Television: Nirvana in Fire
May. 10th, 2020 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nineveh_ukTL:DR It's brilliant, watch it!
One of the highlights of the past couple of months has been Chinese 'historical' costume drama Nirvana in Fire. I saw this mentioned online a year or so ago and thought that one day I should get round to it, and occasionally saw it again, and when I reached the end of season 3 of Black Sails and had re-watched the 2015 and 2017 cross-country skiing world championships from the sofa and still there was no end in sight to lockdown or coronavirus, I thought it was time to give probably cheesy, certainly gorgeously-costumed Chinese drama a try.
I am so, so glad I did. One, occasionally two, episodes a day has been my mainstay over the past month. I'm 30 eps in now, with a glorious 24 to go, and I love it. Who would have thought that people sitting opposite one another having conversations, which is a good 80% of the scenes, could be so riveting. And yet it is. Every single episode I sit there going "no, you're not going to are you? You are! Oh you cunning bastard!" about a whole range of characters.
NB I've kept this basically spoiler-free other than the basic premise as revealed in the first episode. No spoilers, please! This is one I need to watch to the end unspoiled (except for the rather silly thing I am aware of.)
Plot/set-up summary
12ish years ago, General Lin, his teenage son (Lin Shu) and his army of 70,000 were wrongly accused of involvement in a plot against the Emperor and were all slaughtered. Somehow Lin Shu secretly survived and thanks to a case of plot-function-itis/magical TB his appearance has completely changed and he is ready to enact the revenge he's spent all this time plotting, though with a bit of a time limit, as his doctor is dubious as to the chances of his living another two years.
Meanwhile, back in the Court, a hive of scum and villainy and gorgeous robes, the Crown Prince and his brother Prince Yu (and their respective mothers, there are some really enjoyable female characters) are both scheming to remove the other's power base to insure that they inherit when their father the Emperor dies (not that he appears ill, but of course these are hazardous times). LangYa Hall, the ancient Chinese equivalent of Time magazine, gives both Yu and the Crown Prince a 'prophecy' - to have the 'Divine Talent' as your spin doctor is to have the world. Who is the Divine Talent, they ask? Could it be this famous figure from the world of martial arts and wisdom who has just arrived in the capital in a very thin disguise covering his ‘true’ identity as an amazing martial arts leader, Mei Changsu? It could! Could this possibly be a set up? Of course it could...
It is fair to say that NiF, with zero nudity*, zero swearing, far fewer scenes set on ships or in brothels, and very limited blood, is in many ways the polar opposite of Black Sails. Except that for all the differences, both lead characters and the plot are driven by an obsessive quest for revenge/justice against a great power, while themselves suffering secret pain. And if that means that they, or the innocent, get hurt, well that’s just what happens. Admittedly the protagonist of NiF tries quite a lot harder than Captain Flint not to hurt other people, but he doesn't hesitate to do it if he has to, and when he does, he is brutal.
Tune in now for cunning plotting, amazing costumes with truly ridiculous hair ornaments, fighting, and people exchanging a wide variety of Significant Glances** indicating various cunning plotting***, nefarious plans, suspicion, stoicism, ruthlessness, guilt, and of course doomed love.
Here is the trailer. Click on the closed captions box for English subtitles.
I've been watching it largely on YouTube (there are a couple of different English subbed versions, this one has the Viki subtitles), but there are a few episodes missing, so those I watched on Viki, which is official but has really annoying adverts, presumably unless you subscribe. I should probably look up which is the version with the best subtitles, but this one is perfectly adequate and I like the footnotes as to what various honorifics mean.
Delayed: Complete YT series here.
ETA Oh God, I am halfway through ep 33 and it is encapsulating the agony of viewing! The Emperor is unsure, Consort Jing is so clever, and her son really, really needs to acquire a political brain fast. So much is said so calmly, but it is devastating underneath. This is why I love it.
ETA 2 Finished ep. "Xiao-Jingyan, why do you not have a brain?" I could have died. It is so good.
* There is a shocking rolled-up sleeve moment.
**There is a lot of what Joey Tribbiani would call "smell the fart" acting, except that the acting in this is top notch and the Significant Glances representing what cannot be said matter desperately. A huge amount is done with a the slightest movement of the expression.
