Qin Hao, wow!
Yang Mi, huh?
Many viewers may have such surprised expressions when they see the male and female protagonists of the upcoming new drama "Harbin 1944" .
No matter how rich your imagination is, there is no way to bring these two actors together to play the male and female protagonists in the same spy drama. If you want to use one word to describe this combination, Mr. Tomato can only think of: difference .
Why?
Because Qin Hao and Yang Mi are not the same type of actors at all.
In terms of influence, Qin Hao before 2011 was simply unknown. In nearly 9 years since his debut, he only appeared in 4 literary films. When "Jinling Thirteen Beauties" was released, he only played the role of a soldier in it.
And Yang Mi, at that time, already had the heroine of many well-known TV series such as " The Legend of the Condor Heroes ", "Legend of Sword and Fairy III", " Dream of Red Mansions " , and became a new " The number one figure among the "Four Little Flowers".
In terms of acting skills, Qin Hao has won many awards such as Best Actor at the Chinese Film Media Awards and Best Actor at the Beijing University Student Film Festival; while Yang Mi has not fully proven her acting skills so far. The one who has won the most is not the "most popular" award. ” means “the most popular”.
Qin Hao has always been recognized as a proper acting school, while Yang Mi is still struggling on the road to transformation.
These two people are opposite each other in the same drama. Mr. Tomato really can’t imagine what the effect will be.
However, this just happened, "Harbin 1944" At a time when spy dramas are becoming more and more popular, with this combination, it has also successfully aroused the curiosity of most viewers.
01. Qin Hao, who finally came forward, and Yang Mi, who is constantly transforming.
"The Hidden Corner" is a drama that really made Qin Hao popular. In the drama, he played Zhang Dongsheng, who attracted people with his contrasting character and performance. He met countless requests and truly pushed Qin Hao into the ranks of first-line stars.
Before this, Qin Hao could not be said to be unknown, he could only be said to be a marginalized member of the entertainment industry.
His main focus has always been literary and artistic films. In the hearts of audiences who like literary and artistic films, Qin Hao is a real male god. "Love in Tangbula", "Spring Breeze Night" and " Yangtze River Map " are all popular. For this reason, Qin Hao often visits Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.
However, literary and artistic films can accumulate reputation, but they cannot accumulate wealth.
The audience for literary films is not wide, and they are not liked by investors. This puts Qin Hao, who has great ambitions, into a contradiction.
In 2017, with the rise of online dramas, Qin Hao decided to put down his face and star in online dramas. "Undocumented Crime" and "沙海" made Qin Hao well-known by the audience.
Finally, "The Hidden Corner" in 2020 and "Wolf Hunter" in 2021 allowed Qin Hao to truly turn around, from an artistic god to a popular online drama, and he has also become famous since then.
Qin Hao has not appeared in a popular drama for a long time since " The Long Season " in 2023. Many people said that he was holding back his big move, and sure enough, he appeared in front of the public in "Harbin 1944".
In "Harbin 1944", Qin Hao plays two roles, a pair of brothers named Song Zhuowen and Song Zhuowu .
This setting reminds Mr. Tomato of Pan Yueming in "White Night". He also played a pair of brothers by one person. Qin Hao also has such acting skills.
Song Zhuowen and Song Zhuowu have different specialties.
Song Zhuowen has a delicate mind, but his force value is not good, and he is an underground party member. Song Zhuowu has an explosive force value, but his mind is not meticulous and he can do dirty work.
By mistake, Song Zhuowu rescued Guan Xue (played by Yang Mi) and HTML Guan Kai who were in danger. Many years later, Guan Xue became the chief of the Special Agent Section of the Puppet Manchukuo Police Department, but mistakenly regarded Zhuo Wen as Make Zhuo Wu.
The two brothers secretly changed their lives, exchanged identities, and infiltrated the Secret Service Division, becoming the two nails in our party's wedge into Manchukuo. In the trailer of
, Qin Hao is shown to be fierce in acting and handsome in appearance. After becoming Zhuo Wen, he looks gentle and graceful, not like a human being at all.
