Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (斛珠夫人), the hottest Chinese drama at the end of 2021, once again proves that Chinese Xianxia dramas still have solid fundamentals in the drama market.
This drama is a new way to open up fantasy drama with its extreme refinement in many aspects such as emotional arrangement, female characterization, and delicate deconstruction of traditional culture.
The Ultimate Beauty of Emotional Lines
Drama is the art of narrative, and how to tell a good story has always been a difficult task in the creation of dramas. Under this, Novoland: Pearl Eclipse continues to work carefully on the expression of connotation and emotional arrangement, giving this drama a unique quality and extraordinary significance.
The story of Novoland: Pearl Eclipse is well laid out and clearly structured, and the three emotional lines are intertwined and complement each other, so that the expression space and aesthetic tension of the drama are fully extended in the narrative.
Fang Hai Shi and Fang Zhu
In the drama, all three couples are heart-wrenching.
Fang Hai Shi and Fang Zhu have experienced many life-and-death situations and have become attached to each other, but Fang Zhu is unable to respond to Hai Shi's love because of his family's mission as emperor.
In episode 36, Fang Zhu confesses that he is approaching the end of his life but he has many enemies, so if he dies, Hai Shi, who has always been arrogant and fierce, will be in trouble, so he begs Di Xu to take Fang Hai Shi as his concubine to protect her.
However, Hai Shi believes that she is only part of Fang Zhu's plan and is destined to be trapped in the imperial power from the beginning until the last bit of value is squeezed out of her.
Hai Shi does not want to submit, and in a fit of rage, she pulls out her hairpin and tries to kill herself, but Di Xu reaches out in time to block it and lets it pierce his hand. The two are tangled in a fatalistic relationship, with twists and turns that are heart-wrenching.
Di Xu and Ti Lan
The extremely contradictory and tangled love between Di Xu and Ti Lan.
Di Xu, who lost his beloved Zi Zan in the chaos of the army, has lost his mind and changed his temperament, and is eager to be rid of his earthly life and chase it to the grave, but has to endure long years due to the responsibility of the throne.
Ti Lan, a tribal princess, is sent to the Great Zheng to make a marriage with Di Xu, but she is treated as a stand-in by Di Xu, who is obsessed with her old love and resents and hates her. At first, it was “I thought of you as her double, I never loved you”, but the truth is “I clearly thought of you as her double, but now I can't tell who I really love”.
Fang Zhuo Ying and Zhe Liu
The ultimate unrequited love between Fang Zhuo Ying and Zhe Liu is unbearable to touch.
Zhuo Ying, who is straightforward and introverted, meets Zhe Liu, who is blind, and cares for her carefully, not even daring to tell her feelings.
Although Zhe Liu is blind and cannot see his love, but her heart has outlined his appearance a thousand times and she does not regret spending his whole life with him. This delicate portrayal of this Eastern-style deep love, bursting out of the endless infectious power.
For these three lovers, the screenwriter has given them rich character experiences, successfully creating the Novoland: Pearl Eclipse character group.
Exploring the “Inspirational Beauty” of Women
Novoland: Pearl Eclipse's episodes are able to break the mold of traditional drama, allowing people to experience new ways of doing things in the usual settings, thanks to the portrayal of female characters.
The balance of the female characters makes each of them have a full growth line. At the same time, the charm of the female characters in the drama can be more empathetic to the viewers under the deep love and conflict, thus gaining an unprecedented sense of power in them.
The drama places Hai Shi's growth in a complex historical context, tied to the fate of her family and country. She is brave and resourceful, wearing male clothes to achieve great success for the country, and she also has a heart for the righteousness of her family and country and dares to challenge the powerful. She is straightforward and honest, keeping sober and keeping the greater good in mind in all matters.
Ti Lan is soft but strong, and maintains a tough heart even in difficult situations. When she is not taken seriously by Di Xu, she does not give up on herself, but arranges her days in a colorful way. When she was summoned by Di Xu, she was not submissive, but revealed a hint of untamedness in her bones.
Zhe Liu endures a big task at a critical moment and still has her own inner pursuit even after suffering heavy trauma, with perseverance.
In the drama, each female character has their own life ups and downs, but they all maintain their own unique colorful side.
Nowadays, a single female character is no longer in line with the public aesthetic, giving women a higher level of consciousness awakening and charm, in order to better meet the needs of the audience and the general trend of ancient drama progression.
Delving Into the Delicate “Chinese Beauty”
One of the reasons why Novoland: Pearl Eclipse has won the popularity of the market and users is that it has found the right interface between film and television creation and aesthetic upgrading, it starts the narrative from the standpoint of classical Chinese culture, capturing the marks of classical Chinese beauty in details such assets, lines, manners, and costumes.
For example, the whisking tea sequence draws on the “Cha Lun (茶论)” written by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.
In the scene of Fang Zhu and Zhu Ying playing chess, the timing device that drops the tumblers is based on the ancient timer's principle of dripping water.
The faucet on the side of the board slowly spits out the falling ball, which repeatedly turns with the track to hit the bell, signifying that life is like chess and the falling piece has no regrets.
In addition, the restoration of traditional Chinese architectural features, the presentation of China's Song dynasty burning incense, the six arts in traditional Chinese culture (rites, music, archery, chariotry, calligraphy, mathematics), and so on.
Novoland: Pearl Eclipse is full of craftsmanship in the details, and in a silent way, it introduces the audience to the beauty of China.
Costumes in Novoland: Pearl Eclipse
In terms of traditional clothing in the drama, the first few episodes, Yang Mi are relatively simple male clothing, but compared to Eternal Love of Dream, Legend of Fu Yao, or much more sophisticated.
In fact, in ancient costume dramas, women dressing up as men is a test. Clean and sharp hair, handsome features need simple and clean makeup, in order to give a valiant and handsome male temperament.
Hai Shi also has a lot of exotic styling, which has never been seen in previous dramas, exquisite frontal ornaments with appropriate makeup, too stunning.
The red dress with veil look is even more swaying, revealing beautiful eyebrows.
The next palace look is both gentle and soft with a strong atmosphere.
In addition, the supporting cast in this drama is surprising, Ti Lan is a stunning exotic look at the beginning, as the lines in the drama said “Although through the curtain, wearing a veil, but still feel that she is a rare beauty”.
Chen Xiao Yun's face line is very smooth, her features are small and delicate, the corners of her eyes are slightly drooping, and her eyes always give people a feeling of pity when they are in tears.
The palace look is also charming, high hair bun with complicated hair accessories, very suitable for Chen Xiao Yun's classical temperament.
Novoland: Pearl Eclipse opens a new stage in the creation of Chinese fantasy dramas with multi-angle exploration, especially the flexible integration of classical culture into the advancement of the plot, so that the audience is unconsciously immersed in the echoes of traditional culture, which has positive significance and reference value for stimulating new increments of dramas.