Lofty Water Verdant Bow

Main Characters:
Gam Sai Wai -- Raymond Lam
Lai Shing Nam -- Michelle Yip
Kuk Chi Wah -- Rain Li
Meng Shen Tung -- Ko Hung

Gam Sai Wai (Raymond) grew up on an island called 'Snake Island'. He was an orphan and was brought up by his si fu (master). The martial arts Gam Sai Wai learnt could lead to internal conflict and therefore death. His si fu died as a result of this conflict and he told Raymond to leave the Island for the Central Plains and seek the help of his old friend, who was Kuk Chi Wah’s (Rain Li) si fu. On his journey Raymond befriended a lot of people and two of them were Lai Shing Nam (Michelle Yip) and Kuk Chi Wah (Rain Li). Michelle and Rain were Raymond’s love interests in the series. Raymond and his friends struggled together to defeat the evil, pretentious Meng Shen Tung, who wanted domination over the martial world.

I thought the series was very entertaining and it surprised me. The way some scenes were shot gave a dramatic and artistic twist to the series; it was refreshing and effective. I’m not a big fan of fancy flying and unrealistic stunts. However, this series was a martial arts series with extraordinary people who had extraordinary skills, so within a fantasy world all the fancy flying was acceptable. I would much prefer a lengthy, skilful sword fight but this wasn’t Hollywood.

There was nothing original in the main plot of the story. Man’s greed for power, good against evil etc. Even so, this series delivered an overused plot in an admirable way. This was so due to 3 reasons. First, Michelle and Raymond’s screen chemistry. Michelle had a very powerful screen presence in this series and her performance as Lai Shing Nam was excellent. I am not a Michelle or Raymond fan, but the chemistry oozing between them made me root for them. I thought Michelle’s acting in comparison to Raymond's and Rain Li's was much better. Although Michelle’s characterisation allowed her to be likeable and admired because of her depth of love for Gam Sai Wai, she made me pity her without thinking she’s stupid and foolish. As opposed to Raymond and Rain’s characters, I sympathised and empathised with Michelle’s character the most because she always seemed to put her emotions on the line. The only slightly negative thing I could say about Michelle’s portrayal of Lai Shing Nam was that at times the character seemed too naïve and innocent for the role of an assassin. That was not to undermine her overall performance, which was the best I’ve seen of her acting.

Secondly, there were the unexpected comedy injections to the series. Lee Sum Mui (Mimi Lo Man) and Kong Nam (Chan Kwok Bong) were extremely funny characters. I enjoyed every moment of their appearances. There were other comedy characters who were amiable as well as funny.

Thirdly, there was the ending. Call me sadistic but the ending made the series quite memorable for me. Although it was depressing I loved the immense regret Raymond had to go through. It brought home the cliché message of taking what you have for granted. It was a bittersweet ending, maybe more bitter than sweet, which made Lai Shing Nam’s sacrifice worthwhile. I’m not sure if Gam Sai Wai suddenly realised how much he loved Shing Nam because he had lost her or whether he felt a deep sense of lost and guilt, which is not the same as love. It was a pity it had to end that way for Gam Sai Wai to realise the immense loss of someone who cared for him tremendously. The ending was quite beautiful.

Raymond’s character was the likeable handsome hero of the series. I found his performance a little disappointing after seeing his potential in ‘A Step Into The Past’. Maybe it was his character, but he was plain. If it had not been for Michelle’s strong performance that livened the scenes, it would have been incredibly dull having Raymond’s character constantly with Rain Li’s character. Raymond’s last few scenes were touching, if only his facial expressions were that explicit of his emotions throughout the series. Rain Li’s portrayal of Kuk Chi Wah was very weak and her screen presence was rather dull. Although she’s a pretty girl, I found Michelle to be more beautiful in this series. Perhaps Rain's weak characterisation made her appearance come across as dull because even minor characters outshine her in screen presence. It’s the first time I’ve seen Rain Li in a series, so hopefully the next time I see her perform it would be an improvement.

One other compliment to the series was the scenery of some shots. I thought the scenery of some scenes was very beautiful making it another surprise that TVB didn’t use the same scenery for every ancient series.

This series was very enjoyable and has been one the most entertaining I’ve seen so far from TVB in 2003. Although it was not a sophisticated and intriguing storyline it provided simple entertainment. It made me laugh and cry and left me feeling satisfied with no burning questions and no real frustrations. Therefore I recommend this series, whether you are a fan of the actors or actresses or not. Of course if you despise the main leads then leave it. Although you won’t be missing out on the series of the century, you’d be missing out on some enjoyable evenings on the sofa.