remake of " Taipei Women's Picture Book " from " Tokyo Women's Picture Book " since it was launched in September, the audience's response has been significantly more derogatory than praise.
This is of course a bit unexpected, because the original work adapted from the drama, "Tokyo Women's Picture Book", has a very good reputation and has been portrayed by film critics to sharply describe all kinds of ups and downs in urban women's journey to pursue a "happy life".
plus the Taipei version not only has the heroine Gui Lunmei , but also has a good audience appeal, but the other supporting casts are also gorgeous, so everyone's expectations for the drama were originally quite high.
Unfortunately, so far, "Taipei Women's Picture Book" has only aired three episodes, but the effect is not ideal.
Not only did netizens in Taiwan Province complain about it, but netizens on both sides of the Taiwan Strait also "fired fire".
Douban website also has only 6.4 points (lower than the 6.7 points of " Shanghai Women's Picture Book ").
For this, I attributed three reasons to the "unpopularity" of this drama.
First of all, it is the unqualified presentation of "people".
Judging from the three episodes that have been broadcast, the image of Taipei and Tainan people in the play is rough stereotype , and even regional discrimination that does not conform to reality.
is therefore called "a drama that offended Tainan and Taipei people at the same time."
Taipei people think it is unreasonable to use "old jokes" such as "breaking high heels and continuing to walk" and "being so cold that I don't help others pick up things", and it is even more inexplicable to show off my new colleagues that I can see 101 fireworks at home.
Tainan people think that using the exaggerated makeup of the heroine Lin Yishan when she first came to Taipei to show that she is from Tainan, which is simply "uglying Tainan girls."
so it becomes "can't tell whether it's defaming Tainan or smearing Taipei".
Secondly, it is a failure to present the "city".
Although the first episode of the drama emphasizes "how is true Taipei people", not only does the concept of "Taipei people" seem to be completely untenable at the moment, but the presentation of the "Taipei" urban landscape cannot convince the audience.
Therefore, some comments said that the drama is "a woman's picture book without Taipei".
and listed many unreasonable details such as "Normal people will not get lost in Yongkang, but will lose their direction at Taipei Station ", and " Ximending may not be the first choice for adults to get drunk", but it is more reasonable to go to Da'an District and Xinyi District to drink.
"Not to mention that the drama has been going on so far, it seems that the Taipei station does not exist."
And from the perspective of audiences outside Taiwan Province, it seems that there is no shining thing in Taipei.
"Taipei has become a place that only shines in the lines."
Finally, the portrayal of "dream" is too rough.
The heroine Lin Yishan's "inner motivation" that she is determined to go to Taipei to explore is very unqualified.
This is of course related to "Japan's urban-rural gap is obviously different from Taiwan."
Taipei and Tainan are difficult to copy and copy the huge difference between Tokyo and Akita in the original work.
Even Douban comments pointed out that the distance from Taipei to Tainan is only more than 300 kilometers, which is about the same as from Shanghai to Nanjing, so it is difficult to create a "heaven and earth difference" of "small county town to large metropolis".
Therefore, it is very difficult to develop such inspirational themes on the land of Baodao.
In this context, Lin Yisan's yearning for "being a Taipei person" gives people a vague and unclear feeling.
What exactly is her "I am in my dream"? At least I can't see it at all. My dreams don't know where to start and lack a foundation.
does not mean to criticize Gui Lunmei's acting skills here. It must be admitted that Gui Lunmei's acting skills in the film are still remarkable.
. Comparing the "Tokyo Women's Picture Book", the heroine's ambition and ambition to go to Tokyo to work hard is clearly expressed in the first episode.
"Choose to participate in this game in Tokyo" means collecting all kinds of "elements that make life perfect" she longs for.
A boyfriend with superior financial conditions, meaningful work, Roppongi Hill, Hery Winston's wedding ring and a happy marriage.
Compare and take a look at the "ceiling level" "Tokyo Women's Picture Book". The years of portraying may be different. The "dream" of the Tokyo version of the heroine is clear at a glance, so her inner motivation can be trusted by the audience.
The reason why she got rid of her first boyfriend is also clear: ordinary happiness can be seen everywhere in her hometown Akita, and there is no need to spend a lot of effort to come to Tokyo.
. The same plot is handled in the Taipei version.
The heroine Lin Yisan knew that she was not willing to be just a noodle shop owner. She wanted more, but the drama did not show what "more" actually means. Such a vague positioning as
will inevitably "driving away" some viewers.
"Tokyo Women's Picture Book" was successful because of its clear theme and neat rhythm. Each episode hits pain points directly. It not only resonates with the topic quickly, but also as delicate as silk, which makes people empathize with . The tepid Taipei version looks like it can only be its shape but not its spirit.
