American Tragedy & Looking Back in Anger
This possibility first came across my mind when I read An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser in high school. I have watched Looking Back in Anger when I was a little kid, so when I read this novel, I noticed some familiarity with some of the characters and plots. In An American Tragedy, the main character was Clyde Griffiths, and in Looking Back in Anger, the character to be compared would be Ding You Hong (acted by Deric Wan).
Familiarity-
#1 - Both Clyde Griffiths and Ding You Hong were from a poor family.
#2 - Both of them are ambitious and wanted to achieve a better status.
#3 - Both envies those who are wealthy and able to have fun.
#4 - Both of them tries their best to make themselves appear well-to-do.
#5 - Both of them were involved with an automobile accident in which their car hits (and possibly killed someone) which is the start of their problem (though Clyde wasn't behind the wheel though).
#6 - Both wooed a girl (for Clyde, Roberta Aldens; for Ding You Hong, Ka Mun played by Maggie Siu) that they later got pregnant, and the girls forced them to marry or they would exposed the affair.
#7 - Both met a rich girl they were interested in during this time (for Clyde, Sondra Finchley; for Ding You Hong, Cindy played by Kiki Sheung).
#8 - Both murdered their pregnant girlfriends in which the girls would least expect after promising them marriage (Clyde hit Roberta in the face, causing her to fall off the canoe and drowned; while Ding You Hong pushed Ka Mun off the train)
#9 - Both were executed at the end (Clyde by electrocution; Ding You Hong by hanging)
The Counte of Monte Crisco & The Great Vendetta
The second serie that came to mind was actually a very old Adam Cheng series called The Great Vendetta. I have watched this when I was a little kid, and my memory of it is very vague, but I’ve remember only bits and pieces of it . From what I remember, this serie was about a guy (Adam Cheng) who got framed and got put in either prison or some sort of tunnel , and he was able to find a way to lots of treasure somehow, so he used the money, and came back with a different identity and seeked revenge for all those who have hurt him in the past, including the guy who took his wife/fiancé while he was locked up or gone. Now, I never heard of The Counte of Monte Crisco before this serie, but when I found out the plot from the movie promos, the plot sounds sort of the same isn’t it?
Taming of the Shrew & Taming of the Princess
A third serie I think may be similar is the Taming of the Princess with Bobby au Yeung and Esther Kwan, which I believe uses pretty much the same concept as Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, though I could be wrong though. However, I believe in both the guy marries the girl, who is spoiled and verbally blunt, but yet they both fall in love with each other. Correct me if wrong.
Thus, it is very interesting to pick up bits and pieces of these plots from literature and plays. I once read a comment on Spcnet forums, and a poster there commented on how older TVB series were successful because partly the TVB writers followed the same type of storytelling as Shakespeare and other playwrights. Really interesting post, but it is a shame I can not find it.
Do you know of any TVB plots that are similar to literature or novels?
2 comments:
Another interesting topic =) But since I didn't watch or read those series/stories I can't really comment on it (except Taming of The Princess).
It's interesting to see where TVB gets their ideas though and at times it makes me wonder if they're actually allowed to do that (i.e grab ideas and claim as their own)
Hi! I chanced upon your blog by accident when looking for synopsis for this old drama called The Great Vendetta. Have you seen another great TVB drama - Adam Cheng's The Switch is based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier called The Scapegoat? I really enjoyed this drama which is pretty similar to the English novel.
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