Good guy, this domestic spy drama is going to be cheating!
As we all know, the decline of spy dramas was an indisputable fact.
The peak era of domestic spy dramas started with "The Conspiracy", started with "Insidious", reached its peak in " Cliff " and "Before Dawn", and fell into silence after " Kite ".
For several years, there was only one "Renegade" that passed the quality standard. Many major productions have received great reviews one after another.
Until "Storm Chaser" appeared, spy dramas became popular again.
But, will this wind that finally blew up stop?
Just today, this new 34-episode spy drama aired on Mango Channel made my eyes shine: "When the Stars Shine". The screenwriters of
are Huang Chen and Pu Wei, who were nominated for Magnolia Best Original Screenplay for " Secret and Great ".
Starring, there are new actors such as Li Xian, Ren Min, and Zhou You, as well as acting talents such as Huang Zhizhong, Dong Jie, Cao Lei, and Feng Lei.
started broadcasting online at 12 noon, and lasted 4 hours. The number of views exceeded 20 million, making it very popular.
finished four episodes in one go, and I have to sigh: the spy drama not only ushered in a "turnaround", but also waited for the most critical thing: innovation.
Perhaps, domestic spy dramas are ushering in another time when new stars shine.
01. There is a climax at the beginning, a rescue, a lurking, and a breakdown. This spy war drama has a new flavor
Generally, spy war dramas always have some setup at the beginning, but "When the Stars Shine" is different.
As soon as it comes up, it gives the audience the most exciting scenes and directly draws the audience into the game.
In Shanghai in the 1930s, the all-out Anti-Japanese War was about to break out. Hua Zhen, a patriotic young man and the son of the Deputy Minister of Military and Political Affairs, went to Shanghai to deliver books to his friends.
The beginning of the story shows us what is called "the rhythm of a spy drama". In the first 10 minutes, it already firmly caught my eye.
The three lines that are unfolding one after another also have their own highlights.
The first line: connect to "book". The book
received is an important clue that runs through the previous episodes, "When the Stars of Mankind Shine".
Today is the 50th birthday party of the Kuomintang military and political deputy minister played by Huang Zhizhong. Hua Zhen, a second-term student of the Navigation Department of Dianlei School, came to Nanjing to celebrate his father's birthday.
Father Hua asked him about his ambition, and he said that he wanted to stay in the navy. During the conversation with
, we also learned about the specific background of the story: the Japanese military is ready to move, and a full-scale war of resistance is imminent.
But the Kuomintang authorities still avoided war like an ostrich and used all their strength to suppress the Communists. So Hua Zhen said to his brother: The war of resistance is not politics.
After the father and son talked, the banquet began, and all the military and political officials came, including He Yingqin.
At this moment, Deng Mingyuan, Hua Zhen's teacher at the naval school and the leader of my Nanjing underground party group, was also rushing to Hua's house.
But he was not here to wish the Hua family a birthday, but to deliver the most important "book" in his hand, "When the Human Stars Shine".
At this time, he had been bitten by the investigation team of the Security Command. Under the chase, he knew that he could no longer break out. The only way was to give the book away before being arrested.
And Huazhen is his last hope.
Deng Mingyuan sneaked into the banquet and found Hua Zhen. The agents who followed him were temporarily blocked by the Hua family.
Taking advantage of this precious time, he handed the book to Hua Zhen and asked him to hand it over to a friend named Meng in Shanghai at the agreed time and place, and repeatedly warned him not to let anyone know about it.
Just after the banquet, Deng Mingyuan was arrested after completing his mission.
And Hua Zhen embarked on a book delivery trip to Shanghai as agreed.
He never expected that this trip to deliver books would completely change his life trajectory and rewrite the life trajectories of many people.
The second line: Send "book".
It was this book delivery that led Hua Zhen to encounter the murderous case of the Meng family.
Hua Zhen arrived at the Mandarin Hotel in Shanghai and arrived at the agreed time. Logically, he handed the book to the patriotic businessman couple. His mission was considered completed.
But when he came to the door of the agreed room, he saw a gun pointed at a little girl.
