Tag Archive | romance

When a Snail Falls in Love: Less Is More

Apr4

“Less is More” is a common enough phrase, but rarely is it shown well in TV land. TV and movies more often than not, live in excess, clocking in far longer than the stories warrant and sometimes turning amazing shows at the beginning into shallow shells of themselves at the end. Romances or romantic comedies can be especially troublesome with this, throwing obstacle after more bizarre obstacle in front of the would-be happy couple in order to get in just one more episode.

The Chinese drama When a Snail Falls in Love, makes all the right moves where others fail. First off, the episodes are short, only thirty minutes, instantly increasing the pace compared to other shows. Second, although it’s a love story, that part is sparse at best, making the romantic moments that much sweeter, subtle though they may be. In fact,  the ending may be the only glaring part in the romance with (spoilers) a sudden kiss and proposal. At the same time, though, the couple has earned it by sticking to the case and having each other’s back. Thirdly, the main story is a police crime drama, not merely a cover story for the romance.  Despite the cute drawings the main character does, the story is anything but fluffy, with a ton of great action scenes and amazing cinematography that screams awards shows. It is also helps that the setting is somewhat exotic–southeast China (I think), and Myanmar.

The “snail” in the story is Xu Xu a psychological profiler, played by Wang Zi Wen.  Xu Xu’s deduction skills are top notch, but she’s not super athletic and is continually at risk for not being able to meet the physical standards of the police force.  She isn’t a bad cartoonist either, and quickly makes an animal cartoon character for each of her coworkers, including the boss, Ji Bai, who is her “lion.” Ji Bai (played by Wang Kai) is both good at his job and is also very athletic. His action scenes are pretty awesome as he uses his long legs to kick in one bad guy after another.

Xu Xu didn’t seem terribly interesting at first, but by the end she’s grown into her own and the audience can see why she deserves a spot on the force. Not only does she strive to meet the physical standards, but she is an intuitive detective, spotting things others don’t and having a sixth sense for when something is off. She is also courageous and bold at unexpected times, like when infiltrating a gambling den. Her alien watchfulness at the beginning (think Sherlock Holmes) becomes more feeling and animated by the end, perhaps due to her finding love.

Ji Bai is a good leader admired by women and respected by his colleagues. He is one of those all around good guys and if he’s a little eager to rush into danger, it’s because he likes and is good at doing his job. He has movie star looks and skinny arms that are somehow endearing. His weakness for a childhood friend is shown to be just that as she (again, spoiler) turns out to be one thread in an entire carpet of swindlers, drug dealers, traffickers, and near-do-wells, all of which he presumably had no idea.

The best thing about When a Snails Falls in Love is its unpredictability.  One starts watching thinking it’s going to be a typical romance with a sheen of police drama over the top.  Oh no.  The police investigation IS the story, and how refreshing it is. One crime after another is woven together in a way that makes the show feel more like a very long movie than just a show. In fact, the investigation pushes the romance story line to the side pretty fast, making the cartoon drawings with the theme song extremely out of place until they are finally dropped and preserved in Xu Xu’s comic book diary.

When a Snail Falls in love has less running time that other shows, but does far more with it.  A shout out to the editors and the director Zhang Kai Zhou. They know how to get the most out of their actors and quickly get to the heart of scenes instead of wasting time with filler. The choice to put the focus on the crime solving is what makes it stand out in a sea of romance dramas.  When a Snail Falls in Love is available on dramafever.com and viki.com.

Into the Wild: Fairy Tales Run Amok!

Jan30

Into the WildEver wonder what it would be like to throw all of the old fairy tales together and see what happens?  That’s pretty much the plot of Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durnst.  The “Wild” is a storybook forest that’s goal is to complete story upon story of fairy tales, recycling the characters such as Rapunzel and Cinderella through their stories over and over again with no end.  Rapulzel or Zel, as she’s called in the story has beaten the Wild once before, forcing the forest into a little tumble of weeds that hides under her daughter’s bed.  All of the fairy tale characters have moved into the real world and set up homes, businesses, etc, and are all too happy to be away from their respective stories.

Julie, the daughter, has grown up knowing the characters apart from their tales and thinks of the Wild as a nuisance that eats her shoes and turns them into Seven League Boots.  She knows her grandmother, not as the witch she once was in the Wild, but as someone caring and loving, who has a good relationship with Zel and would never want her back in the tower.  Julie’s father is MIA, and no one seems to want to tell her what happened to him.

The Wild, being, well, wild, gets out of control, taking over Julie’s town and imprisoning her mother and friends back in their stories and taking townsfolk with them.  Anyone stuck in the growing forest could become a knock off Red Riding Hood or Sleeping Beauty.  Julie finds she must navigate the strange rules of the Wild in order to save her mother, grandmother, the town, the world…you get the idea.

I loved this book!  It’s a quick read and is for younger readers, so romance is thankfully thin, and the adventure thick, magical, and leafy.  References abound for those who know their Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and the like, and the stories generally stick to their original alarming endings.

If you need a change from YA fairy tale romances, give this a try.

I also attempted to read Winterspell, a YA romance loosely based on The Nutcracker and sadly, I could not finish it.  Slinking seductively in the arms of a statue just…should not happen, I don’t care if the statue does turn out to be an enchanted prince.  The sexual awakening and predator scenes dragged the beginning of the book, and having the prince run around naked for an extended time after that just became creepy.  Guys aren’t just pieces of meat either, you know!  A lesson I dearly hope Clara learns throughout the story, though I did not want to take the time to find out.  I like to think of YA fantasy-romances as something apart from the “Romance” genre, but maybe I’m kidding myself.  At any rate, kudos to the author for trying to tell The Nutcracker in a new way.  Sadly, it just wasn’t for me.