I went to watch Shrek The Musical last night (21.06.2012) at the KLCC Convention Centre (oh! the jam! oh! the crazy jam!), RM590-00 seat which is free thanks to the grace of another who must thank another for 2 free tickets. Frankly the price is too expensive but it was almost full house, mostly and probably because of free tickets to some big time company or rather company bought tickets to distribute to clients. Anyway the seat was right smack in the middle, in front of me was a kid so basically my view was unobstructed. That sort of view that I would have wished I got for my Fukuyama Masaharu concert. Anyway I hated Shrek movies but I love the musical.
The story is the same, sort of but some jokes were toned down and somehow less offensive in the musical. Some were very funny. The singing was mostly Broadway except for the voice behind the female dragon who turned out to be a black woman with a power house voice. All the actors can dance. The amazingness of the show is part of the fact that the cast has such chemistry and also each were enthusiastic in their respective role, despite not so encouraging feedback from the viewers, at first. I especially liked the main actress as the adult Princess Fiona who was funny, cute and very very enthusiastic, unlike the cartoon counterpart. The Donkey was still annoying but that is the character, not the very eager actor. It was the ogre, Shrek who seems subdued but he could act as well as sing. The guy as Pinnochio was funny even if annoying. However for a human actor, it has to be the actor as Lord Farquaad who stole the show. First of, we all know the villain is a midget. They didn't find a midget as the actor but rather the actor walked on his knees hidden behind a black clothe with 2 tiny puppet legs attached in front and frankly he had the most costume changes with the most dazzling costumes. His performance was campy and OTT and I believe if he wasn't so funny, many may be offended since there are gay/effiminate/midget jokes. But the actor was brilliant! I laughed so hard at his antics and he knew he was getting the most applause and laughs and at one point encouraged us to clap and all. He was the most popular, no doubt about it. BUT the highlight was the performance by non-human, a puppet to be exact and that is the dragon which is huge! A few guys in black moves it's legs, eyes, mouth, body and I didn't even know the dragon was there until it began to sing and it even flew!! The skills for maneuvering the dragon puppet was simply mind blowing and that was the best of the best. I wished the dragon made an appearance at the end, because no doubt it would have the biggest cheer. Moreover that dragon lady can really really sing.
Another highlight has to be some clever twists in the story, like how it punked Lion King and even Babe. That was funny. Or how they showed rats dancing, and that is actors hidden behind the screen wearing shows looking like rats. The imagination was mind blowing to tell you the truth. And then the costumes, whilst most rarely changed costumes, the make up and costumes were beautiful. The professionalism of the actors and how they seamlessly changed actors (from human Fiona to ogre Fiona, from no dragon to a dragon) were also expertly done. But it was the set that made me realise this is a quality production. It was colourful, imaginative and very artistic. I love the scene where Fiona hid in a house and was talking to Donkey when Shrek came by and was hurt by what she said eventhough she meant herself. The house was actually a see through screen, the background was a big moon with night sky, the lightning was dark and yet you can see clearly with the spotlight casting a shadow of Donkey and Fiona as an ogre for all to see. It was very very beautiful.
It was certainly a quality production and I can see why it got rave reviews, technical wise or even the acting.
The story itself is Shrek the animation, but more.. family friendly. The beginning was slow, but it picked up when Lord Farquaad appeared and the story just zooms ahead, not a moment wasted but the ending was slow a little even if the effect of how Fiona became ogre in front of everyone was imaginative. Definitely did not see the switch between actors or something like that. The music is also a highlight. Great catchy songs, and live band who played so well. I really liked a few songs in it and whilst the actors were not fantastic singers, their eagerness made up for the lack of professional singing.
I know RM590 is expensive, it is the most expensive seat and all that. Frankly I won't pay to watch, maybe a cheaper ticket. Even if sitting further way, the place is not huge so you can still see, although less enjoyable because missing the details. If you have a chance, go and have a look. I have seen about I suppose 2 or 3 musicals only but I know a quality production when I see one. And Shrek, the musical is one heck of a production. To me everything was just perfection and I had such good fun that night. And since I am no fan of the Shrek movies, and yet I enjoyed this musical immensely, it goes to show how amazing the production was. Children will enjoy it for the colours, adults for the humour and generally everyone can appreciate good acting and enthusiastic professional performance. For once, and yes even if the ticket was free, I didn't feel shortchanged.
I read with shock that with the change of cast, it is considered the end of Season 1 for 1 Night 2 Days, an extremely funny addictive reality show starring some big names, one of whom is Lee Seunggi. I consider it a reality show but in reality it is like a game/adventure/survivor show shot over a period of 2 days 1 night. 5 years on and it is considered season 1. I am truly sad to say good bye to Seunggi, whom I fell in love with, his charm, his intelligence, his ability to cook the perfect rice with a timer and an internet connection for recipes!! He is very very smart, and to his fellow brothers, very handsome too. Did I mention smart? When I see him I can imagine him being always the 1st in class. I can't fault him for anything, he can be pretty devious but all in good fun. Then there's Ji Won, the truly devious one, the one who can think of ways to settle the most intricate clues. He may not be the most well tempered, but he is the one with the greatest love for food and when you give him a mission, he can interprete it in such ways to bend you to his will. These 2 are leaving; Seunggi because admittedly he became too big for this show, even the director feels they're holding him back and the other that is Ji Won to concentrate on his music and starting a family. The fan favourite PD, that is Na PD, whose tricks and rules would often get backfired by the more devious cast members and that made Na PD even more endearing is also leaving, to produce/direct other shows. Season 2 has kicked in, reportedly with great success since 3 members are still in the show. The original big brother, Kang Hodong remains ridiculously in retirement for some stupid reasons. Fans should petition him to return. When he left, there was a big void, and suddenly the quietest member that is Uhm Taewoong talked more, everyone had to interact more instead of relying on the usually reliable Kang Hodong. I actually enjoyed the episodes after Hodong left as well, my love for each member grew. For me, Segeun is the most active one; he did so much, he had to run more, climb more, etc and to me I admire his tenacity and strength. Jongmin is the silly innocent one and in the 2nd last episode when he had to say a goodbye speech to the current cast (not that he is leaving but just an end of an era), he choked back tears and confessed the last 2 years were hard and that he wished he could have done better. Fans cried out "Jongmin, you did well!!" and I agree. I always enjoy watching his silly funny antics and he gave me an impression he is 100% good guy. Then there's Taewoong, the one who is the quietest, can't do games, can't do sport but someone you know who loves nature. He can walk and walk and he is rather good at the labour sort of job.
I love them all. And to see my 2 favourite leaving, it is hard but life goes on. Seunggi will go to greater lengths for his career, in music which he is breaking into the tough Japanese market and more TV or perhaps in future movies. Truthfully 1N2D gave him his stardom but in the end was actually holding him back. Jiwon I suppose wanted a more set schedule and less hectic one.
Of all the episodes which I started only quite recent, my favourite funniest one was when Seunggi dressed up as a woman and had to take a cold icy bath. It was nearing porn and was so very funny. The most educational involved the history professor, which I find absolutely fascinating, since the professor was very very keen in explaining the history and his students, that is the 5 guys were keen on learning and actually gave thoughtful answers. Again here you see how intuitive Jiwon was, how practical Taewoong was and how intelligent Seunggi was. He can even name all the emperors it seems!
Season 2 comes with I believe 4 new members, one of whom I already knew that is Sung Shikyung if my spelling is correct. He participated in the 1 to 100 year old fan tour and he had to handle the 2nd toughest group, the older group and he amazed me with his sensitivity and his gracefulness in handling the oldest generation. I believe women who was lining up to marry him before his appearance will after that willing to sacrifice whatever to marry him. He does make an ideal husband, like how Seunggi will make an ideal boyfriend! But the one I am most keen to watch is Kim Seung Woo, forever to me he is Manager Han Tae Jun from Hotelier, recently looking way too handsome that it is so wrong in the rather bland Iris. He was in fact the reason to watch Iris and no other. I wonder how he will fare. I mean this show is rather clear that it is tough, you end up starving most of the time and very tired. But it is good fun in the end, even if there are so many reasons to lose their temper, none of them did. I suppose 5 or 6 guys together are all brothers, and young at heart!
I shall miss Seunggi and Jiwon. And I look forward to the new members. But I am sure the members staying behind will miss the rapport they had built over 5 years. I remember one episode Sugeun made a bargain with Na PD for some prizes and he said have someone pour something hot on Jongmin and not only Jongmin will not be angry, he will say "It's ok" twice. They did that and indeed Jongmin did exactly that! But there was a long pause between "It's ok". In fact Jongmin didn't look angry at all. He was even more apologetic than the person pouring the hot cup of something on him! So Sugeun said test no. 2; have a crew member eat chocolate in front of them and Jiwon will beg for a piece of it since Jiwon loves to eat. And indeed, Jiwon saw the chocolate and made motions like share with me! and in the end Sugeun won! This simple exercise shows how much Sugeun knows these 2. They even know each other's reaction and all these weren't built on one day; it was 5 years worth of comraderie and friendship, which had to be restarted with the next new members.
Which brings me to this question; why would anyone want to join this really physically tough show? Like Shikyung who knew what he was getting into? I suppose first and foremost, fame. It is the most watched show on TV, consistently high ratings and everyone who saw them on street knew they were filming 1N2D and will offer help in some ways. Then there's the brotherhood that is undeniable. But mostly it is punishing but it is fun. If the girls can do it, like Choi Jiwoo who actually joined for 1 time and did reasonably well and changed her perceptions from cold aloof to rather cute and funny, why not?
I personally can't do it. But I can certainly sit down every Friday and have a great laugh. Everytime I had a bad day, I need only watch this show and everything is just too funny. I confess I have not watched any drama of Seunggi or Taewoong or heard Jongmin or Jiwon's songs or even Seunggi's or watch Sugeun and Hodong's talk shows. I knew them all from this show. I will miss them all in one screen, Na PD included.
If you've never watched this show, I think you can start with Season 2 but I think the recent episodes of Season 1 are great as well. This show is great because it shows the huge stars as normal people. I mean this is a very exposed sort of show. You leave nothing behind. It is reality show except more real. The reaction is honest, the results sometimes unexpected. It is such an exposing show, emotionally, physically and also mentally exhaustive that I am surprised anyone would want to be in it. You won't find such a show in HK because no one would be that open and honest. Korea did it with style. It is also because it has a simple format, clean cut games and all in all clean cut good fun! Any age can watch, any age can enjoy.
I am having so much fun watching the old episodes of this group, the introduction of Seunggi, Taewoong, etc. Seunggi was quite obvious why he joined; he wanted to promote his music. He took every opportunity to promote himself and music but I suppose after a few years it is because he enjoys hanging out with his hyungs. Taewoong has even less reason to join and his first appearance, he was ambushed and was caught in only his boxers!! Rather sexy intro. I have never seen Taewoong's intro. When I first started watching, he was already in it, quiet but dependable and I really liked him. After watching his intro and what he went through on first day of filming, it confirms all the reasons why I like him so. Not an ounce of temper or arrogance, I think he joined because he wanted to experience some serious bromance since he lacks that in his own family. He certainly adapted very well. The earlier episodes were so funny! And I do get why many considered Jongmin changed after he came back from the army. He was always the dumb one but he was witty dumb. For a while he looked lost but since the last episode, he seems to have regained some of his quick wit. I really miss Seunggi and Jiwon though. Amazing past episodes and the things they went through. I seriously don't think any famous actors would want to subject themselves to that unless they were looking for something. I really miss this group. I also miss Hodong and what a shame he didn't join the last episode. Is he really that into his retirement?
27.06.2012
Looking for Season 1? You can't buy it, even if you can, no subtitles. But there is an almost full torrent with really good English subtitles which you can find here at asiator.net which doesn't require you to have certain level of whatever to download. Just remember everytime you resume download, click Reseed Request (make sure you register first before you do that) and abot 10-15 100% seeders will come to your rescue. Took me a long time to download but I finished; all avi files (some were mp4) and HD for most. This torrent is missing ep 1-26 (prior to Lee Seunggi time so this torrent starts at Seunggi's 1st episode), ep 34 and ep 49, all of which were never subbed in English. You can still find these missing episodes subbed in Chinese or Vietnamese broken down into several parts but English sub, none whatsoever. Stranger than x-files why ep 34 and 49 are not subbed at all. You can find almost all in youtube with 1 or 2 parts missing but won't kill you to miss those. However if you want an almost complete collection, this is the torrent to get. Now I wish someone just upload ep 34 and 49 with English sub because I know you have it! Oh come on! Complete the collection please!!
