At the end of the year, criminal investigation dramas hit KPIs, and the second part of "White Night", which had not been released for 7 years, had just aired, and Yang Ma was in trouble. Recently, CCTV 8's "I Am a Detective" has become an instant hit, and its popularity has explo

The criminal investigation drama hit the KPI at the end of the year, and the second part of had just aired, and Yang Ma was on the hook.

Recently, CCTV 8's "I am a Detective" became instantly popular, and it seemed to compete with " White Night Break ".

Logically speaking, criminal investigation and crime dramas are no longer a novel genre.

From " Serious Cases " in the early years, to "White Night Chase" and " Psychological Crime " after the rise of online dramas, and then to " Anti-Crime Storm " and "Crazy", we have seen too many Many excellent criminal investigation dramas.

Then why is it that "I Am a Detective", with a seemingly ordinary title, is so popular, attracting endorsements from CCTV, official media platforms, and netizens applauding it?

We might as well put "Daybreak" and "I Am a Detective" together to see how big the gap between the two is.

01. Story: A pale and deliberately bizarre one, a real hard-core suspense story

Although many criminal investigation dramas are composed of scattered and fragmented cases.

But because of this, screenwriters of criminal investigation dramas need to stand the test.

First of all, these cases need to be connected with clues, and the cases themselves need to be bizarre and hard-core enough to continuously create suspense and retain the audience.

Secondly, because of the dispersed nature of the case, the screenwriter needs to determine a main line to connect the entire drama. This main line can be the case itself, it can be a character, or it can be some unexplored relationship.

If you have watched these two dramas, you will find that "Daybreak" and "I Am a Detective" both meet these two characteristics.

In "White Night Breaking Dawn", there are 8 important criminal cases. What connects the story is the "Wu Zheng Case" of the two brothers Guan Hongfeng and Guan Hongyu.

In "I Am a Detective", the detection of criminal cases also has clear time nodes. The person who strings together the story is the detective Qin Chuan played by Yu Hewei .

Although the story framework and structure of

are similar, when it comes to the internal story, the two dramas give people very different perceptions.

Let’s talk about "Break of White Night" first.

Because it is closely related to "White Night", and the previous work has been aired for 7 years, the creators had to spend a lot of energy at the beginning of the series to take the audience to recall the two brothers' past, as well as the progress of the main case.

The changes in style, the large number of narrations, and the changes in character temperament all damage the story itself and have a direct impact on the audience's immersion in watching the drama.

Of course, as a sequel, this is inevitable, but the presentation of the case story is the essential reason for the serious decline in the quality of "Daybreak".

Let’s take the first case. The whole case is extremely simple. It is a story between two brothers and a woman.

My brother once violated this girl, but this girl is my brother's lover.

Before getting married, the girl wanted to confess everything to her brother, but the brother refused and accidentally killed someone.

Just such a simple thing, "Breaking of the Night" was enough for 4 episodes.

That’s not all. In terms of story progression and case arrangement, the screenwriter was too clever, which gave the whole case a plastic feel of deliberately creating coincidences and full of logical loopholes.

For example: My brother "died" twice and got up from the morgue to escape. This is obviously not like what happened in reality.

Not to mention how harsh the judgment of "suspended death" is. With cameras everywhere, facing a corpse, you don't need to spend so much time checking subway surveillance and police force to easily confirm the identity.

However, all this has become the biggest obstacle to the entire case.

Another example: the deceased died on the subway track, but the subway was still running as usual, which violated the police's principles for handling cases.

The forensic doctor who is deliberately showing off, Guan Hongyu knows nothing about handling the case, Guan Hongfeng can discover the details immediately when he takes action, and has an obvious "protagonist halo"...

In addition, the case involves a small number of people, which is not attractive enough, there is no strong conflict, and strong suspense. Strong stimulation, making people drowsy, useless.

On the other hand, "I am a detective" is eye-catching. The background of the story of

is set in the 1990s when security was relatively chaotic.

The story begins without any unnecessary nonsense. It is a cold, desolate and lively street scene in a small northeastern town before the Chinese New Year.

An old director named Gao Jianshe was hit on the head with an iron rod to death on his way home after shopping and exhorting a few gangsters. His gun was also robbed.

The case was shelved for four years until another major case occurred.

The story is fast-paced, with characters appearing one after another. Through clever arrangement and setting, the screenwriter brought together three cases: the robbery of the savings bank in 1991, the murder of Gao Jianshe, and the robbery and shooting case in Xishan Coal Mine in 1995. .

Through the identity of teachers and students of Qin Chuan and Gao Jianshe, the laying out of these clues is light and traceless, and fascinating, allowing the audience to enter a story that is quite contemporary but life-like.

The occurrence of real cases often occurs suddenly, and there is no exaggeration like "resurrection from the dead" or "brotherly love triangle" in "Breaking Night".

In fact, the prototype of this case is the "128 Hegang Case". The screenwriter even restored many details of the case to the real world. Things such as robbery of the savings bank, murder and gun grabbing all really happened.

