The Legend of Kaifeng (2018)

An unexpected, pleasant surprise. Progressive, even.

This was my first ever Justice Bao drama. When I saw in the first episode that Bao Zheng was shunned when he was born due to unusually dark skin (probably due to some genetic reason) and people were calling him a "monster", I was worried about colorism.
Especially as a South Asian with a brown skin this made me unsettled. But only minutes after my worries went away when I saw how well-treated, loved and cared for he was by his guardians. Who did it for no obligation but simply because they were good, non-discriminative people.
And the story continues on like that. There are people who are initially shocked by/make comments on his skin color, but this doesn't upset me much because in the past it's no wonder, as people didn't know better/that varieties of skin colors existed. In my country too, it was the White people who were always gawked upon back then?. Now, it WOULD have been a bad thing if the drama made it into a running joke/made demeaning fun out of it but it never did! Those who bullied Bao Zheng due to his color were the bad people, and the good ones didn't even blink or if they used to before, they would soon realise they are wrong and turn around.
The original legend, stories and dramas based on it are actually a CELEBRATION of this "different" person and his intellect, how everyone loved and respected and admired him for his integrity and sense of justice.
It's actually ANTI-Colorism. And I cannot be happier about it.

If I am to talk about the rest of the characters- well, they are quite 3D. Some might not be likeable and frankly messed up, but NEVER because the "scriptwriter said so" but because it made sense for their circumstances. All in all, a really good drama. I wish there were more like this these days too.

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Justice though Heavens Fall

The Legend of Kaifeng Court is one of the greatest movies I’ve seen. Its plot is tight and unfolds at a rapid pace. Its characters are endearing and well-formed. Most importantly, it sticks the landing—the immediate threat is vanquished but the systemic problems endure. As in life, good deeds can go unrewarded. That doesn’t mean that good men should do nothing!

The protagonist is the famed Chinese jurist, Bao Zheng. The story leans more on the mythology that’s developed around the historical character. He’s very much an outlier among the show’s other characters in his unbending righteousness. The show heavily implies that he’s a god fallen to earth. Huang Wei De was spectacular portraying this alien who had to learn human.

In a world on the edge of ruin, there is little even a god can do. The Song Dynasty is beset by enemies abroad, traitors within and an unstable triumvirate between the Crown, Court and Frontier Military. Bao Zheng is very much a peripheral character. He’s so powerless in fact that were this a Ming or Qing-era show, he would not have made it past the first episode.

One of the best aspects of this show is how developed the characters are. In a way, it feels like an ensemble drama because events and disparate characters drive the plot forward. Bao Zheng is often the bit player in a wider game with active players possessing independent agendas and motivations. None of the side characters feel peripheral due to an excessive focus on the lead. That allows it to avoid one of the weaknesses of long Chinese serials where some episodes drag because they are fillers meant to resolve unaddressed plot issues or introduce characters previously unrelated to the plot. This show has no such flaws because storylines proceed in essentially self-contained arcs and its characters all feel like they have lives that do more than revolve around the whims of the protagonists.

The actors were superb. The writing deftly balanced humour and insight. But I must reserve special praise for the casting director. Action in Chinese dramas is typically unrealistic, but casting directors compound the disconnect by casting dandelions who can’t even throw a convincing punch. No such problems here. Every who fights looks like they can bang. Those who don’t look like fighters stay on the sideline or are quickly exposed.

More of that!

All in all, I love it; watch it!

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