As for Season 2, you can find it in youtube and everywhere else. I am increasingly missing season 2. Somehow I don't like the format anymore. It is too much games, too little sightseeing and whilst I like the new members, I feel since they're all almost equal in age, somehow the fun is lost. When Hodong was there, he was clearly the big brother and part of the enjoyment is seeing how he walks all over them and they being scared of him. At the same time you see a great respect to him as his affection to them and also poor Seunggi being bullied and then pampered. In fact Seunggi has such old taste that he blends well with them. That sort of comraderie is missing in Season 2. I feel perhaps this show should have ended in Season 1.
Oh I even miss Jiwon. Really miss them all. Glad to read also Seunggi's popularity is going even more sky high as he was chosen to run the Olympic torch (representing Samsung his sponsor or rather he is their spokesperson but still.. a huge deal!).
(L to R) MC Mong, Sanggeun, Sugeun, Jiwon, Hodong, Seunggi and Kim C
The best 1N2D combination. The cartoon really captures their "characters" in the show.
For me this series is enjoyable because it chooses to be quirky.
SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS
NOTICE This is one part of a long opinion that I have written on this series as it was broadcast. Read all the contents after Read More link (you will see the full post if you clicked the direct link in Reviews Database). Reposted from Point2e.com main blog. Comments reposted from the same blog as well.
A BRIEF REVIEW It is actually 21 episodes instead of 20 episodes and I like the ending. It is hopeful in its own way. I was so busy thinking who will end up with who but this series is beyond that. It isn't about who ends up with who but rather what actually happens to them. Goaltech company is saved as all 500 employees agree to delay their salary by 20 days so that Alex can fix the corrupted ES system. This is because they like Mr Ko who has my vote as the most understanding boss and husband ever. I really like his happy ending with his Thai wife. Interpal doesn't end up with Man's sister. I actually thought he would but he ends up as her business partner, finally finding a career he can show to his mom proudly. Man doesn't end up with the doctor but they became friends but he did get to be his Sales Manager, so good for him! Alex and Ling remain happily married. Violet, Kan, Aaron and Ko's business partner were arrested and charged and I assume Aaron got 1 year imprisonment because 1 year later he is delivering pizza, having learned his lesson. My biggest disappointment is Kin doesn't end up with Ho Jing Jik because I really want them to end up together. Instead she decided to take it slow and the ending seems to suggest things are not over between her and Aaron. What?! No! No! Let them be over. I really like Ho Jing Jik.
Seriously the last episode was really funny, that scene where everybody ends up at Violet's apartment. That is some witty writing there. And whilst I still think this will work better as a half hour sitcom, but as a series I enjoy the chemistry the cast has with one another.
I never liked Kristal Tin but in here I really appreciate her performance as the simple minded Ling. I think her subtle performance was so elegant, her face very expressive and she has this amazing chemistry with Ruco Chan, their hugs, kisses, all very very believable.
I am even quite impressed with Natalie Tong whose start of career reminds me of Raymond Lam of the past, that OTT dramatic reaction to absolutely everything. She doesn't need to be funny in here so thankfully, nothing forced. She did most scene well, toning down her OTT reaction although frankly her role in light of others are lesser so focus is lesser and so I was able to enjoy her performance.
Louis Yuen proves himself funny in one particular scene where he had to agree, deny and avoid all in succession as he was confronted by Kristal's Ling. That scene reminded me so much of Power Chan and his comic timing in.. what was that series with Charmaine and Dayo again? That classic scene. I am also glad this series doesn't force some romance on him.
Stephen Au was fantastic as the kind caring boss and there is a sincerity in his performance as Mr Ko. When Alex was being difficult, and Alex has his reasons, I felt Alex was being such a petulant child as against a much pressured Mr Ko. Stephen Au really showed his gentleness in this performance which to me is one of his best.
Never liked Matt Yeung but I ended up liking him. It just shows the right role will do wonders to change the perception of viewers.
Florence Kwok's Violet may be a silly character but I can't fault Florence's great performance as the ultimate office bitch.
I finally found out Interpal is Gill Mohindepaul Singh and this man deserves all the praises. Not that I want to see him shirtless (oh so hairy!!) and his character is silly; most of the time the trio find themselves in impossible stupid situation because of Interpal but Gill Mohindepaul Singh played his character with sincerity and the idea that an Indian can speak such good cantonese never gets old. This is one of the best aspect of this series and quite an eye opener, so many Indian actors who can speak perfect cantonese. In fact I suspect they're better at Cantonese than Hindi because their Hindi sounds like gibberish. Maybe they speak Tamil? Urdu?
Even Leanne Li with her limited role manage to impress upon me with her winning smile and cheerful disposition.
Ruco Chan impresses me as well. He can be funny but he can also play angry. However I feel at some scenes he was holding himself back when he didn't quite shout, and yet not quite whispering. However in retrospect it is because Alex is an educated man, who doesn't stoop so low as to shout as his wife even if he says hurtful things. So again I appreciate his subtlety. He doesn't look cunning evil thanks to his curly hair and glasses and I must mention again I love his chemistry with his co-stars, such as Louis Yuen and of course Kristal Tin.
Cheng Chi Seng (does he have English name?) also impresses as the devious minority shareholder of Goaltech. This guy can act. With the same look, he can play a devious guy or a really nice guy. That is what I called versatility.
The one I am disappointed with is Jason Chan. But he is given an impossible role; a character that just disgusts you till no end with the words he used against Kin. In that respect he played his role well but you can see he is very very very raw. I am doubtful if he can lead a series. He should stay the secondary actor for some time to observe and learn rather than being pushed into the limelight. If I feel Natalie Tong is too dramatic in her delivery of her lines, Jason reminds me of Selena Li who is fluffy. I don't like how his words are never strong enough. What I mean is look at Ruco; every word he delivers has conviction. He believes in his dialogue, his lines and you can hear his pronunciation, crisp and clear. Jason seems unsure. Given time he will be a better actor but right now I just find him wholly inadequate.
A sidenote. Leanne's doctor boyfriend is William Chak? Didn't know! No comment on his performance since he had so few scenes but since I didn't find anything glaringly obvious, I will say a job well done then.
Overall this is an amazingly witty series. Yes some situations are impossible, some even downright stupid. But concentrate on the characters and performances, ignore the situations. This is a character driven series and for me the writing is tight and the performances for the most part are above the usual standard fare. And I like the ending. It is not typical in its own weird way. For me this series is enjoyable because it chooses to be quirky. It is a funny interesting quirky series and if you can ignore some major plot holes, I believe this is the series for you. Fans of Ruco, Kristal and Natalie will want to watch this to see their favourite stars shine.
VERDICT Highly recommended.
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 14.06.2012
UPDATES - 06.07.2012
Finally that wrapped in towel running on street scene! And the BTS was way sexier than the real thing! Not just 2 actors had to run on the street wrapped in towel, so did 4 or 5 others! It was not very funny because BTS was funnier. I think this series should be ending soon and whilst the story is getting to be very ridiculous (how can Interpal sell Alex's creation? That was just stupid!) but the dialogue is rather realistic even if I do think Alex is a bit too "siu hei". He can't expect the entire company to bend to HIS will!! Anyway are you watching this? No? WHY NOT? Watch it! It is rather funny!!
30.06.2012
Where did they find all these Indian actors who can speak such fluent Cantonese? Even more fluent than me and than some of the actors in this series, from Hong Kong? And most of them can act, such as Interpal's cousin! Amazing! I still believe this series would work best as a half hour sitcom since it is slowing down. Frankly the official synopsis got it all wrong! A very enjoyable witty series with some very fine dialogue. If you're not watching this... well... you should be!
14.06.2012
I am currently watching the new TVB series, No Good Either Way over at ASTRO AOD. Still in early stages as in episode 4 but I am smitten and am hoping it stays this good. For all the talks of changing their style and giving pretentious over dramatic storylines and direction and long useless monologues, to me this series is fresh and different in TVB sense. Look at it faraway and it is typical TVB but look closer, and this series actually has a storyline, characters have characterisation and personality, the dialogue is crisp and most importantly, it is witty. I thought I can predict the next step but this series in each episode surprises me with its clever witty twist and useful flashback. It doesn't drag. So I question some casting decision but so far everyone is ok, but to me my favourite as yet is the actor who plays Interpal Singh who has some of the best lines.
Ruco Chan is surprisingly good in lighthearted moments even if he still reminds me of an accountant serial killer, luckily this time less so because of his goofy curly hair and Stephen Au is darn funny whilst being darn serious. He in fact has the funniest moment in I believe Episode 4 with regards to his comatose wife, and certainly the big twist of the night.
Of all the female cast, I am glad Florence Kwok is given prominence again. This woman can act and here she is the ultimate bitch in the office who cares only for herself. I love how she almost stumbled and everyone was watching her and cheering for her to fall flat on her face! My problem is with Natalie Tong who isn't funny and is overdramatic in everything but thus far she is serviceable. And I don't like Crystal Tin but so far she is ok and she does have chemistry with Ruco. I do like how realistically they hug each other as engaged couples do. Jason Chan is I am sorry to say the least impressive with his very mediocre acting and I hate the way he spoke his lines; no force, no nothing. I am surprised he is picked to lead his next series but I suppose TVB needs new blood and they're banking on his looks and image. Based on performance alone, he is thus far just fluff. Some minor characters are given a lot of screentime to flesh their characters, ranging from eccentric (I love Louis Yuen's campy effeminate room mate!) to downright disgusting (Natalie Tong's boss! Yuck!). I do not know the direction of this series as yet but then it is good because it is not quite predictable with some amusing surprises. To me THIS is the real deal thus far; all the talks about changing TVB and such, this series to me is the first sign of a good and interesting change. I won't be surprise if you tell me this is inspired (*cough*stolen idea*cough*) from a k-drama or J-drama or C-drama or whatever but what I love is it doesn't have a so called shocking element as storyline as gimmick. The gimmick here is the dry wit. I pray that it stays that good. TVB! SURPRISE ME!!!
Malaysian viewers if you have AOD, watch daily over at CH901 from Mon-Fri with new episode every 8.30pm.
"Now matter how bad the character is, she (Linda Chung) has ways to make the viewers sympathise her. However illogical or insanely unreasonable, there is some part of her performance that you will like and feel a tinge of pity for her."
SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS
Released In
2012
No. of Episodes 30
The Title Deciphered In the very last scene of the very last episode the reason why L’Escargot aka snail in French is used as a title. They all saw a snail on the window panel and remarked "See that snail? He has to carry his house everywhere he goes" or something like that. Basically this is a series about houses and how small is it. Not really. It is a family drama which nowadays that's what TVB's been doing repeatedly and it centres on real life situation where houses are tiny. And even then I feel some measurements are not right!
The Chinese title if I am not mistaken basically and literally means "People without homes" or I suppose a nicer way to put it is Without A Home.
The Themesong Sung by Ron and Linda, all I can say is ... don't remind me of the themesong!
Cast-Character The list taken from Wikipedia. Half the time I didn't even know the English names of these stars!
