Please allow me to start with the last two lines Zhuo Wen said to Guan Xue in "Harbin 1944".
"You may have forgotten an order given to Xiao Wu five years ago."
"He once saved you, but in the end, he died in your hands."
"Harbin 1944", this spy drama, ultimately... It left an extremely sad ending.
After watching the finale, I was filled with emotions.
I’m not bragging. Although there were a lot of controversies during the broadcast of this drama, in my mind, this drama moved me no less than the previous "Storm Chaser". The drama's rating in my mind is much higher than Douban's 6.7.
In my opinion, director Zhang Li has completed a new experiment in spy dramas. The series is not perfect, but it definitely has a unique flavor.
The snow in Harbin in 1944 left no trace, but it will always leave traces in people's hearts.
: About the finale
"Harbin 1944", in the last episode, Zhuo Wen stood alone on the street with colorful flags, looking at the streets of New China in 1949, with tears streaming down his face. Zhuo Wen was quarreling with him all day long, causing him trouble and asking him to wipe his butt. Wu, I can't mess with him anymore.
This ending should be the most unexpected heart blow that screenwriter Wang Xiaoqiang gave the audience in the finale.
Generally speaking, this finale is divided into two parts. One is the finale of the story.
The second is the character finale.
tells the story first. There are actually two core stories in the last four episodes of
. One is the last important mission of Zhuo Wen and Zhuo Wu, which is to eliminate Xiaodao, the core character of the 731 experiment.
The second question is whether Pan Yue and Guan Xue will discover the secret identities of the brothers.
task, completed.
Although the completion process was unexpected, the island was not destroyed by Zhuo Wenzhuowu, but died at the hands of puppet Manchu officials who suddenly awakened.
So has Zhuo Wen Zhuowu been exposed?
Actually, in my opinion, Zhuo Wen Zhuowu was exposed long ago in the last few episodes.
But why did Pan Yue and the others never attack Zhuo Wen? The reason is actually very clear in the play - the historical background.
What all the characters face in the finale of the story is actually: Japan has actually been defeated, and every villain is considering his own way out.
It was precisely this that gave Zhuo Wen and Zhuowu the last bit of time.
Pan Yue is the most unbelieving person in the show. He is always based on his own interests. He knows that his hands are stained with the blood of innocent people and there is no way he will join us. So of course the Kuomintang is his best choice.
Mr. Ning has already promised him the position of chief of Fengtian Police Station, but on one condition: a complete list of Harbin’s underground party.
This is why he used the rat weapon and dared not attack Zhuo Wen, because he could only catch big fish by putting a long line on him.
The result was such a hesitation, which affected the outcome of the battle. It also led to the last moment of the street confrontation between brothers Guan Xue and Zhuo Wen Zhuowu.
Of course, Zhuo Wen Zhuowu won in the end.
But this is not Guan Xue’s final outcome.
Now let's take a look at the ending of the main character -
Xie Yue got on the train leaving Harbin and eventually became a People's Liberation Army soldier.
Guan Kai had the courage to kill Mr. Ning in the rain, but he did not have the courage to go to Japan with his disillusionment and survival.
He chose to commit suicide.
Pan Yue, with his spring and autumn dream of Fengtian police chief, died under a sniper's gun.
There are three intellectual ceilings in the whole drama, Zhuo Wen, Lao Qian and Pan Yue. I personally think that the three of them are indistinguishable, but Pan Yue loses because he has too many crooked ideas.
He had known for a long time that Song Zhuowen and Song Zhuowu were twins. One was an undercover agent, and the other was doing dirty work outside. After falling into Zhuowen's trap, he retreated in order to advance, and almost killed Zhuowen with a counterattack, catching Zhuowen off guard.
But his plan was too clever, and he collapsed in the rain at the last moment. Zhang Zixian 's acting skills in this scene can be described as superb.
The last three key characters: Zhuo Wen, Zhuo Wu, and Guan Xue.
