The "FormiDouble": a kaleidoscope of originalities

I agree with you. 

The double is indeed a world of enchantements in itself. Every aspect of this drama is unique. And what could seem trivial is transformed to serve the plot and convey emotions. 

Not every crew can acheive this level of perfection. To date they achieved what no other could.

To me, The Double is a masterpiece where every artistic languages are combined to give life to the characters. It is my favourite historical drama and I honestly don't know if another one will ever surpass it.

Thank you regina for this review

Great analysis!   For me, The Double's pinnacle and amalgamation of the whole story was Jiang Li/Xue Fang's qugin performance with one of the judges describing the music's meaning.    That scene pictured the whole story perfectly and is a masterpiece. 

Regina, while I can agree with one aspect of your analysis that Duke Su and XFF can serve as icons for many characters like them in historical dramas, you know that Duke Su is modeled on LBY because of the scenes parodied in the drama. XFF is modeled more on the book and Ming Lan. The Story of Ming Lan is also parodied in the drama.

 Also, the reason why there can be so many different versions of Shakespeare's plays is because he left no stage directions except for characters to enter and leave. The interpretation of emotions and scenes are all done by the director and the actors who play the roles. You can have a modern day interpretation of Romeo and Juliet (there are multiple ones) or one set in ancient Verona (there are multiple ones). No matter the setting, none of them deviate from the main story line. 

Asian dramas are much the same way. They are very formulaic. When one comes along that does things differently like Love Like the Galaxy it is unique as it does not follow the rules of historical dramas. The Double's story is not original and even the techniques to tell the story are not unique. The focus on plays and theater were done in Story of Yan Xi Palace for a couple of the consorts. Another instance, the use of CGI to show emotion and feeling with the music and even the interpretation of it, has been done in Love of a Thousand Years. However, the one in Love of a Thousand Years is joyful and happy, but on the same night calamity befalls the family. The exact opposite of XFF. Her music portrays the woe that every woman in this drama and others befall as they fight for position, power, or the man they love, the most common themes in historical fiction.

There is only one thing that sets this drama apart from others and that is its use of parody mixed with dark comedy. Every scene in this drama is comedic. Even her woeful music scene is comedic because of the comedic element of appearance vs. reality. 

Let's analyze the first few scenes of the story. XFF is running playfully with her husband in the bright forest. They kiss and share a romantice moment. All appears to be happy and wonderful. The next scene  is dark. She wakes up and believes that her husband is laying on her stomach when in reality it is someone else. The female in-laws in exaggerated voice levels declare her an adulterer and tie her up in the shed as her husband looks on with a pathetic look on his face. He comes into the shed with an axe. XFF believes he is coming in to kill her when in fact he sets her free and they ride together in a lovey dovey manner to the forest now dark with storm clouds. Horror music is playing. Now she is tied up again and lying in a four foot deep hole. She wakes up only to be staring up at the man she loves burying her alive. Even her dialogue in this scene is comedic, "All you have to do is file for a divorce. I am not a clingy person."  All he can say is, "I have no choice." Yet, he does have a choice. This is funny because of the sado masochistic relationship going on between himself and all his women (the princess, the mother, and sister). XFF is the only one who allows him to be a man, yet he chooses to be a masochist. 

This drama is full of cliches and very predictable because of dramatic irony and the use of appearance vs. reality for comic effect. There are many other types of comedy in this drama to create the lighthearted feel, but the undertone is very dark. This drama takes a look at all the ways women responded to be rejected; what they did to gain a position, power, and the man they love; and the reasons behind their actions. These topics are very serious and dark, yet this drama made it lighthearted and comedic.

 unbeliebubble:

I agree with you. 

The double is indeed a world of enchantements in itself. Every aspect of this drama is unique. And what could seem trivial is transformed to serve the plot and convey emotions. 

Not every crew can acheive this level of perfection. To date they achieved what no other could.

To me, The Double is a masterpiece where every artistic languages are combined to give life to the characters. It is my favourite historical drama and I honestly don't know if another one will ever surpass it.

Thank you regina for this review

Your critical insights in the MDL comments have always been very useful in consolidating what I think about The Double. Thank you always for giving me the opportunity to mature my perceptions and interpretations of so many iconic scenes. It's been a beautiful journey into this aesthetic universe!

(The text below is my response to Platinum Fox. As his text is long, the system warns that it is not possible to make a reply because the text is too large, so I open this new communication).

Platinum Fox
Thank you very much for your careful response, I really appreciated it. In fact, I read your comments on the MDL with great interest: you, like me, expand your critical vision, that's great.

●When I say that XFF and DS were so well constructed that they became icons, like Marvel heroes, it only concerns the charisma of the characters, regardless of modeling and parodies. The actors' performance contributes decisively to captivate us to this point.

●Regarding the different versions of Shakespeare, I'm not referring to conceptions about the stage, but to aesthetics, a value that can give uniqueness and originality to any work even in a universe of millions of versions. In the case of the Chinese versions, they're brilliant because they are created based on Chinese culture.
●About Shakespeare not leting stage instructions: in my opinion this doesn't make it difficult to perform his works, proof of this are the many aesthetically exquisite theatrical productions around the world. The new ideas are welcome, paradigms hinder artistic freedom.
●About dramas being stereotyped: in fact, this is due to the appeals of the film industry and the fluidity with which series are put on the air and this appeal is not exclusive to Chinese production, unfortunately it's on a global scale.
●About The Double being original or not. What must be taken into consideration to establish this parameter are not the aspects related to the characters and their scene partners, who can follow classic recipes and formulas. These recipes can be repeated and yet the construction of images and text can be completely original when the aesthetic factor brings to the scene, for example, a pleiad of artistic languages (ancient Chinese scroll painting, Chinese opera, literature, Greek theater) that add value cultural to the series, as is the case with The Double.
●About the competition scene, my favorite one. I copy and paste what I said about this scene: " The scene can be considered a poetic description (like symphonic poems, in music) of XFF's deep pain, involving a supernatural experience experienced by everyone, with a perfect dose of surrealism. The characters, the competition judges, who comment on what is happening there, are the representation of the Greek theater chorus, which was a group of actors who commented on the plot with the spectators.
●I agree with you that The Double has a comedic side, it's even on the list of comedies on an app, it's a gross error on the part of the platform (from USA), I would not classify it like that. We have all kinds of characters in the series, including the clown played by He Feng Tian, whose character is the adorable Jiang Jin Rui, XFF's cousin.
●There is no doubt that The Double has a cast of very well-defined, impactful characters and high-performance actors that sets it apart from the trivial and tsunami of productions and that's why we're still here talking about it.
●You and I agree on some points, but it's thanks to contradiction that the world progresses!
Thank you very much for sharing your accurate opinion! It brought good reflections!

 unbeliebubble:

Thank you Regina. I feel honored that you appreciate my understanding .  

I could tell you 10 thousand times more that I really like your insights on "The Double". I am happy to walk this journey thought art and emotions with you.   ✌♫♪˙❤‿❤˙♫♪✌

Thanks a lot, dear friend! Let's continue the journey through Beauty and Poetry, whatever they are, whatever we are!! 

 unbeliebubble:

Thank you Regina. I feel honored that you appreciate my understanding .  

I could tell you 10 thousand times more that I really like your insights on "The Double". I am happy to walk this journey thought art and emotions with you.   ✌♫♪˙❤‿❤˙♫♪✌

Thank you very much, dear friend! Let's continue the journey through Beauty and Poetry, wherever they are, wherever we are!! ?✨️