The love that undertakes the task of aesthetic consumption reduces the soft power of "Secret and Great"
Chen Xihan
During this period of time, there were a lot of new dramas in Waterloo. The new "Deer and Ding Ji" became the object of collective complaints after 00. The new version of "Half Life", which was renamed "The Origin of Love", dissuaded a large number of original fans due to casting problems.
On the contrary, the recently concluded "Secret and Great" has unexpectedly become popular, and its reputation has become the only spy war drama with a Douban score of over 8 this year.
"Secret and Great" is a new work by the young director Wang Wei born in 1988 following "The Murder in the White Night"; at the same time, it is also another masterpiece of actor Li Yifeng following the movie "Animal World".
Unlike "Aiming", which was broadcast at the same time, which used 57 episodes to tell stories that took place in eight days, "Secret and Great" does not seem to have the characteristics of standard spy war dramas with fast-paced and high-powered plots. It starts from a small point. It took at least five episodes to explain the background of the times and portray the fundamentals of Gu Yaodong's character. The first 15 episodes even put the protagonists' auras on the two underground parties played by Wang Takizheng and Jin Chen, but that's it. On the contrary, many viewers were addicted to the rhythm of the movie, and they couldn't stop chasing after the drama.
It is said that spy war dramas are the most typified domestic dramas in recent years, I believe no one will object.
From "Hidden", "Conspiracy", "Cliff" and "Before Dawn", all the way to "Pretender" and "Kite", due to the large number of classic works in this category, all show their magical powers on the road to anti-routines.
Audiences are becoming more and more critical, and it is getting harder and harder to show off. Why is "Secret and Great" favored? What is the reason why it is loved by young people?
Emerging directors, idol stars, powerful actors...These are all very important bonus points, but the most counter-routine part of the show is that it has completed a bold innovation: the creator is thrilling and the parents are short. The next big net.
When the detailed presentations and details surrounding the work, life, and human nature of the people in the play are complete, what the audience sees in it is not unreasonable good and evil and illogical plots, but extracted from the special era and specific events. The situation and encounters of the little people present the most authentic texture and mood. The empathy between Gu Yaodong and Zhao Zhiyong and the audience has allowed the dualistic relationship of "secret" and "great" to create an intriguing space for speculation.
In order to achieve "greatness", are you willing to endure loneliness and stick to your young dreams?
When things go up and down, how do you find the right direction?
This is not only a problem faced by the young protagonist in the play, but also a question of the times of contemporary youth.
It’s been a long time since I saw people living "normally" in period dramas
Many viewers mentioned that the literary drama of "Secret and Great" is worth seeing, and it is durable, which is easy to remind people of the atmosphere of the market and the fireworks of that era.
"It's been a long time since I saw people living'normally' in period dramas." The sentence in the barrage caught the author's attention, and it more or less revealed some truth.
Perhaps starting from the pungent and straightforward Cuiping and the shrinking Yu Zecheng in "Latent", the heroic image in the spy war drama began to take a different look.
They are the cautious and sleek "Deputy Station Master Yu", Xu Tian, the accountant who happily runs the food market in "Red", the a little bit ridiculous Zhou Yi in "The Cliff", and the suave Ming platform in "The Pretender"... …The underground heroes on these hidden fronts are like chameleons, using their ostentatious personalities to hide their true identity.
Different from Cuiping, who loves raising chickens in a small courtyard not long after entering the city, Gu Yaodong is a standard boy who came out of Shanghai alleys before 1949. His IQ online EQ is worrying. This high-achieving student graduated from Soochow University Law School His life obsession is to "support justice and protect the people".
At the same time, most of the people surrounding the protagonist Gu Yaodong are people without background. The police, the captain, and the division chief are on the scene, and the flat-headed people on the streets and alleys are off the scene.
In that special era, they will encounter the inevitable fate of the era and the proposition of human nature that will not change in any era.
We have noticed that the creators have always grasped the three factors of the times related to the core figures: social and political, the KMT destroys and fights the civil war; economically, inflation and prices are soaring; in the police system, corruption is dark.
Under the influence of the three factors of the times, a person like Gu Yaodong who braved his stupidity and insisted on "protecting the people" encountered the seemingly "belief in life" and messing around to make money. In fact, he was an underground party intelligence worker, code-named "Baihua". Xia Jicheng, Director of the Second Criminal Investigation Division, colleagues who "get a lot of salary and don't care about meddling" and Zhao Zhiyong who always weighs the pros and cons... These people more or less at a certain moment, let the audience find their own reflection .
The screenwriter said in an interview: I like Gu Yaodong, Xia Jicheng, and Zhao Zhiyong.
Gu Yaodong and Zhao Zhiyong are like dreams and reality-most people’s dreams are Gu Yaodong, but reality often makes people Zhao Zhiyong.
In the face of all kinds of real difficulties, people must go through difficult choices.
Speaking of this, I have to talk about the brilliance of the narrative of this play-the creators have adopted the method of "grasping the small and magnifying" in the characterization of the characters. Who should be dwarfed, thus finding a baseline for the "little people" in period dramas.
The creators’ other strategy of "lower case and upper case" is embodied in finding a solid ground for the quality of life and the smoke and fire of the drama.
