How is it that I haven't watched it before?

In the flood of films, the wuxia series, in which heavily painted actors with white faces and skinny figures fly on the lines in the air, where after "battles" are reigned by impeccable costumes and hairstyles, where an overtly mock kiss or a long camera shot of the heroes' hands are sometimes called chemistry, this the film is still an island in the ocean of kitsch.
There is a story about a woman and a man. There is a story about a girl and a boy. About the search for perfection and the search for freedom. About righteousness and meanness. Without lofty screams and verbal declarations (such as "I'll never leave you"), the plot itself carries silent values. Silence can also be a scream, but for that you need the right direction. And here the camera work is perfect. Shows as much as you need.
The game is brilliant. Sparse facial expressions reflect surprise, surprise, rage, wildness without unnecessary contortions or the stony face that we now have in c-dramas.
The fight scenes are the best I've seen so far (apart from the comedy with Jackie Chan, love you Jackie). There is movement, speed, efficiency, naturalness. Of course there is also flying in the air, in trees, in water, but this is not a mainstream fight.
And there is chemistry. Actually, I can call it chemistry. There is sexual tension, there is passion, wildness, kisses between a girl and a boy, and the maturity of feelings between a woman and a man.
Music perfectly suited. First of all, it doesn't bother you. It blends into the film, it is an immanent part of it.
There is nature, views, but shown casually. Without turning to the nature and landscape film.
In a word, I am "for". And my heart was stolen by Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng. A beautiful, mature, talented woman. Chapeau bas Michelle.

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Don't mess with the eunuch.

Unfortunately, the times of the Tang dynasty and not only show the often bloody political influence of eunuchs over the centuries.
It is the 9th century and the court is ruled by the mighty eunuch Qiu Zi Liang (the prototype is the figure of another eunuch, Qiu Shiliang), who after the historic incident in Ganlu (the Sweet Dew incident, December 14, 835). ) takes a cruel revenge on officials and their families who, together with Emperor Wenzong, planned to eliminate him from the political game and deprive him of influence. Qiu Zi Liang murders families and factions favorable to the Emperor, with the apparent help of the young, ambitious heir to the throne, Qi Yan. But what we see does not quite turn out to be true. The game of appearances begins. Whose intrigue will be more effective, who will outsmart the enemy, who will actually win, we don't really know until the last episode. The young emperor, eunuch, uncle or Prince Guang (the prototype of Emperor Xuanzong II).
The bloody, cruel times of the struggle for power are well reflected in the plot of the film. From the somewhat caricatured character of Qiu Zi Liang, the arrogant, confident and cunning eunuch, to the personal protector of Emperor Cheng Ruo Yu, her sister seeking revenge for the family tragedy, various secondary generals, to Prince Guang, so impenetrable and mysterious, to a tormented but quite clever emperor. And here my applause for the good use of the historical background to show the characters of the drama and the development of the romance against the background of political games.
I liked the main characters of the drama, Qi Yan played by Cheng Yi, more than in Love and Redemption. This time, although he was stabbed quite a few times, he did not spit out hectoliters of blood as in Love and Redemption. As for the acting, I have no objections and I think that he coped brilliantly in both dramas.
As for the figure of the ever faithful, loyal guardian of Cheng Ruo Yu, I have only reservations about the credibility of being a great adept of martial arts. Being so frighteningly thin and without muscles, she just wouldn't have raised her sword. But I understand that actors are picked up on lines and various phrases require featherweight from them.
Mickey He's acting was great too, though caricatured. It is an attempt to give a certain personality to the character played. Controversial, annoying, disgusting, cruel.
Impenetrable, cold and then warm and caring Qiu Yan Zhi, applause for Xuan Lu.
In general, acting is a plus, although the characters of the drama themselves did not really convince me, as did I have small reservations about the logic of the plot.
Music made me nervous sometimes and sometimes it made me laugh. As in the drama Once and Only, the music was perfectly selected and worked together to add value to the drama, here I felt the singer was singing desperately when there should be silence. The soundtrack itself, however, is ok.
I don't know if I will be able to watch this drama again in the near future, because at times I felt torment, though not as intense as the young emperor.

