Why is the murder case of 《Yu Hong's Past Stories》 always interrupted by trivial daily matters?

Cases involving Yu Hong's past happened one after another, but the series did not regard chasing the murderer as the most urgent matter.Tang Zijin noticed in this drama review that murder cases are often intertwined with trivial matters such as relocation registration and bathing center management. Crimes lose their usual weight in suspense dramas, and the absurdity and difficulty of life emerge instead.This kind of treatment constitutes the characteristics of the work and also leaves the problem of difficulty in accumulating the emotions of the characters.

The story is adapted from Ban Yu's short story - Yu Hong - and takes place in Tiecheng, a small industrial town in Northeast China in the late 1990s.Against the background of industrial decline, a group of ordinary people have their own difficulties and their own plans. A bizarre murder brings them together.Some people try to escape from life, while others consume the people around them. Love-hate relationships are intertwined with the changes of the times.

Cold weather, long-standing old cases, the joys and sorrows of life, and Northeastern humor have become common combinations in Northeastern suspense stories in recent years.The murder case is responsible for starting the narrative, and the narrative eventually returns to the fate of the little people in the big era.《Yu Hong's Past Stories》 follows this direction, but adopts a more alienated attitude towards crime: the investigation is not carried out in detail, and the criminal psychology is not questioned layer by layer.Some crimes seem easy to commit and are handled casually, as if they are just a troubling addition to daily life.

Commentators called this performance a parody of crime.It maintains the suspenseful form while constantly weakening the seriousness of the crime itself.Several murder cases and the ups and downs of the characters piece together a period of old life. Although the plot is bizarre, the emotions, regional atmosphere and atmosphere of the times still have a real touch.

Yuhong Square, which the title of the play refers to, is a space where two generations pass by repeatedly and their fates intersect.Cases such as drunkards frozen into ice sculptures and strong men having their limbs amputated occurred here, making it easy for people to think that the square itself is evil.“Goddess” Wan Xiuhua also described it as a “big incense burner”, claiming that it needed “three incense”, that is, three human lives to sacrifice.Later, things seemed to agree with this sentence.

This sense of cause and effect is just a deception.The practices and praying to gods in the play do not have the ability to predict the future; seeking luck through the gods and ghosts is the human heart behind these actions.The so-called “fate” takes shape in absurd coincidences, and the choices people make eventually come back to themselves.

The handling of murder cases is constantly being dragged back to the scene of life.The police station is still counting the relocated residents, and the bathing center is still facing restructuring and operation. The detection seems to be another trouble to be solved like these matters.Brother Dong's body had to be dug out bit by bit with a spoon, while Zhao Changyou's body had to be slowly thawed.Bizarre details mingle with the everyday, undermining a single crime narrative.The original comment uses “one pot stew” to describe this effect: various living materials are rolled together to form a compound taste.

When the case was closed, the perception did not lead to victory after solving the case.What's even more striking is that the tired people finally come to an end. The relatives, lovers and acquaintances around the murderer quickly rush to their respective lives, and sadness and resentment do not become a part of the continuous unfolding.

The gains and losses of this narrative are also related to its broadcast form.The play was originally planned to be launched as a 12-episode long drama from iQiyi Mist Theater, but was later changed to a 34-episode Chinese drama with each episode less than 20 minutes. The total duration is still more than 600 minutes. The main change is re-cutting.Yunhe data shows that its market share of effective broadcasts of feature films in the field of Chinese dramas reaches 63.4%, with a Douban score of 7.8.These are data as of the time of reporting.In terms of viewing rhythm, some viewers believe that this length is suitable for a dinner drama, which not only reduces the time pressure of long dramas, but also avoids the fatigue of frequent jumps in short dramas.

A single episode revolves around a dramatic point, which is indeed easy to remember.Liu Juan's pursuit of justice at the police station, Liu Yang's murder in a room full of animal skins, Wan Xiuhua's murder in the square, and Chen Hong's conspiracy with her husband's driver Wang Liye to murder her husband can all be relatively independent episodes.

But the connection between the various points is weak.The character stories lack a gradual unfolding, and the emotions are not fully accumulated. The audience is closer to people who listen to anecdotes, and it is difficult to live in Yuhong Square for a long time.Therefore, when the square was finally bulldozed, it was not easy to convey the desolation and tragedy that belonged to this place.

The review finally focused on the transformation of female characters.From Chen Hong's long-term domestic violence, to taking over a company and becoming an entrepreneur; from spending money to maintain her relationship with Liu Yang, to living a peaceful life alone with her daughter, the series presents states at different stages, but lacks a process that runs through these states.Hao Jie's anger at the wedding, to giving up her husband in exchange for 300,000 yuan, to riding a bicycle to enter a new life, are more of a display of several results.How they struggle, compromise, and make decisions is not fully explained at the key points.The ending gives the characters new possibilities, but the road to get there is still thin.