The Gem of Life 《珠光寶氣》

**shaw_mag** · 02-11-09, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by Ganryu

So despite all that, is it worth watching?

Was it exciting? Were you glued to your seats? Or was it dragging and sleep inducing? It's a long series to commit so still not sure if i wanna buy the DVDs.

It is worth watching. But it need your full attention to digest. They edit it in such a way that if you missed one eye-starred, body language, hidden words, you are pretty much

In other words, don't watch this and do these at the same time: chatting, playing games, having dinner w/ family (involve big conversation usually)

**Ghaleon** · 02-11-09, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by shaw_mag

It is worth watching. But it need your full attention to digest. They edit it in such a way that if you missed one eye-starred, body language, hidden words, you are pretty much

In other words, don't watch this and do these at the same time: chatting, playing games, having dinner w/ family (involve big conversation usually)

Nice. So i have to pay full attention for the whole 80 episode run?

**Liling** · 02-11-09, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by Ganryu

Nice. So i have to pay full attention for the whole 80 episode run?

I have to agree that the small details are very tedious to watch. Most of the time I just let it run in the background while I'm doing other things. I get the overall picture, but I do not pay attention to the business talks. In other series, I use to be very interested in the business scenes and what tactics they use, but in Gem of Life, they are just not appealing to me. There is just too much talking and too little action...

**triumph2004** · 02-12-09, 01:42 AM

Well, you don't have to pay attention to every single details of the storyline to get the big picture of how the storyline goes, but you do need to pay attention at every little details to understand the logical analysis of the story.

**sehseh** · 02-13-09, 01:29 AM

Someone please spoil me the ending please... (use spoiler box).

My intuition tells me that it's gonna end with a fizzle, not a bang.

**Ghaleon** · 02-13-09, 04:04 AM

Ok this weekend TVBI is releasing the complete DVD set of Gem of Life in Canada. I tempted to get it! it's been so long since i watched a long modern drama.

**bebe_girl** · 02-13-09, 10:44 PM

GEM really has no purpose. GEM has very little character development and story development. I really don’t know what the story is about. At least in ATE, the goal of the series was for the characters’ to build the ‘smokeless city.’ The viewers had the incentive to continue watching to see how everything unfolds. However, in GEM, things happen, characters get mad at each other, characters misunderstands each other and continue getting mad at one another. The plot twists are anything but interesting. Jessica gets into the car accident, Terrance cheats again, Terrance misunderstands Jessica etc. They’re not very interesting and I don’t see the purpose it serves to the main plot.

My problem with this series is it doesn’t develop, and it doesn’t show anything. Being an epic series, there is no excuse for poor development. Usually in grand dramas, you see how the main character began from the very start (poor, naive etc.) and you watch something bad that happens/revealed that ultimately changes their life or someone around them (who usually turns evil.) And from that, the evil person will destroy the happiness of the others surrounding them. Lots of tragedy, suffering and tears. But with GEM, we didn’t see how these character began (they just started off rich.) I would’ve preferred it if they showed Calvin (Bowie) as a chef, working his way up to be one of the richest man. I wanted to see how Lau Dan and his buddy broke apart which caused Eddie to misunderstand him. I would’ve liked to see how Mellissa (Rebecca) and Martin (Ngok Wah) began their relationship Which would of all made Martin’s betrayal all that more effective. It would’ve been nice to see how Jessica (Ada) and Martin encountered again and how they got married - which would confirm that Jessica truely loves Martin. They just came back and announced their marriage which made me go – huh?. I would’ve liked to see the two year gap. I would’ve loved to see Martin’s kidnap and watch how his character changed into an unreasonable and paranoid husband. See the problem? Everything is TOLD not showed. Hence, you have to listen, and listen to every conversation to understand the plot. That, I do not like. There's too much talk and too less action

GEM also has very poorly written characters. Constance, Terrance, Will, Ah Wor, are so dumb. I feel no connection to them whatsoever. However, Martin, Melisa, Jessica and Calvin were written very well.

As for acting, they’re really top-notch. Ada, Ngok Wah, Rebecca Chan, and Bowie Lam are brilliant.

Of course GEM had those rare scenes of spectacularness (very rarely). But overall, it’s still not that great.

The theme of GEM seems to be family love. However, Golden Faith did the theme more justice than GEM. GF had great characterizations, and rapports and successfully displayed how in the end, family is everything.

The ending is very disappointing. It did not end with a bang. It did not leave me with a satisfaction of “ah that was a great show” that I did get when I watched SOTH.

It’s better than Drive of Life and better than MR, and all those other recent modern drams but definitely not on par with ATE and nowhere as good as Secret of the Heart, Golden Faith or The Greed of Man. ATE had some moments of pure stupidity and loop holes. But at least it had exciting plot twists and turns and a handful of classic scenes.

**charbydis** · 02-14-09, 12:59 AM

IMO, the ending was crap! It not fit in with the theme of realism in society. And too little people died. The ending just cuts off so abruptly that it shocks me, leaving me unsatisfied. I would have thought that Chik Kei Yi, having made such suspenseful and intriguing endings in DOP and WAB, would come up with such a weak ending as this. After watching the promo, I feel cheated.

