Once Upon a Time (2017)

I absolutely loved this movie. I loved the story, I loved the acting, I loved the OST and I rewatched it 4 times already. Therefore it is 10/10 for me.

I do understand, why the movie might be confusing to western viewers, especcially if they don't know the story allready. Or why it could be somewhat disappointing for people, who watched the tv-drama first.
I think that is the main problem of this movie - it isn't targeting any audience: people who don't have enough background, might have problems understanding it. Whereas for people who watched the tv drama, the storyline will most certain come to short. But for me it luckily was none of that.

First: I majored in sinology, so although I didn't know this paticular story, I do am quite familiar with the chinese mythology. Even though I didn't know the plot and not everything was explained, many motives were not strange to me and I could follow quite easly or at least guess more or less corectly.

Therefore unlike some other viewers I didn't find the story confusing (+ I dont really need subtitles, so I could concentrate on enjoying the story without getting lost because some scenes switched to quickly to read).
There was one thing I didn't get (the Mo Yan -part) but it did not bother me much either, I just assumed that this is the big mistery in the movie. And since the movie was open ended I simply assumed they left the expanation for a second part and didn't wonder to much about it either.

Second: I did not watch the tv-drama before I watched the movie.

I did it afterwards and enjoed it very much as well. But as it goes for the movie itself I did not have certain pre-expectations or got disturbed because some story parts or characters were missing. I also didn't feel the pressure to compare who is the better lead, which naturally happens if you watched the tv drama first. I watched Yang Yang as Ye Hua first, so he kind of was the original Ye Hua to me. The same for Su Su.

Regarding these two points I think I got very lucky because I really could just enjoy and appreciate the movie - without the expectations or understanding problem. And I just loved it.

I loved the acting of the two leads and their chemistry. I don't understand why some comments say, there were no chemistry between them. They were great together and both acted incredibly well. They both did a great job in expressing emotions, especially Yang Yang . And boy, that kissing scene! That must have been the best kiss on set in the history of chinese cinematography (I will leave the chinese tv out of this, because the kisses in chinese tv-dramas are mostly just ridiculous).

I loved the story itself (I watched the movie in the first place because I like fox motives). It was told beautifully. It might not have been the typical from a to b storytelling. But this kind of made it more intereting to me, as it added some peaceful artistic values to the movie. The sceneries were gorgeous too. And I really fell for the music.

Because of the beautiful tale, I later watched the tv-drama and fell even more in love with the story. Afterwards I rewatched the movie and enjoyed it in a new way because I knew all the details by then.

All in all I recomend this movie - though probably the best way to watch and enjoy it is to first read somewhere the short version of the story to better understand it. But without watching the tv-drama itself:)

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I haven't seen the original drama. This is my first take on the story, and honestly, this movie is one big trailer as you watch you get bits and pieces of the larger storyline. As a viewer, you see the different branches of the storyline being told. But you don't get the full story behind each. It's not a disappointment of a film. It has to some small degree a plot. It has some music that is used both to help the story along or to show the different moods. But it is not a standout soundtrack. Its just something added as another layer of the story. I would say that it is just a too long trailer for the drama. In that respect, it did as it was supposed to. It makes me want to watch the original show and see just exactly what is happening. To me, it did a great job summarizing what exactly is going to happen in a concise snapshot of the drama. My interest in the drama has now made me watch that, but I was hesitant about its length. This movie provided an excellent overview and basic what to look out for a while watching it.

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Tidak sesuai dengan yang diharapkan

nonton ini setelah selesai nonton drama Ten miles of peach blossom. Untuk acting pemainnya for me still OK, tapi ga sebagus yang dibayangkan untuk portrait the character.

saya termasuk penggemar liu yi fei dan yangyang dan sudah menonotn acting mereka di project lain. dan jujur di movie ini terasa kurang dan saya tidak menangkap chemistry mereka.

untuk story di movie dibuka dengan susu yang sedang lari seperti novel yang dibuka dengan scene awal tokoh susu yang sudah berada di langit.
dari segi jalan cerita untuk penonton yang belum membaca novel dan menonton dramanya jujur akan terasa membinggungkan karena banyaknya scene yang langsung lompat dan terasa terburu-buru. ya mungkin wajar karena durasi film yang hanya 1 jam lebih saja. menurut saya better tidak usah dibuatkan film daripada hasilnya seperti ini. untuk efek CGI cukup bagus tapi saya tidak suka kenapa Migu tidak dibuat ke bentuk manusia nya? karena baik di novel dan drama Migu itu sudah berbentuk manusia.. ah! dan juga Zhe yan kenapa mereka membuat kostum mereka seperti itu? karakternya jadi tidak terlihat berwibawa sama sekali. membahas kostum selain kostum zhe yan jujur saya juga tidak suka dengan kostum pernikahan Bai Qian . di ending film pun terasa aneh dimana setelah melawan raja iblis dan Yehua mati scene langsung memperlihatkan Yehua muncul di taman peach blossom..

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