In 2020, "The Strange Stories of the Tang Dynasty" stood out in the ancient costume track. It did not have a big IP, a big production, or a traffic star. It only relied on "tap water" word of mouth, and it actually gained good ratings and reputation. On Douban, more than 280,000 people gave it a high score of 7.9.
is now back after two years. "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories: Journey to the West" (hereinafter referred to as "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories 2") became popular before it was broadcast. Even before it was broadcast, nearly 6 million members had made reservations on the webcasting platform. out. Moreover, after the broadcast, the quality was solid, with most of the short reviews receiving four or five stars, which did not disappoint the audience.
"Tang Gui 2" follows the original cast of the first part, and the story continues to be told "from the book to the previous part". After experiencing the adventure of "Tang Gui 1", the protagonist group has been formed: Su Wuming, Lu Lingfeng, Pei Xijun, Fei Jishi and Cherry. Each of the five people has their own unique skills, including think tanks, armed forces, and assistants such as painters and doctors. Just like the "five-person group" in "Journey to the West ", they repeatedly solved strange cases and fought monsters to level up along the way.
Su Wuming ( Yang Zhigang ) and Lu Lingfeng ( Yang Xuwen ), as the two protagonists of the play, have formed obvious complementarities in appearance, personality and stunts: one is plain-looking, the other is handsome and upright; one is scheming and the other The younger ones are to be feared; one is literate and the other is fond of martial arts. Moreover, as Lu Lingfeng is a growth-oriented character in the play, his intelligence has developed to the point where he can take charge of his own role in the second season. Some netizens even speculated based on the trailer: "Tang Gui 2" will feature Lu Lingfeng's independent investigation setting.
Compared with the first part, "Tang Gui 2" has undergone major changes in the geographical location of the story. The word "Westward Journey" in the title of the play also points out this point. In "Tang Gui 1", Su Wuming traveled southeast after being demoted, and cold and damp constituted the main characteristics of the geographical landscape; and in "Tang Gui 2", after Lu Lingfeng was demoted, a group of people rushed westward along the Silk Road to Dunhuang, and the landforms and humanity are more rugged and heroic.
Except for the geographical changes, the plot framework and "strange things" core of the show have not changed much.
The story in the play still takes place in the context of the power struggle between Princess Taiping and Li Longji. In "Tang Gui 1", Su Wuming, a disciple of Di Gong, is attracted by the princess and summoned to Chang'an. He meets Lu Lingfeng, a young general of the Jinwu Guard. While investigating a series of mysterious cases, Su Wuming accidentally discovers that Lu Lingfeng is actually Princess Taiping's relative. son.
In "Tang Gui 2", the identity of the princess and Lu Lingfeng as mother and son was completely revealed. However, the inclusion of too many ethical elements also slowed down the pace to a certain extent, making the court squabbles in the play a joke. For example, in the first unit story "Conquering the Demon", a large number of plots are used to express the princess's eagerness for her son. When Lu Lingfeng called the princess "Mother" in front of everyone in a hurry, the princess not only did not panic, but had a loving look on her face, which was not only inconsistent with common sense, but also violated her previous strong persona.
Like the first part, "Tanggui 2" still consists of eight unit cases, namely: "Conquering the Demon", "Death of Zuzuo", "Fengxue Mojiadian", "Thousand Severity", "Tongtian Rhinoceros", "Yunding" "Broken", "Letter from Shangxianfang" and "The Provider".
These cases contain a large number of supernatural elements. Not only are the cases bizarre, but there are also mysterious illusions, exotic treasures, and man-eating beasts... Visions, suspicions, pursuit of the murderer, and confessions are all intertwined. When all the truth is revealed, The terrifying atmosphere when the case was first revealed has not had time to dissipate, leaving people with lingering fears.
Similar to "Chang'an Black Tea" that leads the whole story in "Tang Wei 1", the first case "Conquering the Demon" in "Tang Wei 2" also happened in Chang'an. The story tells that Qin Xiaobai, the first painter of the Tang Dynasty, was exhausted when he was painting the "Conquering the Demons" mural in Chengfo Temple. He was reluctant to click the key point for several days. At this time, Chang'an was surprised to find a serial murder case of killing three people and removing their livers. The official died, and rumors spread that the devil escaped from the wall and killed people. Even eyewitnesses confirmed this.
The narrative structure of "Conquering the Demonic Transformation" is quite complex, with two clues, one light and one dark.The obvious clue is "Qin Xiaobai is unwilling to dot the eyes." The "dotting the eyes" constitutes the McGuffin in the story. Why is Qin Xiaobai unwilling to dot the eyes? When will he be able to dot the eyes? The screenwriter uses these questions to whet the audience's appetite. . The clue behind the scenes was "The devil escaped from the wall and killed someone." When Su Wuming was investigating the case, he always believed that "there are no gods or ghosts in this world, only people who pretend to be gods and ghosts." So he joined forces with Lu Lingfeng, followed the clues, and finally found out the murderer.
