Golden Chariot
This review may contain spoilers
Superb chemistry let down by poor writing and directing
I started watching this drama out of boredom after I'd finished the Korean remake. To be honest, I wasn't too enthusiastic about watching it because the leads seemed like an odd fit based on promotional photos and thumbnails. To my great surprise, their chemistry stole my heart in a big way. The two leads connect so well they make a cliché-ridden story compelling and heartfelt. But the unnecessarily slapstick, stretched out second half prevents this from being anything better than average. The direction and writing are slipshod and competency in those areas could've made this a much better, less dated drama. Ultimately, if you view this as a live action Cinderella cartoon (where Prince Charming is initially a dickhead, and the Fairy Godmother disguises herself as Cinderella's alternative suitor), this drama is a lot of fun.
Pros:
1. Chemistry! Chen Qiao En and Ethan Ruan were fire together. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion, but they have the best chemistry out of all the leads in all the versions of this drama, and dare I say, out of all their romantic pairings? Ethan is great at making heart eyes at Qiao En. Qiao En, on the other hand, conveys the silent pain of what we initially believe is one-sided love (What a pleasant surprise it is to learn it isn't) really well. How I wish they would reunite in a swoony romance soon, something more mature and profound now that they're in their forties - but alas, they probably won't.
2. Great acting by Lin Mei Hsiu: Lin Mei Hsiu was the standout performer. She plays the overbearing but ultimately loving mother so well. I love the scene where she confronts Cunxi. There's a reason why she's such a well-loved veteran in the TW industry and the Chinese industry at large.
3. Raw emotions: The remakes are technically superior but this version is much more heartfelt. Every single emotion is palpable.
Neutral:
1. Acting in general: While the two leads are great at acting out the being in love part as well as the angst, their performances on the whole could have been much better. While Ethan Ruan excels at being swoony and tender, he tends to overact in funny scenes and is a bit too shouty for my liking. He also looks quite strange in the crying scenes, almost funny, but to be fair, I think that's how Ethan Ruan actually cries, having seen him in his critically well-regarded movies Paradise in Service and Monga. Qiao En gives a more balanced performance but I do think there were a lot of scenes where she could've shown more variations and nuances in her expressions. Also, she does this weird whining thing which I've seen many other Taiwan actresses do (haven't seen Mainland actresses doing it, so it's probably a regional thing). Baron Chen is gorgeous but quite lacking in charisma and has zero chemistry with Qiao En, so I can't ship Dylan with Xinyi in spite of his great qualities (I think I would have had Ethan played Dylan). Bianca Bai looks the part but her character is deeply annoying and her suffering seems to be a ploy for attention. Supporting actors are hammy, as they tend to be in old idol dramas from TW.
Cons:
1. Awful direction: continuity errors, goofs, weird camera angles. I wish they'd hired the director of either ISWAK, Autumn's Concerto or My Queen.
2. Equally bad writing: soooo many logic lapses, characters acting strangely, corny slapstick. The writers added too many unnecessary obstacles in the path of true love in the second half of the drama. There was absolutely no need for Cunxi to agree to get engaged to Anna especially when he knew he was in love with Chen Xinyi. I do understand why he'd agreed to marry her, since he felt guilty about ruining her career as a dancer, and she, being the expert emotional manipulator she was, made sure to remind him ALL the time. But I do think the story could have progressed without them getting engaged. I know I'm digressing here, and this review is getting too long and rambling, but I'm thinking of a very famous drama from my homeland. The male lead (let's call him A) in this drama too is forced to marry a woman he neither knew nor had anything in common with. Of course, they end up falling madly in love (although here, they confess their feelings to each other and share several romantic moments) before the machinations of the villain force them to split. I ADORED how they showed the angst felt by A. The torture mixed with longing painted on his face whenever someone mentioned his lost love was glorious to watch. They could've attempted something similar here. They just showed montages of Cunxi looking sad and missing her but I think they should have had an entire episode where they showed him in the throes of longing, self-loathing and pain. A doesn't remarry. He doesn't start a relationship with anyone either. It's like he's dead from inside, unable to love anymore. I know FTLY is a romcom and not a flat-out melo, but Cunxi could've been honest with Anna.
