The Bronze Teeth
From DramaWiki
Also known as: Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan
Details
- Setting: Qing Dynasty, ancient China
- Language: Mandarin
- Broadcast year: 2003
Casts & Credits
Cast
- Zhang Guo Li as Ji Xiao Lan
- Zhang Tie Lin as Qing Long
- Wang Gang as He Sheng
- Alyssa Chia as
- Zhang Ting as Liu Lin Lan
Synopsis
Based on a real person in history, Ji Xiao Lan tells the story of a briliant scholar in the Qing Dynasty, a high official under Emperor Qian Long (Zhang Tie Lin, the same emperor as the one in Huan Zhu Ge Ge). Ji Xiao Lan (Zhang Guo Li), the righteous scholar, is basically the foil of the 'evil', greedy official He Shen (Wang Gang.) The plot of the series revolves around the issues that the Qing Dynasty's China deals with, and makes some thinly-veiled points about today's modern governments (or actually any governments ever) and the corruption that sprouts.
In general terms, Ji Xiao Lan stands up for the people's rights, and He Shen supports corruption, for lack of better ways to classify these two characters. In actuality, they represent a whole spectrum of humanity, and are neither all good or all bad. There's a lot of humor in this series, playing with words, plotting, deception and fighting when the Emperor goes into the country incognito. There're several different stories/issues told, though they're all connected loosely overall, rather than separate.
Review by Calcifer10000
Pros: Lots of fun, abundant wordplay, beautifully written dialogue and a fast-paced plot would be this series's strongest traits. The characters are an absolute riot while being serious, thanks to superb acting by the three main guys. As much a political critique as it is entertainment, Ji Xiao Lan includes philisophical debates as much as it does scholarly name-calling.
Cons: The puns and poetry may go over some people's heads and some of it still goes over mine; it's definitely an intellectual drama. However, in no way would I discourage martial arts fans from this. It has its fights, but I'd say that here, the fights with words are just as, if not more than, interesting than those with swords.
Comments: To be honest, normally being a wuxia action series fan, I wasn't about to be impressed by this. But after the first episode, I was totally converted. This is one great series, and completely worth the time to understand. Very realistic and touching at times, the debates are the things to watch for. Each person has logic, be it the 'righteous' or the 'corrupt,' and is a wonderful example of how the pen can be mightier than the sword.