Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
AMAZING DRAMA!I have seen so many political and historical dramas but this has got to be my most favourite one. It was somewhat dark but showcases the harsh reality of royal families. Jealousy, backstabbing, scheming, revenge etc are conducted by the people in such a way that you cannot but feel angry and sorry at the same time for those people.
In my opinion it should be rated higher. The plot, acting, visual everything was absolutely top notch. Some people may dislike the drama because of the scheming and double sided characters. But in my opinion this is what makes the drama good. It doesn't make the audience believe that the lead characters are saints rather shows them as people who struggle to survive and use desperate methods for self survival. Not necessarily bad people but not also saint like and these are real characteristics of royals, power seeking, struggling people.
Another important factor is how the women are showcased. They are shown as evil, attention seeking people. At the beginning every single scheming woman makes you boil with rage. But eventually they have the same ending and the only reason is because they are born as women, they lack power and have no choice but to listen to their willful husbands throughout their lives. You cannot but feel sorry for them.
The character of Haolan is so inspirational. Even though she was born as a woman she refused to yield to her fate and refused to be controlled by other people. Exempted from family, sold as slave, being misunderstood by people as traitor, as a cheater,losing loved ones and ultimately was misunderstood by her own son. Even after encountering so many hardships she doesn't lose faith, nor does she lose herself.
I absolutely loved loved the drama. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
My opinion
I decided to watch this because there is the actress Wu JinYan that I especially love and I really haven't been disappointed.I loved the characters a lot and their developements whether they are kind or nasty.
The characters I loved the most are :
- Haolan, an heroine with a strong personnality who don't let people walk all over her
- Yiren/Zichu, he is a very complex and interesting character
- the princess Ya, a very complex chatacter too that I couldn't destest because she touched me so much
- Yin Xiaochun who despite all the ordeals stay med loyal to Haolan and stand up with her until the end
I informed myself a bit and discovered that some characters had really existed (Yiren/Zichu, Haolan, Lu Buwei, the lord Anguo, Lao Ai, Zheng'er ...) and that some moments of the drama are from true events that really happened.
The story is really interesting, full of unforeseen developements and well tied. However you have to have a good memory to watch this drama because there are a lot of characters (when I say a lot it's really a lot !!!).
About the characters, some of them had big ego or mental problems ... people of sound mind would never do things like that. I've just been a little bit disappointed by the end (the star less) which wasn't really understandable and which, in my opinion, has been a bit botched but it's still a correct ending.
In conclusion this is a good drama where the characters are never pure as the driven snow and with an interesting scenario. I would say it's a drama to see for those who are fond of historical c-dramas and who have already seen some of them, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who has never watched any historical c-dramas. However this a classic to watch a day ;)
(Spoiler : If you want to watch the "sequel" of this drama go watch King's Woman which relate the story of Zheng'er, Haolan and Yiren/Zichu's son, and 1st emperor of unified China)
Was this review helpful to you?
Superb Drama
This is a superb drama by far in terms of Chinese series' standards. Fantastic storytelling though how I wish the end was extended a little bit for another two or three episodes. Great choice of cast and the hair and make-up were not bad. Normally I complain how the Chinese stylists do the hairdos of the actors specifically. I did't notice a lot of white pasty looking faces which is always a common faux pas of Chinese make-up artists. I understand the East Asians obsession of having fair complexion but if the face is too pale than the arms, neck and ears then for me it's fake. I'd rather watch a drama with the artists' real skin color that also reflect in their make-up. I know it's cultural but it bothers and distract me from focusing on the drama.Indeed it's a story of "try and try until you succeed." To which I refer to Lu Buwei, Yiren and Haolan's many unsuccessful attempts to escape. I like Lu Buwei's character of nonchalant's attitude towards impossibility. Nothing's impossible if you really work on it. And I love his life's motto. Of course this series doesn't really depict the actual events because god knows what really happened during those periods. Without proper historical records and there's always two sides of the story so one can only depend on the creators' mind in romanticizing this series. I would have like them to explore a little about Haolan's affair with Lao 'Ai. But China's censorship is very strict to the point of limiting the creativity of the artists. In my understanding Haolan was unapologetic about it and I like it. There's always double standard for women who behave this way but men are regarded otherwise.
I love history that's why I love watching historical shows. It's only last year that I started watching Chinese tv series. They have a lot of great plots in their dramas but I can say there's only really few that are executed well. And The Legend of Haolan is one of those. I wonder if this one was created in Hollywood or by the Brits it would definitely have some juicy scenes between Yiren & Haolan, Haolan & Lu Buwei, Haolan & Lao'Ai. They would have explored the darker side of the story which would have been extremely interesting. Alas! Chinese censorship overrules everything.
Was this review helpful to you?
A rare drama with ambition, but ultimately bogged down by cliches
I give a lot of grace to dramas that dare to tackle complexity, but for this drama, that grace gets chipped away by repeats of the same character motivations and plot-lines.On the positive end, the drama has interesting themes - the barriers faced by women at every strata of society, the hypocrisy inherent in the concept of filial piety, the difference between loving someone and actually building a life with that person. It showed how inherently broken the imperial system was, how many women in that era viewed gaining favour with the men in their lives as their only means of agency. . Female characters are allowed to flawed and want more from life. Male leads are (sometimes) called out for their lack of respect for their romantic interests.
