This series is called Empresses in the Palace for the HBO version, which is why I've got it in the heading. For the rest of this post, though, I shall be referring to it as Legend of Zhen Huan, which is the closest translation to the Chinese title.
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| Image from the Chinese Wikipedia page |
At a glance: historical (scheming concubines inside the imperial palace); 76 episodes (~45 min each)
A note on Chinese imperial palace series
Ancient Chinese emperors had many many concubines (possibly so many that they forget about a lot of them), & so the concubines fought for the emperor's attention (which comes with things like power, status, or maybe just safety). Concubines have ranks, so there's inevitably something to do with going up or down in the hierarchy. Many TV series have been made on this genre, basically all of which basically run along the lines of: Oh the imperial palace looks like such a nice place from the outside & wow everyone is evil within its walls O_O *insert plotting & scheming*
Summary
The story is about a noble girl who gets chosen to become one of the Emperor's many concubines. She starts off as an innocent girl who learns to become cunning and manipulative as she fights her way up the ranks (and her survival).
Luna comments
There's almost nothing bad I can say about this series, so let's start with what I didn't like most about this: the time period they chose.
The novel off which this series is based is set in a fictional time, with a fictional emperor. Everything is fictional. I suppose that the producers wanted to make it feel more real, & so they chose a real dynasty & a real emperor. I wish they didn't. But what's worse is that the emperor they chose & the emperor in the novel are very different (from the very little I know of the historical figure). So it was like seeing a national hero being butchered on-screen. It's also grating because it changes character relationships a bit (e.g. her eldest son is not her biological son in this drama, but in history they were biological mother & son). & various other bits where they tried to blend an originally fictional time period with a real one, & hence merged characters & created new ones & so on.
Aside from that, I think everything else is fine. I don't know enough to pick out all the inconsistencies, but whatever historical inaccuracies are in here are a lot less blatant than a lot of the other ones I've seen. It doesn't make it 'great', but it makes it 'better'.
This show seems to be rather polarising - people either love it or hate it (I know that my friends who watched it didn't like it). Or maybe that's just the reactions I'm seeing (people being more inclined to comment when they feel strongly one way or the other). Or maybe it's the whole genre.
I'm amongst the people who do like this genre, because I like watching people plot against each other (in fiction only!). & I guess the other thing I like about this genre is that, in the sexist society that was ancient China, the concubines work around the limitations of their gender and gain power in their own way. They never complain; they just use any resources they have at their disposal. They never ask for anyone to give them anything; they get it themselves. They often don't do it in a harmless way, but there's something in that determination that's interesting to watch.
I really enjoyed this series, even though it's a very daunting 76 episodes long.
In terms of storyline, this plot isn't exactly new. The innocent girl, Zhen Huan, becomes evil and rises to the top of the harem (although I do think the endpoint is something different). They invariably get there with their cunning and their opponents are always other concubines, & one of those other concubines are almost always of higher rank or the emperor's favourite or both.
& like most of the series I've watched from this genre, it's clear that most of the plotting, scheming, evil, manipulative concubines are justified in their actions, and there's the implication that they really wouldn't have been like that if the circumstances had been different. In fact, part of the fun is finding out what it is that made them that way. Because, for a lot of the characters, you could imagine that they started off as similarly innocent new concubines, & over time grew hardened. The real difference is that they lost, & the protagonist didn't (in this series, at least). In fact, I think that this story does pretty well in terms of the motivation - there's not much of a backstory that pushes the concubines forward, so much as that they're dragged into it & can't escape.
Having said all that, this is definitely & by far my favourite palace drama. There's all the plotting & scheming, which I like, but I enjoyed the story of this a lot more than the others. I felt that in terms of building a story around all the characters' motivations & actions, this one is much stronger & more interesting than others that I've seen.
Characterisation
I do think that there are some key differences between this particular series and the many others in its genre: it has real friendships. Perhaps this is unrealistic, but it's nice to see.
The protagonist and her best friend entered the palace together, and they always stuck by each other. The protagonist also found other concubines with whom she formed a stable alliance until the very end. I don't think I've watched another in which friendships didn't break down & former friends turned against each other. Which made this particular aspect very refreshing - especially the part with the best friend. It may be their relationship which makes me like this drama so much.
As previously mentioned, I think that a lot of the characters were dragged into this, rather than really willing participants in the game of how-to-remove-your-opponents. As is natural in this story, a lot of them are removed throughout the series, & many times it's seen that they didn't really ask for their life.
It's actually pretty hard to describe the personalities of the characters, because you don't really see them outside of either getting framed or in the process of framing others. But somehow, despite their similar actions & motivations, they somehow manage to stay distinct characters.