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It was actually pretty cool.

Overall, I liked the drama as an inspiration to read and search for interesting facts from Chinese history. Lots of names, lots of events that I was trying to understand and confirm. Yes, the show wasn't always factually correct, but it is a drama. Artistic vision. The educational role of the film in this case even suits me. Acting works fine for me too. Finally, I can see wrinkles, dirt, the toil of warriors, facial expressions. In this context, casting a mature man as a teenager did not bother me at all. The more that the actors in their forties did not try to play the youth, as is the case in other dramas, where 30-year-olds, some singers taken from the round-up, jump up excessively, scream, do not close their mouths. Ah, Lu Buwei, Lu Buwei. You were great. A whole range of feelings on your face, an extraordinary personality. Li Si, where is this cruel chancellor? Actually, this guy is the one I'd like to drink wine with, just not poisoned. And finally Him. A tyrant or a man determined by upbringing or maybe by events? He did a gigantic job for China. Not alone. He knew how to choose a staff of people. Cruel? Hm? A fascinating figure for sure. Sima Qian, so reluctant to the First Emperor, would not objectively answer this question, but the First Emperor was certainly not a lamb. Yes, the actors were brilliant in their roles.
However, as an artistic work, it lingers in the excessive dragging of scenes, which is common in Chinese dramas. And here, at the end, I didn't like the pace, very slow, with endless conversations, basically the same. Nevertheless, I was interested in the fabula itself until episode 35, and then the sine wave.
I missed good battle scenes. The scene where two armies oppose each other and attack each other with spears rather amused me.
The music is pretty average too. I liked the instrumental part, but the vocal part made me nervous.
Maybe someday I will see this vision of the unification of China, but I think I'd better read it.

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My sense of duty motivated me.

I ended up watching Ice Fantasy with a sense of duty that I put on myself and told myself that I should watch the production. Because it's from 2016, because it's on Netflix, because it was popular then.
At the beginning, I even watched with interest and curiosity what would happen next. Over time, I started to laugh at the poor special effects and uncoordinated movements of the actors. Anyway, I noticed later that some actors had nothing to do with their hands and stood in such forced, rigid positions. The outfits and interior design alternately delighted and rejected me as kitschy. When it comes to characterization of actors, too close shots of the face show skin imperfections and stretched skin under glue used, for example, to stick wigs. It cheered me up again. Prince Ka Suo was either unconscious or crying, which made me think of another prince still crying, namely Crown Prince Xiao Ding Quan, ( Royal Nirvana), but while Luo Jin created such a dramatic, indecisive and internally conflicted character, Shao Feng in his role was made of wood. Numerous side threads blurred the action and lost the whole drama of the situation. Over time, flashbacks began to multiply, which artificially lengthened the time. It got to the point where I got impatient that the heroes couldn't die because they were preoccupied with remembering moments from the past. Yan Da's death was spectacular to me because I thought when it would finally be over. In any case, massive flashbacks in Chinese dramas kill the plot. Summa summarum, this production turned out to be a bit archaic in its form and I finally got to the end with fast rewinding. The series tries to convey certain moral values, such as a sense of dignity, patriotism, steadfastness in pursuing a goal, faithfulness to ideals and love. It condemns the soulless pursuit of power, the lack of compassion for others, etc. etc. However, it blurs in the generally poor production, accumulation of threads and problematic acting message. I'll say it. Not all at once. On the other hand, while very unrealistic, the relationship between Ka Suo and Ying Kong Shi was intriguing. So full of sacrifice, so ubiquitous, so tragic. But that was a really interesting thread. And the musik. Musik was ok for me.

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It's just a fairy tale.

While The Yin-Yang: Dream of Eternity gave the impression of mystery, understatement, danger and there was a mystical note somewhere in the background, this production seemed purely entertaining, such a fairy-tale.
Arena, fighting monsters and of course the standard defense of the world against evil actually resembles Star Wars, more of an American production for children and teenagers.
Acting did not make any impression on me, because acting roles did not require it. Well played, no fireworks. But I was curious to see how Chu Xiao, known to me as the reserved, silent Chang An from Blood Romance, would play in this movie. Here he showed a different face. A bit of the flashy, pugnacious Yuan Bo Ya. Complete change of "emploi" (fran). And that's positive.
Obviously the computer graphics are amazing, the music is well chosen, but otherwise the movie is not memorable and I won't be watching it again.

