in "dark night and dawn", chen zheyuan and nie yuan join forces to fight against spies, stick to their beliefs and fulfill their mission!

when evaluating an actor's acting skills, we never look at his ranking.

what should we look at when evaluating acting? a universal standard: the lines.

wang jinsong can be ranked among the domestic actors with good lines. this national first-class actor once criticized some actors for showing off by memorizing their lines. he himself once spoke a 17-minute long line in the anti-japanese war drama "leaning on the balcony, the wind and clouds rise". the drama was average, but wang jinsong spoke the lines very movingly, and the filming site burst into applause after the performance.

but when wang jinsong was interviewed, he praised an actor's lines highly:

"you can listen to mr. wang zhiwen's plays with your ears. you don't need to look at you. you can feel his movements, his behavior, and his rhythm just by listening."

wang zhiwen was the absolute number one star of chinese opera 20 years ago.

during his peak period, he produced countless excellent works. when talking about his representative works, many people would mention "the way of heaven", "black ice" and "over the hook". however, they overlooked a classic anti-spy drama with a douban score of 9.4, "no regrets".

the top comment on douban wrote, "this is a new china chronicle, "records of the grand historian," and this is a hutong version of "teahouse."

“the performance was superb.”

but because of his mother's illness, wang zhiwen later took the initiative to reduce his workload.

many people don’t understand why he retired at such a young age. wang zhiwen calmly responded: “there is always work to be done.”

in recent years, wang zhiwen has not filmed any variety shows, accepted any advertisements, or made a living by doing random things. he is almost in a semi-disappeared state.

although he still accepts acting jobs, wang zhiwen never competes for roles in the domestic entertainment and film and television circles where people are vying for them.

in most of his works over the years, he played supporting roles.

for example"traitor》《infernal affairs》.

but wang zhiwen’s ability is that even if he plays a supporting role, even if he doesn’t have many scenes, his performance is always eye-catching.

in cctv's 39-episode anti-espionage drama "dark night and dawn" which aired last night, he once again brought his acting skills to the extreme.

the series brings together young actors such as chen zheyuan and xing fei, as well as powerful actors such as wang jinsong, who highly praises him, tai shu from "kuang biao", lao mo, and tang xiaohu.

the script was written by weng liangping, who is the author ofstorm chaser》the screenwriter of "asking the vastness".

and wang zhiwen is the "special starring role".

the series easily broke 2 soon after it was aired, and the final premiere ratings not only ranked first in the country, but also won a high rating of 1.9%, which was an amazing start.

what many people are most looking forward to is wang zhiwen's performance.

as the main villain of the drama, wang zhiwen only showed up 30 minutes into the first episode. in the first scene, he faced wang jinsong. the audience commented on this scene: it was like listening to heavenly music and the ears were temporarily clear.

in the first three episodes, he only had five scenes in total, with a total duration of no more than 10 minutes.

compared with the two protagonists chen zheyuan and nie yuan, there are a lot of eye-catching action scenes.

almost all of wang zhiwen's plays are indoor plays, in which he is either cooking fish or painting propaganda posters, but none of these can conceal wang zhiwen's brilliance.

he is still the undisputed god of acting in chinese dramas.

after watching three episodes, i can say:no regrets tracking》as an elementary school history teacherlurkingafter feng jingbo, zheng lanting, the elementary school art teacher in "dark night and dawn", is likely to become another classic character in domestic anti-spy dramas.

01 three risky moves in the anti-espionage drama

to understand what is so good about wang zhiwen's acting in the play, we must first understand the anti-spy war drama "dark night and dawn".

the screenwriter and director were obviously not satisfied with making a mediocre spy drama, and instead bravely made "three risky moves".

the first risky move is a battle of wits between police and spies in the anti-spy drama setting of "the enemy is dark and we are in the light".

this drama tells the story of the first generation of public security officers in new china who fought heroically against enemy spies to protect the country and the people.

the film opens in shanghai on the eve of liberation. before fleeing, the bureau of secrets left behind a whole group of spies who lurked in shanghai, waiting for an opportunity to sabotage.

