2
1
1
Beautiful, Amusing, Intriguing, Heart-rendering
Love Beyond the Grave starts on a grim note, with the massacre of a town, but the mood quickly changes when General DuanXu arrives. Dilraba as He Si Mu absolutely had me roaring with laughter when she started flirting with him. She is so pretentious that it becomes hilarious. Her expressions — flirtatious, cunning, wicked and hypocritical — are spot-on. Good looks and excellent acting skills are always a killer combination for actors.
And this drama certainly has the looks. Dilraba and Miles Wei are absolutely eye-candy — both are stunningly good looking. Miles once again plays the jilted lover, as he did in Flourished Peony and its sequel. Call me shallow, but good-looking actors with excellent acting skills always score extra points with me.
There are also some lessons to be learnt. If you are infatuated with someone who does not return your love, learn to back off. Do not assume they are merely playing hard to get. Otherwise it becomes harassment.
I also could not help drawing parallels with the corporate world when the emperor fails to reward the person most worthy of praise, instead rewarding peripheral staff. It is the classic workplace problem: bosses reward the obedient rather than the capable, and then wonder why the capable ones leave. I could empathise with DuanXu's frustration but admire that he still had not abandoned his ideal of recovering the 17 prefectures despite having such an absolute asshole of an emperor.
As for forgetting the names of exes — well, I completely empathise with Si Mu on that one!
The story also has enough twists and mysteries to keep things interesting. We are left wondering whether DuanXu is really who he claims to be, or a murderer who has assumed the identity of a dead man. There are simply too many things about him that do not fit someone from a scholarly family.
Some of the supporting characters are memorable too. The Shaman was thoroughly infuriating, while Ding Jia Wen, as the Imperial Preceptor, really brightened the drama with his coy, playful, drama-queen antics. The two young actors playing young Chen Ying and Spirit Song Xing Yu were commendable for their age and showed real promise as future stars. Credit also goes to the casting team: the child and teenage versions of Chen Ying actually bear a convincing resemblance to each other.
There are some genuinely heart-rendering moments. An upright, capable and promising young minister commits suicide simply to save someone else. He could have denied the edict, so why did he have to die? And when a villain dies happily knowing that the woman he loves will be alright, it is heartbreaking. I agree that it was probably the right ending for him, but credit where it is due — his love was sincere.
On the other hand, I became increasingly impatient with DuanXu's constant self-punishment and reckless abuse of his own body. He repeatedly exchanges his senses with Si Mu even though he knows perfectly well that doing so will weaken him and eventually kill him. At some point, I just wanted to yell at him: stop doing this to yourself!
As for the soundtrack, it has many lovely melodious pieces - absolutely enchanting. I was debating between 9 and 9.5 - decided to change it to 9.5 because of the beautiful soundtrack.
Now for my nitpicking...
If DuanXu gives all his senses to Si Mu, does that mean she becomes completely incapacitated of her spiritual powers?
And why would the spirit still want revenge on the people who wronged her? After all, they should surely have been dead for decades, given that it takes a century for an obsessed spirit to cultivate a human body.
And those obsessive spirits floating around like jellyfish really did not work for me. Surely there was a better CGI alternative — perhaps a vague human silhouette would have been far more atmospheric.
Overall, I rate Love Beyond the Grave highly for its entertainment value. It has beautiful actors, good performances, humour, romance, mystery, twists and enough emotional drama to keep things moving. My nitpicks aside, it is an enjoyable watch.
Enjoy!
And this drama certainly has the looks. Dilraba and Miles Wei are absolutely eye-candy — both are stunningly good looking. Miles once again plays the jilted lover, as he did in Flourished Peony and its sequel. Call me shallow, but good-looking actors with excellent acting skills always score extra points with me.
There are also some lessons to be learnt. If you are infatuated with someone who does not return your love, learn to back off. Do not assume they are merely playing hard to get. Otherwise it becomes harassment.
I also could not help drawing parallels with the corporate world when the emperor fails to reward the person most worthy of praise, instead rewarding peripheral staff. It is the classic workplace problem: bosses reward the obedient rather than the capable, and then wonder why the capable ones leave. I could empathise with DuanXu's frustration but admire that he still had not abandoned his ideal of recovering the 17 prefectures despite having such an absolute asshole of an emperor.
As for forgetting the names of exes — well, I completely empathise with Si Mu on that one!
The story also has enough twists and mysteries to keep things interesting. We are left wondering whether DuanXu is really who he claims to be, or a murderer who has assumed the identity of a dead man. There are simply too many things about him that do not fit someone from a scholarly family.
Some of the supporting characters are memorable too. The Shaman was thoroughly infuriating, while Ding Jia Wen, as the Imperial Preceptor, really brightened the drama with his coy, playful, drama-queen antics. The two young actors playing young Chen Ying and Spirit Song Xing Yu were commendable for their age and showed real promise as future stars. Credit also goes to the casting team: the child and teenage versions of Chen Ying actually bear a convincing resemblance to each other.
There are some genuinely heart-rendering moments. An upright, capable and promising young minister commits suicide simply to save someone else. He could have denied the edict, so why did he have to die? And when a villain dies happily knowing that the woman he loves will be alright, it is heartbreaking. I agree that it was probably the right ending for him, but credit where it is due — his love was sincere.
On the other hand, I became increasingly impatient with DuanXu's constant self-punishment and reckless abuse of his own body. He repeatedly exchanges his senses with Si Mu even though he knows perfectly well that doing so will weaken him and eventually kill him. At some point, I just wanted to yell at him: stop doing this to yourself!
As for the soundtrack, it has many lovely melodious pieces - absolutely enchanting. I was debating between 9 and 9.5 - decided to change it to 9.5 because of the beautiful soundtrack.
Now for my nitpicking...
If DuanXu gives all his senses to Si Mu, does that mean she becomes completely incapacitated of her spiritual powers?
And why would the spirit still want revenge on the people who wronged her? After all, they should surely have been dead for decades, given that it takes a century for an obsessed spirit to cultivate a human body.
And those obsessive spirits floating around like jellyfish really did not work for me. Surely there was a better CGI alternative — perhaps a vague human silhouette would have been far more atmospheric.
Overall, I rate Love Beyond the Grave highly for its entertainment value. It has beautiful actors, good performances, humour, romance, mystery, twists and enough emotional drama to keep things moving. My nitpicks aside, it is an enjoyable watch.
Enjoy!
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