New Hong Lou Meng/Dream of the Red Chamber 2007-2008

[owbjhx]

The costumes, as well as the casting of Yang Yang as Baoyu, have certainly caused uproar in China, according to the news. Personally, I think people have overreacted somewhat.

HLM's artistic director Ye Jintian, who won an Oscar for Crouching Tiger, has gone for a striking, deliberately 'operatic' style that fits the character of the novel. The novel is full of long descriptions of clothing and other household items/events that people nowadays would regard as over-the-top. The tone of the book is often otherworldly and fantastical, and as a piece of literature, it's amazingly ornate and colourful. I think Ye's vision of how the adaptation should look is therefore not out of kilter with how the novel works. It may be out of kilter with the popular conception of HLM as some sort of love-triangle-romance, but I'm quite happy they're trying to produce an 'artistic' adaptation rather than a 'populist' one.

Ye could have taken the easy option of using more standardised costumes of the sort that are endlessly recycled in wuxia TV shows, and which people are therefore rather used to seeing. Ye's designs do sort of jump out at you in a way that's initially uncomfortable, as they appear to be making a statement by themselves rather than just accessorising an actor (like those standardised costumes). It hasn't helped that there are no proper background sets to put the clothes into context. But again, this is very HLM - the idea of humanity virtually disappearing under the oppressive weight of material possessions, environment and ritual.

My concerns about this adaptation aren't about the costumes, which will just take a bit of getting used to, but instead about the casting, dubbing and acting - the 19-year-old Yang Yang, for instance, has no acting experience - and the necessity for properly-written music and minimal usage of computer graphics. It also worries me that the hysterical reaction to the costumes from some quarters of the net might put pressure on Li Shaohong & co. to tone down, for commercial reasons, any distinctive artistic vision they have. They might, for instance, basically end up making an adaptation of the 1987 adaptation, rather than an adaptation of the novel. And that would be an even bigger tragedy than HLM itself.

[mango_cake]

owbjhx, that's very interesting, gives me a new perspective on all this. thanks!

Actually I'm surprised people hate the costumes that much...at least from the pictures posted in this thread, I don't see anything bad about them? Now the HAIR on the other hand...what's with the circle things on the forehead that the girls have? Now that's seriously ugly! As long as they fix that, I wouldn't mind at all.

I'm also disappointed, however, that Baoyu looks WAY too young and the "younger" version of Daiyu/Baochai are way too old! I'm fine/happy with the casting of the minor characters, but I'm still not convinced about the Baoyu/Daiyu actors...which are the most important.

Oh--and I'm actually disappointed that the rumours of Gao Yang being Daiyu aren't true...from the second pic of her that was posted, she looks very pretty and I can see her having the right "look" for it in ancient costume/makeup. Too bad.

[BearBearNweather]

owbjhx, that's very interesting, gives me a new perspective on all this. thanks!

Actually I'm surprised people hate the costumes that much...at least from the pictures posted in this thread, I don't see anything bad about them? Now the HAIR on the other hand...what's with the circle things on the forehead that the girls have? Now that's seriously ugly! As long as they fix that, I wouldn't mind at all.

Exactly. It's the hairpiece, I thought the pics are taken from HLM Chinese opera.

[NuDaFu]

It's so unfortunately, because Liu Tao said in one of her interviews that she would be happy to play a part in HLM. This of course was 'before' she got married.

[Lady Zhuge]

Miao Yu:





Ping Er:





Xi Ren:





Second Sister You:

[Lady Zhuge]

Jia Lian:





Jia Rong:

[Lady Zhuge]

Young Jia Bao Yu and Lin Dai Yu:



I'm sorry, but it looks like a kid watching his older sister doing needle work.

Modern pics of the "young" actors:

Yu Xiao Tong (Bao Yu)






Jiang Meng Jie (Dai Yu)




Li Qin (Bao Chai)




Group pic

[ChineseChik525]

aw the kid doing bao yu is so cute in modern attire!
the kid doing dai yu doesnt look like a kid at all. i like the last picture with all three of them together

[BearBearNweather]

aw the kid doing bao yu is so cute in modern attire!
the kid doing dai yu doesnt look like a kid at all. i like the last picture with all three of them together

Yes, yes, the actor playing young Bao Yu looks rather cute in his white suit but the actress playing young Dai Yu kind of act cute in the modern attire photo.

Nevertheless, I like the last photo showing all 3 young actors in modern attire.

I realize that the costume and makeup crew likes that strange hairpiece. Look at Xi Ren in the red costume (her wedding image?), her hair looks strange too but her maid image as well as Ping'er's are fine.

[mango_cake]

Oooh, new pics! Really, if it weren't for the funky hairstyles on some of the girls, I'd be loving the costumes. Hopefully those ones aren't featured that often in the series.

And yup, young Baoyu is a cutie! (Remind me to look him up in 5 years, lol! ) I think the excessive makeup is making the girls look way older than they should--if they toned it down a bit, they might look more compatible with the young Baoyu.

Now...when will the pics of the older Baoyu/Daiyu be released? :P (What can I say, I'm impatient!)

[owbjhx]

Here's a picture of the new adaptation's "Four Springs". From left to right: Tanchun; Yingchun (nicknamed "Dummy" by the servants for her docility; played by Zhang Di); the regal Yuanchun; and Xichun.



