How to shoot a spy drama? "Insidious" and "Kite" are two benchmarks that are difficult to surpass. For these two dramas, netizens probably have their own rankings in their minds. This article attempts to analyze from multiple levels who is the pinnacle of spy dramas.
01 Get one point first for Latent
Latent: produced in 2008 and broadcast in 2009.
Kite: Produced in 2013, it took nearly 5 years to air, and a lot of thrilling lines were deleted.
Latent communication areas: First broadcast on Youku, LeTV, iQiyi, PPS, Heilongjiang, Oriental, Beijing, Chongqing Satellite TV, and later on Tianjin, Guangxi, Hong Kong Cable Entertainment Channel, and Hong Kong Cable Channel 1 Waiting for the TV station to broadcast it, the influence will be greater. There are 135,197 reviews on Latent *** on Douban, with a score of 9.3.
The spread of Kite: There are four broadcast platforms, namely iQiyi, Tencent Video, Beijing Satellite TV, and Dragon TV. Kite has 59,691 reviews on Douban, with a score of 8.8.
02 Awards
Latent: China TV Drama Feitian Award (5), China TV Golden Eagle Award (6), Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Award (4), five One Engineering Award (1) and four major awards. Covering many heavyweight awards such as Best Television, Best Actor and Actor, Best Screenwriter, and Best Director.
It is worth mentioning that "Latent" defeated another classic TV series "My Captain, My Group" at that time.
Kite: The 24th Huading Award? Best Actress in a TV Series with Modern Chinese Themes? (Luo Haiqiong), Nominated for the 29th China TV Golden Eagle Award (2), Drama Shines in the East 2018 TV Series Quality Ceremony Annual The powerful acting star (Liu Yunlong), the outstanding acting star (Luo Haiqiong) of the year at the 2018 TV Drama Quality Ceremony.
In terms of awards, Kite was completely defeated. "Kite" also won the "Dirty Ashtray Award" once. Of course, this award is not for the quality of the play. The movie "I'm Not the God of Medicine" , "The Righteous One", "Old Paoer", etc. have all won this award.
If only compared from the above aspects, "Kite" is obviously inferior to "Insidious", and even inferior to "Before Dawn" produced in 2010.
But "Kite" has a supreme status in the eyes of Liu Yunlong's fans, and is known as the "godfather of espionage" Liu Yunlong's pinnacle work. So is it possible for "Kite" to turn around?
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03 Director, actors and script
There are 26 main characters in "Latent". In addition to the male and female protagonists, Zu Feng plays Li Ya, Mu Wanqiu played by Zhu Jie, Xie Ruolin played by Cao Bingkun and others are also impressive.
The success of "Insidious" also stems from the portrayal of supporting characters.
Director Jiang Wei is indispensable. Speaking of which, Jiang Wei is also an excellent screenwriter. The success of "Latent" lies in the fact that the progression of the plot completely feels like a novel, and the appearance of each character is at just the right time. And it's very dramatic, such as the appearance of the character Li Ya.
Before Li Ya appeared on the stage, the director and screenwriter had given enough suspense and exaggeration, firstly through photo portraits, secondly through other people’s lines to highlight the importance of the character, and thirdly through the plot to complete the character’s appearance. This is a very typical way for the painter Sanran to appear in the novel.
From this point, we can see the skills of the director and screenwriter.
In addition to "Latent", Jiang Wei also produced "Borrowing a Gun" (also a very alternative spy war drama, starring Zhang Jiayi, who drags his family with him to work behind enemy lines, and even has no food to eat. Thinking about how to complete the task, the revolutionary will is undoubtedly revealed) "Beijing Falls in Love with Seattle", screenwriter of "Don't Talk to Strangers" and other classic works.
When he directed "Latent", Jiang Wei's screenwriting skills had reached the level of proficiency.
Besides, there are so many outstanding actors in "Latent", such as Sun Honglei, Yao Chen, Zu Feng, Feng Enhe, Cao Bingkun, Wu Gang, etc., whether at that time or later, they are well-deserved actors in the film and television industry. A talented actor.
Strong actors + excellent directors + excellent scripts are the main cornerstones of the success of "Latent".