After saving the girl, he discovered that the family he wanted to send the book to had been destroyed.
He wanted to call the police on the girl's behalf, but what the girl "Qiushi" said next put him into even greater trouble: it was also the police who killed the entire Meng family.
is in trouble now.
Although this is a huge trouble, he cannot just watch a life disappear inexplicably.
After saving the girl, evading the patrol and leaving the hotel, Hua Zhen soon discovered that the trouble he got into was more complicated than he imagined.
Qiushi's family is a wealthy businessman in Shanghai, but they live in a hotel because they are waiting for new identities and passports. Apparently, the entire Meng family is undergoing a secret transfer.
was silenced before the transfer was completed.
When Hua Zhen recalled Deng Mingyuan's words, he began to look at the inner pages of the book, and even took a breath: It turned out that what he really wanted to hand over was not the book, but the passport that was related to the lives of the entire Meng family.
The problem is, he came late.
The third line: undercover.
Hua Zhen soon received news that Deng Mingyuan had been arrested, and everyone in the Hua family was questioned.
At the same time, following the clues the girl inadvertently revealed, he took the girl to the bank and wanted to open the key to the safe left by the Meng family, but he was hunted down again.
It seems that things are not over yet. The other party must drive out the Meng family.
Hua Zhen decided not to sit still and wait for death. He would take the initiative to find out the man behind the crime who was wearing a police uniform.
The most direct way is to break into the other party: test the police.
On the day of the murder, he met Chen Hao, the captain of the Fourth Police Station who rushed to the scene as soon as possible. It seemed that he was the first suspect.
Then there is only one target for applying: the Fourth Police Station.
The problem is: Huazhen did too well in the exam. Full marks to Keke. There is no problem in being admitted to the Shanghai Police Headquarters, and there is no way he will be transferred to the No. 4 Police Station in Cape Guerra.
Fortunately, he also has an older brother who serves in the secretary's office.
relied on connections to go through the back door and was transferred from the nearby police headquarters to the Fourth Police Station.
Chen Hao recognized him as soon as he arrived.
The bigger trouble is that the killer who has been secretly tracking down clues about the girl has found him.
However, Hua Zhen finally broke into the French Concession and found a witness, but was secretly silenced by people from the public affairs bureau.
What's even more frightening is that the mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole follows behind. Wei Daiqing, the captain of the investigation team who arrested Deng Mingyuan, also followed him like a poisonous snake smelling the smell of blood.
and above are the main content of the first four episodes of the story.
The three seemingly scattered lines slowly converge as the plot progresses, and the main line gradually becomes clear.
There are only four words in it: Hearty!
A murder is like the first domino that topples the whole story.
The real murderer behind the Meng family murder case is related to the Japanese military.
The arrest of Communist Party member Deng Mingyuan not only involved the Hua family in the incident, but also attracted the hawks of the Kuomintang.
At this point, the military, police, public affairs office, and the Chinese family have all been involved.
has a spy war, a chase and a murder case, which not only establishes the character of Hua Zhen, a fledgling patriotic young man, but also captures the audience's attention.
This espionage battle of wits takes the audience to examine a period of changing history: Shanghai before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.
The Japanese military, the Kuomintang, and our people all regard Shanghai as an important espionage battlefield.
Forces from all sides appeared one after another. Hua Zhen, who was involved in the center of the storm, transformed into Xiang Yuansheng and sneaked into a dilapidated police station.
The battle of wits is exciting, and the spy war flavor naturally comes out.
This spy drama is half finished.
02. Each episode is more exciting than the last. This drama captures the "magic weapon" of spy war dramas.
The story is powerful, but for a spy war drama, it is only half the story.
What’s even more impressive is that the director of this drama also captured the “magic weapon” for spy war dramas!
What spy dramas should I watch? What you are watching is the game between you and me, a tense and exciting atmosphere. Once the meaning of
is captured, the other half will also be achieved.
It just so happens that these are all well presented in "When the Stars Shine", take the three chase scenes in the play as an example.
The first chase scene was when Hua Zhen came to the hotel where the Meng family was staying in Shanghai and encountered the murder scene.