The real ending:

click to show/hide spoilers

The series is too long, and the story goes weak after *ahem* dies in ep 68
, but really does plummet after ep 80. More characters need to die in such genres and "The gem of life" does not deliever a good enidng. I hope there is an alternate ending. There are so many deleted scenes. There are so many unused characters - bad choice in trying to fit in a star-studded cast when the developmenet is not that great.

My ideal ending would be -

click to show/hide spoilers

**Josh** · 02-14-09, 02:10 AM

Omg is this really that light of a sentence for reckless driving and killing someone on the street? Just 6 months? Wow...

I havent done watching this...but I like that Gem doesnt have the generic formula of epic series (brothers separation, one turning evil...family feuds due to some past misunderstanding). Of course it has some draggy moments here and there, and some annoying characters but it's nevertheless pretty good and at times suspenseful.

Though people say movies should show not tell, thats not always for our best interest. I think it's a lot more suspenseful and effective that all of a sudden we see Jessica and Martin holding hands on the plane....it makes you go, woah wth and waiting to find out what happened.

If everything were to be shown including the relationship between Lau Dan and his friend...lol this would be a multi-generation series and people would so complain even more that its draggy.

**bebe_girl** · 02-14-09, 04:21 AM

You're right, multi generation is not good. Still, I would've liked more action and less talk in Gem. It would've made the series more intriguing. I still think it would've been better if they started with the character's past and go on from there (like start with Calvin as chef). I think Gem had a lot of potential but because of bad editing, it turned out less than what it could be.

And Gem lacks the ultimate villain. Every epic series needs a villain. No one in Gem was truely evil. Unless you count Constance since she was such a trouble maker.

And the ending feels unsuitable for an epic series. Not enough deaths! CKY is or shall I say was a pure genius at producing memorable endings. Gem's ending seemed too happy? I thought all the dumb characters did not get the ending that they deserved.

**Liling** · 02-14-09, 05:19 AM

Originally Posted by charbydis

IMO, the ending was crap! It not fit in with the theme of realism in society. And too little people died. The ending just cuts off so abruptly that it shocks me, leaving me unsatisfied. I would have thought that Chik Kei Yi, having made such suspenseful and intriguing endings in DOP and WAB, would come up with such a weak ending as this. After watching the promo, I feel cheated.

I agree with most of what you said. I was so shocked by the ending and at episode 81, I was skeptical as to whether or not TVB was capable of producing a good ending. There was just too much to wrap up and they did it all it 40 minutes. It's impossible after all that has happened. Moreover, like you said, the ending was a somewhat "happy" and unrealistic one. For a series that revolves around the lives of socialites and high society, I was expecting a sad ending that leaves a "feeling" on the audience. I was blank when the credits started rolling up and went "so that's it?"

So Sunny is gay? He likes Calvin? I find that quite hard to believe since the script didn't show any signs of him being one. Sure, he was very sacrificial and did a lot for Calvin, but I would not be suspicious that he was probably his best friend. When he said, it was Calvin the one he wanted to rescue and not Sylvia, I was just shocked.

Also, like many of you guys said, the series only has events happening and they seem to serve no purpose in the long run. Not enough deaths! Let's see, only Melissa, Derek, and Martin died, if I remember correctly. And the deaths didn't really do anything. It just happened and there wasn't that great of an impact on the story either.

There was not a single big villain. At first I thought Sung Sai Man was it, but he's not that smart either. Then Martin all of a sudden revealed his true self, but he only last all of 8 episodes and he became a paranoid man after his kidnap. And now there was the 2 year gap that I think is horrible. It seems like some characters had a 180 degree change (Martin and Jessica) while others still remain naive, immature, and stupid (Terrence and Constance). I was actually expecting Constance to change after all that her sisters had done to her. But no, she remains the saint she is all along. Also, when Terrence called her and she said, "let's get back together, because I still have feelings for you." I was confused and thought it was totally stupid. All in all, the script is not that well-written and it decided to tell, rather than show, us what happened. When things are told, they don't really have an effect and we don't sense as much as when we get to see it.

So basically, I went through 82 episodes, but there was never any tremendous transformation, but only misunderstandings and fights and when the day is over, there is a happy ending...

**Josh** · 02-14-09, 06:36 AM

Originally Posted by bebe_girl

You're right, multi generation is not good. Still, I would've liked more action and less talk in Gem. It would've made the series more intriguing. I still think it would've been better if they started with the character's past and go on from there (like start with Calvin as chef). I think Gem had a lot of potential but because of bad editing, it turned out less than what it could be.

And Gem lacks the ultimate villain. Every epic series needs a villain. No one in Gem was truely evil. Unless you count Constance since she was such a trouble maker.

And the ending feels unsuitable for an epic series. Not enough deaths! CKY is or shall I say was a pure genius at producing memorable endings. Gem's ending seemed too happy? I thought all the dumb characters did not get the ending that they deserved.