"Secret and Great" shows the city life in the alleys of Shanghai at that time, and thus depicts the state of the building in the end of the Kuomintang rule.
The entrance of the alley in Fu'an Lane is a gathering and distributing center for all kinds of gossip.
The hardship of the people's lives is reflected in a handful of shepherd's purse, but also in complaints about "10,000 yuan per egg" (fiat currency).
Neighbors' comments on Gu Yaodong as a police officer: Not only are they envious of Gu's son who has a decent job, but more importantly, there is a policeman in the family who will ask him to do things well and find relationships in the future.
The changes in the outside world have nothing to do with the residents here. They only care about whether the price of gold has risen again and whether wages will depreciate again.
What is the fireworks in the world?
It was Shen Qinghe who rented a pavilion in Gu's pavilion and paid off the rent for three months. Gu's mother immediately smiled and wanted to change her light bulbs and repair the roof; the philosophy of market survival was unobstructed.
These details constitute another highlight of "Secret and Great."
This play selectively describes two worlds: one is the reactionary police station that suppresses patriotic demonstrations and kills progressives-especially when Gu Yaodong infiltrates prison to rescue Chen Xianmin, and rescues cultural celebrities in Moganshan, it is even more dangerous. He may suffer from extinction at any time; the other is a family full of fireworks and warmth—go home every night, a table full of delicious meals, and words of love and love from his mother when he was beaten and injured. After being ridiculed by the neighborhood, his sister was rude The fierce counterattack constitutes Gu Yaodong's soul harbor.
The comparison between the two worlds captures the warmth of the Shanghai Lane family, and also the novelty of the spy war drama structure-which not only truly shows the style of the old era, but also establishes the foundation for the transformation of the characters' beliefs.
The portrayal of the relationship between the characters focusing on the "little light" of the times has made it popular with the audience
Just like Zuo Lan's meaning to Yu Zecheng, Gu Yaodong in "Secret and Great" also had a spiritual "mentor" on his growth path, and he was Xia Jicheng, the director of the Second Division.
He despised Gu Yaodong from the beginning, but gradually discovered that he was "gold that hasn't shined yet."
Every time Gu Yaodong encountered a crisis, he appeared in time.
More importantly, when Gu Yaodong was the most confused, he followed benevolence and temptation, so that Gu Yaodong understood that "people should be loyal to their young dreams" and also made Gu Yaodong's growth arc more real and natural.
The relationship between their characters is also a teacher and a friend, which is the most delicate and moving part of "Secret and Great".
This kind of emotion connected to faith is often more attractive than the relationship between men and women, and it has become the most important value connection in the spy war genre to shape characters and promote the development of the plot.
Homophonic ridicules such as "Winter Love Songs" (Gu Yaodong, Xia Jicheng CP) that appeared on the Internet before are just a wonderful and popular portrayal of character relationships.
The period between the two of them in Moganshan was particularly impressive. When Gu Yaodong finally confirmed the true identity of Director Xia, the sense of happiness that came out of him was as bright and moving as the sun from the clouds from time to time outside the car window.
It can be said that Gu Yaodong's inner strength that dragged Yang Kui to chase and fight to death at a critical moment came from the moment he glimpsed Xia Jicheng's true identity from the outside of the warehouse window.
After that, the script was broken, not showing Xia's decisiveness in a positive way. Instead, it ended with the cold humor in the dialogue between the two, tacitly.
The lines of Xia Jicheng's bicycle repairing show the exquisiteness of the script in a few words: the narrative ethics and aesthetic pursuits in the sense of sense of measure are endlessly memorable.
From the performance level, Xia Jicheng’s excited embrace of Gu Yaodong is unconventional, and at the same time, Gu Yaodong’s actions, expressions and language highlight his introverted personality.
The actors’ vivid performances not only create characters, but also give them souls. Gu Yaodong “Half plunged into darkness and half greeted the sun” to "White Birch". The deeper the roots, the more darkness and decay can be seen. The higher you grow, the harder you can strive for the sunshine" interpretation, and the aftertaste is longer.
Such seemingly static portrayal of the relationship between the characters actually reflects the exquisite details. Such scenes are not uncommon in the drama. For example, Xia Jicheng and Gu Yaodong eat vegetable rice with cats and feed the cats. Details seem to be idle. They all accumulate energy for the character's "transformation" and "greatness" in a quiet manner.
These character relationships that focus on the "shimmer" of the times have finally resulted in a high-quality, audience-friendly period drama.
In fact, a good script and a good director can make an actor. This play has changed many people's understanding of Li Yifeng.
Before the broadcast of "Secret and Great", many viewers were skeptical and wait-and-see attitude towards this TV series starring the former traffic niche and "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" Jin Chen, and when "Secret and Great" was launched, The audience found that Li Yifeng's acting skills did not lose the chain, but brought a lot of surprises.
The pure temperament in his eyes is simply Gu Yaodong himself.
On the other hand, Li Yifeng's success is closely related to his finally choosing the right script.
Of course, "Secret and Great" is not perfect.
In fact, compared with classic spy war dramas such as "Latent", it still has a lot of obvious deficiencies and loopholes in logic and characterization, but as said in the phone call from Director Xia to Gu Yaodong in the finale of the original book "Thank you, didn't let me down in the end", the play was not concealed and did not disappoint the audience.