ibisfeather

Ep 37
opening scene, (not the shot)
Thank goodness for the tip ahead of time that the after-banquet would be in such tight quarters. Usually there is such grand spacing, total quiet, such a set of diminished guests.

Is it that we are in the early Song? I Like it.

I LOVE the in-your-face dramatic reversal of power the Marquis accomplishes in under a minute. Unlike the novel-readers take, he isnt just rescuing his wife from the wiles of those low-level-vermin ministers trying to get her drunk.

The Marquis is acting like the regent he will become from the get-go. He put them in their place without any pushback from even one of them, or from anyone in the room.

HE IS FEARED.

And ChangYu is fine with that.

And now we see why for all these long episodes he, himself, the very man of him, is regarded as a powerful faction to balance out the Li and Wei show.

The palace hall was not the grand one, I gather, so we zoom into the courtyard under some low graceful curve and cut straight to the banquet room. ChangYu is alone, and beseiged. But it is very intimate. We are in the very den of the animals.

The domesticity.

I wasnt a big fan of ZLH's acting. I really appreciated the way his development has been done in the open, really interesting for a newbie watcher. But his roles? Meh.

I think this role has really made him a star in the old Hollywood sense. Charismatic, dreamy, green flag stepped up a notch.

I cant take my eyes off of him. And even if he isnt central to a scene, it is his face and eyes I remember late in the day.

@CloudA
So basically you are reinforcing the idea that Chinese dramas are more of an interaction with people who read (the novels). Which is cool, but for a person like me who is primarily visual, still the actual form of the drama is engrossing and marvelous. What to do?

Ambition..
The tropes are there to hold our hands, to create comfort, and when a director is ambitious or just different the experience doesnt feel right. But that doesnt mean that the aesthetic and tropes arent actually changing.

But also..different to kdrama,
This long discussion we have had here was often equally divided between people working from the novel and people working from an overwhelming world of epiphenomena -- gossip, released clips, leaked clips, previews (given an unholy weight), and then on top of that the fans of the stars and the companies which handle the stars. Fascinating.
And in essence, the commerce is right out there in the open!

I wonder what sort of licensing agreement Netflix has with IQIYI for POJ?
The mix of irony, sentiment sex and the macabre seems absolutely tailormade for Mexican/Colombian/Brazilian tastes -- maybe NF isnt licensed for this show in those countries?

IQIYI probably has deep penetration into the Andes countries bec of Chinese projects and workers there? Maybe people there, as in Europe, have all bought IQIYI subscriptions now to watch POJ?

It seems like a negative event for Netflix somehow.

For we Netflix watchers, it is still four more days until the last episode.
Please be kind with the spoiler veils.

Thanks, you are right.

It is the evidence that will prove ChangYu's Dad;s innocence. No more kids' games throwing vegetables at the Great Traitor, Wei Qi Lin. It was all a lie.

Thank you again.

have faith in the drama gods.

TRue! Casting was excellent.

I like it!

Well said.

The editors do not decide to compress or cut out a scene. They mostb definitely do not touch anything to do with storytelling, such as transitions or interweaving. The scriptwriter writes the scenes -- almost all the complaints about 'choppy' etc are should be directed to the script not the technical execution.. The editors just fit the footage into the storyboard structure with its timings, and the director makes that process happen as well as a thousand other things.

Censorship is the second big scissors moment. It can take months for the team to figure out ways to accomodate any super criticisms. This drama didnt hang around for months, so probably all the objections were anticipated and worked around ahead of time.

The battle scenes were anti-war. You can tell by the soundtrack -- no I am a Hero moments. However they were rather clean and dry, tending towards the beginning or end of the action, and mostly shot from the point of view of infantrymen. The individual duels were the focus although I have no idea what that was in the battle of Lucheng.

I was just watching Blossom with full-on glory music for the final battles at the palace. So much fun. But in retrospect a tastefully stodgy show. ZQJ on best behavior. I loved it, but POJ is not that show..

Am watching on Netflix so havent seen the rest.

Yes he looked older and heavier in Butterflied Lover. Here he got the tragic makeover.

the writing (both scene construction and overall plotwork), the camerawork and the music scoring have to work perfectly in tandem with the acting to get those tears.

It is such magic. I am always floored.

QiMin's grand plans were all in his head and GrandTutor Li was no strategist at all.

Where is the mindless grandeur and blinding finery of yesteryear. And the endless poisoning of Love of Nirvana?

Yes, I kept expecting the uncle to quit in some meaningful way.

Yes, thought the same. Thought there might be a reveal that he remembered to wear the silk underarmor she made him. Noticed he was wearing a very reinforced sort of belt thing that protected the lower back, did you see that?
But yess, long term damage to muscles. They would get pulped. oh well.

ep36
great episode.