Additional Comments 1 ~ The Rebel (叛逆者) 2021

#TheRebel #叛逆者 #ZhuYilong #朱一龙 #TongYao #童瑶 

USE OF MISE-EN-SCENE AND NARRATIVE ELEMENTS TO CREATE MEANING - Lin Nansheng + Zhu Yizhen

[Version 2 18th August 2021

-- added a section on the use of Walt Whitman's One's-Self I Sing in the section on Whitman.  I can't believe I forgot about this key scene. 😅 Also, other minor grammar, spelling & formatting errors]

Preface:

I have already written a review on this series if you would like to read it, please CLICK ME. That review is spoiler-free.  Unlike the review, this post will have SPOILERS, please read at your own risk.  Also, this post assumes that you have already watched the entire series because there won't be a synopsis and references to scenes won't be in chronological order.

I had originally written these additional comments as part of the review but it kept expanding, so I decided to finish the review and publish it first, if not it might go the way of the many posts that I have started and never finished.  😁

I have also decided to write at least one more post on The Rebel because I have enough material already written to start it but I will need time to finish it and that will probably take a while which is part of the reason why I'm splitting up the post again.  When that post is done, I will edit this post and post that link too.  If time permits and I still retain an interest in writing more about the series, I might still write one more.  When either one of those posts gets completed, I will rewrite this paragraph and post the links here.

(Timecodes may vary slightly depending on which version of the series you are watching.  Some episodes of the version I used had some advertisements & trailers.  If time permits in the future, I might go back and fix the TC using a version without advertisements. If I do so, I will note it here.)

(For capsule reviews and links to other reviews of Tong Yao's work, please CLICK ME)

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One of the things I found interesting about this series is that the romance between Lin Nansheng (Zhu Yilong 朱一龙) and Zhu Yizhen (Tong Yao 童瑶) is a relatively unusual one.  In most TV series, even if the romance is a turbulent one and the couple may spend a lot of time apart; still a romantic relationship where a couple spends 13 years apart except for brief awkward meetings where they try their best not to act on their feelings is not a common storyline.  Even when they were pretending to be a married couple during World War II in Shanghai, they were hardly your usual romantic couple.  They were very respectful of each other's mission and chosen sides.  On the surface, they mostly maintained a professional relationship but in their hearts, they were trying their best not to act upon their growing affection.  What makes this even more unusual is that this relationship began as a fraudulent one.  When Lin Nansheng approached Zhu Yizhen, he had an agenda.  He had been sent there to try and enter the upper levels of the Communist underground via the young university undergraduate.

While they were a really radiant couple in the beginning, the relationship between Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen at the beginning of The Rebel was always built on sand.  That's partially because the duration of their relationship in the beginning wasn't very long and partially because Lin Nansheng had an agenda.  They didn't take too long to topple this sandcastle because The Rebel isn't about romantic love.  However, this also meant that the series had to figure out a way to suggest that this couple, whose relationship began in the worst possible way, would somehow still be linked emotionally and spiritually through the many years that they remained apart.

The series makers didn't go with the love at first sight plot device because that's not a very good foundation for a love that's supposed to span 13 years, of which a large part of it was spent either apart physically or emotionally.  Physically, simply because they were often not in the same city or even if they were, they deliberately did not come into contact.  Emotionally because Zhu Yizhen, in particular, had built up walls in her heart after she discovered Lin Nansheng’s true motive in getting close to her.  In the last arc of the story, Lin Nansheng himself also deliberately dug an emotional chasm between the two of them to keep her safe.  

To make it work, they had to build a stronger foundation and they didn't have a lot of time for it too.  So what the script did instead, was to suggest that theirs was a meeting of the minds and souls, that is, they were soulmates.  This was a smart thing to do because this is the only reasonable way to explain why even after all that they had been through, they would both remain emotionally tied to each other.  This was why the scene at the dance hall was so important.  Previous to this, Zhu Yizhen had no interest in the men around her and it was only after the conversation in the dance hall that she began to feel a connection.

