FORBIDDEN FLOWER: A REVIEW AND AN ANALYSIS

 

To tell you the truth, I was avoiding this drama. It was because I knew that this deals with heavy themes and therefore was searching for the perfect mood to watch it. And I have finally watched this drama.

This drama feels like a dream. The cinematography is just beautiful. Every frame looks curated- like a painting, especially Xiao Han’s (our male lead played by Jerry Yan) home. We first get introduced to our male lead in a hair salon, but he is properly introduced to us in the next scene with him in his small village home. Everything from the sandy brown salon to the warm afternoon light streaming into it from the windows to the washed-out colors of his home perfectly complement the cozy ambience.

Yet beneath this cozy aesthetic the drama is anything but a fluff watch. It is slow and sensual, cute and comforting but serious and heartbreaking.

Our female lead He Ran (played by Xu Ruo Han)

We get introduced to her as she talks about how she met Xiao Han. We slowly get to know her as she boldly pursues Xian Han. The next scene after her first meeting with Xiao Han where she reaches home after leaving her phone at the salon as an excuse to contact our male lead again and we get to know how monitored she is, shows us what she craves- freedom. That she is fed up with the over protectiveness because of her illness and just wants to live her life. We see her planning and plotting her escape and finally reaching the salon again in a desperate manner.

We get a glimpse of our female lead’s cunning yet endearing side when she cleverly conceals the fact that she ditched the singer (who is kind of our second male lead though they behave like a brother and sister throughout the drama: or should I say he is less of the second male lead and more of a side character) mid-concert to meet the male lead. In a calculated move, she shows her mother a brief video she recorded at the concert, using it as proof that she stayed the entire time. This also distracts the second male lead into not revealing that she did not stay at the concert for the whole duration of her absence from home. This small but impactful moment highlights her resourcefulness and her determination to carve out moments of freedom in a life otherwise under tight control.

Though the whole plot point of the female lead searching Xiao Han out does feel a little stalkerish, but I am kind of a bit forgiving on that feeling because of the fact that the Fl is ill and I also get her motivations as she sees him as her freedom. A place where she is not caged but can live her life to the fullest.

He Ran was so forward in her pursuit of Xiao Han that even I was getting second-hand embarrassment at times, but it was a nice change from the usual tropes and that scene in ep 3 if you have seen it *clears throat* you know which one I am talking about, had me squealing.

I loved He Ran’s outlook at her life that instead of wallowing in self-pity she wanted to live her life to the fullest, but I hated how she let Xiao Han become attached to her without telling him the full consequences of him falling in love with her. I know where she was coming from that she wanted to be treated as normal for once instead of a sick woman, however it was quite selfish of her to let xiao Han fall for her when she knew that maybe she would not live long. She should have at least told him that she was sick and then let him take the decision.

Now about our male lead Xiao Han

The male lead gives off the cool, calm, mature and mysterious bad boy kind of vibe. He is styled in a way which makes him seem unconventional like someone who would not do a proper job which is what his character does as he is mostly seen as a horticulturist who sometimes works in the salon his grandmother left him. He is mature and understanding with a beaten down truck. Though I have still not figured out how does he earn enough to sustain himself in this economy but who cares he is nice to look at.

Their Relationship

The chemistry! Oh my God the chemistry! Both the leads were on fire in this one. It was soft and sensual, forward yet hesitant, mature but childlike. Just loved them both in this drama.

I liked how the male and the female lead do not misunderstand each other and talked to each other like mature people. It feels refreshing. Though there is a misunderstanding about her illness, but I will let it go as I kind of understand where she was coming from. Though that behavior from He Ran was cruel and selfish.

He Ran’s mother Chou Jia Rong (played by the actress Huang Yi )

He Ran’s mother was a central figure in her life though not in the loving way you would think so.

We get introduced to the character of her mother who seems to be an overprotective but absent businesswoman. We get to know that she loves the female lead to a great extent but has become overprotective because of her illness and distant because of her work which leads to her stifling the female lead while trying to control every aspect of her life in order to protect her in her own way instead of understanding her daughter.

However, this character is not black and white as we get to understand her and the reasons for her behavior. The drama reveals how lonely she is after her husband’s death (who dies from the same illness as He Ran) and how afraid she is for her daughter. We get to see her quirky side as she drinks alcohol with some fried Chicken while watching dramas. She reminded me of myself in that sense as she vented out her emotions with these small comforts. (ep 14) I love that she gets a cute love story of her own with her colleague. They are the second couple of this drama.

Do you realize how I am talking about the characters like they were real people because they felt like it. This drama did not feel like a drama, it felt like I was living this drama with the characters. The acting by the whole cast was incredible.

They did a wonderful job with this drama.

 The Ending (Major spoilers ahead)

I hated the ending. I hate open endings. Many people say that it’s nice that the ending can be interpreted by us, but I believe it’s usually a cope out by the director where he does not want to upset the fans of the drama therefore takes the safe way out. I needed a closure after watching a full 24 episodes of the drama, but the drama robbed me of it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I love this drama. This is one of the dramas which I would want every Cdrama lover to watch. It is a wonderful mixture of multidimensional characters, layered emotions and amazing cinematography though the ending does leave something to be desired.