A Lesson in Cliché-free Drama: Preposterous Premise, Plausible Plot, Pragmatic Ending
Because I am hoping to start learning Mandarin at some point in not-too-distant future, I am watching exclusively C-drama for the time being. It seems that I will therefore be the first person to review this remake based on its own merits without any reference to the South Korean original.
Loving Strangers is a singular story about the unlikely affection developing between two people who have nothing in common other than being at the end of their rope. On one hand, we have a middle-aged married man who, being comfortably middle-class, is undergoing the inevitable midlife crises. On the other hand, we have an underprivileged young girl, a social pariah, who is fighting tooth and nail for bare survival. In the normal course of events, these two never should have met. But they do meet when the girl gets hired as a temporary administrative assistant in a mid-range pharmaceutical company where the man plays a mid-level management role...
... and their accidental workplace meeting leads to an opposites attract romance, with many obstacles for them to overcome before they can live together happily ever after, right?
Wrong.
To begin with, there is nothing accidental about their meeting or, for that matter, about anything that happens in this drama. Loving Strangers does not rely on sleight of hand coincidences and deus-ex-machina devices to make its premise work. Rather, it subverts our expectations and kidnaps our attention by roping us into a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game within the framework of cut-throat corporate workplace politics. The plot is so neatly woven and so well-crafted that what begins as a preposterously unbelievable premise progressively turns into a tight thriller and a realistic meditation on the life-saving gift of human bonding at any stage of life and social class level. A pleiad of supporting characters from different generations and backgrounds makes the leads and their relationship more grounded and emotionally layered, with some simultaneously bringing in much-needed comic relief.
Loving Strangers is essentially a story about love in its many shapes and forms. But it is not a love story as such, even though it is vaguely marketed as a romance. The producers probably felt that a platonic relationship between two desperate people miserably stuck in their underwhelming lives sounded too depressively boring to be bankable, so they pasted on an ambiguous title in order to amplify the drama's commercial appeal. In my view, this was a counter-productive move. Loving Strangers is not a stereotypical romance and will not appeal to viewers looking for fluff. That being said, the drama is anything but depressively boring. On the contrary, it will keep you at the edge of your seat wholeheartedly rooting for the leads to live up to their best selves and NOT fall in love with each other in spite of external machinations and their shared inner sense of isolation.
Obviously, such a feat of dramatic engineering could have never been pulled off without a very strong cast. Both leads shine in their roles. Zhang Zi Feng sweeps us off our feet with the irresistible force of a natural phenomenon: we never for a second doubt the reality of her fictional existence. Mark Chen offers a subtle, self-contained, deeply moving performance. Overall, the supporting cast is suitably convincing, with Zhang Xin Cheng offering a particularly charismatic portrayal of a young villain and Yang Yi Wei that of a hapless uncle, annoying and endearing in equal measure.
Visually, the drama is exactly what it should be. Cinematography, scenography, costume design and make-up keep the story well-grounded in reality as we follow the daily routine of people from all walks of life. However, I must voice my grievances with regard to some aspects of the direction and, especially, my deep resentment when it comes to the soundtrack.
Generally speaking, not being an expert in the field of film-making, I see no issue with the way in which this drama is directed. On the contrary, the pacing is uncommonly even and tight; there are no slow periods or unnecessary digressions. What I do object to is the overbearingly heavy-handed use of recapitulative sentimental flash-backs. While typical for C-drama in general, it simply has no place in such a singular drama. It trivializes it for no good reason.
Ditto for the cheesy pop songs accompanying the flash-back moments. Even though I have more or less made my peace with the distracting presence of obtrusive soundtracks in C-drama, Loving Strangers is such a quiet, nuanced, astute thing that the strident sentimentality of the music, with its gaudy lyrics, comes across as particularly jarring.
In spite of these imperfections, I enjoyed watching Loving Strangers well beyond my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a well-thought-out, well-executed, well-acted fresh storyline free of predictable clichés and tired tropes.
Loving Strangers is a singular story about the unlikely affection developing between two people who have nothing in common other than being at the end of their rope. On one hand, we have a middle-aged married man who, being comfortably middle-class, is undergoing the inevitable midlife crises. On the other hand, we have an underprivileged young girl, a social pariah, who is fighting tooth and nail for bare survival. In the normal course of events, these two never should have met. But they do meet when the girl gets hired as a temporary administrative assistant in a mid-range pharmaceutical company where the man plays a mid-level management role...
... and their accidental workplace meeting leads to an opposites attract romance, with many obstacles for them to overcome before they can live together happily ever after, right?
Wrong.
To begin with, there is nothing accidental about their meeting or, for that matter, about anything that happens in this drama. Loving Strangers does not rely on sleight of hand coincidences and deus-ex-machina devices to make its premise work. Rather, it subverts our expectations and kidnaps our attention by roping us into a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game within the framework of cut-throat corporate workplace politics. The plot is so neatly woven and so well-crafted that what begins as a preposterously unbelievable premise progressively turns into a tight thriller and a realistic meditation on the life-saving gift of human bonding at any stage of life and social class level. A pleiad of supporting characters from different generations and backgrounds makes the leads and their relationship more grounded and emotionally layered, with some simultaneously bringing in much-needed comic relief.
Loving Strangers is essentially a story about love in its many shapes and forms. But it is not a love story as such, even though it is vaguely marketed as a romance. The producers probably felt that a platonic relationship between two desperate people miserably stuck in their underwhelming lives sounded too depressively boring to be bankable, so they pasted on an ambiguous title in order to amplify the drama's commercial appeal. In my view, this was a counter-productive move. Loving Strangers is not a stereotypical romance and will not appeal to viewers looking for fluff. That being said, the drama is anything but depressively boring. On the contrary, it will keep you at the edge of your seat wholeheartedly rooting for the leads to live up to their best selves and NOT fall in love with each other in spite of external machinations and their shared inner sense of isolation.
Obviously, such a feat of dramatic engineering could have never been pulled off without a very strong cast. Both leads shine in their roles. Zhang Zi Feng sweeps us off our feet with the irresistible force of a natural phenomenon: we never for a second doubt the reality of her fictional existence. Mark Chen offers a subtle, self-contained, deeply moving performance. Overall, the supporting cast is suitably convincing, with Zhang Xin Cheng offering a particularly charismatic portrayal of a young villain and Yang Yi Wei that of a hapless uncle, annoying and endearing in equal measure.
Visually, the drama is exactly what it should be. Cinematography, scenography, costume design and make-up keep the story well-grounded in reality as we follow the daily routine of people from all walks of life. However, I must voice my grievances with regard to some aspects of the direction and, especially, my deep resentment when it comes to the soundtrack.
Generally speaking, not being an expert in the field of film-making, I see no issue with the way in which this drama is directed. On the contrary, the pacing is uncommonly even and tight; there are no slow periods or unnecessary digressions. What I do object to is the overbearingly heavy-handed use of recapitulative sentimental flash-backs. While typical for C-drama in general, it simply has no place in such a singular drama. It trivializes it for no good reason.
Ditto for the cheesy pop songs accompanying the flash-back moments. Even though I have more or less made my peace with the distracting presence of obtrusive soundtracks in C-drama, Loving Strangers is such a quiet, nuanced, astute thing that the strident sentimentality of the music, with its gaudy lyrics, comes across as particularly jarring.
In spite of these imperfections, I enjoyed watching Loving Strangers well beyond my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a well-thought-out, well-executed, well-acted fresh storyline free of predictable clichés and tired tropes.
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