The fate of the three characters is explained together, because in a sense, the fate of the three of them has been connected since Zhuo Wu rescued Guan Xue.
Zhuo Wu died after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and the person who assassinated him was another ceiling of the whole drama's combat power: Xiao Wu.
Wang Xiaoqiang's arrangement is very clever. In terms of combat power, even if it is an assassination, I only believe that Xiaowu can make Zhuo Wu fall into the trap. In addition, Zhuo Wu is carrying a child and chewing melon seeds, so he has relaxed his vigilance.
But why did Guan Xue want to kill Zhuo Wu? In fact, it was Zhuo Wen who she ordered to kill.
And she only found out about this news after being imprisoned for five years.
Zhuo Wen lived until the victory of the Liberation War and became the supervisor of the Fushun Police Station. He personally cooked and made Guan Xue's favorite pot-wrapped pork for the still imprisoned. He rode his bicycle to see the scissors. Guan Xue has short hair and is wearing a prison uniform.
The two of them were chatting and laughing like old friends. Zhuo Wen asked Guan Xue how the pot-wrapped pork was done. Guan Xue smiled and said, maybe you should just stop doing it.
But even at this time, Guan Xue still did not lower her proud head.
In this scene, both people expressed different views on faith.
Guan Xue said, "Only living people are qualified to talk about faith. If you win, you are alive."
Some people have always doubted whether Guan Xue has repeatedly deliberately "released water" in order to leave a way out for herself. Judging from the plot, she overheard the conversation between Pan and Hu and then began her own review and confirmed Zhuo Wen's identity.
I don’t think he deliberately let things slip. In Guan Xue’s heart, the most important thing has always been his own interests and survival.
Anyone who hinders her life will die, so she gave the order to kill Zhuo Wen.
And her last cry was not a true repentance, but a mistake for killing her savior Zhuo Wu.
Although Zhuo Wen knew all this, he still persuaded her to look back with earnest words:
"I hope you can truly believe in this new world like Zhuo Wu. He can do it, and so can you."
Guan Xue took one last look at their last group photo.
The soundtrack sounded at this time, as if it was filled with endless sorrow of separation. "Zhuowen, you said that if two people look exactly the same and are printed on this photo, whoever I think they are will be who they are."
Guan Xue's voice was haggard and full of emotion. After saying the last sentence, she sent her away. Zhuo Wen walked back to the reception room, gulped down the fried noodles and potted pork that Zhuo Wen brought her, and burst into tears.
Zhuo Wen walked out of the prison and glanced at the sky. This was already the sky of New China.
As soon as this plot came out, I don’t know how everyone felt. I was really filled with emotions. What Zhang Li wanted to shoot was never as simple as victory or defeat. What he wanted to shoot was people, their destiny, and their emotions.
2: Let me be blunt about "Harbin 1944"
. To me, the series is seriously underrated.
In other words, I have always believed that if Chinese audiences have the lowest requirements for ancient and modern puppet shows, then they have the highest requirements for spy war dramas.
Those familiar classic spy dramas, such as "Insidious", "Before Dawn", " Cliff ", " Kite ", etc., are so classic that the audience will compare them with classics.
Why have spy dramas been diversifying over the years?
It’s not that no one watches traditional spy war dramas, but that traditional spy war dramas have too high requirements for scripts and the audience’s fault tolerance rate is too low. This is why "Harbin 1944" once encountered various criticisms from the audience, some justified and some unreasonable.
But in my opinion, Zhang Li actually made a film that has been taken but not taken before: a historical spy drama.
Location, Harbin, time, 1944.
In terms of time, the series chose one of the most critical and turbulent periods in modern history - 1944, the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. The spy war drama at this critical time point not only intensifies the tension and excitement, but the choice of the characters' fate also gives the story a different flavor.
also has locations.