What The Rebel did to suggest that the two were soulmates throughout the years after their first encounter was to use several narrative elements and music, both diegetic and non-diegetic, to remind viewers that the couple has always been linked emotionally and spiritually to each other no matter where they are.  This suggestion started from as early as the basketball scene with the use of music.  A lot of thought and effort was put into this because they kept building and layering with several different elements throughout the series till the very end.

Music

Two pieces stand out whenever one thinks of the two of them and no other character in the series seems to have any particular piece of music of significance attached to them.  While using thematic music is not uncommon in films, it's not used as often in dramas because it is much harder to maintain consistency.  The decision to use theme music for the couple was not only a bold one but also one that really paid off because it really enhanced the feeling that they were spiritually tied together from the beginning to the end of the series.

The first piece of music is the one we first hear when Lin Nansheng observes her at the basketball court.  The second piece is actually used as the instrumental theme song for the series but is also used diegetically when they play Tchaikovsky The Seasons June: Barcarolle together on the piano.  The Rebel actually hired world renown pianist Lang Lang to play The Seasons June: Barcarolle and they also hired experienced composer Zhang Yilin (张镒麟) to be overall in charge of the OST of the series which indicates how seriously they took their music in the series.

[Episode 07 TC 17:20] I particularly like the piece that they use when Lin Nansheng first sees Zhu Yizhen on the basketball court.  This is the first time we hear this piece.  This piece is by Zhang Yiling and the composer called it 篮球场的心动 lánqiú chǎng de xīndòng (literal translation: The Heartbeat of the Basketball Court) in a Weibo post published by his studio.

For some reason, it kept reminding me of Michael Nyman's The Heart Asks Pleasure First from The Piano.  Not that the pieces are the same or that similar.  It's that same feeling I first felt when I heard Nyman's piece in The Piano.  In this scene, as the music swells to the visuals in slow-mo, Lin Nansheng's heart feels the exhilarating thrill of the discovery of something ethereal, something transcendent, something divine.  This scene is particularly important for him because he will go on to love no other than her.  This evocative piece of music seems to represent Zhu Yizhen and their subsequent relationship in the most idealised form in his heart.

The second time we hear this piece of music in the background is after Zhu Yizhen has brought Lin Nansheng back to her house to nurse him back to health. [Episode 09 TC 17:43] It is used in the background under a series of shots cut together in a montage to represent the passing of time.  Under her care, Lin Nansheng makes steady progress, he begins to walk with the aid of a walking stick and they also spent time reading books together in the garden.  The time they spent together during this period was probably some of the most idyllic moments of their lives, barring the pesky bugs of course.  Zhu Yizheng slapping at the bugs bugging her is an interesting detail.  Perhaps it was indicative that these sunny, blissful perfect days can't last and that there was already trouble buzzing at the edges, ready to strike and crack open these perfect days reveal the biggest defect in their relationship then. 

 

We hear 篮球场的心动 again when Lin Nansheng thinks of her just after Zhu Yizhen helps to set up Chen Moqun.  [Episode 15 TC 4:09] It’s snowing and as he thinks of her and the music plays, her voiceover also plays above that.  As Lin Nansheng remembers reading together with Zhu Yizhen, he remembers her speaking passionately about her ideals and he remembers that first dance together.  As he recalls all this, he burns documents from the case file of their investigation on her; most significantly the sheet of paper stating his fake identity in the school.  Symbolically, it seems like Lin Nansheng wants to burn away his regret; this deed that has come between them.  All the shots of his memories of her are in black and white too because, at this point in time, he knows that those moments and the purity of her love for him are now lost to him.

As 篮球场的心动  continues to play, we transition to a scene of Zhu Yizhen in her home.  She looks around calmly and exhales an inaudible sigh as her father and the servants descend the steps.  She joins her father, smiles a very slight half-smile and as they take one more look around, she looks sad because she knows that this would be their final time in this home.  As she gazes wistfully at her father again, she is only able to manage a reassuring smile after he tells her to leave with him.  As they leave the house in their car, it’s snowing outside just as it is snowing where Lin Nansheng is.  In this context, the snow seems to symbolize that the relationship between Lin Nansheng & Zhu Yizhen has cooled.  It’s only after the car exits the frame that the music plays its final note.  The finality of that last note signals that all their lives have been irrevocably changed.

