Title: The Silver Chambers of Sorrow aka 銀樓金粉(2008)
Producer: 唐基明
Episodes: 21
Cast: Christine Ng, Nancy Sit, Paul Chun, Ng Wait Kwok, Shirley Yeung, Jack Wu, Charmaine Li, Matt Yeung, Rebecca Chan, Nancy Wu, Eric Li, Winnie Yeung
Theme: Pre-modern ancient serie
Setting: Guangdong province
Themesong: Sang by Ivana Wong
Awards won from this serie: N/a
Warning….some major spoilers here and there….
Basic setup of the serie…
Basically, this is a TVB serie about a traditional wealthy family in pre-modern ancient times. The family is preparing to celebrate the grandfather’s upcoming birthday. To everyone’s surprise, the second son of the family (Ng Wai Kwok) returns with his wife and son! It is very surprising to the whole family because it was known that he left and never came back home for 8 years! The third wife of the patriarch, Sau Hung (Christine Ng) begins to show signs of jealousy since it was revealed that she and the patriarch’s brother were lovers in the past. She is still in love with him and still yearns to be with him despite being his sister-in-law!
With the story focusing on the gold business, there is much struggle over traditional versus modern ways of doing business during that time. The other focus is the thoughts and beliefs of women during that time. The personality and the different sides of each of the female characters is one of the highlights of this serie.
Character and Actor Discussions….
Nancy Sit as matriarch/first wife – I was disappointed with this character because I was anticipating it being a more villanish role for Nancy. About 99% of the time, she is kind-hearted and the decisions she has made were generally mostly due to the situation. It was not a very outstanding performance because the character itself was not very hard to portray, but nonetheless, she did an ok job.
Paul Chun as patriarch- I find that his character was despicable at times because of his traditional mindset. However, there are times when he is very soft-hearted such as how he treats his dog or how he shows he seems to show that he cares for his third wife, Sau Hung (Christine Ng). In general, I don’t like this character, and by the last episode, it pretty much sealed the deal for me that this character was just horrible. Despite all the nice or good things he had done, his actions in the last episode sealed the deal that the character is a miserable, horrible man. I think Paul Chun also did an ok job in here as well, but I think he has done villain roles in older TVB series that seems much more superb.
Christine Ng as third wife- Her character is, in my opinion, the real female lead as this serie revolves around her a major part of the time. She was in love with the second brother in the serie, but he chooses not to be with her due to his obligations to his wife, so she was discontent and seeks revenge by being with Paul Chun’s character again, then she becomes alcoholic and does many things to gain Paul’s favor, but ends up hurting everyone around her and herself. In general, Christine did a decent job in here, but I did not like her character that much. Her character’s progress throughout changed too soon, too fast, and it is not very appealing. Sometimes she seems strong and competent, then lovesick and dependent, then horrendous and conniving, delusional and jealous, etc. Towards the end, it was hard to see her be the gentle and serene Sau Hung again. It is just not the same after all she has done. I pity her character in the beginning, but it all went downhill once she rejected the opportunity to be free again and went back into the Sheung’s family.
Ng Wai Kwok as brother- This character serves as sort of a moral compass in this serie and tries to reason with his brother many times over traditional versus modern thinkings with business and family life. I like his how his character has integrity and is always very respectful and considerate, and most of the scenes with his wife (acted by Winnie Yeung) were pleasant to watch. As for Ng Wai Kwok’s performance, I would have to say it is below average. His acting lacks fire for this character, in which he had for his character in The Drive of Life. I don’t know whether it is just the character’s problem or Ng Wai Kwok’s boredom with this character, but I don’t find his acting or the character above average.
Shirley Yeung as maid- Shirley plays Christine Ng’s maid in this serie and is very loyal to her. Later on it turns out that she is the daughter of Paul Chun’s character. At first, she and Jack Wu’s character do not get along because she thinks he’s her bad luck star, but then after realizing that Jack is a good guy and cares about her, she starts liking him. In all honesty, I think Shirley’s character is unnecessary, and it was also not a good performance from her. There was nothing different or challenging about this character compared to other characters she has done except that she was bullied for a while, and her acting has failed to convince me the pain she was in when she was bullied too. For example, in Lost in the Chamber of Love, there was a couple of scenes in which Myolie was hit by the head mistress/matriarch, and when she was screaming, it seems like she was really in pain! I really like Shirley and I’ve seen her done better, so I guess I will have to say this character just isn’t very outstanding.
