My bookshelf

Watched the three episodes over a long time, wasn't that addictive, felt like some of it was familiar. Finished the third episode yesterday about the Alps and Matterhorn, and it was quite captivating.

Liked it. Gained an understanding of the overall process from the Winter Solstice to the Lantern Festival, finding the traditions of 'Kitchen God', Spring couplets, and the mix of gambling and shopping interesting. The slight melancholy as the lanterns go out was particularly moving.

A host of renowned actors bring a majestic and powerful presence, with striking colors and outstanding music. The scenes are exquisitely crafted; the control is so strong, deeply admirable, a highlight moment for Director Zhang. It explores the themes of national resilience, repression, and the pursuit of righteousness with ample close-ups; the confrontations and choices between the broken sword, the Nameless swordsman, and the King of Qin evoke a profound melancholy. It's a pity that Chinese cinema hasn't continued to evolve from there. Otherwise, 20 years on, how many more excellent films, new directors, and fresh perspectives might there have been? Where are they now?

The subject matter and visual production are excellent, but it doesn't achieve an effortless mastery. It's somewhat mysterious, with a disjointed plot and lacks directness—it feels very National Geographic-like in its strong pursuit of mystery and commercial style focused on visual effects. Details like the relative spatial positions of one planet to another, and where the Solar System is in relation to the galaxy, are all missing. The use of imperial units also greatly affects the direct impression of many figures. The attitude in scientific popularization should be humble, considerate of the audience, employing wonderful language, making appropriate use of tools, flowing coherently, and being engaging.

Watching this made me feel very conflicted. The epic and solemn background is at odds with the trivial and simplistic love stories next door, the palpable realness of Empress Dowager Cixi contrasts with the childlike play-acting around her, and the mask-like flat characters versus the complex real people. It's a perfect interpretation of old wine in a new bottle, with tacky and conservative production, dragged-out dialogues. Watching at 1.5x and 2x speed alternately didn’t feel out of place. The vast historical changes are crammed into a main narrative of romantic affairs which was infuriating. I only kept watching due to Yuko Tanaka’s superb portrayal of Cixi and my interest in history, and those three points are solely for Yuko Tanaka's performance. It's frustrating how this mediocre production and environment along with the naivety are accepted. Placing domestic and international actors together highlights glaring disparities. The core difference lies in understanding history and empathizing with the characters. On 2021-10-29, watched the first episode, quite interesting! Will continue watching!

The expression and narrative ability inside the play (character) and outside the play (plot) are poor. There's a clear portrayal of father-son conflict and the defensive walls they build against each other. The acting skills of the father and son are commendable, but it still feels like there's too much artificiality in and out of the play, lacking the soul of the characters. It's hard to empathize, doesn't evoke emotions, the storyline is disjointed and confusing, leading to a wandering mind throughout the viewing process.

Watched the episode about Yunnan, China; it was great. I'll look for other episodes to watch.

A superficial introduction with unclear logical development. Instead of telling the story well, it focuses too much on sensationalism. The repeated use of scenes made me question how many of the film segments truly correspond to the historical events discussed. Overall, it appears somewhat cheap, and it's hard to say how much effort was put into making this film. It's also hard to say how much interest this film could arouse among viewers.

Mysteries of China from magellan tv, recommended by Voices of the past channel. The production quality is exceptional, the visuals are meticulously natural and the story is interesting, progressing gradually. It only took a few minutes before I decided to watch it all. Surprisingly, a Chinese team did a lot of work on it, and seeing Jin Tiemu's name was unexpected. It's too short; I haven't had enough, it would be great if it were a series. This country has too many stories that are still sleeping. I deduct a point for clickbait title; such a grand title only offers a brief introduction to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

My second journey through 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. The road is still long. It's late at night, time to sleep.