The fourth time we hear 篮球场的心动  is in the last arc of the series in Episode 35 [TC 41:35].  This is pretty significant since we have not heard this piece of music since Episode 15.  Lin Nansheng meets his contact in Shanghai and it’s Lao Ji aka Fisherman.  After he gives Lao Ji information about a captive Communist underground member, he hesitantly asks about Zhu Yizhen.  Lao Ji tells him that she’s doing well and misses him too but to keep them both safe, he can’t tell either of them more.  Lin Nansheng is just happy to hear that she’s doing well.  The music begins to play and we cut to Zhu Yizhen busy transmitting a message via Morse Code.  The message she’s relaying is about the captive Lin Nansheng was telling Fisherman about.  Although both of them don’t know it yet, they are once again linked together spiritually.  This time, they are finally on the same side and they are even working on a mission together, linked symbolically by this piece of music.

The final time we hear 篮球场的心动 is when Zhu Yizhen goes and retrieve the brooch that Lin Nansheng had given her.  The brooch was damaged in an earlier incident and she had finally managed to get it fixed in this shop in Shanghai.  Once the box containing the brooch reached her hands, the first strains of this piece of music can be heard.  [Episode 39 TC 10:12] As she inspects the brooch carefully, the camera zooms in and she breaks into a slight smile as her eyes take on an emotional shine.  

As she walks out of the jewellery shop, we realise that Lin Nansheng is actually watching her from a café across the road.  As the music plays, he follows her and sees her with Meng Annan.  The other people around her call her Mrs Shen and it is obvious that they regard Meng Annan as her husband, the music continues to play under the visuals till she enters her own shop and he leaves. 

Interestingly, the music didn't change to another more ominous piece even after Lin Nansheng sees her with Meng Annan.  This sequence happens immediately after two previous scenes.  The first one is when Lan Jiexin proposes a fake marriage to Lin Nansheng and the second scene is when Lao Ji says that that the organization has approved it and that he knows that Lin Nansheng still loves Zhu Yizhen.  The use of this piece here is significant because Lin Nansheng is about to enter a fake marriage and Zhu Yizhen is already pretending to be married, yet both of them are still emotionally linked to each other and this piece of music makes it abundantly clear.

While 篮球场的心动  is only used non-diegetically, the second piece of music that links the two is used both diegetically and non-diegetically.

This second piece of music is Tchaikovsky's The Seasons June: Barcarolle.  The previous piece of music is only used to evoke emotion and create symbolic meaning, this second piece serves two functions.  Like the first piece, it is sometimes used in the background to remind the viewer of the intangible link between the two but it's also often used in the series as a very specific memory of a moment in time.  It's a reminder of a simpler time in their lives when they were in love and nothing else mattered.  Even though Lin Nansheng was there on a mission but by that time, he had already been smitten by her. [Episode 9 TC 28:19]  Interestingly, initially he was standing behind her as she plays the piece, at that point, he was possibly thinking of using her memory of her mother and father to make an emotional connection with her.  But soon after, he takes it a step further and joins her at the piano, it's something Zhu Yizhen's father had not done.  From the moment they played that duet together, their hearts were forever intertwined.

There is a particularly poignant scene in the series when Zhu Yizhen is hiding out in Lin Nansheng's place during World War II in Shanghai.  [Episode 28 TC 31:43] Lin Nansheng was feeling particularly despondent.  Zhu Yizhen had just helped him to change the dressing for his wound.  She silently watches him for a moment, hesitates like she wants to say something but he looks away.  With concern in her eyes, she tells him to take his medication properly and to eat properly, then his wounds would heal quickly.  After his short reply, the smile fades from Zhu Yizhen's face and she looks serious, worried and hesitates as she takes a deep silent breath, her mouth moves slightly like she wants to say more but hesitates again, begins to get emotional and blinks frequently to hold it back before deciding to turn away and go towards the window instead.  

