“The Defender of the Eight Foot Gate” is a rare masterpiece of Taiwanese dramas in recent years

On the night when the typhoon hit Du Surui, I finished chasing “The Defender of Bachimen” overnight. In recent years, I can hardly make it through the first ten minutes of the first episode of Taiwanese dramas, or even the trailer. It can be seen that the show is outstanding.

This play tells a good story. The actors are inevitably a bit uneven, but the drama is viewed as a whole. The intensity of the story, as well as a few actors who are strong enough, can be regarded as ensuring the integrity. Other flaws are inevitable, but they do not affect the success of this play.

Li Mingshun is the strongest actor. It is difficult for anyone to imagine a foreigner playing an aborigine at the beginning, and it is even more difficult to imagine how he can act well. But he made us believe in the character right from the beginning of the first episode.

I noticed that some people care about non-aboriginal people playing aboriginal people. In fact, this is the fault line of actors across generations regardless of ethnicity. Taiwan has a lot of outstanding young actors in recent years, and there are also senior actors who can play key supporting roles, but there are only a shortage of outstanding middle-aged actors between the ages of 45 and 65 who can play leading roles. This is related to the fact that the local film industry has been in decline for 20 years, and a whole generation of actors have no acting opportunities and lack of training opportunities. Li Mingshun may not be a local, at least he filled this gap in “The Defender of Bachimen”.

The appearance of Tong Baoju when he first appeared on the stage reminded me of the classic American drama “Detective Columbo”. After the actual character creation is unfolded, of course it is not as extreme as Colombo’s wisdom and foolishness, but there is a little bit of that undefended taste.

Yang Lie, Lei Jiarui and Su Da are strong enough supporting roles. Yang Lie’s big devil Hong Dong and Lei Jiarui’s Indonesian immigrant worker Lina are both remarkable. Xu Shihan, a tribal community policeman in Suda, impressed me even more. His role is caught between friend and friend, tribe and government, Baoge and tribe, law and favor. Difficult to act, but well acted. With his comparison, it also helped to shape the role of Brother Bao.

Apart from Su Da’s policeman, Huaishao Fanusi’s father Lao Tong doesn’t have many roles, but the interaction with Bao Ge in the play is also the most tense, and the effect of one plus one is greater than two can be most exerted. Chen Enzhen’s Lin Fangyu is not much but very cute, which enriches the texture of the public defender’s office.

Fan Yichen’s A Min failed to fully show the complex complex that was once close to Bao Ge and then alienated. I think it’s a pity. But this is also due to the setting of the plot: now that they are alienated, there is less interaction.

Wang Chuanyi’s Prosecutor Liu Jiaheng and Bao Ge are on opposite sides, whether in court or drama. The performance is passable. But compared with Li Mingshun, of course he is weaker, and sometimes he feels a little out of balance.

Chu Mengxuan’s Lian Jinping is a bit too weak as a key supporting role. It can be seen that the original setting is to compare with Brother Bao from the background to the social and economic status. The problem is, it doesn’t work. But Chu Mengxuan was still young after all. If you can keep acting and have the opportunity to hone, you will have the opportunity to grow.

Pan Yijun’s Chen Lingqiu is actually a bit like the prefect beauty played by Chen Qing in “The Very Lawyer Yu Yingxuan”, but the interpretation of the city is not as delicate as the latter. Huang Jianwei’s Jiang Deren is a little more bland. This whole series of political dramas is a bit embarrassing to watch. Not believable enough and inconsistent with the texture of the show as a whole.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the sociology of sports in the play is very real: baseball, basketball, and fencing are mapped to different ethnic groups and classes. The ending has a touch of 2003’s The Life of David Gale.

To sum up, drama is difficult to be perfect, and individual aspects are inevitable. Especially good stories and good actors are hard to find. It is important to have a good story and know how to tell a story. You can see that the performance of the actors in “A City of Sadness” is even more uneven. Except for Tony Leung, they are not very good (Tony Leung plays with anyone, that person will be compared), Hou Hsiao-hsien just made a masterpiece.

“The Defender of the Bachimen” has a good story and some good enough actors. If the director uses these basic conditions well, the result will be outstanding. Drama looks at the whole. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and it’s still quite brilliant.

Looking forward to the second season!