lu zhengyang, a backbone of the shanghai public security bureau, recruited lin shaobai, the "shanghai know-it-all", to compete with zheng lanting, a veteran spy hiding in the dark.

the enemy and us are fighting with both wits and courage.

for example, in the opening vault robbery, zheng lanting sent lao mo, no, it was his capable subordinate wang liqun who led people disguised as the people's liberation army, entered the vault, indiscriminately killed 20 bank employees, opened the vault and looted all the gold as funds for the subsequent espionage activities.

behind this, zheng lanting, a primary school teacher, successfully guided his primary school to visit the people's liberation army garrison near the bank through step-by-step rhetoric to induce the principal, thus buying time for the enemy's special operations.

for new audiences who are not familiar with anti-spy dramas, they will think that everything has been won, so what kind of waves can a few small spies stir up?

this is certainly a risky move.

the second risky move involves extremely complex character relationships.

traditional spy war dramas usually only set up two sides, the enemy and us, and it is relatively clear who is our side and who is the enemy.

for example, zhou yi and gao bin in "the cliff", yu zecheng and li ya in "the disguiser", and wei ruolai and shen tunan in "the wind chaser".

the clear black and white setting makes it easier for the audience to understand the plot, but for an anti-spy drama, it is not enough to present the complexity and twists and turns of the anti-spy struggle in the early days of liberation.

the story of "darkness and dawn" is set in shanghai in the early days of liberation.

not only is the bureau of secrets making secret plans, but various forces are also making plans and engaging in open and covert struggles.

this drama reflects the situation at that time very well, and at least four forces are introduced into the drama.

on one side are the enemy spies left behind by the bureau of secrets, some of whom have been awakened, such as zheng lanting played by wang zhiwen, while some have not yet been awakened.

the second is the remnants of local gangs in shanghai, or forces that collude with enemy spies, such as the local gang led by dai yueqing, played by wen zhengrong, and the big businessman played by ni dahong.

third, there are a large number of former policemen. some of them, like the male protagonist lin shaobai, joined the first batch of public security forces in new china, but others, like lin shaobai’s friend xu wei, were used by enemy spies like zheng lanting.

finally, there are the first batch of police officers in new china played by nie yuan and chen zheyuan.

when the four forces are introduced, the relationships between the characters in the whole play become "complex and intertwined".

there is a sense of suspense, but it also requires the new generation of audiences who are accustomed to watching dramas at double the speed to not get distracted, which is also a risky move.

the third risky move is to adopt the villain’s perspective.

traditional spy war dramas usually have only one main perspective, which is the perspective of the protagonist, such as yu zecheng in "the hidden" and guizi liu in "the kite". the audience just needs to follow their perspective to enter the story. the audience knows what the enemy did from the protagonist's reaction.

but "night and dawn" adds a narrative perspective, that of the villain.

in the past, there were very few spy war dramas that would talk about the personnel appointment issues within the villain camp.

but in "darkness and dawn", a few minutes were used to shoot a scene in which mao sen, the former chief of the shanghai police department, goes to zheng lanting's home to persuade him to come out of retirement.

the audience can also see the process of zheng lanting planning a gold robbery, including the preparation of personnel, time control, and the containment of our people's liberation army garrison.

this was something that was rarely seen in spy war dramas in the past.

anti-spy dramas have always had the tradition of focusing on creating villains. since they are catching spies, of course they have to find out who the spies are.

but the risk of shooting in this way is that it will distract the limelight of the main characters to a certain extent. the difficulty in producing hit domestic anti-spy dramas in the past thirty years may be related to this.

this is still a risky move.

after three risky moves, the audience has formed a preliminary impression of the drama.

it's now wang zhiwen's turn to appear. when he appears, the texture of the whole drama becomes different.