Similar to "Conquering the Demon", the second case in the play "Death of Wu Zuo" also has a high-energy setting: Wu Zuo Dugu Yangzi died mysteriously and tragically at midnight, and was suspected of being murdered by someone in his own artifact shop (burial clay puppet workshop) Clay figurines killed. But during the process of solving the case, people suddenly discovered that not only Duguyang died in the Mingqi shop, but also two others. Who killed them, and what is the connection between them? What is before us is not only the confusing case, but also Rashomon in the witness's confession. There are various signs that someone lied in the confession. Who is the liar and what is his purpose? This constitutes the second level of doubt in the case.
Although both "Conquering the Demonic Transformation" and "The Death of Wu Zuo" are completed in six episodes, "The Death of Wu Zuo" is obviously superior in terms of quality. From the thrilling beginning of the story, to the Rashomon in the testimony, to the delicate reasoning process, and the complicated emotions of the characters behind the case, it all seems richer and more layered. Among them, the character setting of the female widowers of the Tang Dynasty and the tragic inner confession of Dugu Yang also fully reflect the bitterness and greatness of the ancient profession of widower.
The main problem of "Conquering the Demon" is that the story is too big and there are too many clues, so that the protagonist's halo is greatly increased and the logic cannot withstand careful scrutiny. For example, Lu Lingfeng was set up to plot against him because of the mystery of the tree burial. At this time, he was seriously injured, and then injured more. However, he was able to defeat three witches one against three, with overwhelming force, and repel the "three witches" who plotted against him. Narrowly escaped from the mouth of the alien wood servant.
However, the flaws of "Conquering the Demon" did not hinder the advancement of the subsequent story. After "The Death of Wu Zuo" turned the tide, "Tanggui 2" is obviously getting better.
The reason why "Tang Wei 2" can be in the same style as "Tang Wei 1" is indispensable to screenwriter Wei Fenghua. The "Tang Wei" series is adapted from the original novel of the same name written by Wei Fenghua. In his creation, Wei Fenghua referred to the Tang Dynasty's "Youyang Miscellaneous Notes" on supernatural beings, and combined them with strange stories, anecdotes, and foreign legends to depict the turbulent and strange stories of the Tang Dynasty.
Most of the human geography in the drama is well-documented. For example, the westbound route in "Tang Gui 2" refers to the "Chang'an West Road to Longyou River West Road Map" in "Tang Dynasty Traffic Map Research". The prototype of Qin Xiaobai in "Conquering the Demons" is suspected to be the painting sage Wu Daozi. It is said that the Buddhist mural "Hell in Disguise" painted by Wu Daozi was so lifelike that ghosts and gods appeared to come out of the wall. After seeing it, a Zen master once said to him: "No one who has never been to hell in his heart will paint such a masterpiece. Right?"
Judging from the results, the production budget of "Tang Gui 2" is obviously much abundant. The special effects, modeling, and scenes in the play have been significantly improved compared to the previous work. The scene in "Conquering the Demon" with its head flying off the neck, the sudden appearance of a strange beast, and the scene where the villain boss breaks out of the wall from behind the reclining Buddha statue are all famous scenes of strange things.
In addition, the development of the plot in "Tang Gui 2" is also quite interesting. "Tang Gui 1" finally ended harmoniously. Princess Taiping and Li Longji maintained the superficial harmony, and the protagonist group was also safe and sound. But "Tang Gui 2" will probably be much sadder. After "Conquering the Devil" ended, Li Longji immediately took off his disguise and prepared to kill Lu Lingfeng. Moreover, in the timeline of "Tang Gui 2", the struggle between Princess Taiping and Li Longji will also enter the final round. By then, it is worth waiting to see whether Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng can escape unscathed.
In recent years, costume detective dramas set in the Tang Dynasty have frequently entered the audience's horizons. This year alone, many works have been released, such as "The Case of Di Gong of the Tang Dynasty", "Shaoqing of Dali Temple", "Tang Wei 2", " Strange Stories from the Tang Dynasty " (short play).Going back further, you can also see high-scoring detective dramas such as "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" and " Royal Gift Xiaowu Zuo ".
The prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty has been put on the screen again and again, and contemporary film and television creators' repeated creations of the Tang Dynasty's stories have also indirectly completed their commemoration of the aesthetic splendor of the Tang Dynasty and their critical reflection on the turbulent political situation of the Tang Dynasty. This is not only the integration, inheritance and development of traditional historical culture, but also the innovation, change and iteration of costume dramas, especially costume detective dramas.
In the future, the story of the Tang Dynasty will not end, and detective stories and stories of legends and monsters set in the Tang Dynasty will continue to be performed in various forms. As the audience, we can wait and see!
Gang Zan'er
Editor in charge Chai Yingrui
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