Director Wong Kar-wai shakes up China with his new TV series ‘Blossoms Shanghai’

This is the director’s return year Wong Karwai, this time on television, where the series premiered in China on December 27 Blossoms Shanghaibased on a novel by Jin Yucheng winner of three of her country’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Mao Dun.

Until January 9 it was lThe most reproduced audiovisual production on Chinese platforms.

The portal Film affinity reports Blossoms It is in the drama and romance genre and has 30 episodes. It is produced by Jet Tone and the giant Chinese company Tencent Pictures.

Shows the daily life of the people of Shanghai, and covers two periods, from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, towards the end of the Cultural Revolution; and from the 1980s to the early 21st century. A young entrepreneur (actor Hu Ge) grows up in the business world as his city opens up to the world.

Of BlossomsWong would complete a trilogy that began with want to love (2000) and 2046 (2004). So the actors chosen were the now established Tony Leung, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi.

Wong was born in Shanghai in 1958 and emigrated to Shanghai at the age of 5 Hong-Kongwhich would become the setting for his cinema.

The Shanghai of the series is vibrant, nostalgic and has a growing and highly competitive economy, without a coherent plot, as expected. the director, who had not presented new material in ten years.

It has done well, as it has been rated 8.3/10 by Douban, China’s IMDB, and has surpassed 31,000 popularity points, helped by the image of young actresses like Tiffany Tang.

The hashtag #BlossomsShanghai is piling up on the social network Weibo 330 million views, although some viewers found it slow, confusing and with endless dialogue. However, this is something that those who were already followers of Wong recognize and appreciate about his work.

“On the surface, the story focuses on themes such as gastronomy, relationships, honor and betrayal, but underneath you see what that city looked like,” the director said. China daily.

Besides, he took care of it Another one is being added to the Mandarin version Shanghainese dialect, downgraded in recent years. But not only that: Wong Kar-wai can be said to have boosted the economy of his hometown.

It aroused interest in the 1990s in Shanghai’s most emblematic places, such as the Extravagant Huanghe Road, where businessmen have lunch or a snack in the early morning hours. And of course the street has seen a revival of foreign and local tourism, which has created work for the police.

Area hotels, such as the Fairmont Peace, have risen from $80 per night to $2,300, and they no longer have rooms for Chinese New Year or Valentine’s Day.

What song stands out in this film, as in Wong’s previous titles? Steal your hearta classic by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung, which topped the list of most listened to songs on Chinese platforms last month.