Thoughts after watching Book & Sword...

by Gandalf

Well, first of all, I quickly appreciated that this was an ambitious and serious production with a decent budget...the high quality could be seen from the casting, wuxia scenes, dialogue, cinematography, locations, music etc. Overall, I found the series better than many others today (definitely better than today's TVB series of this genre), with the quality of a film even in many instances. But it could have been edited more to quicken the pace in some places.

The acting was very strong across the board & Esther's performance was definitely one of the best. She captured the essence of Huo Qingtong very well, both her strength and her vulnerability. Loved her warrior portrayal in the battle and horseriding scenes!I've never seen Esther in this type of series (serious ancient drama) so it was great to see she was just as good as in her ancient comedies. But HQT's fate is just so tragic, you really feel for her as the series progresses! Everyone around her thinks she is so strong that she doesn't need any shoulder to lean on. (But I think she had too many crying scenes towards the end.) As for her romance with Chen Jialuo, one can only sigh that Jinyong didn't mean for them to be together. Chen's falling in love with the Princess so quickly did make him less likeable a character, and even less deserving of a heroine like HQT.

This is a quality series but it may not be appreciated by everyone for several reasons. It is by and large a serious story dealing with politics and a cause, with an ultimate tragic ending, and this may not appeal to some. The romance is not the key focus. There really is no real happy ending for any of the characters. The "hero" CJL also happens to be one of the less likeable ones in JY's stories, and his flaws make it harder for the audience to cheer for him. Also, this is a series with a large cast with screen time spread across quite a few characters so it may seem unfocused at times and it is harder to maintain the audience's interest. (I wish Esther appeared in more scenes, but this was pretty much the way the story was written.)

This is the first non-TVB series of Esther's I've seen, and I can say it's very good. But I wonder if her other non-TVB series are as good, because of the scripts and the budget? One good actress cannot save a series without a good script, castmates and director. Luckily all those pretty much came together in Book & Sword, and Esther proved her acting skills and her diversity once more.

Long long rant

anyone else care to share their thoughts of this series?

Posted on Aug 16, 2003, 8:41 PM
from IP address 212.219.59.200

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MOst of Esther series are pretty good..... nikki on Aug 18, 2003, 7:08 PM

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