"Men In Black In Tang Dynasty"

This dramedy has all the makings of a cult classic. The story is so over-the-top and ridiculous that I would never have thought it would work, but somehow, it really does!

Firstly, I could feel the love that went into this production right away, and that's not something I can say about most small budget Chinese costume dramas. The cinematography is Avant-garde and very 60's documentary close-ups together. It's some of the best, most well thought out and executed art house cinematography I've seen in Chinese drama.

Then there is the cast, which is lead by An Yue Xi, who is one of the most underrated leading actresses in China, I can only guess this is due to her being a real actress, not a pop star actress. On top of being an actress, An Yue Xi is an athlete and former professional dancer, and uses her skills in physicality to great effect here (she is a natural FL in every way, so it is crazy that she is overlooked in favour of pop idols that can't act, and ruin whatever drama they are cast in).

This is a true dramedy, involving both very serious elements with absurdist comedy, and on paper, I never would have thought to watch this drama, as it is about an alien that lands in ancient China, and takes over the body of a young woman who has been murdered because she was going to elope with the crown prince (palace intrigue).

The comedy here is adolescent absurdist humour, and it's not really funny, just kind of upbeat. Mostly slapstick humour. Also, an unattractive dude in a dress isn't very funny (sorry, it just isn't). HOWEVER, the cinematography sort of made up for those moments that were supposed to be funny, but weren't. An Yue Xi's alien character Ah Bu, through her ignorance of human life and human emotions, just brightened up the screen with her infectious enthusiasm. How rare and beautiful to have a FL character that is a bit naive and innocent for a real reason (because she is an alien!). Still, even with being an alien, she is much smarter and more savvy than most Chinese costume drama FLs.

The weakest aspect of the drama is the plot, which is super complex in detail and side plots, and as a result, is all over the place. The director cinematographer, Yan Wang, is crazy talented (and I do mean crazy). He is a one-in-a-million all-in-one cinematic team! I also love how the director used the OST as a dramatic tool to great effect! I don't expect a super low budget drama with 25 episodes to have non-repetitive music. That would be unrealistic and asking the impossible for a production. But the edited music he did use was perfect, and I never found myself annoyed or distracted by it.

The CGI cat-alien version of Dou Miao Miao, the FL's cat-alien hybrid sidekick, is worthy of cult status as being one of the weirdest looking CGI designed characters of all time.

There were a lot of episodes in this drama, and I think we could have done without two whole misunderstandings that lead to break-ups between the ML and the FL. I hate plot repeats like that. The best scene is when the FL publicly announces her love for the ML, and because they are brother and sister, and the gathered crowd doesn't know that they are not biologically related, they make a public spectacle of themselves. The audible repulsion at the apparent public display of incest is juxtaposed to the FL and ML realizing their feelings for each other. It's the most romantic anti-romantic scene, and it's just perfectly done.

There is a Facebook group that subbed this drama. Here is one link:

https://www.avirtualvoyage.net/2017/11/cdrama-lets-shake-it-et-episodes-english-subbed.html

Or you can join the Facebook group that was created for this drama with English subs.

Either way, this is a Chinese costume drama worth checking out. You don't have to complete it, and if you don't like absurdist comedy, don't even bother with it. You know how cult classics are called cult classics because they don't appeal to everyone? Because they are so odd and unique that it takes a certain person to really appreciate them? That's why this is a cult classic of a drama. It won't appeal to everyone. Maybe it won't appeal to most, and it definitely is a bit too long, but overall, it's a treasure of a drama not to be missed, if you are open to an absurdist passion project with beautiful cinematography and a fabulous cast of characters.

Edit: I just watched this for the second time, and it's even better the second time! The characters, the consistant absurdity, the costumes, the cinematography, the humour, and the acting is not like anything else I've ever seen. This is a masterpiece of absurdity!