Jack Wu as worker- Jack Wu plays the son of Paul Chung’s right-handed man. When he was young, he was sent off by Paul to gain an education (don’t remember for what, but I think it’s some sort of gold-making trade). Anyhow, he comes back and he works for Paul, but realizes that Paul isn’t as great as he thought he is, and goes under the second brother’s (Ng Wai Kwok) wing. He likes Shirley since young, and Charmaine Li’s character really likes him. Jack Wu’s character is another unnecessary character, and I would say he’s mainly there as the love interest of the younger gals. However, I did enjoy his scenes with Charmaine Li, not so much with Shirley though.
Charmaine Li as daughter- She plays the only daughter of the matriarch (Nancy Sit), and she was passionately in love with Jack’s character after appreciating his knowledge of the outside world in which she is often fascinated in. In one scene, after getting rejected by Jack, she got into an accident and ended up handicap from the waste down. Because Jack feels guilty about this, he decided to marry her. However, towards the end, she ends up letting him go and went off to France with her uncle. I was happy she ended up going to France to "see the outside world" as she has always wanted.
Rebecca Chan as second wife- Rebecca plays the second wife of Paul Chun’s character. She became the second wife, after betraying her mistress (Nancy Sit’s character) and gave birth to Paul Chun’s one and only son (acted by Matt Yeung). She is quite petty, and does most of the trouble-making towards the beginning of the serie.Towards the end, she became insane due to death of her most beloved son. We even have a scene in which Paul Chun’s character kicked her in the stomach after finding out the son’s death was due to her advice. Thus, her character is quite pitiful in the end.
Nancy & Eric Li as a couple having an affair- I think Nancy Wu did a good job portraying a modern, somewhat loose type of woman. She enjoys western entertainment, but she ended up settling down by marrying Paul Chun’s character. I quite enjoyed watching her scenes with Eric Li, those were pretty entertaining to watch.
The Relationships….
Sadly, there are not many romantic relationships to root for in this serie, which give this serie another negative point. Yes, Jack & Shirley was a couple, but their relationship could make me fall asleep. I was rooting for Charmaine Li & Jack, which could be written to be something interesting, but nope, he only loves Shirley’s character. Other than that, Nancy Wu and Eric Li has got to be the most fun to watch in here, but their relationship was marked for doom. I didn’t appreciate the romantic story between Ng Wai Kwok and Christine. They lack chemistry as a couple, and I felt their relationship sort of dragged throughout the whole serie.
Comments
This serie was a major, major disappointment for me. I was heavily anticipating this serie for the cast, but not only were the characters not very outstanding, the acting was also below average in general. I am not kidding when I say there is really a lack of drive to keep people tuned in. In fact, there were quite a handful of episodes which ended at points where it doesn’t keep you intrigued, to continue watching. How did I manage to finish? I guess the characters had something that kept me watching to see how they will end up at the end.
The most positive factor about this serie is the writing of the female characters. They’re not exactly two-dimensional so it can be interesting to watch the character develop. Nancy Sit’s character is the head of the household, but yet she can be very sentimental at times. Nancy Wu is modern, sort of loose woman but yet she’s afraid of her husband finding out that she’s having an affair. Rebecca Chan’s character is a bully, but she loves her son a lot. Then there is Christine Ng’s character which managed to show a variety of personalities as the serie progressed. As the female characters develop throughout the serie, you would see that they all have different goals and dreams, but are very much confined by traditional thinking and family.
I think throughout the serie, it has some traces of War & Beauty like there was the overhead scenic shot of the buildings they were living in, how the wives try to maintain a good position in the family, and even the bit towards the end with the fire. It is not using the exact same plot and storyline of course, but there are some traces here and there.
Surprisingly, the ratings for this serie was better than I expected, averaging 30 points. The last week even reached 34 points with the highest at 40 pts at one time.
My Rating:
*2 Cups of Herbal Tea (2 out of 5 stars)
1st cup for the variety of characters
2nd cup for some refreshing plots
Herbal Tea is not for everyone. It’s got a distinct flavor, so it takes time to get familiar with the flavor. Although not a drink to drink every day, after drinking for a while, you’ll come to appreciate the different flavors just like the different characters within this serie.
A Must Watch IF:
1. If you want to watch the types of different women during that time period, their thinking and actions.
2.. If you like watching women manipulate and scheme against each other, as well as a lot of petty arguments between the ladies.
3. If you like watching family-centered series
4. You like watching complex characters and character development.
5. Something to pass time with.
6. If you are a major fan of any of the cast and don’t mind watching their serie no matter whether it is good or bad.
Stay Away IF:
1. You prefer series that are fast-paced and intriguing.
2. You don’t like to watch a lot of long dialogues and or sentimental, crying scenes.
3. You prefer watching series with romantic relationships worth rooting for.
4. If you are looking for extreme cast chemistry.
5. Moments or scenes that make you go, what the heck?
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