Fan Bingbing as the Prince of Lanling with a cheap mask
We all know Fan bingbing is fierce, and Wu Zetian is fierce, and what better way to show their combined power than in combat? Although there are no historical records of Wu Zetian in combat, Fan Bingbing dons a shiny armor for therole in The Empress of China.
See the veil lifted below the cut.
I am watch Ruby Lin version of Wu Zetian in Young Sherlock. I wonder who can protray the best Wu Zetian? My favourite would be Petrina Fung Bo Bo. She was very suited for the role, plus her voluptuous figure suits the women of that era.
Young Sherlock is not a bad drama, the pace is a little slow but I am sure it will pick up. This is my first CDrama with Bosco Wong. I think he will do well in China if he intents to break into China further. He is a experience actor with good looks.
I agree. Definitely not bad so far.
Bosco is doing a good job as Young Sherlock. At least I have a drama series to follow in this dry period. There is no 720p version. I wonder if there will even be one? Qi Wei is a pretty actress but she is not one of the more popular actress. I wonder why. I like her and her voice. But I must add her acting is not very versatile. Her acting range seem quite limited.
She haven’t had any good lead roles. Most of her more famous roles so far are of her playing second lead to Tang Yan. All of the dramas/movies where she’s the lead have been poorly produced. I actually think that she’s really popular as an actress for someone who have no recognizable roles.
I hope Young Sherlock can help increase her popularity and give her the break she needs.
Her supporting roles have been memorable. I like her in Unbeatable2 and Waking Love Up.
I actually think she’s been doing very well so far… I haven’t watched much of her work previously but until today (ep. 7-8 at least), her role has been rather limited to that of the ethereal and “perfect” maiden. Her role just started to open up since some of her background information was revealed so I guess we’ll have to wait and see before we judge her completely.
I think the problem with Wu Zetian as a film/drama figure is that no script has treated her as a ruler, but only as a successful woman in the Emperors’ harlem. They write about her as they would Yang Guifei or Zhao Feiyan, focusing on them through their romances, intrigues, and relationship with their children. As such, all portrayals of her as the main character fail to capture what makes her truly special – that she was the only female regent in the long history of China, and that the highlight of her life isn’t how she plotted against the other concubines, but how she successfully gained control of the court and how she ruled.
That is a very good point. I was just reading a number of articles on Wu Zetian. I realised after reading them, my version of her does consist of her plot to gain power. But there is really no drama that tells us why she was so capable. The reasons how she gain the respect from her enemies and why they listened to her in the end. She has very good team supporting her. Even one of the most trusted assistant was the daughter of a official Wu Zetian killed. How did she gain the trust and respect from the nation and her followers to be able to remain the First female Emperor till her death.There are a great number of very powerful rulers over the centuries who are very capable. But they need not known to be very nice.(cough cough Mao Zedong) To be a leader, one needs to be very focus, very clever and strong survivor instinct. Wu Zetian has it. I hope we will get to watch a drama in the future about her later life as a Emperor. It will be dynamic to see how a woman in her era gain control over such a big country and with her strong military diplomatic skills. She gain the support of the military who supported her and protected her till her death.
I think that to add to this is that there is an element of difficulty in portraying her since there’s a lot of controversy about what she did and didn’t do and the traditionally accepted version of her story versus what we are starting to speculate about after taking another look at history, etc. All that adds elements of difficulty to writing a story about her, especially since she’s so famous for being the only female regent in recorded Chinese history so if you do it wrong and rub people the wrong way, people are going to be mad and riled up.
Ruby Lin’s Wu Zetian is very interesting. The story is telling us how strong a woman can become for her loved one. Ruby Lin used her intellect and her strength to support the man she loved. She helped him fight the battles that he cannot deal with. In the drama, I am certain we will see her she help the Emperor run the Country and deal with the minister that used him as a puppet. Even when the Emperor was very ill, she continue to protect the empire he loved and owned. I am a woman who run my own business. I noticed I am strongest when my husband is weak. My love for him and towards my family give me the strength to do things I never though I was able to do. This drama’s Wu Zetian I think is portraying a Empress with a heart and not evil by nature. Is that the truth? I dont know but it certainly suit Ruby Lin. That is the gene that suits her. Her previous roles shares similar character and strength. Like Schemes of a beauty.
It will be interesting to see how she develops.
I think I’m recognizing a costume from Virtuous Queen of Han in this drama… even though that drama hasn’t even aired yet… O_O
I don’t think it has anything to do with controversy or historical accuracy. Except for Desert Melody, no drama has gotten major backlash for historical accuracy, and all of the recent dramas about Wu Zetian consists of a lot of made-up romance fluff.
I think it’s purely an issue of the scriptwriters/producers not even trying to treat her as a ruler.
Good to know. Thanks. :)