A Little Reunion (2019)

Altro che notte prima degli esami!

Serie televisiva ambientata a Pechino e basata sulla storia di tre famiglie della classe media durante l’anno fondamentale della vita di ogni giovane cinese, l’anno del 高考 “gāo kǎo”, l’esame di maturità cinese, che, in base al punteggio ottenuto dallo studente, determina a quale università potrà accedere.

Maggiore il punteggio, maggiore la probabilità di poter accedere agli istituti più prestigiosi ed avere dunque la possibilità di ottenere un lavoro migliore.

Per comprendere cosa rappresenti questo rito di passaggio dall’adolescenza all’età adulta nella vita di un giovane cinese si potrebbe pensare all’equivalente italiano, vale a dire l’esame di maturità, ma non renderebbe bene l’idea.

La pressione esercitata da famiglia, scuola e società sui giovani cinesi è almeno 100, 1.000 volte superiore. Per comprendere il 高考 “gāo kǎo” bisognerebbe conoscere il vecchio esame imperiale, vale a dire l’esame che dava diritto di accesso alla funzione di “mandarino”. Un esame a cui chiunque, anche il figlio di un contadino, poteva accedere, un esame che poteva cambiare la vita di una persona e della sua famiglia, donando solidità economica e prestigio sociale.

Questa serie di 49 puntate aiuta a comprendere il significato di questo rito di passaggio in maniera divertente e appassionante attraverso la storia di tre famiglie.

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Where should I start?? There are so many good things to say!!

Plot: From the first synopsis read on MyDramaList, I brushed it off thinking it was going to like other youth Chinese dramas, but boy was I wrong! It may seem like it is, but it focuses not only on the youths on their personal journey through the "gao kao" but their families too. It shows how their parents grow and learn from certain developments and how no parent is perfect. No mother is perfect. No father is perfect. No one is born knowing how to be a perfect parent. The growth of the parents is seen evidently through the 49 episodes as well as the 4 children.

Characters: I already briefly mentioned earlier, but the growth of each main character in the 3 respective families is so touching and as an Asian child myself, I can see certain traits in the parents in my own upbringing and my own parents. For instance, the emphasis on getting good grades as done by Tong Wen Jie and Song Qian reminded me so much of when I was younger. The question of "do grades mean everything" is brought up a lot because of the "gao kao," especially when Fang Yi Fan wants to do dance and singing instead of studying for the "gao kao." Ying Zi's fall into depression was very sad, but shows the reality of the result of so much pressure from parents to do well. The episodes focused on her was really emotional and successfully touched my heart.

Acting: This leads to acting which was major 100%. 120% I would like to say. Every character seemed so real and the actors truly embodied their roles. Even though I know some actors were new like the actor who played Yang Yang and Fang Yi Fan, but I could not even tell. All the children seemed experienced. The tearjerker scenes all brought me to tears. Lei'er... was brilliant at certain scenes like his broken phone and the heart-to-heart talk meeting near the end. T_T I was bawling. The adult actors were all experienced from my knowledge so they were no problem at all. NO ONE was awkward, everyone was so compatible with another on screen with amazing chemistry!! I loved Tong Wen Jie and Fang Yuan's family dynamic the most with their son and nephew. :) "where did Lei'er go again?"

Music: There was a variety of songs played with instrumentals and they matched the scenes so, so, so well! Sad piano BGM for the sad scenes and comedic sounds for the funny ones. Editing was very well done to flow everything together, I loved it!

Rewatch Value: YES YES YES, I am going to once I have time, but later on, so I can maybe learn some more from this drama :) There were many life lessons mentioned like the perspective to look at things, to not always compare your child with other children. 10/10

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