2021, the first part of "The Strange Case" was hailed by the audience as "another breakthrough in Hong Kong police dramas" as soon as it was aired, and set a record as the single-episode ratings champion for TVB dramas that year. The play features brain-burning "strange cases" throughout, telling the story of how senior inspectors Xu Junsen (played by Chen Zhanpeng) and Shen Weili (played by Huang Zhixian) of O Ji solved these cases. After three years, can the original cast reunited for "The Legend of God 2" and achieve new ratings success? Recently, the show's director Liu Jiahao was interviewed by a reporter from the Beijing News.
"A Strange Case 2" stars Chen Zhanpeng and Lin Xiawei.
According to Hong Kong media reports, this well-known producer who has been working in the Hong Kong film and television industry for nearly 40 years, once popularized Stephen Chow, and directed dramas such as "The Greatest Hero", "He Comes From Jianghu" and "Heartstorm" will be released in July this year. After retiring, "The Strange Case 2" is currently known to be his final work. Liu Jiahao said frankly that the results of the first part of "A Strange Case" gave him enough confidence in the second part. The popularity of Hong Kong dramas such as "News Queen" in the mainland and Hong Kong also made him full of hope for the future development of Hong Kong dramas. . Talking about the characteristics of Hong Kong dramas, Lau Ka-ho believes that working hard on the script is always the most important. "The four words 'reasonable' are also very important. We have to make it reasonable and unexpected, so that the audience will follow it. If you If you can’t even make it reasonable, it will be easy for the audience to give up on the show.”
Plot: Reversal and reversal, but it is reasonable
Beijing News: What made you want to do "The Strange Case 2"? In addition to continuing the plot of the first part, what other innovations does the second part have?
Liu Jiahao: Because "The Strange Case 1" has good ratings and reputation in all aspects, we hope to make a second part. The story time of the two parts is only three months apart, and all the characters' relationships are continued. For example, in the ending of the previous film, Sir Sen (Xu Junsen) and Awing (Ma Yingsi) were not together, so will they get back together in this one? This is the first point to watch. Secondly, in the first film, the "villain couple" Wei Zile (played by Zhang Yingkang) and Youli (played by Liu Peiyue) were popular among the audience. Youli was dead in the previous film, but it was not explained whether Wei Zile in the secret room was also dead, so this time At the beginning of the film, we will explain that he actually just suffered severe brain trauma. Will they return with new identities this season? This is the second point of view. In addition, the pair Zhong Jiayu (played by Jiang Zuman) and Shen Weili, one is the "goddess" of the lawyer world, and the other is an O-Ji detective. The audience can look forward to what new developments they will have in this part... We will also add more in the second part A very important character is the genius biology professor played by Alex Fong. His biggest role is to help the police solve crimes and act as a bridge between Wei Zile and the police.
As for the case, "The Strange Case 2" still adheres to the principles of the previous film: the plot is reversed again and again, but it is still reasonable; a new case will be opened in two or three episodes, but a big storm will be buried behind it. Action scenes, gunfights, chases, arrests, terrorist attacks, etc. are all indispensable. In police dramas, if the case is interesting, it will attract the audience, and the audience will follow it.
Chen Zhanpeng and Lin Xiawei played a couple in the first film. The audience is looking forward to the emotional direction of the two characters this season.
Casting: Yan Mingxi is definitely a genius, very popular with the audience
Beijing News : Why are the "villain couple" Wei Zile and You Li so popular?
Liu Jiahao: Because they are not just in love. In fact, this is how all dramas are made, and there won’t be a big gap between the audience’s reaction and our expectations. When we were discussing the script with the two actors Liu Peiyue and Zhang Yingkang, we mentioned that although they only appeared in the previous film around the tenth episode, their two characters will be different and the audience's love for them will be different. Very big. The result is really like this.
Beijing News: In fact, in the first film, some viewers reported that the emotional line took up a bit too much, and they hoped that the plot would focus on the case. Will there be any adjustments this time?
Liu Jiahao: We have also received a lot of feedback. Some said they hope that the love between Chen Zhanpeng and Lin Xiawei in the play will be more and sweeter; but some viewers feel that the love line is less; some viewers also want a happy ending... We actually need to balance all aspects. Audience reaction. It is difficult for the audience to tell that there is only one voice.
Beijing News: There are many young actors in "The Strange Case". What do you think of their performance? You have also discovered many outstanding celebrities. What are your casting criteria?
Liu Jiahao: Liu Peiyue’s performance is very good, she works hard and has great potential. But the most important thing is to see whether she has encountered good scripts and production. Casting depends on the creation. We (with the team) will talk about the characters in great depth. Only when everyone knows the requirements of the role will we start casting, so that we can choose the most suitable actors, so many times we choose the right ones. Character personality is very important, and audience popularity is also very important.
Beijing News: "The Strange Case 2" invited singer Yan Mingxi. She not only sang the interlude for this work, but also guest-starred as herself. Can you comment on Yan Mingxi's acting skills?
Liu Jiahao: She is definitely a genius. Not only does she sing well, her expressions and all aspects are also very good, and she is very popular with the audience.
Yan Mingxi guest-starred as himself in this drama.
Beijing News: "A Strange Case 2" is the posthumous work of actor Chen Dick. Can you recall your collaboration with Chen Dick.
Liu Jiahao: Every time I cooperate with him, I will give him a lot of dialogue roles, because he has a good grasp of dialogue and tone, and he has a very good memory. He is what we call "a person who knows the dialogue well." . Because many actors cannot speak too much dialogue, but he is one of them who remembers dialogue very well and can express what the script requires of him.
The script is not good, and it’s useless even if you can fly
Beijing News: It has been 35 years since "The Greatest Heroes" was broadcast. Do you feel that the audience's aesthetics of the series have changed?
Liu Jiahao: There are big changes in . Audiences are becoming more and more demanding about dramas. Whether it is scripts, production, or makeup, they are now very good at watching them. If something (details) is not done well, everyone can see it, and negative reviews will come flooding in. As the director producer, I still think the script is the most important. If the script is not good, it will be of no use even if you can fly in the film. As mentioned just now, if the plot development does not make sense at all, how can it attract the audience to follow it? That’s why it often happens that viewers stop watching after two or three episodes.
Beijing News: How does prevent TVB police dramas from falling into homogeneity?
Liu Jiahao: Don’t do gunfights for the sake of gunfights, do action scenes for the sake of action scenes. Really, the whole plot needs to be pushed to the point of gunfights and action before it is designed. Without the advancement of the plot, a whole day of gunfights would not be fun to watch.
Beijing News reporter Zhang He
editor Tong Na
proofreader Liu Yue
