The Knockout

The endings of this kind of Chinese TV dramas are all the same. TV dramas only celebrate the correctness and greatness of the government, so there is no need to watch them at all.

Mainland audiences always habitually criticize South Korean TV dramas and the hypocrisy of Korean society. In fact, it is they who are the most ridiculous. Chinese TV dramas either fail to shoot or forcibly perform the main theme at the end.

But it seems that Chinese mainland audiences have no memory, nor do they have enough strong and excellent literary works for them to remember.

They can only sing praises for their government from time to time.

... to take note and think beyond the media.

This TV show is based on real events, namely the dismantlement of the government-affiliated and government-corrupting criminal syndicate in the city of Jinghai. There's no spoiler to that, really, because one can go onto wikipedia and read about those events.

What's different, and preoccupying in reality, and preoccupying for those of us who live in "democratic" countries, however, is the glaring inefficiency of our police forces.

This TV series might be "propaganda" in a way that is filmed and the very ending of contains is a deliciously quaint "thanks to the Party" movie quip, however this contains a reality.

China executes corruptioneers, while the West praises them and puts them in positions of power. I know dozens of people like the protagonist regularly making the headlines of our newspapers and our government (France) can do nothing about them. The average waiting time for a police intervention from a call call in China is under 15 minutes. The average waiting time in France is between 40 minutes and several hours. Average ER waiting times in Europe are counted in hours.

Same for other public services. All the while the rich are enriching themselves. We are, collectively, going down the Gao Qiqiang's Xinhai road.

That is very worrying, because ANYONE promising the same level of efficiency will actually rafle the ballot boxes and when you're unable to provide basic services like that, a dictator becomes a (good) option - that which most will vote for - which could end in a collapse afterwards - already seen in 2023 Russia, between this and ethnosupremacist police brutality and undercurrents of civil war in the US the future looks extremely grim - OR - otherwise - you have the Chinese system, which works, produces real results and TV series detailing how those results were produced.

This is the message of this movie and everyone better take note of it.

If so, why?

I can't even concentrate on watching the drama, the camera moves a lot and unnecessarily. They used a lot of handheld camera, and felt like without steady camera. The angle of shooting, the framing, the movement of characters are just terrible. I wondered if it was done on purpose, so I tried to watch 2 episodes but I just couldn't finish the 2nd one. I just felt dizzy watching it. I trust the story was excellent as many many people had said, but I wouldn't be able to find out myself. Acting-wise, yes OK, but I still can't sit still to watch it.

One more thing, if the story is good, cast is good, why not invest a bit more in hiring better crew? Editing wasn't good either, it's just sloppy, and no one ever mentioned this on the internet, I really wonder why. Maybe it's just me...

I have to say that this TV drama is one of the best Chinese ones I have ever watched. The topic is about anti-corruption in China, which is rare in this field and attractive to audiences. Its rhythm is suitable and the plots are much realer. It shows the crises about trusting and the efforts on the way to anti-corruption under such a corruptive and dull social environment. When everyone can not be trusted and even determined to hurt you, the courage to stick on fighting is quite valuable. Pretty-designed sharp and wonderful words in communication, and thoughtful decisions they made, all reflect how awful the gangsterdom is and how hard the work is. After watching, I considered about the connection and conflicts between Gao Qiqiang and An Xin, which lets me think of their fates, and also understand the importance to work step by step and stay true to my original self.

The drama spans more than 20 years and focuses on how hard-working and talented opportunists rise from the bottom of the Chinese social pyramid. The first 3/4 is very exciting, but the last 1/4 is a bit slow, thus I rated this drama a 9 instead of 10.

The acting of Zhang SongWen (who plays Gao Qiqiang) is incredible. He is a ruthless mafia boss but also a warm, loving father, husband, and brother. He handled the two faces very well. The scenes where he protects his family, showing warmth and strong humanity, really moved me.

The supporting actress Gao Ye (who plays Chen Shu Ting) is also very eye-catching. Her portrayal of the tiger mother is very realistic!