So based on the above three points, we saw a "Taipei Women's Picture Book" that so far has not received goods from Taiwanese audiences and viewers on the other side believe that "Gui Lunmei cannot save it."
In fact, to be completely accurate, you still have to start with the word "picture book".
"Tokyo Women's Picture Book" has been adapted in three versions. Before the Taiwanese version, Youku produced " Beijing Women's Picture Book " and "Shanghai Women's Picture Book" in 2018, respectively, positioned as "mirrors" and "selected dramas" of independent women. Neither of the two dramas became popular, and the Douban scores (6.2 and 6.7 respectively) only barely reached the passing level of mainland online dramas.
In comparison, perhaps because the Taiwanese version is full of stars and the audience will be disappointed only by high expectations. It is very likely that when the whole show is finished, everyone will find that it is not bad in the "Illustrated Record" sequence.
And what is worth exploring is: Why is "Tokyo Women's Picture Book" constantly being remade, and several attempts to " localized " have always been difficult to compare, let alone surpass the original work?
First of all, shooting the "picture book" according to the routine of "female growth drama" in the general sense is probably the wrong way of capturing all the remakes.
"Illustrated Book" is characterized by a highly genre. In fact, when the comic column, which is the source of the story of "Tokyo Women's Illustrated Book", was criticized for "political incorrectness" of "categorizing different women".
The genre-based story base is transformed into a fully effective narrative when presented as a short and concise web drama, so what we see is the life of "Saito Aya and everyone".
In the Tokyo version, although men are passers-by, they are very recognizable. Every time Ayan enters a new relationship, she will change her living area and her life will enter the next stage.
compares to the Taipei version. The three relationships have ended, but Lin Yishan’s growth rate is very slow.
This is the awkward thing about shooting "pictures" using the narrative rhythm of general "female growth dramas".
The Beijing version and Shanghai version have a 20-episode scale, which is even more procrastinating. If you just describe how women can gain a foothold in big cities and deal with various choices in workplace and marriage, these "women's picture books" range from plot to production.
is far less silky and sophisticated than " thirty" or " twenty ".
Secondly, what is unique about Tokyo in "Tokyo Women's Picture Book"? It is a cruel city.
It is a place that the Taiwanese version of the remake can never surpass.
The truly powerful part of "Tokyo Women's Picture Book" is to face the cruel truth that cannot be overcome by the "class differences" deep in the jungle. The cruelty of
has not appeared in the Beijing version and the Shanghai version, or has not "dared" it.
I don’t know if the Taipei version will be ink.
Various women's illustrations that hide the "class" gap can only be simplified into a purer "female growth":
Women in small cities go to big cities to wander around, and after changing jobs and men, they achieve transformation. But this inspirational tone of urban dream pursuit is far from the cold and realistic essence of the original work.
In fact, many works about Tokyo can grasp the "cruel" nature of Tokyo.
Yuji Sakamoto wrote a famous line in " Memories of the Snow " "Tokyo is not a place to realize his dreams, but Tokyo is a place to let you know that your dreams cannot be realized."
, adapted from "Tokyo Noble Woman", a novel of the same name by Mariko Yamauchi, seems to be a routine of "women working hard in big cities".
However, the portrayal of class barriers is more realistic than the "Tokyo Women's Picture Book".
The gender dilemma of Japanese women is deeply embedded in the cold class differences.
Whether you want to stay in Tokyo by entering a prestigious school or intend to change your destiny with the help of marriage, ordinary women will eventually find that family background is their ceiling.
Even if you get into the first-class private university , you will never be able to integrate from elementary school to the "noble class" of the university department and the civilian class who entered the university exam.
So the beauty of the silk in the "Tokyo Women's Picture Book" will be ridiculed by the girl working in the flower shop: The frog thinks he can be best friends with the princess.
In fact, ordinary women "no matter how hard they try, they will have a wall that cannot be crossed", and it is even more impossible for rich children to marry a girl from Akita.
Aya once thought that Tokyo represented infinite possibilities, and opportunities were everywhere like stones. With her "cute appearance" and her ambition and upward motivation, she could achieve a counterattack and become a "good guy".
But from the age of 20 to 40, she "looked up the higher she found that Tokyo is a deep and invisible bottomless pit." What Tokyo taught her was the impossible for class leap.
"Shanghai Women's Picture Book" director Cheng Liang mentioned in an interview that he was a little confused about the unwillingness of the heroine of "Tokyo Women's Picture Book" to the end, and said:
"The fate of Japanese women is strongly tragic, because the class is very solid, and their women are very likely to be very small... Our women must have lofty ambitions."
Does thinking of climbing all the way to the top of society means that the ambitions are not lofty enough? This point is a matter of opinion, and I will not extend it here.
has to admit that the Shanghai version has a more "female equality awareness" than the Beijing version.