In other news, moaning about the adaptation's costumes appears to have become a popular competitive sport in China, with the release of each new production photo followed by a chorus of howling from people vying to see who can find fault in the most hysterical manner. Among the more amusing efforts I've seen is the observation that Miaoyu appears to be wearing "a music CD" on her head, and a photoshopped picture of Baochai with a hairpiece made from slices of cucumber, which even Li Qin (the actress playing Young Baochai) couldn't help laughing at. Limericks have been written lambasting the costumes, and there's even an online petition for the resignation of HLM artistic director Ye Jintian, which apparently runs into thousands of signatures.

[kimtoa]

first of all I must comment on the maid image of Ping er and Xi Ren.
Wow they don't look like maid to me, rather mistriess of the house especially Ping Er. I guess they overdress her. As for the hair style, why do they have to make it look like the opera style? I thought I was watching opera. The young actors of the main lead are really cute. But the girls obviously look older than the boy. If the pix of young Bao Yu over look Bao Chai sewing instead of Dai Yu is more believing because in the story Bao Jia is older than Bao Yu and Dai Yu is younger than Bao Yu that's why he's always call her Mei mei. I love how they have young actors to act the young version. As for Jia Lian, the guy is handsome I must said, but he doen't look like a player type. I wonder who play as his wife, I must go back some pages to see if someone post it or not

PS. the young actor play as Bao Yu and the two girls play as dai yu and Bao chai have great potential to become famous later on. Hope the adult version won't disappoint me of how young bao yu, dai yu and bao chai turn out.
Oh I just notice Bao Yu have a combination of the two girls name. Bao come from bao Chai and Yu come from Dai Yu hahhahaha

[kimtoa]

Young Jia Bao Yu actor Yu Xiao Tong:



Young Lin Dai Yu actress Jiang Meng Jie:



Young Xue Bao Chai actress Li Qin:



Jiang Meng Jie and Li Qin don't look much younger than their "adult" counterparts, so I'm not sure it's worthwhile to even have these additional cast members.

why don't they cast these two girls to play the adult roles. They look compatible to the adult Jia Bao Yu
the adult Jia Bao Yu, I have no comment, he look fine and have that playful and witty looking of Bao Yu.

[BearBearNweather]

Oh I just notice Bao Yu have a combination of the two girls name. Bao come from bao Chai and Yu come from Dai Yu hahhahaha

He's fated to be caught between the two girls.

[sunnysnow]

Yang Mi as Qing Wen:

[ChineseChik525]

Yang Mi as Qing Wen:

wow. it barely looks like her.

[Lady Zhuge]

wow. it barely looks like her.

Yeah, she looks very plain and bland in those pics. Her eyebrows are too light and seem almost nonexistent.

[jadebunny9]

What have they done to one of the cutest actresses to have ever graced the screen? And she's naturally gorgeous too..........why why why? So she would pale in comparison to the two female leads? She looks so tired and so much older...like she's lost the spark in her eyes.

[owbjhx]

Just when the HLM production crew were starting to relax a little - the images of an oddly pallid-looking Yang Mi as Qingwen succeeded, unexpectedly, in not provoking the storm of criticism that had followed earlier photoshoots - yet another fiasco has occurred. In the last 24 hours, no less than 303 previously unseen pictures of various actors in HLM costume have been leaked onto the internet. Among these pictures are images of Yang Yang as Baoyu, Yao Di as Daiyu and Bai Bing as Baochai, as well as images of many other characters and of actors who have yet to be officially confirmed in their roles. The latter group includes Xu Jingyao as Xifeng, Ma Xiaocan as Xiangyun, and Anna Fang as Zijuan.

Executive Producer Li Xiaowan has reacted to the leak with fury, claiming that the illicit pictures are "invalid" and pointing out that some of the costumes are prototypes and some of the castings were (or may well be) changed. This is unlikely to be another publicity stunt because plenty of the leaked pictures appear, to be honest, rather unflattering. (For this reason, and also out of respect for the production, I'm not posting any on spcnet.) Baoyu, Daiyu & Baochai actually look quite attractive, but Xifeng looks - as many have described her - "shocking", and a fair few of the actresses seem a bit frumpy. I can well believe they're works-in-progress.

[owbjhx]

The HLM production has released some photos from the shooting of one of the novel's most brilliant scenes: the one in Chapter 65 where You Sanjie humiliates some horny Jia men, who have come to her place hoping for a bit of fun but instead end up suffering something of an awkward, emasculating ordeal at her hands.

Three playboys. Left-to-right: Jia Rong (Yuan Xin); Jia Zhen (Jiang Tong); and Jia Lian (Wang Longhua).



A private party. Left-to-right: Jia Zhen; You Sanjie (Yang Mo); and Jia Lian.



Sanjie: "You two boys think you have the right to take me and my sister for a couple of 'powdered faces' to have fun with...?"



Jia Zhen hesitates outside while Sanjie enjoys a quiet drink with Old Mrs You (Wang Gui'e).



-

In other news, further castings have been confirmed: Ma Xiaocan as the talented, tomboyish Shi Xiangyun; Yin Yezi as Baochai's perfect cousin, Xue Baoqin; and Zhang Meng as Xiangling, the well-liked young concubine.

Baoqin (left) and Xiangyun (right).