Michael Miu – Kwan Ka Onn Sonija Kwok – Sze Long Kiu Linda Chung – Kwan Ka Lok Ron Ng – Ting Koon Fung Michael Tse – Jim Ko Wang Jim Joyce Tang – Lee Man Wah Oscar Leung – Kwan Ka Hong Mandy Wong – Lau Siu Lan Him Law - Kwan Ka Wing Yoyo Chen - Book King Leung Hoi Ching - Kwan Cho Kwai Lam Chi Nok - Kwan Hau Lam JJ Jia - Ko Chi Yiu (Joyce) Jason Pai - Ting Hoi Mannor Chan - Wong Lai Sim James Wong - Ting Koon Kwan Tina Shek - Ting Koon Fong Joe Junior - Sze Yat Man Pat Yan - Chung Pui Yiu Geoffrey Wong - Yeung Chung Wai Lo Mang - Yu Ying Chun Hoffman Cheng - Pao For Sun Felix Lok - Mr. Cheuk Angelina Lo - Cheung Mei Ling
Summary In fact the full story can be found in the same Wikipedia page in the cast-character list. The story is somewhat accurate except for some mistakes as to the relationship between Ka Lok and Jim. Quite frankly she never loved him and he was becoming a nuisance to her. Other than that, looks like a good summary. So be forewarned; it has spoilers. I will not summarise the story in here but will touch a little on it in my comments.
Comments Since I like Linda Chung, I decided to give this series a try. It turns out to be one of the best series of the year quite simply because it has some of the best character driven stories. At its heart it is a family drama. Which TVB series isn't that since time immemorial? However it is not about struggles to control some financial empire even if towards the end there is a short squabble over the ownership of a tiny flat. The main crux is families and their ideals, each driven by their individual needs, wants, desires and expectations. And in the centre, to make this series sorta different from other family dramas, all these needs, wants, desires and expectations is centred on house ownership. For Asians, Chinese that is, land is very important. To own one's own house is an ideal of every working class family. None more illuminated than in this series where you have 8 or 9 people in a probably 700 or 800 square foot of an apartment. If you have problems with space, you will probably wince at the size of the apartments in this series. But I love the authenticity of it; I am simply tired of watching super huge 3 apartments combined into 1 sort of mega complex for an apartment in most series, especially when we have cops owning such luxury and space in HK is a luxury. It does remind me a bit of Burning Flame and the small apartment Wong Hei's character lived with his mom but that is much much smaller and only 2 people in it. In this series, with just 1 bathroom, 3 bedrooms and one tiny living room, how do 9 or so people live in it? I suppose with some military style sort of timing when it comes to using the bathroom. Which is why at the very beginning I must applaud TVB and the set designers for piling up the small space with boxes, cupboards, etc. The set is very real, very believable. The Sze family house is just one small warehouse of many many stuff. It is quite funny to see how the actors deal with the space as well. Most just walked over boxes, some jumped, some take a short way around. And it is also a marvel to see how the camera man moves the camera in such tiny space, so most of the time the camera is pretty much sitting still when in Ka Onn's room or when showing the living room, it is outside the windows, moving left to right and right to left. In such limited space, I see some very imaginative way of filming and the actors had to be very very close to the camera as well. No doubt, it looked and felt claustrophobic. This is one aspect of this series which I find excellent.
And then you contrast this with the beach mansion with sea view by Jim. I am for once glad a different location is used to film a rich mansion rather than that usual one where you see the darn swimming pool first. The view is spectacular and that is such a wide difference between the haves and have nots. The entire Sze apartment can fit into the living room and room to spare! And of course the even wider space in those villages that is far away from town, wholly inconvenient but so much space that Onn basically built himself a small bungalow there.
Space as this series illustrates can be as small and narrow as the Sze family home or as wide and spacious as the Jim family home. But this series shows quite clearly that whatever the size of the family home, as long as a family sticks together, it doesn't matter.
And in its very heart, that is the basis of this story. Familial ties.
Jim is rich and lives in luxury and could afford to give his wife such luxury but in the end she laments what she really wanted was his love. Those huge spaces do not matter, even when they were much poorer, they were much happier. The same could be seen with Jim and Joyce's relationship; he took care of his sister, loved her very much but once there was wealth and whole lot of other issues, their relationship soured when she realised her brother became very unreasonable and controlling whilst Jim realised his sister actually has a mind of her own, however naive or sometimes totally dumb in my humble opinion.
Contrast that with Ka Onn and his wife, Long Kiu. Ka Onn is a very principled man and in his own way as controlling as well, except in a good way. His family is first, and that means his mom, his brothers, his sister. His wife and child are second. But his wife was happy to suffer with him because what binds them was love and trust. When Onn believed his wife betrayed that trust, suddenly Kiu realised all these years she had been too lenient in her expectations. She was basically fed up with her husband's attitude and decided to leave him. But in her heart she knew she fell for him because of this very same attitude, except he never changed whilst her perspective changed. I can't remember specifically which episode or when but one scene Kiu scolded Onn and said "I am always the last person in your priority!". I find that rather ... wrong. Because the last person in Onn's priority is himself. He gave in to his family all the time, towards the end he gave in to his wife and child but the person he never quite considered himself until the pivotal scene where all family problems came flooding in, and that was when he simply said NO to his brother Hong and Siu Lan's demands for ownership of the family home. He put his foot down and said no way. Of course he has every right to say no. He paid for the house and those 2 leeches only paid if I remembered corrected HKD80,000-00 or something which is a tiny portion. On top of that he paid for the bills, allowances, etc. Basically he paid for almost everything. That was a great scene when Onn realises tough love is the best love for his useless brother and his even more useless wife. And that was when it became rather funny in terms of Kiu's reaction. She earlier complained he never prioritise her, and yet when he did, so that he and his wife and child can move back into a house they can call home, she became rather negative in the way he was handling things. She felt this wasn't the real Onn, that he has changed. I was simply thinking isn't this what she wanted? The point is in all her rush to get a home of their own, in the end she realises she simply wanted her husband. Wherever and whatever the house, it is just a house.
I suppose you can say this series excels in the contrast between these 2 families and the way the man of the house handles the situation. Both are equally as harsh in their expectations of their siblings, except one is so because of love and the other because of his own selfishness. I really like the story of these 2 men; Jim and Onn. Whilst it is frustrating to watch Onn being so principled all the time, always to the detriment of his wife, child and himself, you can understand why he acted the way he did. He was the much older big brother, he took care of his much younger siblings. Father died young, mother had to work, probably he too had to stop studying and find work to support the family. This is the situation which most Asian families can identify with and believe it or not, I do think Asian familial ties are stronger, especially when there is a much older sibling with a dead parent. The way Onn went about his business, he reminds me of something very realistic. Let's not make the mental calculations as to how much he paid out and how much he could reasonably afford. I wonder how he can bear so much sums and still find money to buy food. But the point is he is a very responsible man, sometimes so responsible to the detriment of his own siblings. He has to learned to say no and when he did, to me that was the best moment in this series. His relationship with his wife is simple; he makes the decisions and she happily or grudgingly follow but the point is she follows in the end, however she feels on the subject matter. Until she decided she didn't want to follow anymore when she became frustrated by his attitude.
In a way Jim is of similar background. He was poor when he was younger, he took care of his sister who is much younger, he made his fortune in real estate thanks in part to his wife's connection and his wife was a famous actress who knows who to and how to socialise. She probably introduced him to his earlier investors, one of whom probably was her sugar daddy. And so together they forged an empire so to speak. I do feel there is mutual love, trust and respect. Jim often flirts and he has affairs but to Man Wah she can accept those since those are just physical, until Ka Lok came along and for Jim it was to him love. That Man Wah couldn't accept. One thing for your man to go off running around with women and another to have a kept mistress whom she spends nights with. She can share her husband physically, if she had to but she can't share his heart.
It must be said I really enjoyed the scenes when Jim realised Ka Lok was very important to him. He is much older, more refined, more successful and for me, Ka Lok being someone young and inexperienced and who wanted to experience the world would naturally fall for Jim. This series shows a different aspect; she respected him, she trusted him, but she never loved him. Everything she did with him, including the act of sleeping with him flows from the fact of Jim's generosity and she felt obliged to repay him and subsequently when she had her heart broken and she needed a floating device. Jim was her floating device, her defense mechanism against the broken heart and yes, she made a whole lot of mess of her life. But back to Jim and those wonderful scenes of perhaps going through the motions of first love. My feeling is Jim never had that moment before Ka Lok. He was probably busy taking care of his family and then taking of his business, his wife was convenient whom he loved but not someone he was so in love with that he couldn't think or do anything else. It felt like a giddy sort of love. He suddenly wanted to please her, he wanted to possess her, he wanted to help her in any way he could and he started to look at himself in the mirror, noticing that hair that was out of place or that tie that wasn't properly tied. It is realistic portrayal of a man who had his senses and his heart reawakened or awakened, depending on how you see it. One of my most favourite scene is when Ka Lok hurt her finger whilst sewing for him, he was full of concern but what confirmed his intentions with Ka Lok was his subsequent gesture; an act so simple and yet explained everything of how he felt. He took her finger and sucked, a very gentle gesture actually, if it was between 2 lovers, the thing here is they aren't. There is no doubt how Jim felt about her. Even till the end, when he realised his unreasonable behaviour has caused a lot of hurt to the people who actually does matter, such as his sister, his aunt, his wife and he vowed to make things right, there was a tinge of regret that he could never spend the rest of his life with Ka Lok. It is as if he had given up his one true love for the love that was built on years of mutual help and respect. It is not a bad bargain actually, but I suppose everyone wants that one true love so powerful that nothing else matters. For Jim, it would be practical and the right thing to do if he returned to his wife. It is not gratefulness per se, love can be in many forms and many levels of intensity but the feeling is Ka Lok was the one he truly loved unconditionally. Now that would be rather sad if Ka Lok felt the same way.
Ka Lok is one very confusing character; maybe it was the way she was written. There was definitely attraction between her and Jim. She liked him, she looked up to him and she blushed hard when he sucked his finger and she had to convince herself she didn't feel anything for Jim. She loved her childhood love, her first love probably and that is Dai Ding. But she was led astray for just a little while and then she became convinced Dai Ding is the man for her. And then when she found out Jim did so much for her, and mind you he NEVER asked her to do anything for him at all, she felt obliged. And here it became confusing. I didn't feel she felt obliged at all. When Jim failed to return from a business trip with news of plane crash, Ka Lok was genuinely concerned; she cried and when she saw him she hugged him and they ended up kissing and having sex. Fine. That I get. So I thought she might have channeled her feelings to him from Dai Ding. And then she went to some spa and bathed and cried so hard, I thought I was watching an aftermath of a rape. She felt dirty, she scrubbed herself, she cried. Her entire behaviour was wholly inconsistent with what was a rather romantic scene before. Later she explained she felt obliged to sleep with Jim. BUT Jim never asked her to exchange his favours for sex! He would never have asked her to do that anyway; that would tantamount to treating his goddess as a prostitute. He looked very highly on Ka Lok but it would seem Ka Lok didn't look too highly on him; she felt her body was part of some bargain. She avoided him, she then got dumped by Dai Ding, then she got drunk and this time she voluntarily again slept with him. And yet.. YET she behaved as if she was forced. In real life I would say she was using Jim for comfort sex. Because every time she was upset, she slept with him. Her behaviour was confusing as hell and in one of the best scene in this series, Man Wah confronted her and told her to name her price to leave her husband and tearfully Ka Lok said "I am not in this for money. I am not in this for my career. It is not that I don't want to leave him, it is that he doesn't want to stop harassing me". WHAT?! Man Wah was right to slap her and said coldly "You don't even know what you're doing. You just stumbled into this relationship and break up a perfectly good marriage, and you don't even know why you're doing it!!". TRUE! I was like WHAT? What sort of nonsensical reason is this? Fine, Jim was like a love sick puppy, he follows her around, he goes after her but he was never THAT aggressive. In fact he helped her, he pulled back, he never told her he helped her, it was she who goes running to Jim every time! I feel if Man Wah is a victim in here, so was Jim because Ka Lok made a mess of her own life and in the process made a mess on everyone else's life.