In addition to the "breakup fee", the heroine does not rely on a man to take over the plot, and she does not pursue a big goal.
This is of course because the aura and operation logic of Shanghai and Beijing are completely different.
, the Beijing version of the power logic behind "classes" can only desperately demonize the material desire environment, and was criticized by many netizens as "Beijing Women's Picture Book".
Go back to the "Taipei Women's Picture Book".
"The pain of a Tokyo woman comes from herself, and the pain of a Beijing woman comes from a man." How should the pain of a Taipei woman be laid out? Are there class differences in Taipei?
There is naturally a distance between the "Taipei elite" and the people who come to work hard in other counties and cities to take root, but this distance may not be the superficial and "ruthless" like the "Taipei Women's Picture Book" currently showing.
It is the different values that will be recognized only when an important life choice is made.
Chen Peizhen, a strong woman known as "Taiwanese version of Dong Mingzhu", was widely circulated in a social post recently. She was a real "Yongkang native in Tainan" outside the play, when she talked about marriage with her partner who was born in Taipei Tianmu, she found out that the other party was dissatisfied with her "poor family background."
And the many expressions in her post are far more touching than the current dialogue of the script of "Taipei Women's Picture Book":
"My efforts cannot offset the gap in the other party's family background" "People who are bigger than me have more choices... I am grateful to them for broadening my horizons and enduring the vast sequelae of their world: red pink confidants are full of pits and valleys." Only with such a real voice as "Taipei Women" can make people feel the realistic power as conveyed by "Tokyo Women's Picture Book".
Finally, one of the obvious problems in "Taipei Women's Picture Book" is: the same outline as "Taipei" and "Taipei Women" in the first three episodes is: I don't know if this drama is to "who to shoot", "speak to whom" and how to say it.
Although there are rumors that the purpose of filming this drama is to attract overseas audiences, so the Taipei city style will be marketed in the drama, but there is no official statement from the platform.
But if Taiwanese directors want to shoot Taipei according to the stereotypes of metropolis, the effect will definitely not be achieved at the moment - Lin Yishan said when she looked down at Taipei from the 101 observation deck, "It looks so big like Taipei", but netizens took a screenshot and complained that "the foggy residential buildings look like a second-tier city with bad weather."
And if you want to break the stereotype, the first episode was filmed in the famous Yongkang streets and alleys in Taiwan Province. Lin Yishan said to the "Tianjin Onion Catching Pancakes" stall that she couldn't afford anything, and it made outsiders unable to bear it.
On the one hand, the prices in Taipei and Tainan are not that high, and the heroine has relatives to stay in Taipei. It is not like the "Beijing Drift" and "Shanghai Drift" who first arrived in Beijing and Shanghai, so why are they so embarrassed?
Therefore, many comments will compare "Taipei Women's Picture Book" with the particularly popular " Vulgar Female Development Record 2" some time ago. Although I personally think that the core of the two dramas is completely different, "Illustory Book" and "Prose Style" are not much comparable, and even the life stages of women depicted are completely different.
After all, the end of "Taipei Women's Picture Book" is the starting point of "The Story of the Growth of the Vulgar Girls".
But if you put these two works that also appear in Taipei and Tainan together, you will indeed find that the success of "The Story of the Familiar Girls" is because its positioning is very clear: it is a story filmed for local audiences, and it is a heartwarming and humorous unique local drama.
Taipei in "The Vulgar Girl" is of course not bad, but it really stuns the power of the Chinese screen, because Tainan is really shot too well. The warm life scenes of families in Tainan Province in the economic takeoff era in the play are also strong enough for the collective resonance and recognition.
is the most local, the most moving and popular, and can conquer all Chinese-speaking audiences without marketing.
And "who to speak" and how to say it determine whether the audience can empathize with the characters in the play.
The technique of "Tokyo Women's Picture Book" is very clever. The women in the "picture book" will break the fourth wall from time to time and look directly at the camera to speak, and the audience's sense of immersion is also quickly lifted.
The heroine Aya said to the camera at the end of the play: "You are now superior to me, because you are the one I ten years ago..."
The audience who is becoming a "Tokyo woman" outside the play was very worried - it turns out that we all regarded ourselves very highly, but in the end we could only accept such an ordinary self and cheer up and continue moving forward.
If the "Tokyo woman" wants to climb upwards and the "Shanghai woman" wants to enjoy the sycamore tree above her head, then what is the uniqueness of the "Taipei woman"?
. For cities like Taipei, which many observers call "no real center" or "multiple centers", 101 and Yongkang Street obviously cannot "represent" this city, nor can it cover the collective identity of the people living in it. So what is unique about Taipei?
We can only expect the subsequent development of the plot to be more full. I hope that when the drama "Taipei Women's Picture Book" ends, Lin Yishan can interpret interesting answers...# Headline Creation Challenge#