From 1932 to 1945, the four northeastern provinces were under the rule of the puppet Manchukuo. The geographical location determined the political sensitivity of the place. In the past, most spy war dramas chose Shanghai, Peiping, and at most Nanjing. Only Zhang Li chose Northeast China.
The forces involved in this area include Japanese soldiers, the Kuomintang military command, the Puppet Manchukuo Secret Service, anti-alliance fighters, and our underground party, etc. There are undercurrents of various forces.
There is also the infamous "731 Unit", from Guan Xue handing over Dr. Shi and Tian Xiaojiang to the Japanese, to Zhuo Wen risking his life to complete the breakthrough of the test site, and then to the final assassination of the island, the "731" The performance can be said to be complete in one go.
In my opinion, the creative ambition of the series far exceeds that of ordinary spy dramas.
Zhang Li, who has filmed "Ming Dynasty 1566", in a sense, treats the series as a historical drama rather than a simple spy drama.
In the drama, Zhang Li also fully demonstrated his TV drama aesthetics. As for the finale, the black and white and colorful light and shadow tones are not only beautiful, but also bring out a strong sense of age and oil painting texture. The past and present, before and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War After the founding of New China, time went back and forth, and the picture itself was full of story tension.
The nearly one-minute empty scene at the end, although it does not have a line, is worth a thousand words. Zhang Li is still Zhang Li.
As for a traditional spy drama, it cannot be said that the drama is without any flaws, but you will become addicted to it after watching it. The more you watch it, the more addictive it becomes, and the more you watch it, the better it becomes.
And looking back, many of the logical flaws that viewers thought were not flaws at all.
For example, the squirrel secret message has been criticized.
Audiences have been complaining about Guan Xue's lack of confidentiality. How did he become the chief of the secret service?
It wasn't until "Squirrel" was found out by Lao Qian, that is, Lao Miao, that the plot revealed Guan Xue's intention: the Squirrel's secret message was basically a pretense deliberately made for people to see, and the two had been communicating using carrier pigeons.
Also, she was not so gullible towards Song Zhuowen, otherwise she would not have filmed Aunt Chang, the unit chief, to spy on Song Zhuowen.
What the audience never expected was that she and Lao Miao were actually husband and wife.
These details are intertwined with each other, buried in precise layout, clever duels and exquisite battles of wits. Zhang Li has been quietly laying down the "hook".
In addition to the spy war, the play also shows the hardships of ordinary people surviving in troubled times, the consequences of their own actions, and the impending doomsday. Qian and Zhuo Wen, almost everyone is going crazy.
Until the moment when the music played in the finale, my heart was surging, I couldn't conceal my excitement, and I shed tears of emotion.
For a time, all kinds of thrilling or magnificent plot scenes were rushing through my mind.
It turns out that spy dramas can be thrilling and can also make people have mixed feelings.
All this should be seen.
3: Regarding the acting skills of actors
After watching the entire drama "Harbin 1944", there was a lot of discussion in the early stages of the drama about the casting of actors.
However, as the plot progressed, I think the actors conquered the audience with their excellent performances. How
dismantles a complex history and quietly inserts it into the story, people are the key. The complex historical background of
means that the characters have different life choices, the unpredictable times, and the uncertainty of human destiny make all the characters in the play very effective.
I think Qin Hao once again proved that he is a good actor.
The twin brothers Song Zhuowen and Song Zhuowu, one is a "wise star" who calmly obeys orders, and the other is an unorganized and undisciplined "Robin Hood". They are both civilized and martial, and they have two sides. Qin Hao's performance allows the audience to distinguish every scene clearly, which is his skill. .
What is even more difficult is the portrayal of Zhuo Wu,
because Zhuo Wen was the first to enter the story at the beginning, and Zhuo Wu just came out and caused Zhuo Wen trouble. I didn't like Zhuo Wu at first, but as I look back, I think many people, like me, gradually fell in love with Zhuo Wu.