02. wang zhiwen’s three good performances

zheng lanting, played by wang zhiwen, has a hidden identity as an art teacher. he is gentle, harmless, and always smiles to everyone.

in secret, he is actually a highly intelligent enemy spy code-named "shrike" lurking in shanghai, with a kind of terrifying power that is not obvious.

on the street painted with red propaganda posters, the people's army kept passing by, but he was not afraid at all and continued to paint slowly.

although he has only acted in three episodes, wang zhiwen has already contributed three good scenes, each of which is related to fish.

with top acting skills, no scene is wasted.

let’s first watch wang zhiwen’s first “fish-making” scene.

when zheng lanting first appeared, he was making braised sweet and sour fish.

what is shown to the audience is a silhouette, everyday and leisurely.

when he found that the candy was gone, he called the female spy played by wang xiuzhu to get him some candy.

mao sen, played by wang jinsong, just walked into the room, took the candy, went into the kitchen and handed it to zheng lanting.

zheng lanting pretended to be surprised and said: chief, why are you here?

it’s a very simple line, but wang zhiwen delivered it very well.

he sounded very surprised, but there was an obvious performance in his actions and expression. zheng lanting was performing for mao sen.

in fact, zheng lanting not only guessed that mao sen was coming, but also had already thought about what to talk to him about.

that’s why after mao sen left, wang xiuzhu asked: was the deal done?

i think the scene where wang zhiwen cooks fish can be included in the beijing film academy's acting teaching materials, it is simply too brilliant.

first, it can demonstrate what a rivalry is, and second, it can demonstrate what kind of performance is to be unspoken, without a single line of dialogue, with all the subtext being used. the audience can understand what both parties are actually saying.

in this scene, zheng lanting was cooking the fish and hardly looked up at mao sen. wang jinsong kept talking to himself and nodded after he finished speaking.

but have you noticed the bags under his eyes? they’re full of drama.

the camera was aimed at wang zhiwen's profile. zheng lanting was cooking fish while talking to mao sen. mao sen wanted zheng lanting, who had been in hiding for a long time, to come out, so he pretended to ask him who would be the suitable person to be the undercover person in shanghai.

zheng lanting said a lot of things that were not what he meant, and mao sen denied them one by one.

in the end, i couldn't help it and jumped straight to the point, which was to invite zheng lanting to come out.

zheng lanting had been holding back, just waiting for him to speak. if he had spoken first, he would have been in a passive position. after all, when cooking fish, one cannot be impatient.

what followed was another push and pull. mao sen first talked about some clichés used by the party and the country when recruiting people, but zheng lanting did not move at all.

at this time, wang jinsong's expression was obviously anxious, and his expression was full of flattery. finally, he couldn't help but start to make a wish for an official title.

but zheng lanting remained motionless, saying that he didn't care about fame.

mao sen said if you have any requests, you can make them.

zheng lanting said, "i'm welcome, please give me that spoon."

wang jinsong's expression was about to collapse. finally, he leaned closer and said: lanting, do you want the list of hidden spies in shanghai that i have?

at this time, wang zhiwen raised his eyelids slightly, and the audience understood what zheng lanting was waiting for?

mao sen said that this requires an application. zheng lanting said he understood, but also said that doing the job is like raising fish, and without people, it won’t work.

finally, he smiled and said: the fish is done.

the beauty of this scene is that although both people know the truth, they are talking about something else. the whole conversation can be described as a high-energy gathering of "hearts and eyes".

zheng lanting used fish as a metaphor in every sentence. wang zhiwen's performance was always suppressed.

the two of them seemed to be chatting casually, but in fact the oppressive feeling was like waves crashing against the shore, one after another.

when zheng lanting invited mao sen to stay and eat fish and have a drink at the end, mao sen said, "this fish has too many bones and it's hard to swallow", the audience felt goosebumps.

wang zhiwen's facial muscles hardly trembled or changed throughout the whole process, until mao sen "in passing" mentioned a trump card he held in his hand during the war of resistance against japan, and his expression suddenly became solemn.

the tension in the acting at that moment was so soul-stirring.

the two talented actors remain calm throughout the performance, yet are able to turn the visible into the invisible. it takes very accurate and thoughtful performance to be able to draw the audience in.

mao sen didn't get to eat the fish, but the audience got to enjoy a feast of acting skills.

let’s watch wang zhiwen’s second scene of “delivering fish soup”.

mao sen appears to be open-hearted with zheng lanting, but in fact he is not at ease with him, so he leaves secretary liu, played by tian hao, to monitor his every move.

secretary liu thought he had everything under control. he said, "you're just trying to be smart by fighting me." as he pushed open the door of the surveillance room, he saw zheng lanting sitting inside.

