What a Wonderful World (在人间) Chinese drama review
The only light in Xu Tian’s (Yin Fang) life is Jia Xiao Duo (Zhao Li Ying), a regular customer he picks up in his “job” as a rideshare driver. As he drives her from destination to destination, he is dragged into her odd adventures. Xiao Duo keeps him from thinking about his bleak and lonely life. She’s the only spark in his life; something he looks forward to besides the daily grind.
But then, mysterious events start happening around him, all seemingly tied to Xiao Duo…
Thoughts
When I tried to write the drama’s synopsis, I found myself at a loss. It’s that kind of drama where even a hint of the plot could spoil the viewer, but a bland synopsis would not do justice to this drama’s mind-bending premise.
But I’ll tell you this straight away: This was not an easy drama to watch or even digest.
The first episode will leave you clueless.
The second episode will leave you with more questions.
The third episode will leave you even more discombobulated.
By the fourth episode, you’re exasperated and wonder if you can continue.
And if you decide not to, this drama is not for you.
And I don’t mean this in a derogatory, “you’re not smart enough” way. It’s understandable that you can’t continue on. Because this drama takes a lot of work and patience.
I’m not saying that only smart people can appreciate the drama. Modern storytelling (across all media) has trained many of us (myself included!) to expect quicker pacing and definite story beats.
In fact, I nearly gave up on this drama in the fifth episode. However, the twist at the end kept me going.
More than meets the eye
Zhao Liying as Jia Xiao Duo.
This CDrama is not a slice of life, nor is it a romance. It’s kinda sci-fi-ish. Or maybe not. That much I can tell you. (If you’re impatient, you can skip to the spoilery review below. I think some people need to know what this drama is really about to truly keep going.)
In many ways this drama reminds me of Three-Body. You need to be the type to love experimental storytelling to appreciate this drama.
You need to be the type to patient enough to wait for the clarity that will come after the vagueness and confusion. You need to be comfortable not having a clue and not understanding what’s happening in the first few episodes.
Because the plot isn’t linear at all. Don’t expect the type of plots/filming method or storytelling style of a typical drama.
Yes, technically speaking, the script is weak at the start. It tried too hard to be mysterious, but only left viewers confused. The less patient and those with limited time to sit through a highly possible whacky/bad drama would bail.
So, why didn’t I?
I happened to be free, and was doing stuff around the house and watched the drama in the background. I was in also in a mood to be teased and to try something new.
If you’re not in this frame of mind, I don’t blame you at all for ditching it. I probably would’ve if I was not in a good mood that day and wanted something easy to digest.
But if you’re in a mood for some experimental TV, What a Wonderful World could just be the drama for you.
Spoilery review
(Please don’t read on if you don’t want to be spoiled)
Zhou Yi Wei as the scientist … or is he even real?
The reasons why I said it’s understandable that many won’t appreciate this drama is because the director made a commercial drama with zero consideration for the audience’s needs. It’s as if he wrote a fanfic for himself, so to speak.
Could it have told the story better and become more mainstream as a result? Yes. I think the storytelling is rough. Experimental it may be, but it could use a bit more coherence. But I liked how discombobulated I felt. It helped me step into the shoes of our main character.
That’s why I call this an “experiential” drama. It’s the kind of drama that will let you experience the mind and world view of our character, a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder.
In that sense, this drama is beautiful in the way it conveys the disorder.
There’s also another problem: We don’t know anything about our characters: There’s no backstory, no arc, no nothing.
To me, I think this is a good narrative choice. (Your mileage may vary.) It makes us feel disassociated, disconnected from the characters. If our characters don’t know WHO they are most of the time, denying us the God-level view is in, essence, helping us see things from their point of view. That’s my opinion, anyway.
That confusion you feel as a viewer, not knowing what’s real or not? Who’s an NPC or not?
Imagine being Xu Tian, not knowing whether YOU are real. Heck, you’re not even sure which character is really the real you?
Phew, imagine living this day by day. Which is why episode 5 is great, because our main character realises that the world they had been living, the woman/man they’d interacted with may not be real. That disorientation was painful, even for the viewer.
Sometimes it’s better to believe you’re not real. That you’re an NPC.
Because when our main character walks back to their real lives, seeing them scarf down a cold sandwich, lie in their cold beds in their equally bleak apartments … you’d prefer to be an NPC too.
Thoughts about the ending (spoilers)
Click to read the spoilers
At the end of the drama, I am left pondering about the meaning of life. I’m not even kidding. Our two leads’ ending has made me wonder: What kind of life is worth living?
Sure, the world says that you need to live life a certain way to be deemed successful or even be happy, but is it necessarily true for everyone?
The Easter egg scene at the end of the drama left me in a philosophical mood.
By normal people’s standards, their lives may be disturbing, but to them it is beautiful. And I think so too. (But the fact that I think it’s beautiful is also disturbing!)
Conclusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-OSexHooOs
So, what do I think about the drama on a whole?
It’s a trip! hahaha. Literally, an acid-fuelled trip.
It’s an “experience”; it reminds me of art house movies that care more for experimentation than commercial norms.
Do I love it? Probably not in the same way I love crowd-pleasing dramas like A Moment But Forever or Feud.
But I adore that this CDrama exists because it gives me a lot of hope that there are some parts of C-entertainment that are trying to be different, to tell a story for the love of storytelling, not just for money.
Because surely the makers realise this drama is not the type to attract eyeballs or sponsors, but they made it anyway. We need this spirit to be nourished in Cdramaland.
CDramaland is often dominated by fast food storytelling that largely caters to audiences with particular tastes and aesthetics.
For example: the rising dominance of vertical dramas, it’s all about fast, steamy, wtf plots. And long dramas are starting to emulate their pacing and shock value.
And that’s why I am glad that A Wonderful World exists because it means that there are some parts of Cdramaland who dare to be experimental, to tell stories that are not conventional and most importantly, there are some people who are letting them! That gives me hope that C-entertainment can take some risks and not just fall back to safe but tired formulas.
Rating: 3.5
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