In particular, the intuitive presentation of the crime process of the Xishan Mine robbery case gives "I Am a Detective" a rough and documentary feel.

Four robbers broke into the unsuspecting mine and killed everyone they saw with guns. They killed 11 people in total, including a child.

The bloody crime scene and the inhumane killings of the robbers were handled compactly and sharply, without any sloppiness, and there was not even any mysterious camerawork.

The audience seems to have watched this case from a "God's perspective".

At the same time, "I Am a Detective" is even more sophisticated and professional in on-site investigation and case detection procedures.

It eliminates a lot of the fancy work that current criminal investigation crime dramas like, and uses the most pristine lenses, the most realistic presentation, and the simplest shooting to focus on showing the process of grassroots police investigating major cases.

Take the first case as an example. All the forces from the municipal bureau concentrated on the search, and experts from the provincial department all came to help.

From determining the focus of the investigation to physical detection, from finding the scope of the gangster's activities to simulating recent activities, from clueless reasoning to forensic examination to discovering key clues, from the relationship between suspects After combing through to determine the arrest target...

, this set of procedures is rigorous, meticulous, orderly and efficient, especially the forensic autopsy section, which is very detailed and truly captures the "forensic doctor letting the corpse speak".

When the forensic doctor had no clue, he found through examination that an unknown corpse had two different types of bullet holes in the head: pistols and spray holes, and then determined the identity of the unknown corpse. It was probably that after the criminal's accomplice was knocked down, he was shot by one of his own. Caused by.

By peeling off the burnt skin, he discovered crucial physical features such as dentures and tattoos, thereby determining the identity of the corpse and figuring out its social relationships.

It can be said that the investigation of major cases is inseparable from the details of the forensic autopsy. Looking at the bombastic forensic doctor in "Daybreak" who likes to show off science, it is completely different.

From this, the two dramas can make a judgment on the level of story and details.

02. Actors: One failed in casting and her acting skills were embarrassing, but one all performed online to become a god.

Seeing now, Mr. Tomato has to explain a fact.

That is "Daybreak", which seems to have "the original cast" but is actually "replacement of the core". It really didn't work out this time.

From the actor level, there are many irreparable flaws and loopholes at the performance level alone.

Let’s talk about the biggest problem first, Fei Qiming plays the forensic doctor .

People who practice forensic medicine generally have several distinctive characteristics. They are mentally strong and thoughtful, speak to the point without subjective emotions, and only describe facts without reasoning, because this will interfere with the police's judgment. Finally, they are mature and stable without showing off their skills.

Looking at Fei Qiming’s character design, they are basically the opposite, and there is a big gap with Gao Yanan in the first season.

is not only too bombastic in terms of characterization, but also unable to hold the scene in terms of performance, unable to catch the scenes of Pan Yueming and Wang Longzheng.

Although the other actors have little problems in terms of performance, in terms of actual character design, they are far away from the spirit and spirit in "White Night".

Pan Yueming has more greasiness, Liang Yuan lacks aura, Wang Longzheng Without the energy of a rough guy, Gao Yanan simply disappeared...

The core characters in the play have all had negative changes. On the one hand, this is an irreversible trace caused by 7 years. On the other hand, he is also the main creator The effort is not deep, it is just the mentality of creating a popular drama through the continuation of feelings.

However, watching "I Am a Detective" is completely different. It feels like everyone has stepped out of this criminal investigation documentary.

The whole drama is not only done well in details such as setting, costumes, light and shadow, and sense of time, but also the performances are perfectly matched and appropriate. Every character, and even every extra performer, is performed vividly and penetratingly.

First look at Yu Hewei . As the absolute male lead, Yu Hewei is as stable as a rock in his performance.

Although the age setting of the character is somewhat different from his actual age, Yu Hewei has achieved the ultimate in portraying the emotional tension and character of Qin Chuan.

The most impressive scene is the scene where he interrogated the main criminal Song Xiaojun and saw Song Xiaojun pouring wine to pay tribute to his accomplices, and his emotions broke out.

Or it could be said that it is different when an old actor appears. Yu Hewei overturned two boxes of vegetables and faced the camera of Song Xiaojun angrily, performing a grassroots policeman's simplest definition of good and evil, as well as his truest view of the police profession. values.

In addition, Masu ’s performance is also very amazing. In the scene where

was taken to the police station for interrogation, Ma Su gave his most outstanding performance in the past few years. When

covers her eyes with her hands, you can clearly see the frostbite on her character Bai Ling's hands. Because she sells white chicken all year round, the color on her hands gradually deepens from her palms to her fingers, which makes her cover her face and cry. A little more emotional power.

In addition, Ma Su burst into tears after listening to the song. The tears were like being controlled by a remote control. They could always accurately hit an emotional point and fall slowly.

Bai Ling is actually a tragic figure. She is Qin Chuan's school girl, and she is also a hard-working, capable, beautiful and elegant girl.

