John Hart
MASTERPIECE
I have so much to say, so bullets --
1. Although 8 episodes, that means it's really only 6 hours. Think of this is a crazy long quality movie.
2. I would bet everything I own on one hunch: this writer/director loves TCM (classic American cinema) and has decided to make a brand new DAYS OF HEAVEN, with dashes of LOCAL HERO and THE BIG COUNTRY. That means beautifully shot character studies of small communities. If you loved WONDER but have never seen any of these films -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! Stop reading this and rent all three movies. Or just buy them because like WONDER you'll rewatch them again and again and again.
LOCAL HERO fans will recognize the town party where everyone dances and the glance now and again to the sky. BIG COUNTRY fans will notice the long pointless fistfight that's shown from a discreet distance as well as the horse that's tricky to ride. But DAYS OF HEAVEN fans will see all sorts of similarities, from the photography to the Ennio Morricone like music cues -- and the final chase sequence -- which is as sudden and devastating here as it is in DAYS. Oh, and our female lead is sort of a combination of the leads in DAYS.
Please understand none of this is sleazy thievery. It's instead a grand tribute to a kind of cinema that's gone. I feel lucky to have found a film worthy of being compared to DAYS OF HEAVEN and LOCAL HERO. I had almost given up looking, and that search took decades.
UPDATE: Because of a snide comment I got elsewhere on this site, I guess I must share that these references I make could all just be coincidences. But I profoundly doubt it. It's just hard to believe that this brilliant a DP has never seen those three American films which are some of our best examples of photography. And don't get me started on the mountain scenes of A SOUND OF MUSIC...
3. The cast is great. You'll presume some of the leads are actual rural people turned into actors... and be wrong every time. You'll love the characters so much you could watch hundreds of hours with them as easily as this 6 -- which is why this piece has an insanely high rewatch value. Even though I haven't done it I promise the 2nd viewing will be rewarding.
4. Younger viewers will say, "Nothing happens." You can thank decades of crappy films and TIK TOK for eliminating your attention span. Plenty happens in this series, every second. But you're not watching plot. You're enjoying nuance. Subtle running jokes like the Grandma and potatoes, which is a nod to the dry humor of LOCAL HERO. The lead girl's YELPS. All destined to become classic moments.
There's a moment where the male romantic lead stumbles. In typical films this would never be shown, because why would the strong handsome male lead be shown as anything but his usual graceful self? The magic of WONDER is that his awkwardness is showcased. Movies are not about plot: they are human adventures.
So if you're a young person that's game to give this a try, turn off your phone while watching this, ask everyone in the room to be quiet, and ENJOY. Allow yourself to be absorbed into the proceedings.
5. I am as critical as people get, and so just because this piece strikes a chord with cinema from my youth doesn't mean I'm a pushover. There were two story moments that left me rather confused and I suspect during a rewatch it will be clearer. But in case that's not the case, let me share two moments that will help first time viewers.
The first is that this is a fish out of water story. The problem is we become confused at why our female lead isn't already familiar with rural living. We are told she was from a village, moved to the city , and now she's moved into the country. Something about how you're told this doesn't quite work. You feel like she's already lived this way before until you realize, no, I guess she hasn't. Both my wife and I were confused which informs they fumbled this critical setup detail.
The second is at the end. I won't spoil it. It could be a translation issue, but it's such an important line of dialog I suspect it's not that. Let me put it this way. In the final episode let's pretend our female lead wrote into her journal, "And I never saw New York City again." But then, at story's end, we're in NYC again. What the Huh?
What's being done here is weird. She is documenting that she never went to NYC again UP TO THE MOMENT she wrote this down. In English we'd instead say, "I never went back to NYC," which looks backward. To say the other thing implies the future, which our character can't know at the time of writing in her journal. You'll see what I mean when it happens.
These story bumps docked the story to a 9.5. But the average for the piece is still a 10.
6. My favorite C-Dramas (in quality) have been RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE and IMPERFECT VICTIM. TO THE WONDER leaves them in the dust. I predict Zhou Xun is going to beg to work with this director, Teng Cong Cong. Or vice versa. It would be a dream come true if they found each other and produced something WONDERful.
