Drama Addict
New Zealand
'Sob' opera - Tears of the Crane
This drama focussed on the romance between Crown Prince Xiao Ding-Quan, an out of favour prince and Lu Wen-Xi who was trying to save her father and brother. The synopsis on mydramalist.com is fairly accurate, so you can always read that to get an idea of what the story is about - not always true for some dramas. So I shall focus on my reaction to this drama.
The chemistry between Luo Jin (the Crown Prince) and Li YiTong (Lu WenXi) was amazing. And their tears were like a tap that they could turn on and off at will. Overall the cast was outstanding and played their parts well. The silly Zhang Shao Yun (acted by Dong Chun Hui) is worth a mention - he looked clueless and was quite pitiful as his love for WenXi was not reciprocated and was eventually framed by her. And so did the actor who did the role of the eunuch - this seasoned old actor was amazing especially toward the end of the drama.
I have always like Luo Jin's acting - very realistic and very expressive - especially after watching Princess WeiYang and this drama. Unfortunately I think he is becoming one of the more mature actors who are getting forgotten as the newer faces like Xiao Zhan, Wang YiBo and Gong Jun steal the limelight.
For Li YiTong, there were some mixed reviews of her acting skills. But I must say she was absolutely brilliant in this drama. One of the problems perhaps was she was always acting the well-behaved well-bred ancient ladies - characters that are not quite that exciting. This drama suited her as there were a lot of emotional scenes and she reacted them well, although as yet another well-bred lady.
I was not quite keen on the story. It was very intense with a lot of heart-rending scenes. Generally I do not like dramas where the villain always win and the good are always placed on the defensive. This drama was on my watch list for a long time before I started on the drama - as I knew it was going to be heavy. The Crown Prince was repeatedly sabotaged by his elder brother who was vying for the throne, and his cronies. The emperor favoured the eldest son but kept Ding-Quan as crown prince because of his promise to the late empress' brother, General Gu for his help in seizing the throne. He was a jealous father who felt that his son was closer to his maternal uncle who commanded a 200,000 strong army than him.
The reason Lu WenXi stayed at the palace seemed quite lame as she did not play a big role in helping her father's and brother's case. Time and again she was supposed to leave but stayed on for some equally lame reasons. In the drama, she was repeatedly blamed for crimes she did not commit and was severely physically punished - but of course that always open up opportunities for the hero to save the damsel in distress.
The last few episodes were just sobbing and draggy. I think the writer could have ended the drama five episodes earlier. The complicated plot that Lu WenXi fabricated to get the villains to confess their crime dragged it on for a few more episodes and finally lead to the finale, and also sealed her fate as she could not now reveal her identity. I think China has a lot of acting talents; but drama scripts always lack realism.
All other elements are great - gorgeous costumes, beautiful backdrop and excellent cinematography and one of the ending theme songs was lovely.
For a title, I would call it 'Tears of the Crane' which would be closer to the Chinese title instead of 'Royal Nirvana'. In Buddhism, nirvana is a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism. (I am not a buddhist but checked out the meaning.) This story was far from it. Crane in this drama represented the Crown Prince, and he was always crying.
In spite of my criticism of the story, the drama managed to make me stayed up for several late nights as I was keen to find out what was going to happen next. If you do not have depression and enjoy heart-rending dramas, this is a drama worth watching.
The chemistry between Luo Jin (the Crown Prince) and Li YiTong (Lu WenXi) was amazing. And their tears were like a tap that they could turn on and off at will. Overall the cast was outstanding and played their parts well. The silly Zhang Shao Yun (acted by Dong Chun Hui) is worth a mention - he looked clueless and was quite pitiful as his love for WenXi was not reciprocated and was eventually framed by her. And so did the actor who did the role of the eunuch - this seasoned old actor was amazing especially toward the end of the drama.
I have always like Luo Jin's acting - very realistic and very expressive - especially after watching Princess WeiYang and this drama. Unfortunately I think he is becoming one of the more mature actors who are getting forgotten as the newer faces like Xiao Zhan, Wang YiBo and Gong Jun steal the limelight.
For Li YiTong, there were some mixed reviews of her acting skills. But I must say she was absolutely brilliant in this drama. One of the problems perhaps was she was always acting the well-behaved well-bred ancient ladies - characters that are not quite that exciting. This drama suited her as there were a lot of emotional scenes and she reacted them well, although as yet another well-bred lady.
I was not quite keen on the story. It was very intense with a lot of heart-rending scenes. Generally I do not like dramas where the villain always win and the good are always placed on the defensive. This drama was on my watch list for a long time before I started on the drama - as I knew it was going to be heavy. The Crown Prince was repeatedly sabotaged by his elder brother who was vying for the throne, and his cronies. The emperor favoured the eldest son but kept Ding-Quan as crown prince because of his promise to the late empress' brother, General Gu for his help in seizing the throne. He was a jealous father who felt that his son was closer to his maternal uncle who commanded a 200,000 strong army than him.
The reason Lu WenXi stayed at the palace seemed quite lame as she did not play a big role in helping her father's and brother's case. Time and again she was supposed to leave but stayed on for some equally lame reasons. In the drama, she was repeatedly blamed for crimes she did not commit and was severely physically punished - but of course that always open up opportunities for the hero to save the damsel in distress.
The last few episodes were just sobbing and draggy. I think the writer could have ended the drama five episodes earlier. The complicated plot that Lu WenXi fabricated to get the villains to confess their crime dragged it on for a few more episodes and finally lead to the finale, and also sealed her fate as she could not now reveal her identity. I think China has a lot of acting talents; but drama scripts always lack realism.
All other elements are great - gorgeous costumes, beautiful backdrop and excellent cinematography and one of the ending theme songs was lovely.
For a title, I would call it 'Tears of the Crane' which would be closer to the Chinese title instead of 'Royal Nirvana'. In Buddhism, nirvana is a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism. (I am not a buddhist but checked out the meaning.) This story was far from it. Crane in this drama represented the Crown Prince, and he was always crying.
In spite of my criticism of the story, the drama managed to make me stayed up for several late nights as I was keen to find out what was going to happen next. If you do not have depression and enjoy heart-rending dramas, this is a drama worth watching.
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