Similarly, the Anna suicide plot, the kidnapping plot, and the faking blindness plot were all unnecessary. It was as the writers added these obstacles just for the sake of adding them. In my opinion, the main two obstacles i.e. Ji Cunxi's bad behaviour and the baby's death were enough. That's the thing about commercial dramas: once their makers see them succeeding, they stretch them out like taffy and end up harming the product. Xinyi and Cunxi should have sat down and had a nice long chat where Cunxi apologizes for his shitty behavior and reaffirms his love for her and Chen Xinyi tells him what she wants from a relationship with him once the misunderstanding about the abortion document was cleared in episode 19. The remaining episodes should've been them being cute together, settling into married life and becoming new parents.
3. Poor production values: It looks extremely dated for a drama released in 2008. Just to put it in context, It Started With a Kiss came out in 2005 and Coffee Prince came out in 2007, and both look more modern than FTLY. Even in HD the quality of the visuals is quite poor. The styling choices for Xinyi and Dylan are awful. IMO, Xinyi looks far more beautiful in her Sticky Note phase.
In defense of Ji Cunxi:
Based on the comments here and on other websites, a lot of people seem to dislike Cunxi and favor Dylan. I get where they're coming from but I think he's misunderstood. His uncertainty regarding whom he loves in the first half does make sense. Imagine you've been infatuated with someone for three years, for the longest time you thought the two of you would be *endgame* and out of nowhere you make an unfathomable mistake, your past life is upended and you're forced to pretend to be with a stranger. I do understand why he felt resentful and clung forcefully to the past. When he finds himself developing feelings for this strange new girl, who is so far removed from the world he occupies, he tries to dismiss them. Of course, the situation gets more complicated when Anna returns and he's in this state of guilt and confusion and he deals with it in the worst possible way and this of course sets off a chain of events that culminates in Xinyi's miscarriage.
I've also seen people in the comments call Cunxi unsupportive compared to Dylan and Lee Gun. I don't agree at all. He arranges pottery classes for her as part of her alimony. He would have definitely supported her artistic ambitions had she not ceased communicating with him after her miscarriage. Also, he constantly sends her words of admiration and encouragement as Mr Z. I wanted to strangle him in episodes 10, 11 and 12, but if you think about it, Chen Xinyi does extract revenge in the episode where she stuffs him in a barrel and kicks it off a hill.
Also, he seems like an angel compared to the male leads of two of the most popular idol dramas from TW (Kiss series and Autumn's Concerto). At least he seems to learn from his mistakes, while Zhi Shu's standoffishness never seems to fade much and Guangxi's behaviour is occasionally criminal. I think the writer was also inspired from Kim Samsoon while writing his character as well as the arc with the disappearing girlfriend but Cunxi is a much more likable character.
Pros:
1. Chemistry! Chen Qiao En and Ethan Ruan were fire together. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion, but they have the best chemistry out of all the leads in all the versions of this drama, and dare I say, out of all their romantic pairings? Ethan is great at making heart eyes at Qiao En. Qiao En, on the other hand, conveys the silent pain of what we initially believe is one-sided love (What a pleasant surprise it is to learn it isn't) really well. How I wish they would reunite in a swoony romance soon, something more mature and profound now that they're in their forties - but alas, they probably won't.
2. Great acting by Lin Mei Hsiu: Lin Mei Hsiu was the standout performer. She plays the overbearing but ultimately loving mother so well. I love the scene where she confronts Cunxi. There's a reason why she's such a well-loved veteran in the TW industry and the Chinese industry at large.
3. Raw emotions: The remakes are technically superior but this version is much more heartfelt. Every single emotion is palpable.
Neutral:
1. Acting in general: While the two leads are great at acting out the being in love part as well as the angst, their performances on the whole could have been much better. While Ethan Ruan excels at being swoony and tender, he tends to overact in funny scenes and is a bit too shouty for my liking. He also looks quite strange in the crying scenes, almost funny, but to be fair, I think that's how Ethan Ruan actually cries, having seen him in his critically well-regarded movies Paradise in Service and Monga. Qiao En gives a more balanced performance but I do think there were a lot of scenes where she could've shown more variations and nuances in her expressions. Also, she does this weird whining thing which I've seen many other Taiwan actresses do (haven't seen Mainland actresses doing it, so it's probably a regional thing). Baron Chen is gorgeous but quite lacking in charisma and has zero chemistry with Qiao En, so I can't ship Dylan with Xinyi in spite of his great qualities (I think I would have had Ethan played Dylan). Bianca Bai looks the part but her character is deeply annoying and her suffering seems to be a ploy for attention. Supporting actors are hammy, as they tend to be in old idol dramas from TW.