And that comes back to Dai Ding. He is a good guy, a character with character, forceful at times but he is not unreasonable. He is that sort of guy you want to marry. He works hard, he works carefully, he has plans, he looks into the future when it comes to marriage. He adores Ka Lok and yet let her does her thing. And she basically screwed up this relationship by being so darn confused. Dai Ding was right to be unforgiving but what he did next was... uncharacteristic of someone so mature. He has daddy issues, he has major issues with his dad having an affair and having a mistress and an illegitimate child. The major issue he has, deep within him is one of trust. He is that sort that if he doesn't trust you anymore, it turns to hate, the same way he treated his dad as with Ka Lok. He wanted to prove to Ka Lok that he can be rich, because he thought Ka Lok rather become Jim's mistress for money. Truth is Ka Lok didn't even know why she is Jim's mistress. In the process he used Joyce, Jim's naive but in the end stronger sister. Joyce knew he was using her, but frankly the using part is only towards money and business. I was thinking Dai Ding will go into Jim's business and destroy it or something, but in the end it was more realistic; he wanted to earn a huge income from the man who stole his girl. It does make sense if you think about it. But in the end he fell for Joyce, because she was unequivocally supportive of him. Much like Man Wah was toward Jim or Long Kiu towards Onn. Except hers come without conditions. Man Wah's support is only as far as Jim's heart is hers. Long Kiu's support is only as far as her patience allows her to be. Joyce's support is unconditional. She knew he loved Ka Lok deeply, after all first love and all. I was thinking is this series going to show Joyce as someone who uses deceptive manners to hold onto Dai Ding? She didn't, thankfully because that would be so cliché. She was simply waiting and in the end it was Ka Lok who in part made the decision to leave for studies and so left Dai Ding with Joyce whilst Dai Ding himself realises his relationship with Ka Lok is truly over. He has to start a new chapter, but not with Ka Lok but with someone else, someone like Joyce. How far will it go it doesn't matter. Point is they moved on. It was as if when they were in love and in a relationship it was like some teenaged love but when they parted they became adults and for Dai Ding, Joyce was the adult part of him, whilst Ka Lok will forever remain his first true love. I love this ending because it is practical and realistic. In a way it is a happy ending for all concerned. Ka Lok can't remain with Dai Ding and vice versa simply because during their battle against one another, Dai Ding who held onto Joyce and Ka Lok to Jim, too many hurtful words were said, too many insults flung at the other. However much love there is, when so many hurt was done to one another, how can these 2 get back together? This is one of those bittersweet endings that I feel is perfect for what the characters went through.
For Onn and Long Kiu, the solution seems too cliché. When Long Kiu was frustrated with how Onn was handling their familial matters, she decided to leave him. And then she began to rely on her friend, the bank manager. I felt that part was absolutely wrong because she has yet to divorce her husband, and there she was, seemingly in a friendly relationship with a guy who has often confessed he liked her very much. I felt she was playing a dangerous game and Onn was in his own way right to question her feelings and their trust issue. But all that didn't matter when conveniently Onn has some eye problem, on the verge of going blind, and naturally Long Kiu went back him. And of course the miraculous way his eyes healed would be one of the reason why this series isn't amazing 100%. It was just a convenient plot to bring 2 characters back together again, more so when the third party isn't really a real third party. But these whole drama thing shows the transformation of Onn in his always giving in attitude to his siblings. For once he stood up, slammed his foot down and said no. But in the end he still relented until his useless brother and even more useless wife realised they have pushed his buttons too far and they were the one relented.
Indeed, useless brother and even more useless wife. The leeches in the family, don't we all have a pair in all our family relationships? They misused the love their family have for them and turned everything into some sort of a bargain. The useless brother, Hong knew he was wrong most of the time, he does chastised his wife but in the end he did nothing. His wife, Lan knew how much this older brother has done for them and yet she continued to behave the way she did. It was infuriating to watch; one part entertainment but the other part was how repetitive it was. But in the final showdown, they argued like they were right, like they were victimised. That was a particularly good scene because it was so realistic. The dialogue was well written and I feel the scene was well acted as well. There was however no one way to end this conflict except suddenly one bright day the useless brother and his even more useless wife decided to stop bickering over the property. Because right up until that last moment, they were still bickering. And next they were out of town with the rest helping Onn to build that small bungalow and then next they agreed to move to that small bungalow so that Onn and Kiu can move into the family apartment which was more convenient. In the middle of all these, there was nothing to show that sudden change. Mainly because it was not some sudden change; they knew all along how well they're treated, they just abused that love.
Then there's Wing and Book King. Honestly, this is one relationship I enjoyed the most in this series. A pity it was developed too late, too little and too fast. Book King is a really nice girl and Wing is that sort that needs such a good wife. She is not like Lan who is greedy and selfish and yet she is not like Kiu who follows her husband blindly. She has plans; she invests, she saves for their first apartment. Seriously, I really like Book King. Problem with this story is as I said, everything was just too little too late. And I do feel this series is overcrowded with siblings already, so for me Wing was a sibling too many. In fact Wing can be written out because basically, whilst he is the good boy who loves his family and all, he really doesn't do much in terms of plot and storyline. His story can be independent from the rest and yet his story is just making the other already crowded story into very very crowded story. Much like how 9 of them had to squeezed into the tiny apartment, Wing and Book King's story is in Chinese word "Dor yu" (waste of time). But I do like them.
A majority of this series is centred on Onn and Ka Lok, but imagine in it you also have Wing, Long Kiu, children fighting, Man Wah, Joyce, Dai Ding, Dai Ding's family, Kiu's family, co workers, dangerous buildings, fire and the central issue that in the end disappeared for awhile before resurfacing towards the end, the time and energy spent towards buying that first property. Earlier scenes you have a lot of references to how expensive the property market is, etc which is what this series is based on, more so in HK where the property market is expensive. But sometime later when the drama kicks in, this seems to disappear. Which is usual as with all TVB series. Frankly I think by midway I was bored with all those "I want to buy a house", "The house is so expensive", "Why can't we ever afford a house"... that sort of talk. But the drama itself is also in a way punishing because every episode you will see Onn getting swindled in a way by his useless brother, or Ka Lok's insane indecision or Dai Ding's anger, that sort. From a moderate drama it became heavy drama until the end. I am not saying that is a bad thing but after a while it became very difficult to watch. You feel like is that how it is going to be until the end? But sometimes in the middle yet get a bit of relief, like the story of Wing and Book King which I did say was a waste of time but it does deflect from the whole serious stuff and also some fine acting that made you review your evaluation of some actors.
If you ask me for one real criticism apart from the utterly confused state of one character for no good reason and another character hinting as if he is going to do something major but in the end, did nothing of those sort is that this series lacks a villain. No one is a villain in here and I would if there is such a thing as situation comedy, then this is a situation drama. Place the characters in certain situation and you will get the reaction as shown in this series. In the end we can basically just give a one sentence description of each character which won't be off the mark; an angry ex boyfriend (Dai Ding), a confused girl (Ka Lok), an over generous big brother (Onn), a fed up wife (Kiu), a selfish sister in law (Lan), a cowardly younger brother (Hong), a love sick rich man (Jim), a jealous and determined wife (Man Wah), etc etc. Not necessarily a bad thing but it just shows the story and the characters aren't complicated. This is in fact a rather simple story, in my opinion that tends to be overly dramatic when it shouldn't be. No TVB series today is perfect; there is always flaw and if you can stomach such minor flaws, then this series by itself is an entertaining story to watch.
What makes it better than most recent production is some unexpectedly good performances even if there is still those poor performances from a few expected faces.
Performances Evaluated I am one of those who have had it with the continued resurrection of Laughing Gor, so when I saw Michael Tse I was groaning. Oh no, not another chok look performance. Michael Tse surprised me big time. He was very convincing as the very attractive and rich Jim. I mean he is believable as that sort. And he is also believable as that sort of runs around like a puppy dog following his goddess. And he displayed some fire later on when Joyce as Man Wah decided to give him an ultimatum. It has been a long time I feel Michael Tse can act. In this series I began to review my opinion of him. That one single scene when Linda's Ka Lok agreed to go to I think dinner with him, he rushed into the toilet and was looking at himself in the mirror when he realised he was paying very particular attention on how he looked, like he wanted so much to look for her. There was like a twinkling in his eyes. And yet when she later didn't want to go anymore, there was major disappointment. No dialogue, just his eyes, his much botoxed looks and it was a magnificent moment. That's the Michael Tse I want to see; not Laughing Gor. To death with Laughing Gor, he is already being bloody typecast in it! I just never expected though to see Joyce Tang bigger sized than he is.
Linda Chung surprises me. She is leading actress, one of the top fa-dan and here she is sharing her scenes and limelight with so many other actors and actresses. She doesn't prejudice herself as an actress; she takes on whatever roles she is either given or she fancied and often her roles aren't pretty roles. Her public image is that of a nice sweet personality but interesting the types of roles she has played is always beyond that of her public image.That is to mean there is always some character flaws, they're not perfect and in a less likeable actress, that character would be irritating. Because at some point in this series I felt annoyed, but not too much. I just didn't understand the whole Ka Lok confusion and the whole as if she was raped moments of tears because it didn't make sense. But viewing the performance as a whole, Linda didn't disappoint. Yes her voice is irritating since it is so high pitched; again she cries too much in this series and often too pitifully. But considering what her character went through or as I will argue, WHAT SHE THOUGHT she went through, and being someone who started out naive and simple minded and ended up at the end as someone mature and much grown up, it is understandable. I have a respect for Linda in the way she will take on potentially ugly characters and make them sympathetic. That is why I like her. Now matter how bad the character is, she has ways to make the viewers sympathise her. However illogical or insanely unreasonable, there is some part of her performance that you will like and feel a tinge of pity for her. Her Ka Lok was pitiful in the sense that she wanted to be rid of Jim who didn't want to be rid of, she wanted to return to Dai Ding who didn't want to, she loved her brother and yet she knew she disappointed him repeatedly, that she is innately a good person and yet the things she did inadvertently hurt so many people. Her performance encompasses all that. I am not saying this is her best, it is not one of her worst and definitely not one of the worst performance by any actress in any TVB series. It is a confusing character, sometime badly written, so much development and yet her character just give a vibe as someone utterly confused with everything and being swept away by her uncertain emotions and the uncontrollable surrounding circumstances which in truth was created by herself until she woke up and that was when she knew she and Dai Ding was no longer possible. I am sure some other actresses can play this character but can they make her sympathetic when everything she did would want you to shake her and slap her like her brother did, no less than 2 times if I remember correctly, is another matter. Also must add those kissing scenes with Michael were well done. I didn't cringe like I always did with TVB series' sort of kissing.
The other Michael, Michael Miu looks good for his age. He was believable as Onn and I do like his performance. In fact I will say this to me is his finest amongst his recent performances; however I feel he was not the perfect casting. For me this role screams for Felix Wong. Felix Wong has the everyday man quality, like Steven Ma does. In fact I will say Steven Ma will excel in this series except it would be weird to see him as Linda's brother. Michael didn't have that everyday man quality, that sort of earnestness that you will just be convinced by instead of questioning it but he did exhibited the right amount of weariness. It helps he has great chemistry with his siblings in this series. I think this role is similar to that of Steven's A Journey Called Life. Except in that series, I feel like crying for Steven, in this one, I didn't feel that way. I just felt he was giving in too much too often.
Sonija Kwok has improved leaps and bounds in terms of acting. She looks much older, and I suppose with that more experience in conveying her emotional look. Because when she first started acting, she was wooden, her face was wooden and her lips was weird. Now, her lips is still weird, her eyes registered emotion but the honest truth is, her improvement was from absolute worst to acceptable. She isn't amazing. I would think Esther Kwan would fit this role though but Sonija Kwok was competent. However at some point or some interval, I was wondering is she that convincing? My answer is no. first of all, her voice is a problem. She still has that lazy intonation that didn't sound real. Her lips is still a problem, you can't help but look at it and then wonder what's wrong? Whilst her eyes registered emotions, her face like Michael Tse was basically frozen except Michael Tse made it all up with his body language. Sonija Kwok has very little body language. I just feel her performance was competent, but if look deeper, it was inadequate.
Mandy Wong is a rising star, well according to TVB. You're as much of a rising star when TVB decides that you are. She looks like Nnadia Chan and frankly she is a far better actress than Nnadia Chan, whom I never liked as an actress. However her performance in here is OTT as in over the top. The way she spoke her lines, the way she moved, the way she expressed herself, everything screamed too much. It doesn't help that her character is so unlikeable, and in some ways Mandy deserves the credit for playing her character to the hilt but yet I can't help but feel if she toned down a bit, maybe her character wouldn't be such a caricature. Because she felt like a caricature. Not a bad performance, but as opposed to Sonija's under emotional performance (most of the time), Mandy's was too much. I'd rather under emotional because at least that is wooden but still servicing the character well rather than too much which turns the character into a caricature and thus making the character into a joke.
