Teacher Wen/Ya
The transformation of 85 flowers is already an old topic, and it seems that anyone who does not mention transformation is unambitious.
But after a few years of exploration, some 85 flowers have completed the process of marriage, childbirth, and divorce, but the steps of transformation have never been taken.
In this situation, Zhao Liying stood out. At the end of last year, a suspense-type film "Who is the Murderer" became gorgeous and "ruthless". In the middle of this year, a rural heroine drama "Happiness to Thousands of Families" opened up the scene. At the end of the year, another high-reputation "Wind Blows Half Summer" added another boost to her.
Looking back at the growth process of 85 Flowers is like a marathon. Marathon, on the one hand, describes its long time span and long journey, on the other hand, describes its situation changes, and those who start lagging behind may also become the final leader, just like Zhao Liying now.
The only suspense now is, can "The Wind Blows Half Summer" help Zhao Liying run the last mile of transformation?
The word-of-mouth and popularity of "The Wind Blows Half Summer" are flying together.
Zhao Liying got off safely
From the perspective of the series itself, "Wind Blows Half Summer" has already gained the approval of the audience. Now looking at the watercress score of a drama, in addition to the score itself, it is also very telling when to open the score. Some dramas have not seen the light of day until the end of the update. A week after the broadcast of "Wind Blows Half Summer", watercress scored 8.4, surpassing "The World" with 8.1 points, becoming the highest domestic watercress score so far this year.
Behind the popularity of the platform, there is a real trend of chasing dramas. Whether it is the famous representatives of strong women such as Xiang Tai and her girlfriend Xie Na calling for the drama, or occupying social media highs such as Weibo and Douyin from time to time, "The Wind Blows Half Summer" is undoubtedly the hottest drama in this cold winter.
"Wind Blows Banxia" is a standard business war group portrait drama, as well as a woman’s personal struggle history. The drama is set in the surging 1990s in China, starting from the steel industry and telling the story of a group of entrepreneurs led by Xu Banxia, played by Zhao Liying, seizing the opportunity of reform and opening up.
"The Wind Blows Half Summer" stills
The play is based on the well-known author Anai’s novel "not to be reborn" adaptation, from the original famous can be seen, the story’s base color is realistic, cruel.
In the process of film and television adaptation, the title of the drama at the time of filing was "Savage Growth", which became the "Wind Blows Half Summer" of some literature and art today before it was broadcast. The dark part of the work was also weakened to a certain extent.The creators are finding a balance between realism and heroine drama.
Zhao Liying has played many heroines since her career, but mostly in ancient puppet or fairy drama, Xu Banxia may be one of the most complex characters she has ever encountered.
Xu Banxia’s mother died giving birth to her, so her father named her "Banxia" because the birth of Banxia is toxic. Her birth is destined to be like many heroines in Ah Nai’s novels, and she cannot get enough love from her original family.
Xu Banxia did business as a woman in the steel industry, which was dominated by men. She had more means and courage than men, and she had to be exquisite and knowledgeable. Eventually, she became a leader in the steel industry from a small boss who sold waste products.
In "The Wind Blows Half Summer",Xu Banxia had experienced several ups and downs in life, and the test for actors was not small. It required not only delicate handling of emotional changes, but also sufficient explosive power and a strong aura.
In addition, in the original novel, Xu Banxia’s image is also very different from Zhao Liying’s.
"The Wind Blows Half Summer" stills
In the original novel, Xu Banxia weighed 100 kilograms at the peak, and Anai described her as "tall and fat". This image made her a genderless person, but it helped her to do business in the male circle.
Even though Zhao Liying has deliberately gained 5 kilograms for the drama, her figure in the picture is still exquisite and slender, so that her childhood in the drama calls her "fat man", and she must add an explanation "because she has been fat since she was a child". This 50-kilogram appearance difference makes many things that Xu Banxia in the original novel can do. When Zhao Liying in the drama does it, the screenwriter, director and actors need to work together to make it still seem credible.
In addition, "The Wind Blows Half Summer" is a period drama. The 1990s is not far from now. For audiences over the age of 40 or 50, it is the era they have experienced and struggled with.
How can we not only show that in that special era, the first batch of entrepreneurs were different from contemporary people, reflecting the characteristics of the times, but also convincing and not overly exaggerated? Zhao Liying and the creators behind her need to carefully grasp the scale.
After the double insurance shock video,
Can you do it?
For actresses who are ambitious and want to make a transition, Anai’s script is obviously not to be missed.