Because underneath his tough appearance, he has a soft heart. The scene where he watched Lao Qian cry really made me cry.
and the smile before the final sacrifice, in retrospect, it is so embarrassing.
Qin Hao's performance is very good, but the supporting role in this drama is too eye-catching.
Especially Zhang Zixian.
In the later stages, the audience felt chills running down their backs as soon as they saw Pan Yue smiling. He had no rivals in the Smiling Tiger track.
The good thing about Pan Yue's character is that he always gives people a sense of confidence that he is in control, but once things get out of control, he starts to go crazy. The balance of this performance is an art that is down to the smallest detail, and Zhang Zixian is able to do it with ease.
and Luan Yuanhui .
At first, I thought his character Hu Bin was just ruthless, but I didn’t expect him to play a villain who is the number one pure love god of war.
At the end, the audience couldn't help but feel sorry for this character. In fact, what hurt was the actor's character creation.
This is the magic of acting.
There are many more magic moments like this.
For example, Jiang Qiming ’s transformation moment from a madman to an anti-Japanese martyr.
There is also Zhang Guoqiang’s impassioned speech that denounced Lao Miao.
Too many highlights.
But I don’t think that Yang Mi and are so bad at acting.
On the contrary, she performed a complicated Guan Xue.
For example, as many bloggers complain, how can there be a chief of the secret service department who wears famous brands to work every day?
But Guan Xue is a descendant of the Manchu nobles, shouldn't she be used to luxury?
This character has experienced the war and should be able to understand the pain of the war, but he always wanted to inherit the "recovery dream", and finally changed from a victim to perpetrator.
She wears famous brands to go to work without delaying her temper. She never trusts anyone except Lao Jin, who is like a teacher and father. She does not easily expose her true inner emotions to others. For example, she persuaded Zhuo Wen to go to Japan with him, but Zhuo Wen Pretending to be confused, her eyes turned red while she was feeding the pigeons. She had already made her choice at that moment.
I can’t say that she is cold-blooded, but all emotions are higher than her own living and winning first.
I think at least compared to Yang Mi's own performance, this is definitely a breakthrough.
4: About the spy war
In fact, to understand "Harbin 1944", maybe you can first look at another drama title that Zhang Li prefers, "The Color of the Forest".
From this, we can understand Zhang Li’s many designs and screen treatments in the play.
Many times, he films the series as if it were a historical movie.
In a specific period, the historical details that happened on that land and the living conditions of the people at that time are all wrapped up.
For example, there is a detail in the drama that many people who have not watched the drama may not know until now. During that period, Japan promulgated the "Rice Valley Management Law". Han people were not qualified to eat rice, so even Guan Xue and the others could only eat rice. Bread and borscht. Pan Yue and Hu Bin drank and ate Japanese hot pot.
History is not always grand, history is in the details.
In this sense, I think the breakthrough of "Harbin 1944" is underestimated.
Looking at it from another angle, it also shows that there are many new possibilities in traditional spy war dramas. As long as you are willing to explore, you will not repeatedly film the plot of No. 76, the undercover military commander who is inspired by our side to abandon the secret and turn to the light.
Why are the spy dramas in recent years not good enough?
I think it’s not that the plot of the battle of wits is not strong enough, but that many directors have forgotten the weight of faith in spy dramas.
Guan Xue in "Harbin 1944" said it right: We can't beat them.
The real names of those people whom Guan Xue thought they "couldn't win" were mostly lost in the long history. They paid their blood and even their lives for this country to come from darkness to today, but they are not known to everyone.
They are Zhuo Wu, they are Lao Qian, they are soldiers who fell before victory one by one.
What supports them in never giving up and giving everything for a light that has yet to come is the faith that has never been extinguished.
Just like what Zhang Li said, every layer of forest is dyed, and the light comes step by step.In this sense, "Harbin 1944" captured it, and I hope that more spy war dramas can be filmed in the future -
"Spy war is a battle of wits and courage among human beings, and history is a bottom line."
