"In the Chamber of Bliss" Damian Lau & Kathy Chow too old for the roles?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Coinciding with the 60th Anniversary National Day, TVB broadcast the historical drama "In the Chamber of Bliss" as the 9:30 timeslot series. TVB also invited back Kathy Chow and "housewife killer" Damian Lau as the two main leads. But after a week of broadcast, the response is not as satisfying as expected. Viewers felt that the series is too light for Hong Kong viewers, the plot is slow and focused too much on bureaucracy. Reporters learned that the series premiere ratings were only an average of 28 points, a 5 point difference from last week's broadcast of "D.I.E Again" finale, which peaked at 30 points. "In the Chamber of Bliss" is not favored that much because the line is not that great and the war scenes were too shabby. The military scenes were only shown in the military academy (built in TVB city - Tseung Kwan O) Viewers wanted to see more of the war-torn years and get a taste of the old Beijing city. Is this easier said than done? The pre-production ideas were not to completely focus on the historical feel, but rather like "The Academy" talk about young people growing up and about middle-aged love story.
Also another weakness is that the cast is rather old, even the older audience exclaimed: "watching such an old-fashioned story", gives an impression of 'heavy head, light leg'. The historical figure is a 34-year old governor Choi Ngok, but the role is acted by a 50 year old Damian Lau coupled with Kathy Chow, this is the old version of "In the Chamber of Bliss". But there are many Netizens who expressed that Kathy and Damian are really good veterans, but TVB script writers did not do a very good job in having such a love story take place in such a historical background.
Source: Ent.tom.com
Translated by: aZnangel @ AEU
Labels:
Damian Lau 刘松仁,
Kathy Chow 周海媚
I just finished watching this series and it's extremely good. My mom liked it a lot and I was surprised that I enjoyed it as well. I always liked Kathy Chow and I think she has improved in her acting as she aged (she still looks very young though). I remember growing up in the 80s my family always liked watching Damien's films with Michelle Yim too and we are always fond of Damien's acting. Damien and Kathy both performed very well and I could see the intense emotions in their face to display the complicated tough times the script was about. They did an excellent job and I hope to see them act more. This was a series I enjoyed every episode of the dvd set and I keep going back to the dvd store waiting for the new dvd. One of my favorite series this year. Keep up the good script writing and good acting.