The Long Season (TV Mini Series 2023) Poster

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10/10
Not just a TV series, but a documentary about ordinary people
n-98443-1949915 May 2023
Every dust of the times falls on a person as a mountain.

I didn't really understand this sentence until I watched this TV series. This masterpiece, which I think is the best Chinese TV series I have seen, tells an absolute tragedy. A lost father, a frustrated husband and a retired policeman attempted to solve a mystery which had lasted for nearly 20 years. They were all trapped in the autumn in 1998. All the roles in it tried to fight against their fates, but found in vain eventually. When the mystery is solved, fate still remains in the Man chang de ji jie, which means a long season in English. This sense of powerlessness makes each of us relate it to ourselves.

I know many people like watching a nobody finally turn to a successful man through his hard-working and insistence. But most of the time it's not the reality. And most of us, the ordinary people, can't overcome this mountain of the times. We are trapped in this long autumn, until our faiths break down. However, we still see someone go forward.

Life is difficult. Sometimes it's like a elegy of fate. But never forget to sing a hymn to ordinary people. In the end of the series, a snow falls, declaring the approaching of winter. What a beautiful scene! We all like spring because it's the beginning of a new year, also the beginning of life. But not everyone is so fortunate to see it. So when the long autumn finally ends, when the first winter snow falls, why can't it be a new beginning for us? Eyes towards front, move forward, and do not look back. Sometimes the meaning of life is not break through our fates, but choose hope in the suffering of life.

We can all find ourselves in this TV series. It's more like a documentary about ordinary people, and also inspires them to move forward.
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10/10
The Long Season
jackson_ro22 May 2023
Quite easily the best, most well made Mainland Chinese drama I have ever seen. A true crime story that goes way beyond the crime itself, as it touches on society, human nature and so much more. Everything from the cinematography to details of every character and scene is carefully constructed. The setting is distinctively Northeastern China and China during that time. Not everything should or needed to be painted roses, and I believe The Long Season could serve as a vital lesson to those in charge of this department in China in determining what makes a good TV show. The leads, especially Fan Wei delivers a performance of the ages. The characters are so well sculpted and their relationship with each other are so authentic and true. This is one powerful drama that uniquely celebrates character development and character faults and hits hard long after the end credits. Oh yes, and the end credit, each one featuring a different song to reflect the mood of the episode, is the cherry on top.
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10/10
Feel disappointed with true detective s2&3? Go watch this
v-0941720 May 2023
For the middle-aged people in the northeast of China, 1990s is an unforgettable era which is full of magic and trauma. The transformation and decline of industry deeply affected the society and every family's life. People lost their jobs and the crime rate became higher. All of them make the era an abundant source for Chinese literature, and the creation of this amazing tv drama.

Basically this is a crime drama, but this is more about the characters' personalities and life, which is familiar with true detective series. It's a brilliant and touching combination of 1990s China style and tough detective novel. The emotion and the connection between people in this drama are so powerful. If you are a fan of true detective, you may love this.
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10/10
A very-well made drama ...
ivan_dmitriev13 June 2023
... about ordinary lives of ordinary people, which, due to its amazing details and filmography explains a lot, not only about China, but about the ex-USSR and the Eastern Europe.

This is the first humane look, without the hand-wringing so common among the Eastern European "independent" film-makers, at what and how the transformation of the 90ies really happened and what it meant (not much, either good or bad) for the ordinary people.

Overall, this is an excellent multi-decade multi-character character study, which, I am sure will be included in movie schools and anthropology curriculas for decades to come.

10/10.
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10/10
The best chinese tv show ever
diastereomer16 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The story is amazing. The music is always fabulous and brings audiences into the story. The show describes the changes in chinese society in 1990s, tell a story in a background which every 35 and older chinese had experienced.

The casts are amazing, every move and every word from the them makes audiences feel on the spot in person.

The directing is flawless. Every scene is vividly-designed. I cannot stop watching this show. Even after I finished the show, i still go through every details of the show in my head after I go to bed at night. The only complain is that the ending is very sad based on my own feeling. I wish biaozi could be still alive at the end of the show.
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10/10
A Sincerely Drama
xiaohei-8011217 May 2023
Finally a Chinese drama that is not being overated by its patriotism or some celebrity huge fan base .Scene will beautiful shot and change to bring u into it. Plot was twist naturally according to character personality and environment. Bgm was well select to bring yr emotion in for every Scene.

Every cast performance was suberb, most of the lines u can feel is not from script. The lines are grounded and natural excute by actor life experience. Nice story telling that give u the unexpected turn that shock u. Many golden moment that stuck in your mind even u finished watching it. Kudos to the makeup artist natural separate 20years difference to the same actor. Director sincerely want to bring the audience to his world and didn't play by market needs,Thanks to everyone and director seriously contribute their 101% in this show.
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10/10
Wonderful storyline and superb acting!
patrick88282 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The Long Season may be the best Chinese TV series I have ever seen Three periods(1997 1998 2017)are interwoven perfectly. It begins with a hit-and-run accident by an imitated-plate car in 2017 which triggers a tracking of the murderer of his son by an old man. The murder happened 19 years ago. The old man,Wang Xiang gets the help of two friends;one his brother in law,Gong Biao,and the other an ex-policeman,Ma Desheng. Very persistent,they unveil the cruel reality of Northeast china in the late 1990s.

Wang,Gong and Ma's stories touch me Very much Wang's son,Wang Yang,fell in love with a college girl who had been molested by her adopted father. The girl, Shen Mo killed a Hongkong businessman who had raped her and an ungrateful girlfriend who had helped the raping. Wang Yang assisted Shen in disposing of the corpses but ended up dying from saving her from drowning. Wang Xiang didn't believe his son had killed himself but what was left of him was only the bodies of his son and his sick wife, the latter hanging herself after the heartbreaking experience.

Wang Xiang, a veteran worker of a state-owned steel plant, had always been a model worker and was very proud of his plant. He despised the woman who dug through the plant garbage and hated those who stole from the plant. But surprisingly he was laid off by the plant in 1998. Northeast China is the base of heave industry of the country and many enterprises had been brought about with the help of ex-Soviet experts in the 1950s. But the reform characterized by the market economy made many people redundant and they had to be laid off and left their positions. The hard life pressured them very much; some women even went to the night club to entertain rich people by drinking with them together. Wang Xiang's confidence and pride collapsed nearly overnight and the family's death overwhelmed him by grief. He wanted to kill himself by lying on the railway, but the cry of an abandoned baby stopped him. He felt he must bring the baby up to compensate for his lost child. He changed his parenting way and ended up with a good son.

The acting of all the cast is incredible. Fan Wei (portraying Wang Xiang), an accomplished actor, gave an impressive performance. Qin Hao (portraying Gong Biao) became nearly unrecognized to the audience. And Chen Minghao (portraying Ma Desheng), wow, his dance has a magical charm.
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10/10
do not look backward
hmvxqmfc25 January 2024
For those of you reading this epitaph, we don't know at this point that this is the whispering train whistling through the Möbius Ring rising and sinking after generations of crushing Then let's give a resonant ring. If there is no echo, the season will continue to be long, but be sure to turn back before moving forward.

I admire and marvel at the director's ability for pacing, and his artistic standards are amazingly high. I love his camera angles and techniques, and I love the soundtrack in this drama. The plot is well thought out and interesting in many places. The natural human condition of the Chinese people is captured with ease. And, of course, it's all thanks to the superbly cast actors and actresses. Except for Shen Mo, whose acting sometimes lacks an explosive power and seems a bit stilted compared to the rest of the cast.

Why is this season so long? Maybe this is the season of life.
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