Date of release : 2009
Duration: 45 minutes/episode
Number of Episodes: 30
Base on a novel by Long Yi
Screenplay by: Jiang Wei
Directed By: Jiang Wei
Production: Chongqing Television
Starring:
Sun Honglei
Yao Chen
clip:
http://tvplay.joy.cn/teleplay/detail/47646/1.htm
Synopsis:
The story took place after the Japanese surrendered and the civil war broke out earlier in 1946.
An underground worker for the Communist Party, Yu Zecheng (Sun Honglei), is an undetected spy within the Kuomintang (KMT) secret service. He has to keep his distance from his true love, Zuo Lan, in order to conceal his real identity and agrees to 'marry' Wang Cuiping (Yao Chen), a quick-tempered but straightforward guerrilla fighter from the countryside.
The two collaborate closely on this arranged yet fake marriage to help their organization obtain lots of important and valuable information from the KMT, however, they really fall in love with one another as the story develops.
With the liberation day impending, Cuiping, threatened by identity exposure, is asked to leave Yu and be transported somewhere else for security reasons.
When Yu is also about to leave, after successfully obtaining a crucial name list, he is taken away by the KMT secret police on a secret service assignment to Taiwan, where he has to spend the rest of his life, lurking.
Status:
The hit TV series 'Lurk', a thrilling and suspenseful spy drama starring veteran actor Sun Honglei and Yao Chen came to a finale Wednesday night (April 15, 2009).
Chongqing Television has invested heavily to be the first to broadcast the drama, reportedly spending as much as 1 million yuan on each episode. However, this 30-episode play has drawn unexpectedly big audience ratings.
Different from what we have usually seen on screen, actor Sun Honglei presents a refreshing spy image and displays the true-to-life personality of a spy in a high danger-plagued existence full of espionage.
The ending has caused heated controversy among audience members. Some have even conjured their own version of a happy ending.
Long Yi, the author of the original novel thinks differently. He spoke highly of the adaptation by screenwriter Jiang Wei, saying an end like that adds a finishing touch to the story and is much closer to the reality back then. A happy ending, though more compliant with immediate audience wishes, would arouse more opposition because its artistic value would be lessened.
Reviews:
Chinese tune in to learn life lessons
Agents of change: Sun Honglei ® and Yao Chen star in the popular TV series Lurk (Qianfu) as 1945 spy Yu Zecheng and his fake, co-spy wife Cui Ping. Picture: China Daily/File photoLiu Wei
BEIJING
http://bt.com.bn/en/life/2009/04/25/chines...rn_life_lessons
Saturday, April 25, 2009
WU ZONGWEI works in a government intelligence department and knows how to get ahead. His boss has told him and his colleagues to watch television.
Not any TV show, of course, but "Lurk" (Qianfu), which is set in 1945, the year China won the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and fell into a four-year civil war between the Communists and Kuomintang.
The show hit the small screen only recently, but is already a smash hit, especially among younger viewers.
Wu became a fan after watching it by chance and soon found his boss and colleagues were also tuning in.
His boss suggested that anyone who had not seen the show tune in right away.
"My boss told us to learn from the main character's devotion to faith," says Wu. "Yu Zecheng, the protagonist, survives in a dangerous environment largely thanks to his strong faith, which provokes his wisdom and courage."
Saleswoman Yu Hong, 29, is also a Lurk devotee. Her boss has asked all the staff to watch and learn from the spy thriller.
"He told us to observe our rivals, clients and environment, and to note details like a spy," Yu says. "He says the business world is like a battlefield."
In the TV show, Yu is a streetwise Communist agent planted in a Kuomintang secret spy organization. He uses his wits to exploit his colleagues' conflicts, quickly becomes his boss's favourite and gets much useful inside information.
The 30-episode series has been the talk of the town since first screening in late March. Its premiere had an audience rating of 8.01 per cent on Beijing TV, the highest first-day rating of any TV series broadcast by the network.
Most interest concerns the show's office politics.
Netizens summarised the 10 dos and don'ts that they think have helped the main character to be a winner in the office.
The 10 must-dos include being low-key, loyal to your boss and neutral when your colleagues clash.
Among the 10 don'ts were telling office workers not to show off their talent and complaining about their colleagues behind their back.
A netizen wrote, "We should work and live like Yu Zecheng. We young people are impulsive and do not pay enough attention to human relations, which is a big weakness."
Mainstream media such as Xinhua.net and Sina.com launched regular reports on discussions the show inspires among white-collar workers.
He Dong, a TV host for Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV and culture critic, wrote in his blog, "Those who hope to come out on top in their jobs should watch the show again and again. It shows in great detail strategies for how to behave, such as when to accept things going against you, wait for the right time to act and when to fight back.
"The show is popular because it resonates with real-life situations. Every role can be related to one's own boss or colleagues."
Chen Ning, a senior consultant at Zhaopin.com, a job website, thinks that the "guidelines" offered by netizens and in the media are useful because success in a company is largely attributed to high social skills.
Scriptwriter Jiang Wei has been taken aback by the huge stir the show has caused among young office workers and admits he hadn't been alluding to today's society when he wrote the script.
"Young people know little about the history I was writing about, so they tend to relate the story to an environment they are familiar with that is quite understandable," Jiang told the Shanghai Youth Daily. "For people to create office strategies from the script was something I never expected."
Wu Jing, associate professor in Peking University's Communications department, attributes the show's success to the media's preoccupation with young people's opinions.
"The media likes to find potentially popular issues on the Internet involving young people, especially because young white-collar workers express their opinions there," says Wu. "Through the media, their ideas grow into a bigger topic, which in return creates more intense discussions."
Wu thinks that office politics is definitely not the only thing the show's viewers focus on.
"Some other TV-watching groups, such as old people or blue-collars may be more interested in the funny husband-wife relations between Yu and his fake wife, a covert agent, too. But their opinion has less chances of being captured by media or magnified to be an issue."
She also says that Chinese generally has been paying great attention to human relations, adding to the show's popularity. "The connections, or guanxi, among people has long been a favoured topic among Chinese," she says. China Daily/ANN