Time to Love

It was only yesterday that I discovered (and watched) the movie version of Tong Hua’s Bubu Jingxin (步步驚心) aka Startling by Each Step or Scarlet Heart. I’ve known the TV series since it was aired in 2011 and while I quite liked the story and the actors – mostly Liu Shishi, who is one of my favourites since Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei and Brotherhood of Blades – I have to admit that I skipped a few episodes. And that I didn’t like the pairing.

Source: http://news.mtime.com/2015/07/17/1544755.html

Probably hard-core Bubu Jingxin fans are not pleased by the movie version, but I find it watchable and enjoyable. Especially the colours and some of the underwater scenes are photographed beautifully, and – while I have some reservations about their historical accuracy – the costumes are “well worth a Mass”.

Ivy Chen is likeable as the joyful princess Ma'ertai Ruoxi, while Tony Yang and Shawn Dou make great princes. Shawn Dou’s character, the 14^th Prince was the typical “second male lead” who is friendly, always supports the heroine even when she confesses her love to the first male lead – up until the last minutes of the film, where it turned out that eventually he is a real prince (or he is the real prince?).

[Spoiler alert!]

I think that it can be attributed mostly to the pairing that I liked the movie version more. Somehow I have never liked the 4^th Prince, mainly because of his character. But while in the TV series his aspiring nature was more or less set off and balanced, the movie presents the prince as he probably was in real life: an ambitious and intriguing politician who willingly sacrifices others in order to reach his goals. (I don’t say that this is basically wrong – hadn’t he been like this, he wouldn’t have become the emperor and, most importantly, he wouldn’t have made a great emperor.)

The only aspect I cannot decide whether I like or not is the set and the costumes. The interiors were splendidly designed and built, with great emphasise put on the details – however, these details were often inaccurate and simply off-historical-time. I can forgive the carousel motif – well, a bit syrupy and filmy, but OK, a prince of the Qing dynasty can build a carousel himself alone, based on the heroine’s verbal description, he’s a genius, after all. But c’mon, Baroque wall patterns in Qing China? And platform wedge shoes? That’s not to say they weren’t beautiful – the qipaos have a modern touch, resembling to the famous Punjabi suits (churidar-kurta). I wish the Chinese still wore it as their everyday outfit!

And some extra info about the Scarlet Heart “package”: Bubu Jingxin is currently being remade into a Korean TV series (Goryeo period drama!).

Alla