I disagree with you that the series should start more in the past like with Calvin being a chef because he's not the focus of the series (the three sisters are), but I have to agree what makes this series lacking and less memorable is there's not an ultimate villain/villainess. Even WAB, though focused on survival of the fittest and thus everyone was somewhat evil in their own way, we had Rebecca Chan as that ultimate villainess...
In Gem...we have a bunch of annoying, hateful characters that do stupid/selfish things and create conflict, no one is really considered a villain.

LOL I understand why you would poke fun at Constance...but I donno, I don find her all that annoying...especially towards the latter part of the series. A lot of the things she does are things I would have done in such situations (except repeatedly running away haha)...like the whole car accident or wong hei's character getting attacked. Jessica is more hateful IMO, repeatedly betraying people (and I don care whose sake its for) but of course Jessica is much more interesting to watch =).

**sehseh** · 02-14-09, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by charbydis

My ideal ending would be -

click to show/hide spoilers

I agree

Though I don't really want Constance to die (but honestly, she is that annoying), I'd rather have her elope with a Tibetan monk or something, never to return to HK.

THE END.

**kenixgoh** · 02-14-09, 08:56 AM

Alas! Finally finished the misery of Gems after 4 mths' suffering... If I watch more of Tvb's long eps. dramas, I'll sure die of boredom. LOL Better stick with 20-30 eps. Tvb dramas only. :X

**Sword Goddess** · 02-15-09, 01:28 AM

Hmmm I actually thought the ending was ok XD I thought it was kinda touching tho unrealistic. I think I'm sorta just glad the series is over haha. The rest of my thoughts are here: http://tvb.windy-goddess.net/?p=764

Originally Posted by charbydis

My ideal ending would be -

LOL! Hey that sounds pretty good, I like that ideal ending of yours. Would be cool if this was the alternate ending or something.

Originally Posted by sehseh

Though I don't really want Constance to die (but honestly, she is that annoying)

I agree with you SehSeh...the most annoying thing about the whole series is watching the three sisters >< I think all three are quite annoying..

**bellelim** · 03-03-09, 08:29 PM

I believe Jessica left Martin to die, is it true???
She wouldn't let the nanny and maid come in to check on him and insisted he wanted to be alone.

**bittersweet** · 03-12-09, 02:52 AM

hi everyone! Does anyone knows what the english song that's usually played in the bar where Linda and Bosco would go to is called? it starts of with this saddi-sh guitar in the beginning. THank you so much!

**Alzarius** · 03-12-09, 03:20 AM

Well, I finally finished the damn thing. It really became a chore in the last several episodes. I think there's a lot that can be said about this series. I've got to at least applaud TVB for attempting something of this magnitude- an 82-episode modern series. But unfortunately, I don't think it worked. I think this can easily be condensed into a 60-65 episode series by eliminating a lot of the starting episodes. I think overall the series dragged on and on... interspersed with some excitement, good ideas, and interesting plot developments... but none of that seemed to last. It was great around episode 50 (you all know what happened there), and also when Ngoc Wah started to go nuts. Then again, all this is subjective. But I think most viewers would agree that the series became too convoluted, with too many complicated business deals. It all amounted to nothing. They wanted us to feel the tension between the sisters, but this is what I got instead throughout the 82 episodes: argue-make up-argue-make up-argue-make-up .... and on and on and on and on. It just became ridiculous how many times you can betray your sibling (and in many creative ways too), and still end up hugging each other time after time. Also, there were way too many tears, and this made the show annoying for me. The soundtrack and music was also pretty lame too... especially the haaaaa-haaaa-haaaaa music that played everytime there was something "sad" going on.... like it was telling us it was time to cry or something.

I decided to just watch the entire thing anyway because I had started and wanted to know what would happen. I think the characters were more interesting than usual compared to other series, because noone was entirely good, or bad.... lots of grey here (good people doing bad things, bad people doing good things). But damn, what a letdown and an anticlimactic ending. I had really high hopes for this TVB epic series, but after watching this, I still don't think TVB has done a good modern epic since the late 1990s.

Now I need to go watch a real classic to clean my mind of this mess.

**tuoimongmo2007** · 05-03-09, 12:31 PM

wow u guys have such wild immaginations. If the ending was really that everyone dies or goes to jail that would make the series feels even more sour.While i think the ending was stupid but atleast it does have some morality to it. While the sisters hated each other through the half and rest of the series but indeed they are still family. That was the main point of the whole series. All of the mom's doing was to help out her 3 daughters but in the end it only ruins them.

I really hated Ada's character in here. In fact, i did not like any of the three sisters. I like Gigi lai but find her character so gullible too. The sylvia and Calvin pair was really cute at the beginning but damn they had to ruin it. Ada's character is so selfish but not as bad as Elyse. I know it's just the character she plays, but i never like linda in the first place. Seeing her onscreen makes me cant stand her even more. Though she looks pretty in here.

Wong Hei,,,,sigh...why did he even take this role? it's like so minor. His ending was even more tragic than the others. Even at the end, he never even got her love. WTF!!

And the whole background music thing..Are they trying to copy the koreans? gosh it's not even a tragic series..

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