By the way, the acting in Legend of Zhen Huan is also excellent. Even though there are lots of supporting characters (quite notably the numerous other concubines who are power-hungry but don't have the capacity to compete with Zhen Huan), no matter how little screentime they get, they make their presence felt. They don't just feel like a passing character - they feel like a threat, or a nuisance, now.
Now, onto the characters.
The titular character, Zhen Huan, is portrayed amazingly by Sun Li. Zhen Huan initially starts off as a cheerful, intelligent girl who enters the palace & has the good life lavished on her. After her best friend, Shen Meizhuang, gains the Emperor's attention & is subsequently targeted by jealous concubines, Zhen Huan retaliates on her friend's behalf. But this brings the others' attention on her, & in order to stay safe, she has to play the game in earnest. Eventually she gets used to this life, & from the defensive turns to the offensive, eventually rising up to become the alpha female in the palace.
I really like the character of Zhen Huan. She's smart, optimistic (at first), accomplished (in the sense of the traditional accomplished woman), cheerful, kindhearted, well-spoken, & generally likable. Of course, some of these characteristics are eroded through her experiences in the palace, & in the end she's held together only by her determination, love for those closest to her, & a desire to survive.
As for the acting, Sun Li absolutely nails the performance. She flawlessly makes the transition from the innocent girl to the foulest of them all. Her eyes change as the series progresses - she develops a hardness in her gaze as her character grows up. Even when she's doing something simple, like smiling politely, the look in her eyes is very different between episode 1 & episode 76.
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| Image from Douban Movies You can sort of - not very well - see the different look in this picture as compared to the one above. |
On the other hand, while the female characters are strong & prominent & interesting, the males are...rather boring. They serve more as obstacles & 'furniture' that the concubines have the navigate, rather than really active players in the game. Never mind, though, because the story is still good. Just watch the females =]
Costumes and set
Everything is so magnificent & grand. There's a feeling of 'no expenses spared', & opulence oozes from the first episode. It only gets better as the series progresses & Zhen Huan rises in ranks.
The costumes, especially, have this majestic air to them - it really makes you feel that very 'heavy' atmosphere of the royal palace. It's hard to put into words...I'd say glamorous, except it's not, because that seems to imply 'sparkly' & 'attention-catching', which these costumes aren't. They're just...grand. They also convey a lot of information about status & rank of the concubines, & also about the character themselves.
The costumes are by far my favourite out of any recent (or even older) historical series that I've seen.
So it's a real shame that they somehow made the actresses look worse, especially the headgear. I don't know how they managed to do it. But I've been on forums where netizens have made fun of how the costumes & makeup 'ugly-fied' all of the actresses, & posted as proof pictures of the actresses in costume & in 'normal' photos. Some of them were unrecognisable, especially some of the less prominent characters.
Nevertheless, when you ignore the effect of the hair & makeup on the actresses, the effect of the costumes is stunning. Just seeing the setting makes you feel the weight of the series.
A US version?!
So the news is that HBO's planning to air a 6-episode English-subbed version of Legend of Zhen Huan. Needless to say...skepticism is everywhere. So many netizens have already worried & made jokes about how exactly they planned to translate the series, what with all the characteristics peculiar to Chinese language, history & culture. For example: all the concubine ranks, the palace protocols & polite expressions, & some of the expressions they use.
There's also the bit about...76 episodes, 45 minutes each - how on Earth are you going to pack that into 6 episodes?!
In summary - there are so many differences between the context & the US culture that no one (online) can imagine how they can bridge the gap successfully. & it's not even like the case where UK history has been so often translated & depicted & romanticised that a lot of non-British people can accept their historical fiction. Chinese history simply doesn't have that prior exposure, & I think that Legend of Zhen Huan is probably going to be a bit too much for beginners.
So there's the concern that, instead of bringing a fragment of Chinese culture into US appreciation, it's just going to prematurely kill any interest that any unsuspecting US viewer would have had. That's a relatively good scenario - if it gets worse, it could give the US viewers some totally wrong ideas.
So I really hope that doesn't happen, & that the people at HBO who made this decision really really really know what they're doing. & apparently the Chinese side won't be involved, due to different viewing habits...hmm, not sure how I feel about that.
The US will also be re-editing bits, putting in new soundtracks, etc., maybe even re-shooting bits.
If you're interested, here are some articles: here, here, here.
(If the English opening themesong is anything to go by though, I'm a bit worried.)
Closing
If you: know something about Chinese history & culture; speak Mandarin or can read the characters; & don't mind a very long, humourless series about scheming concubines, then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND giving this a shot. Unfortunately, if you got to the end of this blog post, the chances that you fulfill that criteria (mainly the last one) are rather slim.
Still. Majestic costumes & set, excellent acting, deep characterisation...I really hope you'll give it a shot & enjoy it =]
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