Oscar Leung is a fine actor, unfortunately I have an issue with his lazy tones. Apart from that, his character doesn't do much except to sulk, complain, and argue. His Hong is pretty one dimensional most of the time but I still notice him. The problem is not the actor but the character.
Him Law is surprisingly funny and he could be cute. However his acting is raw although he did well in those lighthearted scene. I have the chance to watch him in Hippocratic Crush and I am not sure which was filmed first but he was the shining star in Hippocratic Crush (in some ways shinier than Kenneth Ma) where his acting improved leaps and bounds to the territory of potentially very good.
Yoyo Chen's character is underdeveloped and no reason why a girl like her would fall for a guy like Wing but I really like her Book King and that spunkiness in her. I noticed Yoyo for a bit now, never quite liked her but she has improved quite a lot these days. I happen to feel her husband (whose name I forgot, again!) as someone with loads of potential and now I feel Yoyo can be too. She does look perky.
JJ Jia is an anomaly. I can't say she is terrible because her Joyce is supposed to be that way in the beginning. The way she talked, painfully slow and I am sure in real life she doesn't talk that way. I read some posts who wrote that they think her Joyce is autistic. Hardly! She is just socially inept and painfully shy. But as her Joyce met Dai Ding and opened up a little, I felt her performance becomes more fluid. That doesn't mean she was good though. It just means she stopped with those painfully long pauses between each lines. Not terrible like I said, but frankly isn't there someone else for this role?
Joyce Tang is beautiful. I can still remember her look in Ghetto Justice since I spent every night recapping the series and I was so surprised to see her here, looking 100% different than in Ghetto Justice. She was graceful, elegant and very very beautiful. Performance was fantastic too. She shares most of her scene with Michael Tse and these 2 have chemistry. Their kissing scenes were rather sensual and Joyce certainly did well in giving off the vibe of a mature sophisticated woman. But she has aged hasn't she? None more so when she stood next to Linda, Linda looks like a little girl whilst Joyce.. was a marvel. However if there is any criticism I can give it is her hair. Great hair but always one side tucked behind the year, whether she is going about anywhere or sleeping. Always that same way, that it was frustrating. Much like how the women never remove their handbags or the men their jackets. But in the end when she visited Michael in prison, I specifically remember her hair was tied back. I thought that was so refreshing after episodes of that same bloody look, I am sure even when she is swimming! Maybe the hair is of some symbolic thing.
Angelina Lo. I didn't even know she is called Angelina. Her death scene in this series was very touching. But she died happy. Anyway I was shocked to see her with so little makeup, she looked so old! But appropriately so. No complaints about her performance at all.
From the list of characters, Sonija and Michael's daughter was played by Lam Chi Nok. And for me, the best performance in the series. Poor girl! When she cried, I actually thought Michael or the director must have slapped her for real. She cried so real, real tears and all and very very cute girl as well. I feel there is an upgrade to child actors in TVB these days, some of them are rather memorable and like this one, made the show much more better in terms of performances. She puts to shame some of the adults in here.
Last but not least...
Ron Ng. He is cute in here in the earlier parts, especially when he was dancing imitating Rain (in here of course I think he is referred to some major Korean superstar but forgot the name). I don't think I have ever seen Ron that playful on screen and looks like he was having a majorly good time. That being said, he is still wooden. His acting is darn predictable. He still talks with his head stuck out whenever he is doing some dramatic stuff, his face still registered one single emotion and that is of serious nonchalance like "Do I look like I care?" whether it is for joy, pain, disappointment, betrayal, love... everything. But he fits this role of an earnest young man. I do like Dai Ding and with that I do like Ron Ng for this series. I do think he is rather good looking, and I do think he improved in his performance. But I also do think his performance was inadequate. It is 3 steps above JJ Jia but considering he is now a veteran, I will say that is not good enough. But I can't expect much; I always felt Ron is a weak actor. I still feel he is but maybe he would do well in comedies like how Louis Koo did. Deadpan is a good comedic look.
Verdict Yes, Ka Lok should just quit her job and move away. But if she did that, no more drama to tell. Yes, Jim should move on sooner but again, if he did that, then what is the dilemma for Ka Lok? Yes, Onn should put his foot down much earlier but the point of this series is, no it isn't about the property market and small living spaces. That is the topic so to speak but the running theme is family. Family that stays together (not literally as this series demonstrated) is a happy family. I feel this series succeeds on the family part. The dialogue is mostly wonderful and realistic, and the cast has great chemistry. Most performances were good, despite my nitpicking, the sets were fantastic and the ending was to me one of the best because it didn't force the issues; it was a practical and reasonable ending for the characters. This is to me one of the best series of the year because it could get you emotionally involved, some times. It doesn't leave you cold, some times. It is not the best series because it can get you emotionally cold, some times, not get you involved, some times. It is a mix bag with this one. I like this sort of drama that actually has a story to tell, not some hypothesis, not some concept, not some pretentious garbage but rather a proper story, however OTT or crazy or insane or even confusing, it is nonetheless a story. Highly recommended for fans of any stars in this series, especially those sick with Laughing Gor can watch this and see why Michael Tse is a fine actor if he is not busy being killed and revived as Laughing. I personally watched this for Linda, though she didn't disappoint, I grew quite tired of her Ka Lok so much so I almost didn't want to continue to watch but I stuck with it and for better or for worse, like that of a family, this series has its ups and downs but good thing is, it is mostly ups.
Interesting Fact I read this series copied another Mainland China series. Obviously I haven't seen the other series but if it is true, I would hope only the good aspects were copied. I mean if you want to copy, at least make a conscientious effort to copy well.
I get what Bottled Passion means eventhough the only kiss that the 2 main leads has in the end is a very chaste and bland one
The chinese title however is as if this series is a very lighthearted one. "Ngo D Yu Yi Long Guan". Ordinarily it means "My ideal husband" to be very simplistic although you can say lover but lover seems a bit too immoral in the context but the LONG in here is that of a wolf so it kinda means "My ideal Wolf-husband" which denotes a very sinister character, wolf usually denoting someone who lies. What I don't get is this is a serious drama, never a funny moment and yet the title is way too lighthearted. For me one of the worst title.
The poster deciphered
It's a lovely poster. Colour is nice; cute. So dreamy, so romantic, so romance like... yes yes BUT FOR THE WRONG SERIES!! Never had I seen a more WRONG misleading poster than for this series. At least not a bunch of heads crowding the poster or a bunch of them holding flowers smiling happily. That would be absolutely wrong.
Cast-Character
General
Raymond Wong - Tung Boon Sin/Lee Ho
Eric Li - Lo Yat
Mok Wai Man - Uncle Sek
Yo Yo Chen - Chan Yuk Fong
Unknown - Sophie (the secretary)
Tsui family
Ching Hor Wai - Lau Suet Ling/Mrs Tsui
Raymond Cho - Tsui Ping
Claire Yiu - Wan Yau
Niki Chow - Tsui Sum
Vin Choi - Tsui Onn
Hui family
Lee Sing Chueng - Hui Chun Ting
Cecilia Fong - Tam Mei Yan
Chan Jin Man - Hui Man Hon
Ko family
Samuel Kwok - Ko Siu Tong
Rebecca Chan - Tung Kwok Hing
Joel Chan - Ko Yi Tai
Traci Ip - Foo Bak Wai
Jack Wu - Yuen Yau Hin
Elaine Yiu - Ko Yi Kiu
Katy Kung - Ko Yi Nga
Summary
From Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_Passion
Mrs Ko, Tung Kwok Hing (Rebecca Chan) adopted an orphan and claimed he was Ko Yi Ho (Raymond Wong), the illegitimate child that her husband Ko Siu Tong (Samuel Kwok) had been searching for many years. Tong believed Ho was more suitable than his oldest son Ko Yi Tai (Joel Chan) to be his successor, which later led to discontent. Eventually Ho was kicked out of the family, leaving him homeless. Living out alone, Ho got a taste of the bitterness in life and was determined to return home and take revenge on his adopted family under a different name Tung Bun Sin. Under his new identity, he vowed to give them a taste of losing their loved ones. Meanwhile, he meets his childhood best friend Tsui Sum (Niki Chow) again. The good-hearted Sum just took over the family soy sauce business, but Ho did not hesitate to take advantage of his long time friendship with Sum, deceiving her money and heart. Ho also plays Ko Family's two daughters, Ko Yee Kiu (Elaine Yiu) and Ko Yee Nga (Katy Kung) in unscrupulous ways. Ho has his own mechanism and plots, which turns him into the biggest love cheater...
The summary at wikipedia is wrong. First there is no such word as cheater. It is cheat but that is English.
The summary itself is quite simply Mrs Ko brought home an orphan named Lee Ho claiming him to be the long lost illegitimate son of the very rich Mr Ko, in order to please him. She didn't expect Mr Ho to like the boy so much and preferred him over her own son, Yi Tai that one day she exposed the boy as a liar pretending to be the long lost son. The 8 year old Lee Ho was cast out after being beaten, kicked and insulted. He came back and overheard how it was Mrs Ko who arranged the adopted and decided to expose him to protect Yi Tai's share of the inheritance and she saw Lee Ho and chased after him and ended up throwing him into the back of the cliff and he fell into the river. Some 20 years later or so Lee Ho came back as an adult with the adopted identity of a rich privileged man named Tung Boon Sin to exact his revenge and with that he needed to gain the trust of the Ko family by befriending and then betraying Tsui Sum, the young owner of the local soy sauce company whose land is the one Mr Ko desired to build his silk textile factory. What he didn't expect was he was more involved emotionally with Tsui Sum whom he was slowly falling for as he plotted his revenge against Mrs Ko by using her two daughter's affection for him whilst at the same time he searched for his childhood friend and love, Milk Candy Girl whom he befriended at the orphanage.
My Ramblings
I posted some ramblings under a specific Bottled Passion post here at http://p2e-archive2009.blogspot.com/2012/01/bottled-passion-tvb2011o.html which contains some spoiler but of course not as much as this review.
What to expect
I rarely put the producer's name in my review, in part because I don't care, but I decided to put Lee Tim Shing's name because his name will reveal several things about this series.
1. it is family drama/conflict minus the handclapping and Har Yu's incessant laughs and no Moses Chan (that is Mui Siu Ching's forte)
2. it is always serious drama with a bit of lighthearted moments so that you won't get too stressed watching it
3. the main protagonist is always the one with struggling family business who has to battle other people to make sure family stays afloat
4. reminiscent of any Jin Yong series, expect a lot of people in one particular expose scene that is bound to be explosive minus the bombs
5. a rather romantic chaste love affair between the 2 main characters who will almost always be parted longer than they're together and some may feel even though the brief reunion is nonetheless a happy one, in the end the way to the relationship is too difficult, too brief and frankly almost always childless. In that regards, Safe Guards is the happiest of his produced series but to me No Regrets was most romantic.
What not to expect
1. Wayne Lai. He is not in here.
2. the main protagonist and story is neither struggles to keep the family afloat nor a woman's struggle against injustice and fighting the Japanese. It is a man's plan for revenge and his search for his one true love.
3. It is 21 episodes but in my book, this series ended at episode 20. Episode 21 was in Chinese speak "Tor yu" meaning waste of film. I shall explain more but beware of spoilers.
COMMENTS
I am glad I avoided all spoilers for this series although I suspected a certain ending, which would be tragic although I expected at the end a happy childless reunion. In that regards I was wrong and so be prepared; this is not a happy ending. For me however the unhappy ending is not the supposed tragic end of a main character but rather how the writer chose to end that life.
Can I just reveal the spoiler? Because I can't write this review without discussing the last episode and I can't discuss the last episode without revealing who the heck died. So if you want spoilers free, best avoid this review from this moment onwards.
