Remaking Qiong Yao Adaptations: Should It Be the Movies or the Series?

Knowing that Qiong Yao's literature has been remade like "Romance in the Rain" and she did have the "My Fair Princess" novels too (which are most likely not adapted in the past).  So if "Romance in the Rain" had a remake from the 1986 version (but set in different ways), remember some of Qiong Yao's novels were also made into movies.  I really want this to happen because the next generation must also know of her classical literature and old Qiong Yao movies and films are very hard to find, plus subs are hardly found among them!


Her novel "The Unforgettable Character" which the Chinese title really meant "Across the Water" or "Zai Shui Yi Fang" had both a movie and a TV series.  What was weird was that Qin Han starred as the leading guy in both the movie and the TV series!  I haven't seen any of the movies yet though I have thought that some of Qiong Yao's biggest stars were actually big time stars like Vicki Zhao.  In one case, Fan Bingbing had also played in Qiong Yao series herself and in one Qiong Yao-like drama called "The Last Night of Madam Chin".

For Qiong Yao TV series, perhaps the most iconic on-screen couple were those done by Qin Han and Liu Xuehua so there's really no reason not to remake the classics.  Romance in the Rain (2001) was for me a much better version than the utterly depressing 1986 version.  So I had my thoughts on whether movies or dramas would be better for the remakes.


Now I thought about the possible stress of making a movie vs. making a series.  A series may take longer but there are breaks in between.  A movie on the other hand has a more hectic schedule for the cast members.  It may explain why Qin Han and Liu Xuehua focused most of their career on TV drama over making movies.  Qin Han was once a big screen star but later focused on TV series.  Most of Qiong Yao's works were adapted more as TV series instead of novels.

In my opinion, it's a very case to case basis.  I would certainly want to watch a movie, get it done and over with and watch another.  However there are times I desire to be entertained longer but when it gets too long, it gets boring.  A movie remake from the 1970s to his decade vs. a series remake from the 80s/90s to this decade.  Romance in the Rain was remade in 2001 from a 1986 series so it wouldn't be that bad assuming most of them belong to the 19-Forgotten for the new generation plus some of them can easily be given a modern setting like "Where the Seagull Flies", "Across the Water" and "Courtyard", rewritten in such a way that will appeal to the modern audience.

In my case, a movie would be good if you want to introduce Qiong Yao to literature students.  I mean, it's easier to critique a movie vs. a series right?  In my case, I prefer to be a critic towards movies instead of a critic towards series at times... because a series demands you to spend more time than usual... while a movie can be finished in one sitting.  This may require a feasibility study to see which one will be more feasible in the long run.  In my case, I usually prefer to watch series within a moderate number of chapters.