GENTLE REFLECTIONS

When I was younger, Gentle Reflections was one of my favorite TVB series. For some reason, it was often repeated on cable so when I was younger so I always watch it whenever I see it on. The themesong and themevideo always captivated me to watch. The themesong was sang by Irene Wan, the main actress who played Poon Kum Lien, and the song sounds really beautiful and also quite poetic.

Other than the themesong, I love the beginning of the themevideo. I always thought it was the best themevideo TVB made because of the beginning with the Chinese words flowing down behind the paintings of the main female characters like it's about to introduce a Chinese novel. The animated paintings of the main female characters as they gradually turned to show their faces and smile, are also very beautifully created and considerably modern for the 90s. At the end of the themevideo, they showed all three main characters together casually relaxing. It has a nice flow to the end, considering they started with introduction of each of the main characters and then ending it with all three of them together. Even to this day, I have not seen another ancient TVB themevideo that is as comparably as ancient and stunning. Along with the song, it just automatically captivates your attention.
Watching all of the wives interacting in the series, it can be said that it was the '90s version of War & Beauty regarding how women were fighting for power within the household, resorting to not only verbal insults but also scheming various ploys to harm the other wives to gain favor or attention. Costume-wise, the clothes the actresses wore were all very beautiful and colorful, and yet quite representative of their characters. For example, Ping Yee (Kenix) and the first wife who were quite conservative generally wore thicker outfits that covered their bodies, while Kum Lien (Irene) wore outfits that were more thin.

It was also the first serie I began to like Kenix Kwok. I love her character Ping Ye, and I like how Kenix portrayed her. I liked Ping Yee when she was an honest maid with a kind heart, who eventually fell for her husband played by Patrick Tam. I even liked her when she vowed revenge on Xi Men Hing and became his wife. Ping Yee possessed some conscience compared to the other wives in the family with regards to scheming. I like how she is more observant and calm (which shows how intelligent she is) while the other wives were too brash with their plots. Kenix also has beauty along with poise and elegance which makes the character Ping Yee believable when she portrays someone with no motives in the Xi Men household while in reality being the silent, but intelligent and calculative type of women. It is no wonder she was able to captured the hearts of three men within the series! I do believe Xi Men Hing loved her the most out of all his wives, Mo Chong had feelings for her until the day she died, and of course her husband loves her enough to change himself for her.

Within this serie, the only male-female relationship I enjoyed watching was Ping Yee's relationship with her husband played by Patrick Tam, which was very enduring to watch. It was very sweet how he tries to win her heart and also turn into a better person during the same time. Kenix and Patrick had very nice chemistry together as a couple.

金瓶梅 or "Plum in the vase"

I've always known the story of Poon Kum Lien and her hermit husband Mo Dai Long, Mu Chong, and Xi Men Hing were from a Chinese novel, but I didn't know that Gentle Reflections is based off another Chinese novel named 金瓶梅 or "Plum in the vase". However, for TVB's title,the word 梅 was left off. Since the serie focused more on the rivalry between Poon Kum Lien and Li Ping Yee, and there was almost next to none with Chun Mui, it's understandable her name was left off the title. The characters of Ping Yee and Chun Mui in Gentle Reflections were relatively different than the novel. In the novel, Ping Yee has romantic feelings for Xi Men Hing while in the TVB serie, she was written to be somewhat more as a protagonist who married him to get revenge. Personally, I liked how TVB changed her character so that the audience could see a different perspective within the Xi Men residence. All these wives are vying for Xi Men Hing's affection for power or love, but because Ping Yee isn't vying for his affections because she cares for him or needs the power, the audience gets a better image of these other wives in the household.
The character Chun Mui was also suppose to be another concubine who rise to power within the household in the novel, but she was written to be a pure-hearted girl in the TVB serie. I guess in doing so, we have three sides of the spectrum in this serie....the pure protagonist (Chun Mui), the character in shades of gray (Ping Yee), and the villain (Poon Kum Lien). I think the actress who played Chun Mui did a decent job, but there wasn't much focus on her character. I think her character mostly serves as a reminder that Kum Lien and Ping Yee were once like her with respect to morals and conscience, and that they were once good friends.

The character and actions of Poon Kum Lien seems very similar to the one in the novel, so I would say her depiction in Gentle Reflections is probably the one that stays true to the novel the most. I think Irene did a good job portraying Kum Lien, and sometimes I do pity her character in the serie because all the men she cared for loved Ping Yee more, and Ping Yee was treated better even after she married into the Xi Men residence. However, I never got the gist that she was evil to the core. I think TVB/Irene tried to portray Kum Lien as a villain who was forced to do the wrong things because of the circumstances, but I could be wrong since my memory is fuzzy about the particular details.

If you want to read more about this novel which Gentle Reflection is loosely based on, here is the Wiki Link: Jin Ping Mei, and a comics version: Golden Lotus

If TVB decides to remake another one of its series, I hope it would remake this one according to TVB's older version. As for who I would cast, I think for sure, I would cast Tavia Yeung as Ping Yee. Tavia has the beauty, poise, and elegance that Kenix had. I think she would pull the role off well. As for Poon Kum Lien, I think Fala has the looks since she is very pretty, but I don't know about her acting and accent. As for the role of Chun Mui, I would like to see Leila Tong or Shirley Yeung in the role but it's not very challenging though. However, Chan Hoi Yee (To Love with No Regrets, The Academy) has some similar features with the actress who played Chun Mui in Gentle Reflections.

I don't know why TVB have not released the DVD version of this serie because I sure would buy it! And given the responses that I've seen regarding this serie online, it seems that a lot of people also enjoy this serie too. Hopefully they would release it on DVD later on.

PS I do not own this review.