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Unfortunately, I was afraid of this

Unfortunately, I was afraid of this. After a good, though not outstanding One and Only, we have a kind of continuation in modern times under the title Forever and Ever. And I don't understand why? I'm on Episode 14 and nothing notable is happening. There are talks about wedding, engagement, walks, cooking, some standard kiss like in C-drama with bulging eyes. There is family, walks and a mumbling professor who is doing some experiments. Generally people don't do anything but talk to each other. There is an uncle, there is a grandmother, a mother who is generally against and bored. The so-called chemistry between the professor and the voice actress is probably only in the plans, because they behave like a couple of teenagers during imperial China. It turns out that a women's nightgown left on a chair is a shock. While Bai Lu and her friend from the room bring life to this series (Bai Lu I consider her a versatile actress), the professor performed by Ren Jia Lun is the same as his other creations. Will I keep watching it? Perhaps only fast scrolling remains.

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This is the first c-drama where I can honestly give 10 points.

This is the first c-drama where I can honestly give 10 points.

A beautiful story about friendship, brotherhood, loyalty, devotion to two very different personalities. Cheng Feng Tai is an apparently mild-mannered businessman, devoted to his family, but cunning and ruthless in business. Shang Xi Rui is a charismatic, himerous, very talented Dan performer in Beijing opera performances. He is also an inept financial manager of an art troupe. Both gentlemen will share their mutual curiosity. Gradually they get to know each other and get to know life, opera, finance and a different view of the world. In the background we have the growing Japanese-Chinese conflict, which, as we know, ultimately took a tragic toll in history. The fates of people intertwine in this drama and interpenetrate each other. Nothing is overdrawn, each thread has a logical connection and termination. But for me personally, it is a completely Chinese drama which is its great advantage. Finally, I do not have the impression that I am watching bits of American movies stuck into Chinese reality. It gives me an insight into the world of Chinese opera so distant and mysterious for a European. The world is a bit inaccessible, incomprehensible, but so intriguing. And that singing, sometimes melorecitation. I was slowly discovering the art of singing in this way. Finally, without pompous words and assurances, paradoxically, despite the sometimes slow pace, a lot is happening. There are no superfluous flashbacks here, so common and unnecessary in Chinese dramas
Chapeau bas for acting. First place for Zheng Yin who breathed so much into the himeric character of SXR. For me it will be an unforgettable acting performance. He plays with his whole self, he is created just for this character.
The other actors, I won't name them all, I will mention Huang Xiao Ming and Charmaine Sheh, were great. These characters are persuasive, they live, they evolve.
Music is as it should be. Accompanied by drama, not annoyingly insistent, but supportive.
I will definitely see it someday, I can still feel the atmosphere.

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At a loss, but ok.

You could say I watched this movie by accident. And I have mixed feelings, on the one hand, the slow development of the action discouraged me, and on the other hand, the plot interested me. And yes, in a few minutes I stopped watching and after a few minutes I went back to it again. It is certainly not a banal film, but that does not mean that it is an outstanding film for me. It moves on many levels, blurs the boundaries between reality and dream, between desire and realization, between superpower and impotence. But it just so happens that nothing is free. Especially when you reach for something illegally. Vice breeds vice. Does the hero settle accounts with himself? The end is in fairly bright colors. Money, quiet work in a bar with a beloved girl, but does that end the nightmare? In the last scene, Sang Yi is in the dark again. Lectures on the multidimensionality of time, id, ego, superego blur the picture even more.
When it comes to acting, I appreciate Darren Wang, although here his performance in moments of weakness and breakdown of the main character did not appeal to me. On the other hand, it made sense to me to give the character of Hua'er a seemingly expressionless, such overwhelming calm.
Good visuals, matching music and non-disruptive viewing are also pluses.
In summary, the film deals with various aspects of the human psyche and leaves the viewer confused. I will end with a cliche; so what was the author trying to tell us by that?

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