The same goes for the success of "Kite". In "Kite", there are hundreds of characters, big and small. Although the protagonists of "Kite" are Zheng Yaoxian and Han Bing, they are definitely It is more like a group portrait painting. Several characters in the play, except for the male and female protagonists, can basically form a complete story independently.
A few examples:
Gong Shu: The story of a young man who attempts to change his life's destiny through personal efforts and struggles. It has the fate of Julien in "The Red and the Black". In order to achieve success, the palace concubines did whatever they could to achieve success, but in the end they died due to their personal pursuit of faith.
Yan'e: An undercover agent, who survived a narrow escape, lurked silently, and finally gave up his life for love. In fact, Yan'e and the concubine in the end were both very pitiful, and had some ideas that kept pace with the times. But they are immersed in the dream of reviving the declining J family dynasty and cannot extricate themselves. Death is their best destination.
Ma Xiaowu: Like Gong Shu, it is a story about a young man who grew up in a rural area and counterattacked. Ma Xiaowu’s changes are actually quite big. After coming out of the countryside, he met Han Bing and others one after another. Zheng Yaoxian continued to grow in battles. Although he was always defeated by the palace concubines, he fought and lost again and again and never failed to recover.
Gao Junbao: It’s even simpler, a tragic story of how a child grows up, how he takes revenge, and how he lets go.
Being able to string together so many characters into a complete story line, Liu Yunlong’s directing ability is very strong.
Of course, the premise is that you are watching the uncut version!
Liu Yunlong is not called the "godfather of espionage" for nothing.
Liu Yunlong has filmed several spy films and has built up a relatively stable team of collaborators. Xu Cheng, Liu Mingyang, Gao Ming, Li Xiaoran, Sun Lijun, etc. have all collaborated with Liu Yunlong many times.
The characteristics of the supporting actors in Liu Yunlong are very obvious: low-profile, but absolutely useful, especially in line with the characteristics of the characters in the play.
For example, the supporting roles in "Kite", not to mention their acting skills, just their image and styling, they won! This kind of close-to-character atmosphere that exudes from the inside out and from the outside in can be said to be the finishing touch in Liu Yunlong's play.
Do the two soldiers above and the aunt below have a sense of age that goes deep into your bones?
Judging from the characterization of the supporting characters alone, "Kite" is more vivid and flesh-and-blood, which is a level higher than "Latent".
04 The shining points of "Latent"
There are two very dazzling shining points in "Latent"
One is Mu Wanqiu's suicide and Yu Zecheng's suicide In a long monologue after taking the initiative to expose himself, Yu Zecheng faced the disheartened late autumn:
Do you feel that you have no way out?
In fact, there is a road to the future in front of you, which is worth living for.
It was a beautiful journey, just like your poems.
Why do you feel that there is no way out?
Late Qiu: Will you marry me?
Yu Zecheng: It’s more beautiful than marrying you, and it also gives you more freedom. Don’t you yearn for freedom the most?
You also know my identity. Are you willing to go?
Late Qiu: Then I will never see you again!
Yu Zecheng: There are many people like me there.
That is another world, a good place and beautiful scenery.
You are so young and beautiful, you have a choice. (Here comes the important point)
Think about it, in late autumn, you are standing in a majestic team, taking big steps and singing war songs.
To change the whole of China.
What kind of momentum is that?
A little Yu Zecheng is a farewell person on the roadside.
You saw him and he saw you.
We waved and passed.
Moving forward is a more meaningful life.
Frustrated?
It’s nothing more than the innocent moaning of a little bourgeoisie.
To miss it is a high degree of myopia
Sometimes if you look further, don’t you have everything?
Including love!
With an extremely depressing and restrained performance, Sun Honglei depicts a magnificent and promising future, and also shows the changes that noble faith brings to people's souls.
Another dazzling highlight is the ending
In the unedited version of the ending, there is a cold dialogue:
Supporting actor: Yu Ze Comrade Cheng cannot come back yet, nor can his identity be made public.
Cuiping: I understand! Have you contacted him?
Supporting actor: None yet.
Cuiping: Shanghai will be liberated soon.
Supporting actor: We are here to inform you that you cannot leave this town without receiving an order. The enemy failed on the battlefield, but they still have many lurking spies. If the spies who know that you are husband and wife see you, Comrade Yu Zecheng will be completely exposed.