Tung Boon Sin dies in the end. That is supposed to be tragic, only if how he died is well written but it isn't. To me the most tragic thing about the ending is how ridiculous it was. Imagine; for 20 episodes, 20 glorious exciting episodes, this series can do no wrong. It was engaging, it stopped at that right moment that made me go "DAMN IT!! Have to wait tomorrow!" and I was excited for the next episode, and the other, and another, some characters ended brilliantly, some you knew could have been better. 20 amazing episodes and then came episode 21. That ruined it all. So in order to enjoy this series, ignore episode 21. It does not exist. It has been sucked into the black hole of That Episode Did Not Exist portal. Just pretend episode 20 is the ending. Done. Period. And then you will wanna know why the heck it ended the way it did? I think I know why but before I reach that point, can I just write something positive about this series. Let me start by explaining why I even watched it in the first place.
I had nothing to watch except for Ghetto Justice but this series came before Ghetto Justice. I am neither a fan of Raymond Wong nor Niki Chow and the title deceived me into thinking this is a light hearted romance story, the poster didn't help but I knew it was a Lee Tim Shing's production and frankly like his production so I switched on.
Episode 1 was engaging, but I was hooked from episode 2 onwards. I like the story of an anti hero and everything pointed towards that with regards to Tung Boon Sin. And I was curious who Milk Candy Girl was, although I should have known better. I suppose what engaged me was the story of Yoyo Chen's pitiful character and what Tung Boon Sin had to do with her tragic end. Some parts are told in flashbacks, neither lingering nor repetitive and this being a typical Lee Tim Shing story, you'll get the bottom of things within no time. I absolutely enjoyed the first few episodes that I decided to catch this series as it is broadcast, becoming more and more immersed into the web of lies concocted by Tung Boon Sin and his treatment towards the many women in this series. I am pretty sure viewers will be shocked at what he went through as a child and will generally agree Tung Kwok Hing is the ultimate villain in this series. I am also pretty sure viewers will agree that the seduction scenes between Tung Boon Sin and Ko Yi Kiu is pretty seductive except if you're not a Raymond Wong fan you will feel there is nothing sexy at what you will see, like myself. One particular scene which was rather memorable was Ko Yi Nga on a swing, swinging herself towards a squatting Tung Boon Sin, as she grabbed him and he pushed her away, grabbed him and he pushed her away and finally she fell on top of him. Again the problem will be if you feel nothing for the actors, that scene would be seductive but not sexy.
And this is one series that tries very hard to make such seduction scenes sexy. The music for one; every time Ko Yi Kiu appears with Tung Boon Sin, it is that music that connotes a seduction scene. Every single time. Whether it is actually sexy or not is entirely up to you as the viewer. For me, I find it not that sexy. I am never a fan of TVB kissing scenes and here, there is one supposedly passionate kissing scene between Raymond and Elaine and frankly I thought a CPR scene is sexier. But still kudos to the "foreplay" leading up to that scene, how he looked at her, how she looked at him, how he talked to her, put on the flat shoes for her, touching her feet, etc. He is seducing her, she is trying hard not to be seduced. For Ko Yi Nga, it is her doing the seducing, he pretending not to be seduced.
As for Tsui Sum, that is typical Lee Tim Shing love story; entirely chaste and yet something deeply romantic. They're mostly apart, standing apart, talking apart, sitting apart and yet there is intimacy in their relationship, a lot of teary eyed stares and in the end culminating in deep embraces and still look chaste. I would say in a typical Lee Tim Shing love story, what is profound is the respect and love between the main couple; kissing, embraces, etc rarely happens because the intimacy comes from the fact that they genuinely love one another. It is what I consider the purest form of love between 2 unrelated people, and none more so than for in the series of No Regrets. The union is always brief, the reunion in this series however is even more short-lived than I expected, and I do believe the ending is of course to illustrate the nature of the character of Tung Boon Sin; he mysteriously appeared in Tsui Sum's life and in the end he mysteriously disappeared from her life. Doesn't mean I like it that way though. I was hoping for fewer metaphors. Why does love need to have metaphors anyway? Just bloody give them a happy ending, instead of the metaphors of this life, next life, the life after. At least this isn't some Korean drama series where dying is as happy as living. No suicide here for the lead characters (well maybe you can consider it suicide but I let you decide), we have very strong female and male characters in here and credit to Lee Tim Shing, his female characters are often stronger than they look and this is what I like about Bottled Passion. For all the betrayal that Tung Boon Sin has chosen to unleash upon Tsui Sum, and she was depressed, she doubted, she questioned, she wondered, but in the end she still sees things with a clear mind and never once did she consider jumping into the river to end it all. She was pushed down, she stood back up again, she got cheated of her land, she found another, her company went bust, she created another, she was cheated of her love and her heart was stolen, she chose to find out what made him do what he did although she disliked him at first, never really hated him. She loved more than she cared to hate and generally she is a strong character that does not wallow in self pity for too long. Even if in this series she plays second fiddle to the main guy that is Tung Boon Sin, her character nevertheless is pivotal in all his later decisions and to her credit, the questions she demanded an answer for are legitimate ones and later she learned to trust her gut instinct and thereon she never once asked him any questions she knew he wouldn't answer or that she knew he would later give her an adequate answer. You can say she is naive, she is trusting but I feel her entire family is naive, her entire family is trusting but Tsui Sum is above that in the sense she chose to trust Tung Boon Sin and let him do whatever he needs to do when thereafter he will return to her. There is a promise between them two and she waited for him to fulfill his promise. In that sense this is one very romantic pair, a very old fashioned love story created at first by deceit and in the end liberated by the truth; he told her who he was, he told her what he was doing, for the rest he didn't tell her, she simply told him she will wait for him. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I really find them to be terribly old fashioned romantic.
The other characters are memorable as well and I do appreciate that every character in here however small a role plays a significant part that has some meaning in it.
I always have a soft spot for Raymond Cho but I always dislike the weak elder brother character that depends on his sister for survival and saddled by a very demanding noisy bitchy wife. It appears so for the first few episodes but luckily it didn't go that way. Tsui Ping is a weak man, and he knows it and he highly respects his much smarter younger sister who basically is the head of the family. However there was no jealousy, although pushed by the wife to gain control of the business, the best thing is Tsui Sum doesn't actually usurp the brother's position in the family. She remains respectful to him and to her sister in law and as the series progresses, you will see Wan Yau the sister in law isn't so bad after all. She is that sort that isn't very educated, sees things in a straightforward way and when it comes to crunch time, she stands by the family, no matter what. Tsui Ping never wavers from his loyalty to his family and he really loves his sister; he treasures her, protects her as best as he could and displayed such brotherly affection for her despite his cowardice in the beginning that in the end you will like Tsui Ping very much. The youngest, which is Tsui Onn is also a nice young man, who was tricked into owing massive amount of money and is involved in Tsui Sum selling the soy sauce factory land to Tung Boon Sin, already a shareholder at that time which ultimately led to Tsui Sum's heartbreak when he betrayed her by reselling the land to the Ko family and then disappearing. However again Tsui Onn in the worst of time displayed a certain integrity in character; he owned up to what he did to his family, he found a job, he supported the family for a certain period of time. Basically the Tsui family consists of good decent hardworking people and the family trusts one another, protects one another, loves one another.
Contrast that with the Ko family. Everybody scheming against everybody, primarily the mother Tung Kwok Hing against everyone, even her own daughters. From what was shown, Tung Kwok Hing was from a rich influential family who married Ko Siu Tong presumably of lower birth and with her money and his ability he founded his company and built his fortune. Tung Kwok Hing wants to appear as the supportive wife, so she appeared encouraging towards the husband's endeavour, including searching for the long lost illegitimate son. But the truth is she will do everything in her power to secure her son's position. She doesn't seem to care much for her daughters; they were her pawns in gaining the favour and fortune of her husband. Ko Yi Tai was her primary concern; I assume since he is the only son. One very realistic scene or several realistic scenes involved Ko Yi Tai pushing the more able sister, Ko Yi Kiu to marry her fiance, the sickly Man Hon who was the only son of the police commissioner in town, I think. Anyway very powerful connection there. It is realistic because he would always remind her that being a daughter, she will have no lasting hold on the father's company since daughters are to be married off. How unfair for Kiu since frankly she is the one running the company for a few years, she is more able than her brother whose only advantage is he is a son. I sort of pitied her; no matter what she does, however well she does, in the end she has no share in the fortune and is doomed to marry a sickly man and probably doomed to a lifetime of widowhood. So in her heart she knows her position and she also knows her mother will make sure of that. Between them two, there is no sincerity in their relationship. Same with Ko Yi Nga who appears to be the baby of the family, everyone dotes on her but in the end it was like a forced sort of relationship. The family is unraveling anyway, from the strict control of the mother, the unfairness of everything so Tung Boon Sin's appearance is not the reason the family fell apart but you can say he is the cause of it. I find the Ko family fake; fake in appearance, fake in so called professed love and respect for one another. As opposed to the Tsui family who sticks together, the Ko family falls apart at the slightest drama although Tung Kwok Hing tried her best to keep the family together. She just doesn't realise she is the reason the family was falling apart. A control freak. The only redeeming factor in the Ko family was Dr Yuen Yau Hin, the illegitimate son who valued his relationship with his father above all. Frankly Mr Ko does not deserve such a good son.
Another more family than the Ko family consisted of 3 people who are not related to one another; that are Uncle Sek who saved Lee Ho's life and gave him a new identity that is Tung Boon Sin, Tung Boon Sin himself and the younger man he saved many years ago and became his loyal friend, Lo Yat. These 3 stuck together at the worst of time; one helping the other and for me I was very moved by Lo Yat's loyalty to Boon Sin and Boon Sin's care for Lo Yat. I find these 2, even if including Uncle Sek to be more genuine as a family than the entire Ko family.
This series illustrates sometimes being related need not mean closeness and sometimes being unrelated can still forge a tie closer than that of blood ties. Maybe I am sentimental but I am moved by the relationship between Tsui Ping and Tsui Sum and Boon Sin and Lo Yat.
But let's not move away from the primary romantic love story that is Boon Sin and Tsui Sum. Like I said, I should have known from episode 1 Tsui Sum is the Milk Candy Girl. I knew that about quarter of the series because this series doesn't seem to want to suggest a 2nd unknown female character. I wished it had. It would have made it more difficult for Boon Sin, to choose between his real love that is Tsui Sum and his long lost love, Milk Candy Girl. But the aim of the series is not a choice between 2 loves but rather a choice between persisting with revenge and giving up. At times I was imploring Boon Sin to give up on revenge; no better revenge than to live a happier life than your enemy and there is Tsui Sum, the ideal of happiness. But I also understand his need for revenge; after all that despicable Mrs Ko did throw an 8 year old defenceless boy into the ravine, nearly drowned him as well. But as I remember, he probably only stayed there for couple of months, so it was just a couple of months of deceit compared to a lifetime of happiness; so why persist on revenge? As this series explains, in the end he persisted because to save Tsui Sum; if he doesn't destroy his enemy, his enemy will use his beloved to destroy him. And the one enemy he wants to destroy is Mrs Ko. To get to Mrs Ko he needs to use her 2 daughters; between them two, I consider Yi Kiu the innocent one even though when she was a kid she also hit poor Boon Sin.
Ko Yi Kiu is a rather interesting and somewhat complex character. She epitomizes the idea that she can't love enough, she can't hate enough but in a more negative way than Tsui Sum. Boon Sin is quite a bastard when it comes to Yi Kiu; he made her fall in love with him, even when she was very reserved about that, knowing that she will have to throw her future away if she chooses to be with Boon Sin and she didn't make that choice lightly. One good scene was her running to him with a luggage bag declaring she shall follow him wherever he goes despite going against her mother's wishes and in the end Boon Sin checked her luggage and in it were files. No clothes, not even a luggage, which meant she didn't mean what she said, and he will have to make sure the next time she does mean what she says. I never thought she was capable of anything beyond being in love, but in the end she was so in love she lost the will to live so to speak. Such a selfish self centred woman and yet in the end she could love him enough to kill him. Selfish sort of love. Very dramatic stuff too. I was expecting great things from Yi Kiu though. I expected her to want to revenge by ruining Boon Sin and Tsui Sum business wise, I expected she to run back to Man Hon begging for a 2nd chance so that she can salvage her image before her father and mother. She did none of those which to me were a twist. In the end she just popped 40 pills, whilst dying met with Boon Sin and stabbed him once in the stomach. I don't think she died in the end; she was on the hospital bed presumably dying. Funny though that she chose to kill herself the same way her jilted fiance did when she left him.