7. For romance fans, there are some interesting ones -- but the lead romance is a thing of genuine WONDER.
1. Although 8 episodes, that means it's really only 6 hours. Think of this is a crazy long quality movie.
2. I would bet everything I own on one hunch: this writer/director loves TCM (classic American cinema) and has decided to make a brand new DAYS OF HEAVEN, with dashes of LOCAL HERO and THE BIG COUNTRY. That means beautifully shot character studies of small communities. If you loved WONDER but have never seen any of these films -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! Stop reading this and rent all three movies. Or just buy them because like WONDER you'll rewatch them again and again and again.
LOCAL HERO fans will recognize the town party where everyone dances and the glance now and again to the sky. BIG COUNTRY fans will notice the long pointless fistfight that's shown from a discreet distance as well as the horse that's tricky to ride. But DAYS OF HEAVEN fans will see all sorts of similarities, from the photography to the Ennio Morricone like music cues -- and the final chase sequence -- which is as sudden and devastating here as it is in DAYS. Oh, and our female lead is sort of a combination of the leads in DAYS.
Please understand none of this is sleazy thievery. It's instead a grand tribute to a kind of cinema that's gone. I feel lucky to have found a film worthy of being compared to DAYS OF HEAVEN and LOCAL HERO. I had almost given up looking, and that search took decades.
UPDATE: Because of a snide comment I got elsewhere on this site, I guess I must share that these references I make could all just be coincidences. But I profoundly doubt it. It's just hard to believe that this brilliant a DP has never seen those three American films which are some of our best examples of photography. And don't get me started on the mountain scenes of A SOUND OF MUSIC...
3. The cast is great. You'll presume some of the leads are actual rural people turned into actors... and be wrong every time. You'll love the characters so much you could watch hundreds of hours with them as easily as this 6 -- which is why this piece has an insanely high rewatch value. Even though I haven't done it I promise the 2nd viewing will be rewarding.
4. Younger viewers will say, "Nothing happens." You can thank decades of crappy films and TIK TOK for eliminating your attention span. Plenty happens in this series, every second. But you're not watching plot. You're enjoying nuance. Subtle running jokes like the Grandma and potatoes, which is a nod to the dry humor of LOCAL HERO. The lead girl's YELPS. All destined to become classic moments.
There's a moment where the male romantic lead stumbles. In typical films this would never be shown, because why would the strong handsome male lead be shown as anything but his usual graceful self? The magic of WONDER is that his awkwardness is showcased. Movies are not about plot: they are human adventures.
So if you're a young person that's game to give this a try, turn off your phone while watching this, ask everyone in the room to be quiet, and ENJOY. Allow yourself to be absorbed into the proceedings.
5. I am as critical as people get, and so just because this piece strikes a chord with cinema from my youth doesn't mean I'm a pushover. There were two story moments that left me rather confused and I suspect during a rewatch it will be clearer. But in case that's not the case, let me share two moments that will help first time viewers.
The first is that this is a fish out of water story. The problem is we become confused at why our female lead isn't already familiar with rural living. We are told she was from a village, moved to the city , and now she's moved into the country. Something about how you're told this doesn't quite work. You feel like she's already lived this way before until you realize, no, I guess she hasn't. Both my wife and I were confused which informs they fumbled this critical setup detail.
The second is at the end. I won't spoil it. It could be a translation issue, but it's such an important line of dialog I suspect it's not that. Let me put it this way. In the final episode let's pretend our female lead wrote into her journal, "And I never saw New York City again." But then, at story's end, we're in NYC again. What the Huh?
What's being done here is weird. She is documenting that she never went to NYC again UP TO THE MOMENT she wrote this down. In English we'd instead say, "I never went back to NYC," which looks backward. To say the other thing implies the future, which our character can't know at the time of writing in her journal. You'll see what I mean when it happens.
These story bumps docked the story to a 9.5. But the average for the piece is still a 10.
6. My favorite C-Dramas (in quality) have been RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE and IMPERFECT VICTIM. TO THE WONDER leaves them in the dust. I predict Zhou Xun is going to beg to work with this director, Teng Cong Cong. Or vice versa. It would be a dream come true if they found each other and produced something WONDERful.
7. For romance fans, there are some interesting ones -- but the lead romance is a thing of genuine WONDER.
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