The first half of The Longest Day in Chang’an is mesmerising, and has a very meaty setup – Zhang Xiaojing (Lei Jiayin), former police detective (buliangren) and currently a prisoner on death row, is given the near impossible mission of uprooting a terrorist group within twenty four hours. He sacrifices close friends and subordinates and willingly puts himself in mortal danger in order to save the people of Chang’an, yet is easily thrown under the bus by those in power when things get out of control.
While watching the show, I actually found the supporting characters to be more interesting than either Li Bi (Yi Yangqianxi) or Tanqi (Reyizha). The supporting cast in the series have limited screen time, yet all have their own motives and desires. A definite standout is the earnest and loyal detective-turned-spy Lin Xiaoyi (Zheng Wei). His storyline took no more than an episode, but the character development wasa done so well it was hard not to be moved. The strong-willed Ding Tong’er (Wang Sisi) is also a favourite – initially a woman who lived for love, she resolutely decided to become a pawn for Master Ge and cut all ties with her scholar lover after witnessing his true nature.
The costuming, props and sets gave me the impression that I was actually watching the story unfold in Tang Dynasty Chang’an, so kudos to the teams led by art director Yang Zhijia, costume designer Song Tao and makeup artist Zhang Li. I still have my qualms about director Cao Dun after Tribes and Empires, but his attention to detail has temporarily won me over. The BTS documentary revealed that most of the day scenes were filmed with artificial lighting, so the shadows matched the time of day in the episode – now that is dedication. His painstaking attention to detail does cause some minor issues in pacing, where the built-up tension and mystery is suddenly deflated by the sudden transition to festive scenes or scenes with people going about their daily lives. When the hero is still in a life and death situation, it’s pretty obvious I’m not going to be interested in watching a street performance, no matter how beautiful it is or how faithful to history the depiction is.
Initially the small lapses in intensity were easy to ignore, but the various subplots took their own sweet time to converge, and occasionally the characters would take 4 hours to ride from one side of the city to the next, and then only 10 minutes to deliver a message back. The time-constraint didn’t seem to matter anymore as everything was prolonged and the show just completely lost momentum by the end of Season 1 (now Episode 25). That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the first half, because when it was good, it was really good. It’s just unfortunate that the series couldn’t use the condensed-time concept to better effect.
I apologize after finding out Xu Bin was still alive. I’m still not sure when they found Zhang.
As much as I love this series, I’m occasionally flummoxed by the continuity. As you observed in your previous post, Ep. 17’s cold open is NOT a continuation of the end of Ep. 16. I honestly don’t know when that scene takes place. And it’s NEVER explained how/where they find Zhang Xiao Jing after his heroic interlude with flaming oil. He’s just there, taking his second bucket bath of the day.
The editing reminds me of a comic book—not every connecting scene is drawn out for the viewer. You’re not the only questioning if you’ve missed something.
Can someone help me understand what happened between Episode 16 and Episode 17? It looked like Xu Bin was killed and Zhang Xiaojing was still missing and Episode17 shows Xu Bin drinking with Li Bi and everyone ready to send Zhang Xiaojing back to prison. Did I miss something?
Thanks.
i have watched upto Episode 22. Fast paced and intense action scenes. However, there are some logic holes. And i must say that the real motive (the wish for revenge by various parties just seems too trivial ) for wanting to blow up Chang’an still escapes me. Maybe that would be revealed in later episodes, when the various threads come together against the political backdrop. Or maybe the motive is not important and the focus of this drama is just on saving the city. Anyway, the set is impressive. And I never knew Chang’an was so cosmopolitan in ancient times. But I think my problem is that there is just no character that I am rooting for. I can’t even remember the main character’s name the next day. :)
A couple questions. I’m on episode 20.
1) What is that green looking stuff the Royal Guard captain Cui and Zhang Xiao Jing eats and chews like a snack?
2) Does ancient China actually have people standing around like statues holding certain things like towels for a influential person? Just wondering about the economic efficiency of feeding and having someone do this vs having a piece of furniture do it.
3) What is the reason for surrounding oneself with a bunch of fat women while pondering his or her thoughts? I think his character name is Cheng Can, the guy with the little chubby girl, He did this while having a incense.
4) Why is Yu Chang is so loyal despite Long Bo treating her badly?
A couple questions. I’m on episode 20.
1) What is that green looking stuff the Royal Guard captain Cui and Zhang Xiao Jing eats and chews like a snack?
2) Does ancient China actually have people standing around like statues holding certain things like towels for a influential person? Just wondering about the economic efficiency of feeding and having someone do this vs having a piece of furniture do it.
3) What is the reason for surrounding oneself with a bunch of fat women while pondering his or her thoughts? I think his character name is Cheng Can, the guy with the little chubby girl, He did this while having a incense.
4) Why is Yu Chang is so loyal despite Long Bo treating her badly?
I was going to watch this but saw it’s director Cao Dun, I decided I’m just not going to bother. I’ve no interest in seeing beautify cinematography with a handicap story line.
you did right thing… I was captivated for the first 5 episodes then started getting lost and after episode 20 I skipped a lot of scene… no character leave me deep impression in here. And the romance part is so annoyingly taking too much part in a story where it’s suppose to be only 24 hours. If they pack all into 20 episodes, will be very good. Surprisingly I enjoy ‘Joy Of Life’ more, watched until episode 30 and still make me wonder what will happen next.