Cons:
1. Awful direction: continuity errors, goofs, weird camera angles. I wish they'd hired the director of either ISWAK, Autumn's Concerto or My Queen.
2. Equally bad writing: soooo many logic lapses, characters acting strangely, corny slapstick. The writers added too many unnecessary obstacles in the path of true love in the second half of the drama. There was absolutely no need for Cunxi to agree to get engaged to Anna especially when he knew he was in love with Chen Xinyi. I do understand why he'd agreed to marry her, since he felt guilty about ruining her career as a dancer, and she, being the expert emotional manipulator she was, made sure to remind him ALL the time. But I do think the story could have progressed without them getting engaged. I know I'm digressing here, and this review is getting too long and rambling, but I'm thinking of a very famous drama from my homeland. The male lead (let's call him A) in this drama too is forced to marry a woman he neither knew nor had anything in common with. Of course, they end up falling madly in love (although here, they confess their feelings to each other and share several romantic moments) before the machinations of the villain force them to split. I ADORED how they showed the angst felt by A. The torture mixed with longing painted on his face whenever someone mentioned his lost love was glorious to watch. They could've attempted something similar here. They just showed montages of Cunxi looking sad and missing her but I think they should have had an entire episode where they showed him in the throes of longing, self-loathing and pain. A doesn't remarry. He doesn't start a relationship with anyone either. It's like he's dead from inside, unable to love anymore. I know FTLY is a romcom and not a flat-out melo, but Cunxi could've been honest with Anna.
Similarly, the Anna suicide plot, the kidnapping plot, and the faking blindness plot were all unnecessary. It was as the writers added these obstacles just for the sake of adding them. In my opinion, the main two obstacles i.e. Ji Cunxi's bad behaviour and the baby's death were enough. That's the thing about commercial dramas: once their makers see them succeeding, they stretch them out like taffy and end up harming the product. Xinyi and Cunxi should have sat down and had a nice long chat where Cunxi apologizes for his shitty behavior and reaffirms his love for her and Chen Xinyi tells him what she wants from a relationship with him once the misunderstanding about the abortion document was cleared in episode 19. The remaining episodes should've been them being cute together, settling into married life and becoming new parents.
3. Poor production values: It looks extremely dated for a drama released in 2008. Just to put it in context, It Started With a Kiss came out in 2005 and Coffee Prince came out in 2007, and both look more modern than FTLY. Even in HD the quality of the visuals is quite poor. The styling choices for Xinyi and Dylan are awful. IMO, Xinyi looks far more beautiful in her Sticky Note phase.
In defense of Ji Cunxi:
Based on the comments here and on other websites, a lot of people seem to dislike Cunxi and favor Dylan. I get where they're coming from but I think he's misunderstood. His uncertainty regarding whom he loves in the first half does make sense. Imagine you've been infatuated with someone for three years, for the longest time you thought the two of you would be *endgame* and out of nowhere you make an unfathomable mistake, your past life is upended and you're forced to pretend to be with a stranger. I do understand why he felt resentful and clung forcefully to the past. When he finds himself developing feelings for this strange new girl, who is so far removed from the world he occupies, he tries to dismiss them. Of course, the situation gets more complicated when Anna returns and he's in this state of guilt and confusion and he deals with it in the worst possible way and this of course sets off a chain of events that culminates in Xinyi's miscarriage.
I've also seen people in the comments call Cunxi unsupportive compared to Dylan and Lee Gun. I don't agree at all. He arranges pottery classes for her as part of her alimony. He would have definitely supported her artistic ambitions had she not ceased communicating with him after her miscarriage. Also, he constantly sends her words of admiration and encouragement as Mr Z. I wanted to strangle him in episodes 10, 11 and 12, but if you think about it, Chen Xinyi does extract revenge in the episode where she stuffs him in a barrel and kicks it off a hill.
Also, he seems like an angel compared to the male leads of two of the most popular idol dramas from TW (Kiss series and Autumn's Concerto). At least he seems to learn from his mistakes, while Zhi Shu's standoffishness never seems to fade much and Guangxi's behaviour is occasionally criminal. I think the writer was also inspired from Kim Samsoon while writing his character as well as the arc with the disappearing girlfriend but Cunxi is a much more likable character.
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