Thursday, June 12, 2008
少年杨家将

I just finished watching, on DVD, this series: The Young Warriors of the Yang Clan, or 少年杨家将 in chinese. The above image is the promotional poster for the drama series. This series was filmed in 2006 by the china media, starring people like the famous Hong Kong actress Amy Chan (陈秀雯) as Mother of the family, Hu Ge (胡歌) as the Sixth son, Peter Ho (何润东) as the Fourth son, Eddie Peng (彭于宴) as the Seventh son, and many other pretty girls as their wives.
The story of the Yang Family in ancient chinese history about their chivalry and courage during war times has been covered time and again in different drama series made by several countries. I have watched a few of them, and I happen to find this one extremely touching, and excellently made.

First off, the CAST was definitely well chosen. A cast FULL of dynamic, young people (all VERY handsome and VERY pretty actors and actresses) to show the younger days of the Yang family (Father Yang Ye, Mother She Sai Hua, 7 sons and a daughter). Someone like Joel will definitely be very interested to watch, given such a high standard of physical appeal. Although I know the mere chinese language part is enough to turn him off.

Anyway, yes the cast kept my mother (and I) glued to my new Samsung 4 Series 40" LCD TV till the wee hours of the night. Pretty girls married to cute guys! What more do u need? A Good Storyline. Yes, the storyline progressed from being very cheerful and light hearted, to heavy and sad as the country goes to war towards the end of the series. War scenes, and the Yang sons dying on the battlefield really brought tears to my eyes. This is coupled with an excellent soundtrack and choice of songs.

My favourite amongst the songs is 诀别诗(Farewell poem, translated literally) by胡彦斌. It's touching, beautiful melody, great lyrics. Sad song. If anyone wants it, get it from me!

One of the most unforgettable scenes in the entire series, was when the fifth son and sixth son (五郎, 六郎) came back from war bringing the bodies of 大,二,三and七郎, and the whole town was mourning. Shortly after, the wake scene was also tear jerking, as the mother went around putting on new military uniforms for her dead sons, and cleaning them for the funeral. Then the youngest sister, 八妹came crying and shaking his 7th brother's body, as she was closest to him.

It's really difficult to describe how well the show went. In any case, if anyone is interested, it's airing on Channel 8 now, every Sunday, at 1o.30pm.

Have fun! And do not hesitate to discuss it with me, cos i'm absolutely in love with it. Kudos to the production team. This depiction of a heroic chinese family in history is really well done.