***Actually cunning plotting, revelations unfold one after another in beautiful order.
One of the highlights of the past couple of months has been Chinese 'historical' costume drama Nirvana in Fire. I saw this mentioned online a year or so ago and thought that one day I should get round to it, and occasionally saw it again, and when I reached the end of season 3 of Black Sails and had re-watched the 2015 and 2017 cross-country skiing world championships from the sofa and still there was no end in sight to lockdown or coronavirus, I thought it was time to give probably cheesy, certainly gorgeously-costumed Chinese drama a try.
I am so, so glad I did. One, occasionally two, episodes a day has been my mainstay over the past month. I'm 30 eps in now, with a glorious 24 to go, and I love it. Who would have thought that people sitting opposite one another having conversations, which is a good 80% of the scenes, could be so riveting. And yet it is. Every single episode I sit there going "no, you're not going to are you? You are! Oh you cunning bastard!" about a whole range of characters.
NB I've kept this basically spoiler-free other than the basic premise as revealed in the first episode. No spoilers, please! This is one I need to watch to the end unspoiled (except for the rather silly thing I am aware of.)
Plot/set-up summary
12ish years ago, General Lin, his teenage son (Lin Shu) and his army of 70,000 were wrongly accused of involvement in a plot against the Emperor and were all slaughtered. Somehow Lin Shu secretly survived and thanks to a case of plot-function-itis/magical TB his appearance has completely changed and he is ready to enact the revenge he's spent all this time plotting, though with a bit of a time limit, as his doctor is dubious as to the chances of his living another two years.
Meanwhile, back in the Court, a hive of scum and villainy and gorgeous robes, the Crown Prince and his brother Prince Yu (and their respective mothers, there are some really enjoyable female characters) are both scheming to remove the other's power base to insure that they inherit when their father the Emperor dies (not that he appears ill, but of course these are hazardous times). LangYa Hall, the ancient Chinese equivalent of Time magazine, gives both Yu and the Crown Prince a 'prophecy' - to have the 'Divine Talent' as your spin doctor is to have the world. Who is the Divine Talent, they ask? Could it be this famous figure from the world of martial arts and wisdom who has just arrived in the capital in a very thin disguise covering his ‘true’ identity as an amazing martial arts leader, Mei Changsu? It could! Could this possibly be a set up? Of course it could...
It is fair to say that NiF, with zero nudity*, zero swearing, far fewer scenes set on ships or in brothels, and very limited blood, is in many ways the polar opposite of Black Sails. Except that for all the differences, both lead characters and the plot are driven by an obsessive quest for revenge/justice against a great power, while themselves suffering secret pain. And if that means that they, or the innocent, get hurt, well that’s just what happens. Admittedly the protagonist of NiF tries quite a lot harder than Captain Flint not to hurt other people, but he doesn't hesitate to do it if he has to, and when he does, he is brutal.
Tune in now for cunning plotting, amazing costumes with truly ridiculous hair ornaments, fighting, and people exchanging a wide variety of Significant Glances** indicating various cunning plotting***, nefarious plans, suspicion, stoicism, ruthlessness, guilt, and of course doomed love.
Here is the trailer. Click on the closed captions box for English subtitles.
I've been watching it largely on YouTube (there are a couple of different English subbed versions, this one has the Viki subtitles), but there are a few episodes missing, so those I watched on Viki, which is official but has really annoying adverts, presumably unless you subscribe. I should probably look up which is the version with the best subtitles, but this one is perfectly adequate and I like the footnotes as to what various honorifics mean.
Delayed: Complete YT series here.
ETA Oh God, I am halfway through ep 33 and it is encapsulating the agony of viewing! The Emperor is unsure, Consort Jing is so clever, and her son really, really needs to acquire a political brain fast. So much is said so calmly, but it is devastating underneath. This is why I love it.
ETA 2 Finished ep. "Xiao-Jingyan, why do you not have a brain?" I could have died. It is so good.
* There is a shocking rolled-up sleeve moment.
**There is a lot of what Joey Tribbiani would call "smell the fart" acting, except that the acting in this is top notch and the Significant Glances representing what cannot be said matter desperately. A huge amount is done with a the slightest movement of the expression.