This feeling also makes Mr. Tomato dream about "White Night". The sequel that he has been waiting for for so long has not arrived. If he is not careful, he may see a better twin drama than Guan Hongyu's brother.
Under Qin Hao's performance, Song Zhuowen in "Harbin 1944" is likely to become the next "Guan Hongyu" of the Republic of China, and even be more popular.
No wonder the audience was ecstatic just by watching the trailer.
The one facing Qin Hao was Yang Mi.
Yang Mi may be the biggest unstable factor in "Harbin 1944".
Yang Mi plays the rescued Guan Xue. Her role is the ruthless chief of the Secret Service. In the trailer, Yang Mi's appearance is full of charm, and her eyes are quite interesting. However, I have not yet seen a scene that can embody this "ruthless" characteristic to the core. .
Yang Mi, who is now 38 years old, has not tried to transform, but every time she transforms, she seems to miss a move. "Far Cry", " I am a witness ", "Reverse Time Rescue", " Assassination of Novelist "... Yang Mi has challenged non-idol roles many times, but failed every time.
But all this made Mr. Tomato feel that "Harbin 1944" is an excellent opportunity for Yang Mi.
First of all, , Yang Mi is not without acting skills. She has also received a serious academic education. What she needs is actually a role that is more suitable for her transformation into drama.
Nowadays, "Harbin 1944" has a lot of room for performance and shaping, whether it is a suspense genre or the setting of Guan Xue, the chief of the secret service section. This is a good opportunity for Yang Mi.
Secondly, , Yang Mi needs a good opponent. If she plays against a good actor, her acting skills will naturally improve. For Yang Mi, it is naturally easier to win recognition from the audience if she can play opposite Qin Hao, a frequent visitor to art films and a well-recognized actor.
Last , Yang Mi’s age has reached the 40-year-old mark. No matter how popular she is, it is impossible to star in girl idol dramas all her life. At this point, she will open up her acting career with "Harbin 1944", and then she will naturally be exposed to various genres. role is no longer an obstacle.
These three points are the biggest "benefits" for Yang Mi to participate in this drama.
Judging from the trailer, Yang Mi’s performance is remarkable.
's performance with Qin Hao is not inferior. There is a clear difference in temperament before and after becoming the section chief, especially the Republic of China attire, which matches Yang Mi's appearance very well.
Mr. Tomato’s only worry is Yang Mi’s lines, because the voice is too recognizable. How to pronounce the lines of a special agent section chief calmly, penetratingly, and resoundingly is a big test for Yang Mi.
Once Yang Mi performs well, "Harbin 1944" will definitely become a hit.
This is why Mr. Tomato is currently optimistic about this drama.
One is Qin Hao, whose acting skills are greater than his reputation.
One is Yang Mi, whose popularity is greater than her acting skills.
Two actors with completely different characteristics began to make "Harbin 1944" interesting.
02. When Zhang Li encountered a spy drama, he couldn't hide the three highlights!
Let’s not talk about how many masterpieces the “spy war” genre has produced. Director Zhang Li alone is enough to raise our expectations for this drama.
In the Chinese drama circle, almost every one of Zhang Li's works, from "Toward the Republic" to "The Ming Dynasty", from " The Righteous Way in the World is Vicissitudes of Life " to "The Young Marshal", is a classic that is both well-received and well-received.
won Feitian with "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui", and later won the Magnolia Best Director with "The Young Marshal". For Zhang Li, there is no need to prove anything anymore, and for a spy movie, Zhang Li Lai's best response and challenge to the decline of the "spy movie" genre.
Let’s look at the screenwriter again, Wang Xiaoqiang . You may not be familiar with the name
, but you must have seen his works.
Not to mention, in recent years, the spy wars " versus " and "Mask", as well as the 9-point hit drama "Meritor", were all directed by Wang Xiaoqiang.
With these two guarantees, the quality of "Harbin 1944" is evident.
If you briefly understand the plot of "Harbin 1944", you will find that this drama is really different from other dramas.
Based on the information currently available, three major points are eye-catching.
