I will introduce one that I recommend.
The Story of Ming Lan.
I already introduced The Knockout
a few years ago. The Knockout is a story about a policeman fighting the
mafia. Man against man. The Story of Ming Lan is about a woman fighting
a woman. Women against women. Originally, the story was a novel. The author is
a woman.
The story describes many kinds of fights
between women. Sometimes young women fight for a man to love. There are fights
between a wife and her mother-in-law. Fights between sisters. Fights between a
mother and her daughter. Fights between relatives. Fights between wives who
have the same husband. The setting is the Northern Song Dynasty. Polygyny was
common in high-class families.
Polygyny! Stupid men, including me, might envy
that. But if you watch this drama, you will think polygyny is the worst system
ever. The heroine, Ming Lan, was born as the daughter of the third wife. Of
course, the wives always fight each other. The children always fight each
other. The family belongs to the upper class in society. But Ming Lan’s status
in the family is not strong. The family members are too many, and their
relationships are too complex.
Ming Lan is a super smart girl. But she needs
to hide that. She pretends to be a stupid girl for her life’s sake. If her
enemies find out, they could kill her.
One of the points I love about this drama is
that there are no superstars from history. Of course, there are famous people,
powerful people, and great people who show up in the drama. But those people
are not historic people. The superstars in history have been studied for a long
time. If a drama describes a superstar, the scriptwriter needs to get busy
writing the historical facts. I want to enjoy a period play as a fictional
drama. Some period plays look like educational videos from history class. But
in Ming Lan, there are wonderful people who were never recorded and
studied in history. These fictional people give the writers freedom of
imagination. However, I think the writers and the crew did their background
research very well. Everything that happens in this drama could have happened
in this period.
The other point I love is the atmosphere of
this drama. It has a lived-in feeling. Japanese period plays can be influenced
by kabuki theater. Chinese period plays can be influenced by Peking opera. I
also love these traditional period plays. But sometimes those traditions make
the direction and acting too strong. Audiences these days tend to love natural
direction and acting.
In The Story of Ming Lan, every actor
and crew member tries to create a natural atmosphere. As if they live in the
world. So, most of the conversations happen while doing something. The actors
talk while walking, working, eating, and so on. These are difficult and
bothersome to do.
Most of my readers are theatrical people. So,
there is no need to explain that saying lines and doing other things at the
same time is so difficult. They must practice a lot.
You might think Chinese dramas contain a lot
of physical action scenes. Actually, most of the fights in this drama are not
about sheer strength but rather battles of wits. Most of the characters are
highly smart people.
The direction and acting are elaborate. Not
too dramatic, but there is reality. I recommend watching.
There are seventy-three episodes. But I
guarantee it is interesting from beginning to end.
It was on air in 2018.
Picture
by Koketa
Proofreading
by ProofreadingServices.com
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