A Dream of Splendor was not a drama I anticipated. In fact, the only thing I knew about this drama before it aired was that it starred Liu Yifei and was her comeback drama after many years. Now this might excite her fans but I was never one of them. I was actually quite the opposite and her presence in films usually deterred me from watching it. However, when I saw the first teaser back in late May, my opinions changed about this drama. What stood out to me was the visuals, the color palette, the oil painting esque images. The title of this drama matches it very much because it does feel dream like.

Now, onto the actual drama. I have now finished all 40 episodes and while I can't say it's perfect, this is by far one of the best Chinese historical dramas I've watched in recent years. The directing, cinematography, acting, music, etc are all close to perfect. I would say the weakest aspect of this drama is the writing because towards of the end of the drama, there are certain storylines that felt unnecessary and conflict created for the purpose of creating conflict.

Yang Yang is a director I knew from Ever Night and this drama only raises her profile for me. The directing is imo the best aspect of this drama. Her use of long tracking shots are marvelous and builds the whole atmosphere of the drama. I actually believe these are characters and not actors because of her brilliant framing. She is also great at shooting romance scenes. The boat scene in episode 5, the courtyard umbrella scene in episode 6, the tear kiss scene, etc. This drama's greatest success is the romance and the directing plays a big part. Director Yang Yang loves letting the camera linger on the actors face and I am SO glad the actors deliver here. Chen Xiao in particular is so strong at acting from his eyes and the director knows this and lets the camera linger longer on his expressions to capture the desire Qian Fan has for Pan Er. The umbrella scene in episode 6 is a masterpiece in chemistry.

The cinematography is also gorgeous. The whole drama uses very warm colors and feels like a moving oil painting in certain parts. It is a welcome change from the usual dull blue & grey palette that plagues c-dramas. I've seen complaints about the OST but what I think stands out more in this drama is the instrumental score, not the OST. The main Pipa music that Yinzhang plays or the Piano theme that plays in many Pan Er/Qian Fan scenes are so memorable. I've resorted to searching for song covers on bilibili because the instrumental score hasn't been released yet.

Finally, the acting. I already praised Chen Xiao and I always knew he was a good actor from past works I've seen of his. However, it's Liu Yifei that really surprised me here. I already mentioned that I was not a fan of her acting. She never really impressed me in the past but she absolutely carries ADoS. Despite the romance being one of the key selling points of this drama, the actual content is more focused on the three sisters and their trials and tribulations. Liu really brings Pan Er to life. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a female lead in a c-drama this much. Pan Er is resilient, smart, all the adjectives you'd use to describe a modern strong female character, however, she also has her weaknesses. She cries, she confides in Sanniang her worries about her upbringing. She's a fleshed out character and Liu portrays all these emotions brilliantly. Now I will say her one acting weakness is her dialogue but this is only noticeable for people who understand Mandarin. For me, it only bothered me slightly when she had long monologues, but overall, it was negligible.