She draws his attention initially by talking about the snow outside.  Finally, after a long moment of hesitation, she decides to comfort him with some words that he had used to comfort her after they thought that Lao Ji had been killed.  Zhu Yizhen tells him that she doesn't know what had happened to him but she wants to remind him that he once told her that they have to survive because to live on is to have hope.  However, he doesn't respond and instead turns away, his head bowed.  On seeing that what she had said had not made a difference, her eyes reveal her concern and uncertainty as she exhales quietly but deeply.  She then turns away from him as she takes another quiet but deep breath, looks out the window and begins to hum The Seasons June: Barcarolle.  Lin Nansheng reacts slightly even though his head remains bowed.  She continues to hum the tune as she plays it out with her fingers on the window. 

Throughout the whole scene, there has only been ambient sound and then her humming.  As she continues to hum the tune, Lin Nansheng begins to get emotional.  As the strains of a piano begin, Lin Nansheng exhales audibly and smiles.  Hearing him react, she starts to tear, her face is taut with tension as she tries to control her emotions but she can't hold back a quick slight smile; as though she's quietly glad that he's no longer silently disheartened.  Lin Nansheng is also trying to contain his emotions and he remembers her playing at the piano in her old home in Shanghai.  

By this time, the non-diegetic music has taken over and we can no longer hear Zhu Yizhen humming the tune but we know she's still humming it because two shots later we can still see her in the background sadly playing out the notes on the window pane.  As she continues to hum and play the notes, he recalls in a flashback how he had gone to her side at the piano and sat with her.  We then cut back to the present time as he finally decides not to hold back anymore.  He moves swiftly towards her and impulsively hugs her from behind.

Once he hugs her and presses his face into hers, the piano is joined by a crescendo of strings as though a tsunami of emotions hit both of them and even Zhu Yizhen who's been so good at suppressing her emotions cannot help but give in.  Instead of pushing him away, she moves her arm from the window and draws him nearer.  This is the first time since their reunion in Shanghai that they have so openly showed affection for one another.  As they share this rare intimate physical and spiritual moment in their lives, both of them seem to now be recalling that one afternoon where things were so much simpler.  Just two people in love playing the piano together.  A close-up of their two hands playing is followed by a close-up of their arms where Zhu Yizhen pulls him ever more urgently towards her.  This match cut is lovely because it emphasises even more that they now share this flashback of that day.  Zhu Yizhen doesn't get many flashback sequences which makes this even more significant.  What's more, this is a shared flashback with Lin Nansheng.  As they continue to hug by the window, the music slowly reaches a melancholic end and crossfades with the cold sound of the snow falling outside. 

This whole scene is nicely bookended by shots of snow falling.  Both shots just before and just after this scene is of snow falling furiously outside.  The audio in both snow falling shots is also simply the sound of the snowstorm and there is no music, except that the second shot of snow is a cross-fade from the music to the sound of the snowstorm.  When the sequence cuts from the snow shot to the shot of Zhu Yizhen changing the dressing for Lin Nansheng, the audio change is quite apparent.  The sound of the snow falling is actually much louder compared to the calm and quiet of the room the couple is in.  You can't even hear the snowstorm from inside the room, it's as though the calm in this room belies the storm that surrounds them.  Perhaps this calm even hides the storm that is in their hearts.  Regardless, this calm seems to suggest that they are currently secluded from the outside world; this is their shared world.  It's also this quietness that helps to accentuate Zhu Yizhen's humming and the music score that takes over simply because what preceded it was so quiet.  When we can still hear the diegetic sounds in the scene, their shared world was that physical space, when the music takes over and when even the diegetic sounds fade out, their shared world is in their souls.  And while there is a snowstorm raging outside, we don't see it through the windows and we don't hear it at all.  At that moment in time, nothing else mattered to them.

This is a particularly nice scene.  The pair had been spending much of their time awkwardly not talking about their feelings about each other.  Zhu Yizhen, in particular, had been very taciturn.  He's been wanting to say more and she's been trying not to let her feelings show by too much more.  Both of them just trying to show via their actions rather than their words that they both care.  So when the moment finally happens, even though they don't make any verbal declarations of love, the moment when they finally express their love for each other, that emotional impact is so much greater.  The use of music, sound design and editing really added to this scene.  Both Tong Yao and Zhu Yilong's performances were also so beautiful here; so little said but so much more implied.