Ko Yi Nga is an even worse character, which unfortunately was underdeveloped. When things with her got interesting, she had to run away to Shanghai after hurting Tsui Sum and never to return. Thereafter nothing more from her. I was expecting to see a 2nd Mrs Ko in the making, but in the end she was just this nasty little girl; that was how Boon Sin called her anyway. However her ending is interesting; I thought mother died, father had stroke, older brother dead, younger sister tried to kill herself, half brother almost burnt to death, Boon Sin went missing and all these on the newspaper and she just flicked a callous glance and moved on. Quite a vicious girl. She maintained her life as a mistress to a rich man and interestingly, has a lover on the sideline as well. Rather immoral decadent lifestyle for a girl who has neither remorse nor conscience whatsoever. If Ko Yi Nga were to be developed more, she could have been the ultimate villain. Unfortunately her story stopped all of a sudden but to me ended well; that sort of life she had in the end couldn't have been a good life.
Ko Yi Tai is another fella that is not the worst but one of the worse. He is stupid. Simple. If he is any smarter, he would not have ended up the way he did. The way he treated Yuk Fong (Yoyo Chen), it was despicable. And I thought at first it was Boon Sin! Then the way he treated his sisters, despicable. The way he treated his father, also despicable. The way he treated his wife... well she sorta deserves it. I find her most annoying. The way he treated his servants, oh so despicable. The way to describe Ko Yi Tai is despicable on top of another despicable. I like his ending though, dead with money pouring down onto his body. If he had shown a wee bit of kindness to those in need, he wouldn't have ended up dead in some god forsaken place.
Yuen Yau Hin, the illegitimate son is a boring man, boring character, by a boring actor but pivotal to the story. His most interesting moment was when he was bound, fainted and in a burning building because 2 men risked their lives to save him, one of whom my most favourite character in this series. He didn't die; in the end he took over the business, and a hint of a possible union with Tsui Sum as Tsui Sum asked him when is he getting a girlfriend and he replied "Not yet, but soon", hinting at Tsui Sum who by that time realized she has to move on in life which she did but no clear answer as to this pair though.
Tung Kwok Hing to me is the ultimate villain. The way she pushed her daughters, the way she protected her son, the way she does things, this woman's only concern is her son and herself. She seems to be enemies with her own daughters. I wonder did she truly believe half the things she said? Did she ever love her children? And if she did, isn't her love the wrong sort of love? Was her concern ever genuine? As Boon Sin told her "You fell in the end not because of me but because you never learn to let go" which is true. The last scene before she had a heart attack that ultimately killed her showed her dreaming of Boon Sin as a child running away from her and how she treated him; juxtaposed with Yi Tai struggling with a thief and then falling off the hill and hitting his head on the rocks and died. I was thinking was that to show her guilty conscience? That innately she knew she had done Boon Sin wrong but can't bring herself to acknowledge it? Or perhaps it is just a scene to show her nightmare, her fear of Boon Sin now returning to hurt her and her family and that Yi Tai was getting his just end because of the sins of the mother? The deeper meaning or the simpler one? Knowing TVB, probably the simpler one. But I find this villain the most interesting to watch.
Ko Siu Tong is just there. He has very little to do towards the end, and not that he could do much since he had a stroke, he couldn't walk, couldn't speak. I never thought he was formidable in the first place; his wife was more formidable.
My most favourite character is the cute Lo Yat. Every single scene except for later parts he is always eating and always a full meal. At the beginning I thought he would turn traitor due to the actor playing him, at one point I said "A HA!!! TRAITOR!!" but 5 seconds later it was explained why he did what he did. A loyal friend, a brave man, an intelligent guy, I was chanting the mantra "Don't let Lo Yat be a traitor", "Don't let Lo Yat be a traitor", "Don't let Lo Yat be a traitor". Later on when I am satisfied he is not a traitor, my turn to chant "Don't kill Lo Yat", "Don't kill Lo Yat", "Don't kill Lo Yat". At one point I thought "He's dead! He's dead!" and I had to wait 1 day to find out he didn't die. In fact his ending is a happy one. After episode 21, I was like "At least it is not Lo Yat, anyone else I don't give a damn!". I like him because I always like the nice sidekick who proves his unwavering loyalty by action. I also like how Boon Sin sees his best friend; secretly apologising for the troubles he has caused him, sending his best friend away as his plans for revenge reaches its final stages and suddenly the best friend appears, refusing to leave. I quite nearly cheered. And at that point I was as emotionally vested in this series as was Lo Yat with his best friend in the world. My only complaint with this relationship is how Lo Yat addresses Boon Sin; Mr Tung. A bit too formal for such an informal relationship but I suppose he only does so in front of strangers. I never paid enough attention to hear whether he calls Boon Sin as Boon Sin in private.
Which is why I suppose I like this series; it is littered with many characters, each interestingly is given some ample time to develop, and not just any walk on ke-le-fes sort of role. Most often the main leading characters have little to say, it is everyone surrounding them that talks a lot, some way too much. You see their personalities and in some ways the dialogue is interesting without being overbearing. It would be too simplistic to say this series is simple; the contents are simple; the dialogue is same old. Yes it has all the hallmarks of a Lee Tim Shing series, but thankfully without the Mui Siu Ching over cheeriness or over gloominess. It has the right balance to make you like or dislike or hate a certain character. Not all characters are perfect though; even Tsui Sum can be annoying at times. I love to compare Tsui Sum to that of Ruoxi from Bu Bu Jing Xin aka (urgghhhh) Scarlett Heart. The latter says to herself that she can't hate enough, she can't love enough and so tortured herself and those she loved and those who loved her endlessly with her indecisiveness whether to follow her heart or follow her conscience. The former is someone who decides on whether that someone she loves is a good person or a bad person and if she believes him to be a good person, she will stand by him no matter what he does, and that includes cheating her family land. Of course you can say Boon Sin and the 4th Prince are in different circumstances but the point here is the reaction of the women they love; in that sense I like Tsui Sum's more straightforward view of love; you stand by your man no matter what. That of course I must stress Boon Sin ain't a bad guy, he is just exacting revenge for what he suffered at the hands of Mrs Ko that is Tung Kwok Hing. His body has scars to prove what he went through and basically Tung Kwok Hing is such a nasty woman you can't help but agree with what he was planning to do to her, that is to destroy her family and thus destroy her, even if it includes walking all over the 2 daughters. And just so you know, anyone who watches Bu Bu Jing Xin will argue either for or against the 4th prince, and one major event that divided fans was the steaming of a well liked character, Yu Tan. I am one who agrees he should not only steam her, but kill off 9 steps of her family line for what she did was inexcusable. And so frankly I am not against what Boon Sin did to Yi Nga and Yi Kiu. A pity that he didn't do anything exactly to that bastard that is Yi Tai because he is one nasty piece of work for the things he said, the things he did and the one woman who died because of him and that is Fong played by Yoyo Chen, a very naive but in the end pitiful character. In fact, it was this character that made me suspect Boon Sin is a villain since this series in the beginning loves to tell a story by first showing the present and then explaining everything through flashback and it was in flashback you know of Boon Sin's motive.
I don't have any particular love for the flashback mode of storytelling. I felt impatient and I thought how much flashback to tell a story. But some are told effectively; Lo Yat's past, Boon Sin as Lee Ho and his relationship with Milk Candy Girl, how he was thrown into the river by Mrs Ko. What is missing of course how the heck he survived THAT. Not told at all. And I must add one scene is a direct copy from Kung Fu Hustle but not that I am complaining; it was rather fitting even if a bit embarrassing to watch.
But generally the storytelling in this series is well paced and it stops at the right climax; making you want to know more and can't wait for the next episode. I had the good fortune of watching with very little spoilers found online so the story was kept exciting and intriguing for the most part. But even if you know the ending, it doesn't matter; you can enjoy the story nonetheless for the process of it even if I do agree knowing the ending will spoil the mood. But seriously, if you are an avid fan of Lee Tim Shing series, you would already know even if this couple ends happily, it would be a very short happy ending. And in true Lee Tim Shing fashion, when Tsui Sum and Boon Sin whispered sweet nothings to each other in episode 20, I knew episode 21 will be a death sentence for either one of them. And with the exception of Safe Guards, every of his series almost always end with the woman surviving and the man dying. So I expected nothing less for Bottled Passion, but at least I said to the TV "Let them have children!!!!". Ahhh, cruelly, no children, and cruelly, not even anything except for a very chaste kiss.
And now the ending. Episode 21. The one single episode that quite nearly destroyed the entire series, and makes me yell out "OI! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON MR TIM GOR GOR?!?!"
And to know why I said what I said, you need to know the ending. Spoilers ahead.
Boon Sin got stabbed by Yi Kiu who herself took 40 sleeping pills or whatever pills she took. He rushed out, knife deeply lodged into his stomach, and dripping with blood and one supposedly dying at any minute. But he didn't die, not yet. He met no less than 2 people; one a passerby whom he urged to go save Yi Kiu first. And then he staggered away and fell to the floor and met with Dr Yuen. When Dr Yuen returned with help, he disappeared and we see him struggling to walk away from Guangzhou, do remember the knife still in his stomach and from dead at night with NO ONE on the streets to morning light as he struggled to get into a boat, even managed to get the boat to float to middle of sea or lake or whatever and then as he laid flat on his back looking up at the sky, again the knife still in his stomach he finally died, one would assume from major blood loss. Because no way he can die of the knife wound if he can still walk around Guangzhou for at least no less than 6 or 7 hours.
And why I wonder for that 6 or 7 hours did he not crawl to the hospital?!?!?! Why did he chose to die? Why didn't he save himself when at least 2 people could have saved him? Why?
One theory fans say is because he didn't want to die in the hospital and then have Yi Kiu charged with murder, since if there is no body, there can not be murder, at least back then. I can debunk that. Why? Because if he had gone to the hospital within 2 hours or so, he needn't die at all and he can lie about how he got stabbed, so Yi Kiu can get away with it.
Another theory fans say is he didn't want Tsui Sum to know he died, as in actually died, so as not to crush her hope. I can debunk that and I can only say "Because if he had gone to the hospital within 2 hours or so, he needn't die at all and he can" then be happily ever after with Tsui Sum.
Some more theory fans say is to show the mysteriousness of his character. Since he appeared out of nowhere and caused quite a scandal with no less than 4 women (try figure which one!), the fact that he disappeared so mysteriously is only apt. You know, like a magician and the tricks Boon Sin love to pull sort of nonsense. Yes, nonsense. This is not some mystery series; we know where he comes from, so why the need to make him just die the way he did?
A more credible theory is that because of a conversation he had with Tsui Sum where Tsui Sum said;
"You're not Lee Ho anymore, and I am not Milk Candy Girl. That is our past life. We had a chance back then, now we are given a second chance at our present life; you're now Tung Boon Sin and I am Tsui Sum"
So in the end Tsui Sum said to herself their destiny for this life is over, she will wait for him for the next life.
Fans argue a sequel is a must to show just that and my argument is when did this series turn to supernatural element?! He is DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! This is no Laughing Gor resurrection again and again and again and again. DEAD! MATI! SI LIAO! What more can be more obvious than a man stabbed in the stomach crawling half of Guangzhou and onto a boat for more than half a night and then DIE? Of course he died looking into the sky but still, he died!
My theory at this ending is 4 fold;
1. to shock - I was shocked, at the stupidity of it
2. to lend credibility to what Tsui Sum said about past present life except poor Tsui Sum, didn't she realise the past and present life she spoke of is of the same person in the same life? Anyone has the heart to tell poor Tsui Sum that it is THE END?