Previously, she had helped many female protagonists break through the bottleneck of their careers, such as Liu Tao and Jiang Xin in "Ode to Joy", Yao Chen who played Su Mingyu in "It’s All Good", and Tong Yao in "Big River". Although there were not many scenes, it was impressive. She also won the Magnolia Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actress.
"The Wind Blows in Half Summer" is both a commercial group portrait and a leading female drama, and Anai herself is from the steel industry, so she should have more experience in shaping this role. The unique historical background also makes this work more unique than "Ode to Joy" or "All Good".
"It’s All Good" stills
At present, although Zhao Liying’s handling of the character is not easy, it has basically held up.
I can feel that Zhao Liying is trying her best to play.
If a traffic artist wants to transform, they must first make changes in their appearance.
In "The Wind Blows Half Summer", Zhao Liying did not make too many sacrifices at first glance. For example, she did not deliberately pretend to be ugly. Although there were moments when she was close to being plain, many times it could even be called glamorous. When the poster of the former character was released, netizens commented that Zhao Liying found the most suitable look for herself.
However, when she really entered the play, it was obvious that Zhao Liying’s face was round, and her chin could be seen from some angles. Especially in the play, her black wavy curly hair, berry-textured red lips, and the color of her clothing were also dominated by bright colors with high saturation, especially when she appeared in a commercial setting that required a sense of presence. Although it was eye-catching, it was by no means symmetrical and delicate.
From the current perspective, Xu Banxia’s base makeup is actually relatively rough, and the foundation color is a little too white. You can see the feeling of floating on the skin, and you can see at a glance that it is wearing makeup.But this is also a sign of the era at that time.In addition, although some scenes in the play have filters, they will not give the actors skin, and there are also many scenes that are almost naked.
"The Wind Blows Half Summer" stills
Because the airtime of "The Wind Blows Half Summer" and "The Eighth Law of Love" collided, the fight between the two 85 flowers could not help but be compared.
Only from the shape and makeup effect can we see the difference between "The Wind Blows Half Summer" and "The Eighth Law of Love".
In "The Wind Blows Banxia", the clothing path is to serve the heroine Xu Banxia, and also to serve the sense of age that the whole play wants to create, while the shape of another play is more like serving the female star herself.
Another interesting point is that Zhao Liying has a long-term negative evaluation that has accompanied her, but helped her in "Wind Blows Half Summer", that is "soil".
Since her debut, "dirt" and "not fashionable enough" have seemed to have surrounded Zhao Liying. She was born in rural Hebei, graduated from secondary school, and has no advantage among the beautiful girls who have studied in science. Later, when she finally became the spokesperson of the luxury brand DIOR, a sentence in the advertisement that was not pronounced properly made her the object of ridicule.
But this "dirt" is precisely what is needed to shape Xu Banxia. Imagine if the role were replaced by some actress with a cold temperament, it would become nondescript.Even if there are still audiences who are dissatisfied that Xu Banxia’s entrepreneurial journey in the drama is a bit too "big heroine Shuangwen" and too open-minded, Zhao Liying’s "soil" maintains the base color of this character.
Zhao Liying’s previous "Happiness to Wanjia" is the same.
"Happiness to Wanjia" stills
In addition to "soil", Zhao Liying also has some dull feelings.
Obviously, she is not a talented actress like Zhou Xun and Zhou Dongyu. Even in the past idol dramas, what she was best at were some cute and single-minded roles.
As a female artist with her own red and black physique, she was often criticized for her "low emotional intelligence" and often spoke inappropriately when dealing with people, so she also received the nickname "Zhao Xiaodao".
This character trait is also reflected in "The Wind Blows Banxia". Zhao Liying’s interpretation of Xu Banxia in a group of old foxes is not as comfortable as when she shows Xu Banxia as a lone brave man in the mall.
Although Zhao Liying’s performance in "The Wind Blows Half Summer" is not yet easy, it is a very good conclusion to play a female lead in a domestic drama that ranks among the top in the annual rating.
Zhao Liying also has a new masterpiece.
Next, let’s see if we can achieve anything in the awards.
The major pain point of 85 flowers is that there are no awards. Whether it is forward or backward, whether it is entering the big screen or retreating to the small screen, it is necessary to have topics and topics, and awards have topics.
Zhao Liying is the person closest to the mainstream awards among the 85 flowers.