At this time, the entire Meng family had their throats cut brutally, and only Qiushi, a girl who went out to buy candy, was spared. When Hua Zhen arrived, Qiushi was being coerced by the killer.
Well-trained Hua Zhen wants to save people, but the question is how?
Huazhen's only advantage was that Shanghai at this time was not yet a Japanese-occupied area, and the Japanese military's killers did not dare to commit crimes openly, so he cut his throat with a dagger and forced Qiushi into the room with a gun.
But Xiao Qiushi is too smart. She knows that as soon as she enters the room, she will suffer the same fate as her parents.
When the two sides were in a stalemate, Hua Zhen rescued Qiushi and hid in a nearby room.
The killer wanted to kill again, but at the critical moment, police captain Chen Hao, played by Zhou You, arrived and quickly sealed the scene.
It was this sudden reconnaissance that made Hua Zhen wary of Chen Hao, because Qiushi said that the perpetrator was wearing a police uniform.
That's strange. No one reported the Meng family murder case. How did Chen Hao arrive at the scene in the first place?
Judging from the subsequent plot, it is actually very reasonable: because Chen Hao is ours.
He rushed to the scene as soon as possible, not to investigate the case, but to meet the Meng family. Unexpectedly, like the male protagonist, he encountered the murder scene of the Meng family.
The excitement of this murder scene lies in the showdown where the identities of all parties are confusing.
does not seem to have fired a single shot, but in fact, all parties have the wisdom to never go offline.
The second chase scene is a life and death fight outside the bank.
According to Qiushi, before the Meng family was killed, they wanted to go to the bank safe and take away something important.
It is very possible that everyone in the Meng family was killed because of this.
Hua Zhen, who was already involved, decided to risk his own life and took out the contents of the safe with Qiushi.
But as soon as he arrived at the bank door, he keenly discovered the killer hiding at the door.
He quickly escaped with Qiushi, and finally started a life-and-death struggle with the killer in the back alley.
The director captured the atmosphere very accurately in this scene.
From Hua Zhen taking Qiushi to the bank with an umbrella, to discovering that the killer retreated without hesitation, to the final life and death fight, all the camera switches are designed to heighten the tension.
After this scene, although there was no gun battle, it made people watch breathlessly and intently.
In addition to bloody battles, there are also battles of wits.
Why don’t killers seek money? Because Hua Zhen noticed that the killer's eyes were always looking for children like Qiushi.
This is not an ordinary murder, it must be a silence operation.
After watching the series, I can think about it carefully...
Even if it is a fight, it is not just for the sake of excitement, it is just a casual fight.
These elements ensure that after the audience is satisfied, it is easy to find new exciting points.
The third chase scene is a fast chase in the night alley.
Because the Japanese military had laid a dragnet in Shanghai, the killer quickly obtained the hiding places of Huazhen and Qiushi.
The problem is that Qiushi is the only one at home this time.
This ice-smart girl immediately hid under the bed and dialed the fourth number in a low voice.
But when Hua Zhen and the others hurried back, Qiushi had already escaped.
Huazhen and the others can only look for girls separately.
At this moment, policewoman Luo Minmin saw something was wrong with the killer disguised as a policeman, so he had to strike first and severely injured Luo Minmin.
At this time, in a trash can in the alley, Hua Zhen finally found Qiushi, who had narrowly escaped death again.
However, neither of them noticed that the captain of the investigation team, Wei Daiqing, who was hiding in the shadows, had already recognized the little girl as the fish that had slipped through the Meng family.
This scene started with a call for help from a little girl, and the atmosphere was filled with tension in an instant. The heroine is seriously injured but desperately leaves clues, the four police stations are in crisis, and everyone is involved in the tense confrontation. Director
's editing, switching, and atmosphere are just right, and the tension is completely released.
action scenes, full of fun. Xiang Yuansheng's IQ and force value are both online, so he just does it and jumps directly into the car to catch the bad guys.
A game of wits, there is a game within a game. There are mountains outside the mountains, and there are mountains beyond the mountains.
