Romantic about military policy I didn’t know that the series, which takes place in the early 20th century, and even against the backdrop of hostilities, so much captured me. However, this is one of the projects that deserve attention.
At first, I was completely entangled in the Chinese wars and infighting, especially since in the series it happens somehow suddenly, for an unprepared viewer who does not know much about the history and politics of China, it was too unexpected. I had to concentrate on the love line, thank goodness, it was also sudden. That is, there is a feeling that you break into history, dive - and you are already immersed in the abyss of events. Awareness of the situation occurs after a while, and then you are not just watching events from the sidelines, but imbued with this story, worrying about the heroes.
And the heroes, by the way, are incredibly attractive. There is not a single passing character in this story, behind each character lies an interesting person, with his desires, ambitions, feelings.
The series revolves around the political struggle for power of powerful families in China. But besides this struggle there is an unspoken (for the time being) struggle for power in one of these families. The head of the I family is a general, a dictator, a tough and strong man, ready to sacrifice his sons if it will benefit his position in politics and affect the clan favorably. He is cruel and unjust, a man who inspires fear by his mere presence. There are three young married brothers in Yi’s family: Lian Yi, Lian Shen and Lian Kai. The older brother is disabled, the main adviser of his father and the guardian of all his secret plans, serves as a buffer between the brothers, the second brother is the main hope of his father, a major general, a man of difficult fate, suffering from overhanging responsibility for everyone and everything, and the third is a libertine, a lover of alcohol and gambling. Married to a woman who does not love him, and secretly suffering from this dislike.
But only one day, the third brother, Yi Lian Kai, surprises everyone by suddenly showing his talent in one of the military brawls. And then he becomes the center of attention of the inhabitants of the political arena and a threat to his second brother. Ceasing to live by entertainment alone, a completely different third brother appears before everyone: besides the fact that Lan Kai is beautiful, intelligent and ironic, he always has trumps up his sleeve - hidden talents, courage, popularity among women and incredible luck. In addition, Lan Kai is loyal and capable of strong feelings. He has come to terms with the fact that his father sees him as a training horse for his second brother, so he has only one problem - his wife does not recognize him, and however much he seeks solace in the arms of other women, all he wants to achieve on the love front is his own wife.
The love part of the series made me happy. I am attracted by strong manifestations of feelings: strong hugs, jealousy, passionate desires that have to be curbed, the ability to fight for love, the ability to sacrifice and remain loyal, the desire to share your fate, protect, be vulnerable.
Love and war are linked. This connection can be traced in the relationship between brothers - despite strong affection and warm feelings for each other, they are at war with each other, and in the relationship between spouses - to become loved, you need to win their wives.
In love scenes, the character of Han Dong Jun was laid out to the fullest, which is why some of these scenes are unforgettable, there slipped cool dialogues and statements Lan Kai, full of irony, tenderness or despair. I remember how he folded in half, put Sun on his shoulder, and grabbed her by the thigh, said to the spies who were watching him: “Mr. Spikes, go home, I am going to sleep with my wife today.”
In my opinion, the actors in this project took the best. Han Dong Jun alone is worth it. He is already sexy, and in military uniform it is very difficult to take your eyes off him. In addition, this is a talented actor who managed to transfer part of his character to the character.
Zhou Ting Wei (Lian Shen) played well, he created an interesting and contradictory image of a person for whom it is difficult to experience any one constant feeling: you seem to understand and do not understand him, somewhere you sympathize, sometimes hate, sometimes regret. I would characterize his character as someone who had to get strong, but that burden was so heavy for him that he broke.
Zheng Luo Jian (Yan Yun, wife of the second brother) is beautiful, I am surprised why she was not offered the lead role, glad that she was left at least some part of the love line with the main character.
Liu Jia Rong (girlfriend of Lian Kai) is charming, her character of a passionate woman who remains unflappable under any circumstances makes you remember the most famous courtesans of previous eras.
In my opinion, Xu Zheng Xi (the revolutionary of the Heavenly Alliance) and Sun Yi (Qin San, the wife of Yi Lian Kai) were somewhat behind in the game, but they were not that completely bad, just in some moments there was tension, false reactions. And Sun Yi, besides, cries unpleasantly like a capricious child, and the grimace is such that it is better not to look.
Throughout the series, I’ve been thinking about three things.
The attitude of the Chinese bourgeoisie towards the common people, which was regarded only as cannon fodder: anyone who happened to be in the wrong place and at the wrong time can be shot and forgotten about his existence in a minute, you can be angry with your son, but beat to death a servant, you can send to certain death whole divisions, but the brother with whom you are fighting for ghostly goals with these very divisions, order no one to touch. These people are servants, soldiers, workers, as if not people at all, but toys.
It is also difficult for me to understand how it is possible to form alliances so quickly, then immediately after a battle to disband, to fight against yesterday’s allies, to stand at the head of the enemy’s army. And it's okay that recently you and this family were opponents.
It was hard to accept that the third brother was constantly showing miracles of generosity towards the second brother, who forced him to descend into such hell, while the second brother could not forgive the third even unverified rumors and suspicions. In this regard, the last scene of the battle, where the brothers fight side by side, shoulder to shoulder, is indicative. By the way, I liked this scene, very beautiful, without pathos and unnecessary phrases, logical, understandable.
I came to terms with the finale only after some thought. Not all questions are answered. It is not clear if there is a future for the I family.