at this time, wang zhiwen showed a smile on his face. just this look was enough to make people shudder.

pay attention to the eye contact between wang zhiwen and tian hao. one of them is resigned to failure and is not afraid of boiling water, while the other is calm and composed as everything is under control.

although zheng lanting always looks smiling, a glance from him is enough to make people feel upset.

the highlight of this play lies in two details. one is that zheng lanting calls mao sen, which means he has changed from a bureau chief to the boss.

he also asked liu to bring a can of tea from his hometown to mao sen, wishing his boss good luck.

what is worth noting is wang zhiwen’s smile when he turned around at the end, which was three parts sarcasm, three parts complacency, three parts threat, and a hint of ridicule.

the subtext of this smile is the shocking acting skills that wang zhiwen brings to us.

don’t be impatient, let’s watch wang zhiwen’s third “fishing” scene.

it was the scene where he took his students to delay our people's liberation army garrison.

the camera, the smile, the friendliness, conceals the inner calculations.

during the visit, zheng lanting's face was all smiles, as if he was basking in the spring breeze, but he was secretly planning a big conspiracy. every look and every smile was filled with calculation and scheming, as if he was completing a fishing trip.

wang zhiwen performed well in two aspects, one is his identity and the other is his state.

in terms of identity, he has been taking pictures, the camera constantly covers his face, and he is always hiding behind the camera. this is actually a metaphor: he is the one who controls everything behind the scenes.

in terms of status, from the beginning, we should encourage children to get close to the pla.

to secretly control the condolence process,

then, when he heard the soldier's report to the company commander and saw the fleeting smile after confirming that the plan had succeeded, his emotions progressed layer by layer, revealing the most natural state.

the most amazing thing is the smile frozen at the end.

behind the smile lies a huge conspiracy.

wang zhiwen did not deliberately show off his acting skills throughout the whole process, but he still typed the word "acting skills" on the screen.

in 3 episodes and 3 scenes, wang zhiwen gave the character three different faces, making this villain unfathomable.

the character's switching between kindness and cruelty in a second is enough to make people shudder and worry about the protagonists.

wang zhiwen is the god of lines. his plays are exciting enough just by listening to the sound, without having to watch the pictures.

the line in the trailer, "let's wait to go to hell together!" has a crazy tone in its lines, which has made me look forward to seeing how wang zhiwen will play zheng lanting, who is at the end of his rope.

03 no matter how he ranks, he is the god of chinese drama acting

many people say that wang zhiwen is the god of lines, but in my opinion, he is even more of a god of acting.

even with just a few stills, one can be drawn into the plot because his face is full of drama.

"darkness and dawn" was lively before wang zhiwen appeared, but after wang zhiwen appeared, a high-level cat-and-mouse game began, and the whole drama stabilized at once.

it was as if i had a backbone in an instant.

good actors cannot guarantee that a drama will be successful, but they can maintain the lower limit of a drama.

wang zhiwen is always wang zhiwen. if the drama is better, it's "the rebel"; if the drama is worse, it's "infernal affairs", but as long as there is a part where wang zhiwen appears, it is worth watching.

he supported the quality of the spy war drama with the most refined performance.

now, it’s the turn of the anti-spy drama.

aside from the acting, what impressed me about the series was the casting.

liu peiqi, who plays mr. huang in the play,

in "no regrets chasing", he played xiao dali, who kept an eye on feng jingbo for his entire life.

kong lin, who plays lin shaobai's mother,

in "no regrets chasing", she plays xiao dali's wife liu yaqin.

li mengnan, who plays deputy director yang, plays the adult xiaobianliu in "no regrets chasing".

so many years have passed, and the classics are still there. chinese dramas have undergone several changes, and the days when powerful actors took the lead are gone forever. almost all spy war and anti-espionage dramas feature a combination of young actors and veteran actors.

but whether he plays the leading role or the supporting role, a good actor is a good actor. it is not known whether wang zhiwen can create another classic anti-spy drama, but he is likely to create another classic role.

as for the future of anti-spy dramas, let's wait and see. "you can't be impatient when eating fish."