Behind Hua Zhen, the girl and the police are the killers of the Meng family. Behind the
killer is the Japanese military.
Those who are closely following this case include those who secretly colluded with the Japanese military, the Kuomintang’s eagle dogs, and finally, our people.
From the character's behavioral logic to the plot within the story, there is obvious "sculpture". The director relied on piling up a large number of details to finally pave the way for a spy war, and after repeated scrutiny, it can be logically self-consistent.
This is what a spy drama should be like.
03, Li Xian’s spy debut is amazing, Li Zhimo is full of energy, Huang Zhizhong and Cao Lei are so exciting, are spy dramas really going to change?
There is no doubt that spy war is suitable for seasoned actors.
Because the drama is played by veteran actors, it has more tension, but judging from the success of "Storm Chaser", young actors may not be able to shoulder the responsibility of spy dramas.
There is no doubt that Li Xian is the key to the success or failure of this drama.
Judging from the character setting, the entire story revolves around him, and because of him, everyone is involved.
Judging from the theme of the drama, the transformation and growth from Huazhen to Xiang Yuansheng is the biggest key to the whole drama.
In terms of character setting, this character has a dual identity and has completed a reversal of belief. The performance is not easy.
Li Xian is acting in a spy drama for the first time, but he has the temperament of an agent between his eyebrows. His tough looks and unpretentious acting skills make him very convincing as a police officer from the Fourth Police Station who finally joins our party.
's lines are also good. The narration at the beginning is very accurate in terms of rhythm, breath, emphasis, and emotional expression. Another obvious characteristic of
is that when he first entered the game unexpectedly, there was a sense of youthfulness and nervousness that penetrated the screen.
While saving Qiushi and taking a series of actions, his eyes showed extraordinary calmness, maturity and calmness.
I think Li Xian acted very well.
Of course, there are several veteran actors who performed well in the first four episodes.
For example, Huang Zhizhong, the emperor of TV dramas, plays Hua Fu. As a high-ranking official of the Kuomintang, he is full of aura and always sticks to his word.
But as a father, under his serious appearance, his seemingly casual instructions to Hua Zhen are actually full of profound meaning.
The eagle dog played by Wang Maolei can feel how tense the atmosphere was at that time with just one look.
Especially the sinister and triumphant smile in the finale of the fourth episode, with a close-up on the face, the shot is full of the murderous intent of the villain.
Of course, the biggest surprise is Li Zhimo, who plays Li Qiushi.
The little girl is full of drama and natural. A precocious and extremely smart girl is played very convincingly. Especially the scenes between her and Li Xian, every scene is full of chemistry.
Plus the underground party member played by Cao Lei,
Feng Lei’s director of the fourth institute, and Tian Xiaojie’s hostess.
These outstanding actors give the series full convincing power.
The story begins with a criminal investigation and does not follow the usual path of a spy drama. The plot is full of mystery, and a hook is buried at the end of each episode.
The villains are not outwitted, the upright ones are not cheating, several people are involved in the game, the disrupted story line, and the maze-like details echo, it is easy to bring the audience into the excitement of the spy war.
and " Listening to the Wind " are about financial espionage. This story, which cannot be classified as a classic spy drama in the past, also represents a new hope for spy dramas.
Facts have proved that there will always be audiences who buy into spy dramas.
I like a line in the play very much, "The greatest luck in a person's life is to discover his life's mission in the prime of life."
It is not difficult to see that the character Xiang Yuansheng has more and deeper core.
In the hidden battlefield in reality, there are no heroes who fall from the sky, but only countless Xiangyuan students who build their faith with their blood in the test of life and death.
Xiangyuansheng is a spirit and a belief.
is an inspiration and a role model for this audience.
Young people of any era need ideals and beliefs.
Spy war dramas today seem to have fallen into the vicious cycle of "formatization". It is difficult for traditional spy war dramas to make new breakthroughs, but from "The Storm Chaser" to "When the Stars Shine", they are actually telling the audience , the espionage story is far from being exhausted, and there is always the possibility of innovation.
If you want to find the next group of Chinese spy dramas to shine, you must have enough courage - go far away.
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