A special shoutout to the soundtrack of this drama. Most dramas use music in such a heavy handed way, as if they don't trust audiences to get the hint with the action on screen. But the music in this drama was appropriately used, especially in tense scenes.
But the number of characters motivated by obsessive love is exasperating. Not one, but three characters never seemed to get the hint. Or try a different strategy when their last bare brained scheme failed to pan out. Worse, those schemes were aimed at bringing the same person down. Episode after episode consisted of one character framing the female lead only to be be outwitted. And that outwitting wasn't particularly clever.
Also, I kept wondering about the inner logic of the world this drama is set in. For a story set in the imperial palace, the female lead had a lot more agency than one would logically expect. She's allowed to openly contradict members of the royal family without an automatic death sentence. Said members of the royal family also don't seem to get anything done. They seem to mostly attend feasts, plan stupid revenge/wooing schemes, while their empire falls to pieces.
I liked the bleaker lens of this drama, but someone should have showed the screenwriter a few harem dramas to crib ideas from.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Unusual story
Many reviews already gave this series a well deserved praise for acting, plot, and many more and I agree with them. So I have to point to something else, which I haven't seen discussed yet - the series' themes. This show is absolutely devoid of typical c-drama's flaws: empty promise of violence, lack of consequences, perfect lovebirds, etc. The setting is the most violent period of China's history and in this series it lives up to its name. There are no "good" characters, everyone, including main leads, are truly psychopathic in unimaginable ways. People destroy each other just because, slaves - because it's easy, equals - because it's a good challenge. Everyone kills without remorse. Women destroy men they claim to love, men betray women they claim to love. Desire (which is sold under the name of "love") changes people for worse. Any sentimentality is meaningless and will be outweighed by what really moves characters - greed, revenge, ambition. I've never seen characters this devoid of gratitude and this cold to any traditional human values. They won't spare anyone, a game is a game. This show also breaks the illusion that a virtuous and good woman will raise a good son. One woman, regardless of her personal virtues, cannot change society and her son will grow up to be unruly, brutal and misogynistic man. That said, no woman in Legend of Haolan is virtuous, it's an impressive assemble of awful female characters, each is poisonous in her own way. From cruel bullies to manic cutthroats, from homicidal lunatics to vile liars, this show has it all.It's unusual story with beguiling characters. I recommend those of you who dislikes bland historical fiction to watch it!
Was this review helpful to you?
Depressing
I was reluctant to let go of the characters from Story of Yanxi Palace and was hoping The Legend of Haolan would sate said longing. WRONG!I understand this was an adaptation of true events which meant the writers and creators were restricted in what could be changed, however, the plot was needlessly dragged out with each episode seemingly a reoccurrence of the previous one. Li Hao Lan, the titular character, was played by one of the best Chinese actresses yet even she couldn't breathe life into such a mundane character who was 1-D and completely inept at palace schemes. Time and time again, she's framed for some crime and is saved by either of the two male leads and obviously, this got old very quickly. The actors were hampered by the bad script and nothing could save the series from being average.
Was this review helpful to you?
At the end of the day, just depend on yourself..
LIKELove hate relationship between Hao Lan and Princess Ya
DISLIKE
Most of Hao Lan's men except for probably one who truly loved her
MUSIC - personal fav
化羽 Hua Yu - 高雨儿 Gao Yu Er
月出 Yue Chu - 陆虎 Lu Hu, 黄雅莉 Huang Ya Li
REWATCH VALUE
Five for now
Was this review helpful to you?
I liked the premise. One ambitious woman (Li Hao Lan) and two men who love her - one older merchant (Lu Bu Wei) who has shifty morals and will sacrifice anything to win, and a prince (Ying Yi Ren) who tries his best to act with decency and honor. Which path will she choose?
By Episode 15, however, I had lost patience. Lu Bu Wei had attempted the same scheme numerous times, claimed that he was going to betray and ditch her multiple times, DID leave her behind, and then she still had to help rescue him and appears to be attracted to him.
Ying Yi Ren always protests about Lu Bu Wei 's morals, but always goes along for the good of his kingdom - and the pattern repeats.
As a result, I rapidly got fed up with all of them - and the tension no longer held my interest.
I have other criteria I score by:
Complex Themes - 8
(The themes are introduced regarding ambition, loyalty to romantic love vs. kingdom and family, revenge, betrayal etc. but it never moves forward)
Character Growth -3
(It felt like it was never going anywhere)
Nuanced Women -5
(There were plenty of women in significant roles, but they tended to be all typical dramatic stereotypes)
Cinematography/Production Values - 7
(A lot of money was spent, but it doesn't have the creative beauty of Yanxi Palace or the sweeping outdoor shots of Nirvana in Fire 2. The costumes are all a boring cream/white/gold up through Episode 15 )
Was this review helpful to you?