3. to increase the level of mysteriousness of Boon Sin's appearance and disappearance, even if Tsui Sum had to wait 6 long years to know he is deader than the deadest dead. But I wonder, why the mystery when in the end the whole mystery is debunked when Dr Yuen told us what he saw and later we are shown how Boon Sin died? If you want mystery, leave it at what Dr Yuen said; he saw, he turned, Boon Sin disappeared. The end. Why bother explaining until the intestines?
4. my choice of Tim Gor Gor sudden madness at this ending, that is to create a sad sad ending. My reaction is to laugh and laugh and laugh. It was stupid. Entire episode 21 was flashback, more flashback and then he died and then we find out how where when why. And I laughed some more. For me episode 21 does not exist. It ended with episode 20, Tsui Sum and Boon Sin, happily ever after. Episode 21 was like that relative you never want to see suddenly showing up at your doorstep with a major shocking revelation and then disappeared and you are left wondering who the heck was that and what the hell just happened. A certain sense of anti climax.
Exactly my reaction to episode 21. Take my advice; ignore episode 21 exists. There is nothing poetic with that sort of stupid ending. I would rather Yi Kiu stabbed him, he rushed to somewhere and die from blood loss instead of crawling here, there, like a scenic tour of Guangzhou before his death.
And of course ignore the inconsistencies; one part Dr Yuen was supposed to have left the city with his father, then suddenly he is still there. Or the ever changing outer coat of Tsui Sum in a single scene. Leave the technicalities aside and frankly the story is pretty solid in this series.
And that is why I love this series. The story and the storytelling; it doesn't meander, it doesn't go round and round, it doesn't leave any guess work, it is straightforward good old storytelling, except for the stupid episode 21.
I must mention one thing that I didn't see in TVB for a very long time and in here I see more of it, and that is the act of smoking. In here, it is used to show the loss of innocence and the craftiness of Yi Nga and then it is used to show the stylish and adult way of Boon Sin. You must watch how Raymond Wong lighted his first cigarette in this series; with such force and such style, I quite almost celebrated the return of smoking in a TV series.
Performances wise, I was very impressed with a few of them and lament the fact that by next year this series and the wonderful performances will be forgotten, if the episode 21 has yet to kill off the series' credibility.
The children who played Tong Tong and Lee Ho. Cute children, can act, and I dare say Tong Tong’s performance of a limping leg is more consistent than Niki Chow’s performance of a limping leg.
Raymond Wong Ho Yin portrayed the complexities and the sufferings of Tung Boon Sin very well. I like particularly those scenes where he silently cried, whilst eating the soy sauce meal. If you're Tsui Sum indeed you will wonder what is bothering this man, why he is as such. He did the mysterious Tung Boon Sin even better; and like a hurricane he swept into the lives of the Ko females, seduced them and toyed with their hearts. It is the gentle caring Boon Sin that I find convincing as well as the angry shouting Boon Sin, the way he shouted at Tsui Sum, scolded her, all for her own good. But it is the seducer Boon Sin which I find hard to believe. Raymond Wong is a good looking guy but he is hardly sexy. When he removed his clothes, internet wrote of his "amazing body" but I was busy looking at the scars. He had spray tanned himself for sure but I still find his pale and sickly looking. Half the time I thought Boon Sin just emerged from a long illness or is about to be really ill. That being said, what I love about Raymond Wong himself is he can act, no doubt but he found his perfect niche in characters from this series' era because the way he speaks, he is very clear in his pronunciation and yet there is a slight cute accent but then accent or no accent, the way he speaks, one word at a time, makes me think of him as an honest guy. There is something very old fashioned about him and that is what I like most about him. Anyway even with episode 21 he gave an excellent performance although the kissing and seduction scenes were merely adequate but not enough. Maybe in a more sexier actor, Tung Boon Sin could have been a more animalistic sort of guy and with a title like Bottled Passion, I would expect Boon Sin to be someone oozing with sex appeal, and not just good old fashioned good looking.
Raymond Cho, the other Raymond in this series gave one of his best performance in his career. His Tsui Ping is cowardly, he is at times you may think useless but Raymond Cho gave Tsui Ping a certain sense of honesty and goodness that you can't help but like the earnest Tsui Ping. I love how his character progressed to be stronger and stronger for the sake of his sister and how he defended her in front of Boon Sin or his family in front of the Kos.
Claire Yiu impressed me with her guest performance in Ghetto Justice and I suppose I haven't seen much of her because I was very impressed with her performance as Wan Yau, the nosy talkative but in the end harmless sister in law. My only problem with her is her dialogue is too much at times and also her pregnancy seems to be slow mo, as if she was carrying Ne Zha instead of a normal human baby because she is pregnant for the entire series which mean whatever happened to Tsui Sum and Boon Sin, it can not be more than 1 year less.
Joel Chan was at first quite impressive as the disgusting Yi Tai. He seems to make a career out of being disgusting. But after a while, I don't know, I laughed very hard when he was arguing with Tracy Ip who plays his rather irritating wife and he was shouting so much his voice broke in mid shout, like it went to falsetto for a moment. It was very funny, reminds me of Kevin Cheng shouting until his voice hoarse in I believe Last Man Standing or something like that. But it was a credible performance.
Tracy Ip as Bak Wai the wife is a bit too stressed for my taste. Her every scene she seems to look stressed and delivered her lines like she is very stressed which she is. But I don't even like her Bak Wai in the first place. I find her rather dumb and of course how interesting she should think of punishing her philandering husband by sleeping with a homeless dirty guy and got pregnant because of that.
Samuel Kwok was a miscast. I didn't find his Mr Ko scary or authoritative.
Rebecca Chan as Tung Kwok Hing deserves an award. First of, I find her very beautiful in the way she dressed and her hair and make up. Her Mrs Ko is enigmatic and scary as well as insufferable and a control freak. She gave a whole lot of layers to her Mrs Ko and I find her character and her performance fascinating. I also like her ending; a rather mundane death you know for such a cruel highly strung person.
I still remember Elaine Yiu's performance in Safe Guards, I believe her first? Anyway she was god awful in there but Safe Guards will always be one of my top 5 favourite series of all time despite her god awful performance. In here, she has improved so much I could hardly recognise that's her. She plays the suffering and controlled Yi Kiu very well, and even her look of disbelief that Boon Sin loved her so was well done. However the seduction scenes, kissing scenes and her act of stabbing Boon Sin were not believable. But I suppose even a very strong career minded selfish woman such as Yi Kiu could fall deeply in love, enough to want to kill herself for him but also reveal her selfishness by stabbing him as well. There is nothing selfless about Ko Yi Kiu. Anyway a fantastic performance by Elaine Yiu and I believe one of best.
I do not know who is Katy Kung, I just remember her from her guest appearance in Ghetto Justice but in here she has a substantial role until suddenly disappearing and then reemerging in the end with a rather fitting ending for such a selfish cruel girl. First of, I don't find her pretty. In fact I find Katy very weird looking; her nose, her eyes, her face, everything. I don't find her remotely pretty at all. But that doesn't mean she can't act. I find her raw, but in her rawness there is a certain I suppose earnestness in the way she acted. I don't find her pretentious nor acting like she is acting. She has potential but still a long way to go. At least she doesn't have the habit of looking at the camera unconsciously. And she does have a difficult role to do; the amount of scheming, conniving, seducing she had to do, I will say she did very well for someone I believe as inexperienced as her.
I have no comment on Vin Choi except to say he has that perpetual look of a worrier. But he is rather good looking and tall and fair and a good face for such a period as depicted in this series. A pity the acting itself is a bit debatable.
Eric Li as Lo Yat is my most favourite performance in here, not because he was the best but because I like Lo Yat the best. Eric Li has the face of a villain, and he has acted in many villainous role, too many to count. To my memory I can't remember him as the good guy so when I saw his face in here, I predicted he will betray Boon Sin. He didn't. He in fact remained loyal which made me like him more. Who knew Eric Li could he cute with a simple bowl of noodles in his hands? And he ate a lot. He was always eating which added to the casualness of his character. It just shows a well written character can turn an actor into any personality the writing dictates; I do think of this casting as against type. Lo Yat still looks like a traitor which I suppose why Eric Li was casted in this role; to confuse us all. Fantastic performance though.
Everybody else did well, and I have no comment.
Now... Niki Chow, fans love her will love her, fans dislike her will dislike her. I am one of those who dislike her because I think she is not just a poor actress, she is a bad actress. She is not the worst actress. I wouldn't even say she is one dimensional with a singular feature at any one time. She can cry, she can laugh, she can praise, etc but she doesn't do anything much to any particular character she is portraying because each expression is rather... amateur. She didn't interprete the role much; she just I suppose read script, see role, act. I find no depth in her performance. And she was supposed to look at our hero with I suppose bottled passion (ALL THE PUN INTENDED) but she looks... interested. When I read this character was written specially for her as her comeback series to TVB, frankly I didn't expect much. She looks better now, fuller face, fuller body, she is prettier than she was before, as maturity gave her face a sense of gravitas as an actress. Acting wise, I admit she improved. But her improvement is minimal. I can imagine someone else as Tsui Sum; she didn't own this character but she went along with it. She did better in later scenes as she cries but throughout every time she utters a line from the script, it felt like "pui ging"; meaning someone reading her lines. I find the way she speaks too lazy, her expression between happy and pained. She did not give Tsui Sum depth, when in a better actress' hands, this character would be more complex than Niki Chow presented. I do find her performance at times bland, but her best moment is when she has to be angry or tough, there is a little personality showing through but most of the time, it is to me a "just enough" performance; just enough to make do; just enough not to destroy the series. Just "just enough". At some point I did feel her performance should have derailed this series' engaging storytelling but it didn't not because she was amazing but because thanks to the story and the storytelling. She is almost always never alone in a scene; she is almost always surrounded by veterans who had more lines to utter, so frankly sometimes your attention will be shifted to other people. If you just sit down and focus on her, ignore everyone else and I can't imagine you can ever say she was a fantastic actress. To me she was a "just enough" actress. And I long for more than "just enough" although her "just enough" performance did not in anyway kill this series. The ending did, if ever there was any such element. However I must add I thought she was very beautiful in the last scene, her hair and her make up was just right.
VERDICT
I know many fans will think "Aiyah! Same old! Same old!". True. But good and trusted formula should never be dismissed as same old, same old. As long as it is a good story well told, why not? More so it has some of the best performances of 2011, memorable characters and notwithstanding the stupid ending, it is by itself one of the best if not the best TVB series of 2011. If you wish for something different and you think I want more, let me assure you this is not the run of the mill series. It has every element; love, hate, revenge, forgiveness, fate, destiny, everything! And you know what I love most about Lee Tim Shing series apart from the whole family drama and the sometimes inspiring dialogue? The love story. In every one of his series, his leading characters are often involved in chaste but deep love and respect for one another, Bottled Passion is no different. I find Tsui Sum and Boon Sin very romantic as a pair; the things they do for one another, the things they sacrifice and the things they utter, however forced in this series (the part about past present life), they're still in essence depicting a good old fashioned love story. Kissing is not expected; embrace maybe. But the longing, the stares, the shy meeting of the eyes or the passion in the form of love turning to hate turning to love back to respect and in the end the all encompassing trust is in itself one of those rare sort of love relationship seen in TVB series. They're so chaste at times you wish for that passionate embrace, not just grateful embrace, but that all passionate roll on the grass embrace. There is more passionate display in this series than in many of his previous productions but still all very chaste. I still find his other productions' heroines and heroes more passionate without touching, more romantic without being physical but Tsui Sum and Tung Boon Sin are pretty close in being die hard romantics.
And that is why I really like this series.
Good old fashioned story well told in good old fashioned way supplemented by good old fashioned performances depicted good old fashioned characters, even the villains seem good old fashioned with a love story which is touching and ... good old fashioned.
Which basically means it is entertaining, emotionally affecting, generally well acted, memorable characters with memorable lines, with climatic ending scenes in almost every episode leaving you wanting more, almost well directed and somewhat well written (as I shall remember bitterly how the last episode nearly pulled down this series and buried it deep with it in the deep dark Pacific ocean and shall become a stuff of legend, like Atlantis except I shall never ever want to find it!).
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to watch .. what I call a good story well told.
Just ignore episode 21. Chant this with me;
"It does not exist; it does not exist; it does not exist"