The first point is the entanglement and confrontation between various forces in the general background.
The background of spy wars is generally fixed, either the Anti-Japanese War or liberation.
As you can tell from the name, this drama is set in 1944, on the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, when the country's power was about to take action.
As for the locations of espionage wars, Shanghai and Harbin are generally the most popular. On the one hand, the existence of foreign concessions is complicated, and on the other hand, the rule of puppet Manchuria is perilous. Harbin in 1944 is the perfect place for espionage war stories to take place.
The puppet Manchukuo, the puppet army, the military command, our party, the bandits, the Japanese army... Just talking about these forces, you can imagine an exciting spy war story. "Harbin 1944" is definitely full of watchability and drama.
The second point is the cooperation between the two brothers and the civil and military struggle with the enemy.
The story takes the two brothers Zhuo Wen and Zhuo Wu as an opportunity to show the hardships of our party's underground work.
In fact, the most difficult and most watchable thing is how the two brothers, through exquisite cooperation, obtained intelligence in the Special Police Agency, saved their comrades, and contributed to the victory of our party.
The reason why "White Night Chase" is good-looking is not because of the crime story, but because of the conflicts focused on the two brothers Guan Hongfeng and Guan Hongyu, the two brothers' control over the identity swap, and their joint exploration of the mystery that happened to them. .
This point can be completely transferred to "Harbin 1944". In the trailer of
, we can see that Zhuo Wu has a serious face, while Zhuo Wen is much more elegant; Zhuo Wu has a murderous look, while Zhuo Wen is more intelligent.
This is a big challenge for Yang Mi and Qin Hao. If you perform well, it will definitely become popular all over the country. In the trailer of
, it can be read from the background sound that the secret of Zhuo Wen and Zhuo Wu has been mastered by the secret service.
One of them works at the police station during the day, and the other does dirty work at night. The two work closely together.
Once the secret is revealed and Zhuo Wen is targeted, a war will be inevitable.
In this, there is a battle of wits that is extremely thoughtful, and there is also a fight with full force.
What makes people even more curious is whether the character played by Yang Mi will discover the intrigue between the two brothers, and what kind of sparks will arise between her and the two brothers? This is the most anticipated aspect.
The third point is the performance of other actors.
In addition to Yang Mi and Qin Hao, there are many familiar faces in "Harbin 1944". They are all actors with superb acting skills.
Zhang Zixian, Luan Yuanhui, Wang Herun had a shocking glimpse in the trailer, with faces full of drama.
Koji Yano will appear in a spy drama again after many years. I wonder if he will appear as a Japanese officer.
In addition, this series includes Tang Xiaolong (Lin Jiachuan) and Lao Mo (Feng Bing) in "The Long Season", as well as Biaozi (Qin Hao) and Fu Weijun (Jiang Qiming) in "The Long Season" ).
The curtain of a drama is about to begin.
The three highlights are about to be revealed, and coupled with the expectations for the two leading actors, Mr. Tomato honestly can’t wait.
03. Can the declining spy war genre be brilliant again?
"Spy War" has experienced an era when dramas were produced in large numbers. Nowadays, although it is a favorite type of drama in the market, there has been no outstanding spy war drama for a long time.
Today's spy dramas have long lost the flavor of "Insidious", "Kite", "Cliff" and "The Pretender". They are more focused on the workplace and idols, and some even feel like fashion dramas.
Today's creators generally lack the ability to conceive a spy drama and the patience to film a good spy drama.
The charm of spy wars lies not only in the underground workers' entry and exit on thin ice, nor in the exciting battles of wits and the crushing of enemy conspiracies; the real spy war is a test of the limits of human nature. The dilemma of making a choice is also about persistence in faith and respect for history.
Because without that group of people, we would not have the peace we have today.
Our lens should be aimed at such people, photographing their complexity, exploring their mental journey, and finding the reasons why they continue on this road.
The declining spy drama certainly needs a hit to open up the market.
And "Harbin 1944" allows us to see the signs of a hit in ratings. As a spy war fan, Mr. Tomato can't wait!
(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Department: Miaomiao)
