This review may contain spoilers
Sisterhoood of the 1920s
Legacy focuses on a wealthy, business oriened family in the 1920s with emphasis on the three sisters: Zhong Ling, Zhong Yu and Zhong Xiu. They also have a brother, Zhong Jie who isn't involved in the family business to pursue his dreams.In the beginning of the drama, there's a lot of arguing, and disagreements among the sisters especially between Zhong Yu (middle sis) and the youngest, Zhong Xiu. Their personalities clash a lot, but eventually they grew to love one another.
The story essentially follows the family through 20 years and their struggles with love, betrayal, family, the Japanese army, politicians, and war.
Zhong Ling played by Qin Lan is the oldest of the siblings, she's typically the mediate between Zhong Yu and Zhong Ling, always there to stop the fight, lecture them and give logical reasons. She's very soft-spoken, poise but fear not she's also headstrong and knows when to take action against the family enemies. I also love it when she stood up for herself against *spoiler* her controlling, and abusive husband(not physically abusive towards her, more like verbal because he shouts so much, threatens to kill people, etc.) But eventually,the love story between them became pretty sweet to me as he learned to control himself and he's a sucker for his wife - it was so cute when he was trying to get her to forgive and accept him. She's a great cook, and that's her main weapon in this series. Zhong Ling is definitely one of my favorite characters in this show. This is the second drama I watched of Qin Lan, so I'm not sure if her acting is great because she played a similar character in Yan Xi Palance. Difference is Zhong Ling is more strong, outspoken, demanding when she needs to be. Therefore, acting from Qin Lan is a pass for me~
Zhong Yu played by Wu Jin Yan. Zhong Yu is similar to an anti-hero because you wouldn't like her personality at all - at least I didn't initially. It was so offputting because she was very bossy, bratty, gets her way, very spoiled, and whatnot. In a sense, she has a temper of a child as well. haha However, she's also very smart in the business world, she knows how to negotiate and persuade others. She does have a soft spot and willing to give other chances and help those she cares about.The one who eventually tamed down her personality and made her grow up is Tang Feng Wu played by Hangeng. Their relationship is kind of ridiculous because she's always mad at him or someone lmao - sometimes playfully and he would always try to pacify her. Its an on and off relationship. As for Wu Jin Yan's acting, it feels unnatural at times - sometimes her facial expressions doesn't make sense in certain situations. Either way, it was alright.
Moving on to the youngest, Zhong Xiu played by Zhang Nan, this is the second drama I watched of hers. She did a great job acting as the youngest child, its a total different personality from the another drama I watched where she acted as a queen. Zhong Xiu is very outspoken, and likes to confront people when things are bothering her which sometimes gets her in trouble. As aforementioned, Zhong Yu and her clash a lot because both of them tend to say what's on their mind. haha Relationship wise, she was suppose to be married to someone but he chose someone else eventually. Then came a friend's cousin, which started out as a wholesome friendship then grew into love. Zhong Xiu learned how to use a gun from this guy and it proved to be quite useful for the plot.
On another note, I was confused initially so to prevent anyone else from feeling the same way regarding the mother in the drama- Hwang Ying Ru is the biological mom of Zhong Xiu and her older brother, Zhong Jie. Stepmother to ZhongYu and Zhong Ling but not your typical evil stepmother, she's actually really nice and treats them as her own.
The ending was underwhelming, there were happy endings and sad endings for some characters.
The cinematography of Legacy was great, it reminded me of Japanese asadoras and how it follows a life time of family. Would I recommend this drama? If you like republican era, war, policitics, sure. Love, friendship, three strong-willed female leads, definitely. If you like a family focused drama, definitely watch it. Is it an amazing drama? No, its still good nonetheless.
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Of the three sisters and their love interests, I enjoyed the relationship and character arcs between the eldest sister and her rough-around-the-edges husband the most. They're easily the best actors and fully conveyed and breathed life into their characters. She is calm and cool, perfectly considerate and well mannered, yet her quiet strength and intellect shines in every action, with all kinds of strong emotions flowing just under the surface. He is fierce and rude and hot tempered, loyal to his country and protective of family, while also being super scared of his wife because he loves her a lot but doesn't always understand her. They provide the moments of greatest comedy, but also the most touching, or even sorrowful scenes.
Another standout is second sister and her love interest, another pair with extreme contrast in personality. He is devoted to work, with little energy spared to nurture relationship. She's a business-minded genius who can cut through people like knives with her words whenever her temper flares. They are an odd pair, but the process of their coming together is believable.
But these romance elements are only one aspect of this drama. This main story is about family, about business, about how various people make smart decisions in desperate situations when the world is going crazy around them, and all anyone can do is try to weather each wave and try to survive to see the light, DECADES into the future... Or not, as various characters are also called to act in accordance with their conscience and morality.
As with all Cdrama, it could be 5 episodes shorter and still tell a good story, and the ending is too rapid. Literally, in the last 30 min of the LAST episodes, everyone's lives kinda suddenly worked out and are narrated through decades to the end.. On the one hand, this is kind of disappointing because I'd love to have actually SEEN these things play out some more. On the other hand, I think they were aiming to convey a sense that these were a small number of people's stories who lived through that turbulent time, amoung countless potential stories from countless people.
Overall, I think it's a very good watch!
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There's nothing good to say about the directing. It's like the cast were told to "do whatever, just don't wrinkle your costumes or mess up your jewelry." Be like a mannequin, basically. This type of "formal" acting might be ok in an ancient drama, but it was all wrong in a modern setting. The only actor who wasn't stiff was Nie Yuan, probably because he didn't have many nice outfits to show off.
Since the actors weren't allowed to act, they were given long-winded dialogues to explain their actions and thought process. The show very quickly became preachy and boring. The writing went from bad to atrocious. In the end, our intrepid heroines perservered thanks to dumb luck and even dumber villains.
I love the OST, from Zhou Shen's majestic opening theme to Han Geng's gentle crooning in the closing sequence. You're better off downloading the songs instead of watching the series.
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Great costumes and beautiful setting, boring storyline
I did not finish this drama so take this review with a grain of salt. I stopped at episode 11. This drama is like a very pretty house that has no furniture. The superficial things look great- the cast, fashion, colors. But the actual plot is so draggy. This drama is 40 episodes but I got to ep 11 and I swear NOTHING has happened. The characters just sit around and talk to each other about what supposedly happened in the past but there is little to no action in the present.Although the costumes look really pretty, I'm also not sure how accurate they are to the times. The same thing goes for the props. It's almost so pretty that it feels fake? The Yi family mansion is so busy with furniture and fancy decor that it ends up looking like a set instead of a real 1920s home.
Overall, this drama has all the shiny elements but no real substance. This cast was completely wasted. The only character I was invested in was Wei An.
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