[Episode 30 TC 34:03] There is another scene in Hong Kong when Lin Nansheng was recovering in an apartment that Zhuo Qiuming had placed him in.  He was feeling particularly despondent again and as he is staring at his medication, he begins to play the notes of the The Seasons June: Barcarolle on the table, just as Zhu Yizhen had on the windowpane in Shanghai.  As he does so, he has another flashback of that afternoon when both Zhu Yizhen and he played the piano together.  There is a fade down and then fade up to Zhu Yizhen standing alone and lost in thought in Jiaxing* where she had been brought to after she was shot.  The music continues to play as an audio transition.  As is often the case in the series, we don't know what Zhu Yizhen is thinking of, she's holding a leaf in her hand but her mind is in another world.  It's likely that she too is thinking of those moments with Lin Nansheng when he was still Xu Liwen because The Seasons June: Barcarolle plays on for quite a lot longer.  

As she ponders, holding on to that leaf in her hand, she is also surrounded by greenery.  This little interesting detail is of some significance.  Firstly, the couple is linked ideologically by Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.  While this isn't exactly a leaf from grass, it's still a leaf nonetheless.  (See the section on Whitman below)  Also, the leaf that Zhu Yizhen is holding in her hand is dark green which is the colour of the more mature leaves of Summer.  While the couple is not linked significantly by Nature, they are linked by Tchaikovsky's The Seasons June: Barcarolle and June is a Summer month.  Hence, this, in addition to the background music, implies that she too is thinking of Lin Nansheng and, like him, she is also thinking of the days that they spent together.  

Green leaves also often imply hope, revival and renewal.  At this point in the story, they both don't yet know if the other had survived but Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen still hold on to those memories and still hold on to hope.  Also, interestingly, soon after the music fades out, Zhu Yizhen's contact in Jiaxing brings the news of her new assignment and probably the best news she has heard for some time.  Lao Ji is alive which means hope, revival and renewal for Zhu Yizhen.

 

*{Aside: Jiaxing is a very significant place in the history of the Communist Party of China.  The official history of the CPC states that the founding of the party was announced on a small red boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. CLICK ME}

[Episode 43 TC 38:10] Perhaps one of the most important recollections of Zhu Yizhen playing The Seasons June: Barcarolle on the piano occurs in the final episode of the series.  By this point in the series, both the viewers and Lin Nansheng don't know if Zhu Yizhen is still alive.  After she had been shot in the final episode and had fallen into the river, both Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen were separated.  He has been trying to find her for some time but to no avail.  He had just received news that they were still unable to locate Zhu Yizhen and that his new posting meant that he had to leave the area the next morning.  This also meant that he could no longer wait near Shanghai for news of her.  He imagined her playing the piano and he cried as he recalled all the people he had cared about who have now been lost to him.  Zhu Yizhen was part of that montage sequence.  Lin Nansheng has slowly come to accept that Zhu Yizhen may no longer be alive.

LP - vinyl record

Aside from that intangible memory of that afternoon when they played the piano together, there is also a physical manifestation of that memory and that's in the form of the vinyl record that Lin Nansheng had purchased as a gift for Zhu Yizhen.  Just before his scam to deceive Zhu Yizhen was revealed, Lin Nansheng walked past a bakery.  What drew him into the bakery wasn't the bakes but the music. [Episode 11 TC 04:09] He entered the bakery and convinced the baker to sell him the vinyl record with the intention of giving it to Zhu Yizhen.  This LP contained a recording of Tchaikovsky's The Seasons June: Barcarolle.

This LP makes a few significant appearances in the script after Lin Nansheng bought the LP from the baker.  The first time was after Zhu Yizhen had impulsively gone to Lin Nansheng's dorm room to try and convince him to switch sides.  She was so absorbed in her own thoughts and the subsequent struggle that she did not even see the LP and the accompanying note on the table.  More importantly, after Chen Moqun had taken the knife from Lin Nansheng, he flung it on the desk on top of the note that Lin Nansheng had written.  Lin Nansheng had written "送给怡貞希望你喜欢“ which translates to something like "For Yizhen hope you like it".  What is significant is that after Chen Moqun threw the knife on the note, it fell on top of the word "希望" (hope).  Symbolically, Chen Moqun had "cut" the hope from both Chen Moqun and Zhu Yizhen's lives in that instance.

