“Brother’s Keeper” (巨輪) is a TVB television drama that depicts the
moral life struggles of two half-brothers Kiu Tin-seng (Ruco Chan) and Lo Wai-son
(Edwin Siu) during the late and post-colonial periods of Hong Kong and Macau
between the years 1980 and 2013.
The reason of choosing this drama is true historical
events were set against the era instigating a wave of nostalgia to Hongkonger,
including Hong Kong’s 1980 Touch Base Policy, the 1998 Hong Kong financial
crisis, the 2003 Hong Kong SARS outbreak, the 2008 Hong Kong financial
recession, etc, which serves as some of the key plots that lead to the changing
fates of the brothers and their families. (The Change of Destiny, 2013) “Brother's
Keeper” has raised Hongkonger’s attention of its story timeline and historical
events, and has received generally positive reviews of the plot and characters from
critics. “Brother's Keeper” is an inspirational drama and can be called a
classic drama of TVB in recent years. The plot of “Brother's Keeper” is similar
to “The Greed of Man (大時代)” in 1992; both of them are period drama and showed various
changes and growth of the characters.
Another reason of choosing this drama is the plot
and characters of “Brother's Keeper” reflected social values of Hong Kong and
the Chinese society. Kiu Tin-seng is a smart and independent character, as a
teenager he swam to Hong Kong from mainland China; later he stuck to the
gangsters and lost his way and soul; finally he could find the proper way and
his true value. He fell in love with Rachel Cheuk (Linda Chung), who is rich
and clever; and eventually fulfills her dream of owning a fashion store to sell
her own designs. However, Rachel’s mother did not allow Rachel to date with
Tin-seng, because their social classes are totally different. This reflected
the social values in Hong Kong and the Chinese society that couples coming from
families of equal class is important. Notable case such as the marriage of
artist Michelle Lee (李嘉欣)
and her husband who comes from wealthy family. Lo Wai-son is a self-made man
who is seemingly simple-minded but kindness; and finally owned his enterprise
by virtue of his hard work and perseverance. This brought out the values of
Hong Kong and the Chinese society that if you work hard enough and keep persevering
in yours effort, you will succeed in difficult tasks, even to become a
self-made man, likes Li Ka-shing. Yiu Man-ying (Kristal Tin) , nicknamed as
‘Shrewish Ying’, is boyish but loyal to Lo Wai-son and Wai-son’s enterprise;
although she knew Wai-son did not love her anymore, she still never complains
and resents, but blesses silently and leaves quietly. This can deeply touch the
hearts of the audience compared with some exaggerated and grandiose love
stories in other dramas.
Actors and actresses in “Brother’s Keeper” delivered
outstanding performance and Kristal Tin was recognized with “Best Actress” and “My
Favourite Female Character” awards in 2013. Furthermore, the pattern of TVB
dramas in recent years almost delivered fairy tale endings, nevertheless, the
plot of “Brother’s Keeper” deliberately made a change, and told the audience
that incomplete does not mean not perfect, which could inspire the audience and
made the plot more realistic as we are not all the best in life.
(550 words)
Reference
“The Change of Destiny, Brother’s Keeper”, TVB
Weekly #796 via Baidu. (2013). Retrieved from http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1878192535
Tam Yu Wah (10553751 / 21238471)
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