"Do you know if you should be green, fat, red and thin" stills
Previously, she had already won the nomination for Best Actress of Magnolia with "Hua Qiangu" and "Do you know if you should be green, fat, red and thin". This year, there are "Happiness to Wanjia" and "Wind Blows Half Summer". Both dramas are realistic themes, and well-produced, word-of-mouth and popularity coexist. Obviously, it is more in line with the taste of the award, which almost guarantees her the best actress.
If Zhao Liying can win mainstream awards such as Magnolia next year and the Golden Eagle Award the year after, then she may be the first to stand out and become a widely recognized actress after a long-standing battle of 85 flowers.
When can I put down the ancient puppet?
Looking back on Zhao Liying’s transformation path, starting from "Know or Not", there are basically no mistakes.
According to the work itself, "Know It or Not" has passed the production test, and since it was broadcast in 2018 to today, the long-tail effect has become more and more prominent. For Zhao Liying personally, "Know It or Not" just filled the gap when she was unable to work during pregnancy, so that she was not far from the audience’s sight, especially at that time, her relationship with Feng Shaofeng in the play continued outside the play, which also diluted the fans’ dissatisfaction with this relationship and enhanced the popularity of passers-by.
After her postpartum comeback, although her partner Wang Yibo’s "You Fei" was abusive, she followed suit by participating in the suspense drama "Who is the Murderer" at iQIYI Mist Theater, expanding the boundaries of the drama and the theme of the work.
"Who is the Murderer" stills
Then she took on "Happiness to Wanjia", which was another collaboration between Zheng Xiaolong and Zhao Dongling.Being able to take over this drama means that Zhao Liying has been considered together with Tsing Yi, who is the most popular in the TV drama industry, such as Haiqing and Sun Li.
Zheng Xiaolong once said in an interview that the reason for choosing Zhao Liying was on the one hand based on the cooperation in "Golden Marriage". He knew that Zhao Liying had a sense of stubbornness. On the other hand, Zhao Liying was born in a rural area and was no stranger to the life of the heroine.
Since entering the industry in 2006, Zhao Liying has played the passerby A for seven or eight years. Compared with Yang Mi, who has been playing the princess since childhood, Zhao Liying has played the maid, sister and passer-by with little status for many years, and has become today’s eldest heroine.
Her grass-roots background may have made her "unqualified" when she won some so-called high-end business resources, but when she was an actress, it became her confidence and qualification to interpret the role.
Even if Zhao Liying has taken such a clear step of transformation, she still cannot completely get rid of the past evaluation system.
When "The Wind Blows Half Summer" first aired, Zhao Liying suffered a "trial" in the play, saying that she had hair, a tired face, and a puffy and greasy face. Audiences who can be so picky may not be satisfied with the emotional line in "The Wind Blows Half Summer". The one who has a relationship with Zhao Liying in the play is Zhao Lei played by Li Guangjie. For viewers who think that "beauty is justice", I am afraid they can’t go on.
"The Wind Blows Half Summer" stills
As long as you make a choice, there are gains and losses.
Zhao Liying’s only "invalid broadcast drama" on the road of transformation is "Youfei". During the broadcast of this drama’s S + level production, the response was mediocre, and the production was just passable. The war of words between male and female fans also consumed a part of the popularity.But then, Zhao Liying actually killed another carbine, and next year 85 flowers will return to the ancient puppet collectively, and she has not become an exception.Not only to take the old road, but also to go with his old friend Lin Gengxin.
A few days ago, "with the phoenix line" has been completed, although the Xianxia drama, Zhao Liying’s status has been different. In addition to serving as the heroine, she also served as a producer, and gained more has the voice over. In addition, the drama has also played a light comedy style slogan like today’s hit "Star Han Splendid" and "Qingqing Daily", but even so, it is difficult to believe that the drama will break the mold of Xianxia drama.
"Walking with the Phoenix" stills
From this choice, it can be seen that at least for now, Zhao Liying does not have enough confidence to completely lay down her old position.
Many actors have said this in interviews: "Actors are jobs for life." Theoretically, an actor’s job can last until the last day of his life. But the reality is that actors are also always being selected, and the choice of directors, producers and audiences determines the day they are "retired".For most people in this industry, the day is often silent when it really comes, and the parties are too late to realize it.
Compared with many 85 flowers, returning to the ancient puppet is to some extent forced, or it may be to quench the thirst of the dove. But Zhao Liying has already won the space for herself to choose. As an actor, Zhao Liying might as well change to a stronger opponent.