However, she did not meet the right person after getting married, and her husband neglected his job and became a criminal. She was also kept in the dark, and she was always in fear and suffered verbal violence.

This grievance poured out at the moment of being interrogated, and Mr. Tomato felt ripples of sympathy in his heart.

In addition, the scene where she was separated from her child in the interrogation room played a mother's worries very contagiously. In the first 7 episodes, Ma Su's performance was one of the best.

Finally, let’s talk about a supporting role, Li Hongliang. He plays the main culprit in the major case, Ma Su's husband Song Xiaojun.

Looking at the scenes where he was interrogated and changed his face towards his wife at home, his acting skills were really amazing.

When Song Xiaojun was first arrested, the plot had not yet revealed that he was the main culprit. At this time, his performance was calm and calm, which not only led the police in the play, but also the audience into doubt: Could it be that the wrong person was really arrested?

Because at this time, he didn't look like a heinous criminal at all.

When Bai Ling confessed, the answer was revealed, and Li Hongliang's appearance changed.

As an audience, I felt for a moment that Song Xiaojun had a terrifying face, a sinister look in his eyes, and he was a ruthless person at first glance.

Coupled with the crew's realistic lighting and the back-and-forth between him and the police, Li Hongliang performed the most brutal crime in the first seven episodes with great prowess.

Whether they are protagonists, supporting roles, or even extras on the roadside, the acting skills of the actors in "I Am a Detective" are truly life-like, without any trace of deliberate performance.

In the duel scene, each character is relaxed and relaxed, contracted and released, with highs and lows interspersed. The conflict scenes are full of impact and make people want to stop.

The first case actually set the tone for "I Am a Detective", and it also destined that the subsequent plots would never start high and go low.

03. Detailed, deep, really hard-core, and really group portraits. This year’s criminal investigation and crime drama has a ceiling.

In fact, the quality of the two dramas can be easily judged from the details alone.

In "Break of the Night", the gangsters in the subway station, the scars on Guan Hongfeng's face grow and shrink, the forensic doctor's lines, etc., all have a devastating impact on the perception.

But "I Am a Detective" hides a lot of "devil details". Those details are so real that the audience can easily ignore them, which is amazing.

Give three detailed examples.

One is Bai Ling’s frostbitten hand.

These hands were shown close-up twice during the interrogation.

It becomes more obvious every time, and it is almost exactly the same as real frostbite.

On the one hand, this proves Bai Ling's hard work as Song Xiaojun's wife; on the other hand, it actually explains from the side why the case was broken through Bai Ling.

The second is a table tennis table.

After the case, all the elites in the city hall were transferred to the Public Security Bureau.

But the small public security bureau does not have such a big conference room at all, what should I do?

You can find that after the meeting, everyone came out of the "Activity Center".

In other words, the table where they held the meeting was actually the table tennis table in the activity center.

Such environmental conditions were very common at the time, and it was not easy for the main creator to take them into consideration.

The third is the scene where the three principal criminals were shot. There is actually no need to show the shot

.

because it only lasts about 2 seconds.

As a real criminal investigation case, it should have a beginning and an end, and this short two-second shot is also full of details.

The three murderers are all bald. Although it is a long shot, the status of the three people can still be seen.

The one on the far right is the leader Song Xiaojun. He is holding his neck and seems to be being pushed. It can be inferred that he is afraid of death and is afraid of the upcoming death penalty.

Song Zhe, in the middle, was obedient, lifeless, and had completely given up resistance.

The one on the left is Chen Xiaodong, , who was disguised as a woman. The policeman holding him was using the most force and leaning forward, indicating that he was unwilling to give in and was resisting.

Just this scene contains so many details that I have to accept it.

In addition, as a criminal investigation drama, although Yu Hewei is the nominal protagonist, the cases are interspersed with the progress, and the director shoots more group portraits.

Whether it is Ye Maosheng or Cao Zhongshu, Hu Bing, what it presents is the real life and case handling status of grassroots police.

This is much better than "Daybreak".

Moreover, in addition to real cases, the intensity and depth of satire in "I Am a Detective" are also rare in other criminal investigation dramas.

There are two scenes in the play that touched Mr. Tomato very much.

One, before the arrest, Qin Chuan stared at the three ambulances outside the police station in a daze.

He knew that this ambulance was not reserved for criminals, but for the police.

But he didn’t know if anyone would die or if any comrades would die in the face of the gunmen.

At this moment, the hardships and greatness of the profession of criminal police seem to be concrete.

The other one is the conflict between Qinchuan and Hu Bing.

Although the profession of criminal police is sacred and dangerous, there are still superiors who do nothing and colleagues who do nothing.

Compared with those police officers who fulfill their duties, perhaps this contradiction is also the norm.

"I am a detective" must have been shot with care.

The good thing about it is that it does not mythologise, nor does it obscure the criminal police as a group, but objectively presents the other side behind their reality.

For the audience, it is also a blessing to have such a drama as a year-end feast.

(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Department: Miaomiao)