***Actually cunning plotting, revelations unfold one after another in beautiful order.
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(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 03:58 pm (UTC)So much scheming and plotting and such gorgeous costumes! So many carefully calculating mothers trying to get their sons onto the throne! I adore Fei Liu, who is exactly like my son, and Consort Jing, and Marquis Yan - it's a great show for complicated secondary characters as well as the leads.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 04:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 04:41 pm (UTC)I love all the characters! Except maybe the Crown Prince, who so far has no redeeming features, though who knows, he may yet develop them. I have a soft spot for Prince Yu, even though he doesn't deserve it. He is just better enough than the Crown Prince to really know that, while not of course being in any way good enough. Fei Liu is very sweet, and now I have a much better picture of your son, even if his martial arts aren't quite so amazing, and I love Consort Jing. Marquis Yan I've seen mentioned as a fave elsewhere, and I suspect is about to become a lot more important. I do really like Prince Jing, as well - he's not just good and boring as he would be in a Walter Scott novel. And Nihuang. And in general ALL THE ANGST!!! Someone just spotted all that I love in fiction and gave it to me.
And there is so much Ilyan and Alys in there! I can see why you would love it.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 04:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 04:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 05:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 05:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 06:25 pm (UTC)I think the Emperor works very well as a character. There's a sense in which we see he is a human being and get a sense of his personality and drive, but we don't know him. Which I suppose is the problem for Lin Xie and so on.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 06:25 pm (UTC)Ed. "Jingyan, where are your brains?" Oh my God.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 08:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 09:13 pm (UTC)As far as I'm concerned, the standout was Alexander Gemignani (I wonder if he's the son of Sondheim's perpetual orchestrator?) whose excellent performance of "Buddy's Blues" also included a bit of zoom-friendly choreography. Just a bit, but I thought it took advantage of the medium with limited resources.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-10 09:32 pm (UTC)I am hugely impressed with the acting for Fei Liu. If the actor was aiming for a lively teenage boy with autism and learning difficulties, he hit it absolutely square on. It's the tone of voice that nailed it for me - my son is basically nonverbal, but he when he tries to vocalise, it's the same flat, explosive intonation, it comes across even in a totally different language. And there were so many quirks of body language, and the absolutely direct attitude to what he wants and doesn't want, and the inability of everyone around him to prevent him doing basically whatever the hell he feels like, and their variously annoyed or amused acceptance of this. The scene where MCS uses him to give a valuable present to Tingsheng was absolutely classic: if my son is going to give you something, you are going to accept it whether you like it or not.
And ha, yes, Nirvana in Fire was sold to me as 'complicated political scheming and ALL the loyalty issues', it was definitely made for me in that regard :-D
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 09:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 10:01 am (UTC)"Xiao-Jingyan, why do you not have a brain?"
That is one of the most splendid lines in the entire drama. [ETA to redact spoiler, sorry!] Consort Jing is awesome, and actually you get a sense that nearly all the women are (even the ones that died offstage).
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 10:24 am (UTC)I did wonder whether this would hit your "people are being deceptive and manipulative" thing and decided no, because it's like a detective novel. Everyone is being MASSIVELY deceptive and manipulative, but the audience knows that and so of course do the characters. They don't know what their enemies have got on them, but they certainly know that they have enemies and that they are being enthusiastically schemed against.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 10:48 am (UTC)It's an amazing line! I literally had to go and watch the exchange again, though the episode as a whole is so painful. Oh Jing, why are you so distrustful (oh yeah, everyone died...) The "stop where you are" one preceding it is surprising, but the striking element comes from the breach of etiquette in desperate circumstances. It is nothing compared to what comes next - which is of course what the viewer has been thinking for the entire episode. And it seems to come out both of the situational desperation but also the hurt felt by MCS. What the hell has happened, he must be thinking, for him to be turned on like this? Prince Jing, I do like you, but you need learn from this experience!
I love Consort Jing, she is so very, very clever and part of her cleverness is that she's built this position over 20 years whereby what she is good at it acknowledged, but the other things that she's good at are completely unknown.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 11:15 am (UTC)Not massive soul-destroying public embarrassment like Yuri on Ice.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 01:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 09:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 10:07 pm (UTC)It took me a while to get what they were going for with Fei Liu - I was too caught up with Nihuang and subtle glances of anguish :-) But he's really grown on me, with the Mei Changsu household. He cares so much, in his slightly grumpy way, and he's really delightful when he's in a good mood - I loved his "water buffalo" moment with Jing. I agree he's very well portrayed, though I'm only judging him as a character rather than someone who recognises a teenager with autism. I think it would have been easy to make him a collection of quirks that don't really hang together as a full character, but they don't.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-20 09:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-11 07:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-13 09:15 pm (UTC)