[Episode 25 TC 19:55] After the explosion that "killed" Lao Ji, Lin Nansheng brings Zhu Yizhen back to his home to hide there temporarily.  To keep her mind off things, she decided to clean his home and in doing so, she found the LP, the note and the wrapping paper that she had used to wrap the volume of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass that she had gifted him.  It's the first time she had seen the note.  Soon after, Lin Nansheng returns with a suitcase of clothing and other items that he had bought for her.  She has had barely any time to digest this information and didn't even have time to hide the note.  The ensuing scene has the two of them awkwardly trying to pretend that the note meant nothing to them.

While he stumbled over his words, she spent the entire time since she opened the door for him avoiding his gaze.  Her eyes kept looking away as though she was afraid that if she looked for too long into his eyes, it might betray her long-hidden feelings for him.  She finally abruptly tries to offer him a drink to distract themselves from the awkwardness of the situation but instead, he chose a fast retreat, found an excuse and left the house.  This is nice and nuanced work from both actors.  This scene also included one of Zhu Yizhen's few flashback memories, the LP (implying that piece of music and that moment when they played the piano together), the wrapping paper (implying Walk Whitman's poems) and also the chocolate that he had bought for her in the suitcase he left her.  With so many things to trigger Zhu Yizhen's feelings, her defences had begun to weaken considerably at this point in time.

The LP makes another significant appearance in [Episode 39 TC 12:38] when Lin Nansheng had followed Zhu Yizhen back to her shop and home in Shanghai in the last arc of the series.  While there, he sees Meng Annan and learns from the conversation they have with a neighbour that Zhu Yizhen and Meng Annan are "married".  This was soon after he had also decided to enter into a fake marriage with Lan Xinjie.  While Lin Nansheng didn't show any expression while seeing Zhu Yizhen and Meng Annan together, he returns home in the very next scene and plays the LP of the recording of Tchaikovsky's The Seasons June: Barcarolle.  As he lies down on his couch, he plays out the notes of the piece of music on his arm and he is transported to another time in his mind.

The LP even makes it into the flashback montage that Lin Nansheng has when he imagines Zhu Yizhen playing the piano in [Episode 43 TC 38:10].

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman's book of poems Leaves of Grass is another important item that is used to link Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen.  Whitman is said to be a supporter of democracy but because of his egalitarian and humanist views, he was also well regarded by the socialists. 

[Episode 7 TC 19:20] When Zhu Yizhen is reciting the poem To the Man-of-War-Bird, the poem on the board is yet another Whitman poem.  That poem is titled Quicksand Years, although what the lecturer has written on the board isn't complete.  

Quicksand years that whirl me I know not whither,
Your schemes, politics, fail-lines give way-substances mock and elude me;
Only the theme I sing, the great and strong-possess'd soul, eludes not,
One's-self must never give way - that is the final substance - that out of all is
sure,
Out of politics, triumphs, battles, life, what at last finally remains?
When shows break up, what but One's-Self is sure?

The key takeaway from this poem is that even during the years where quicksand seems to want to suck  a person down, "One's-self must never give way - that is the final substance - that out of all is sure," Even in the most difficult of times, one must not lose one's soul.  That's a particularly appropriate poem for Lin Nansheng who only had his soul to hold on to when all that he believed in had crumbled away.

The poem that Zhu Yizhen recites is the final stanza in Whitman's To the Man-of-War-Bird.

Thou born to match the gale, (thou art all wings,)
To cope with heaven and earth and sea and hurricane,
Thou ship of air that never furl'st thy sails,
Days, even weeks untired and onward, through spaces, realms gyrating,
At dusk that lookist on Senegal, at morn America,
That sport'st amid the lightning-flash and thunder-cloud,
In them, in thy experiences, had'st thou my soul,
What joys! what joys were thine!

(for the full poem CLICK ME)

Whitman penned this poem after having weathered a very stormy night out on the sea in a sailing ship.  Relived and weary after surviving the night, Whitman observed a magnificent Man-of-War-Bird flying in the skies.  Even though he felt insignificant when compared to the soaring bird, he still admired the bird and appreciated its ability to survive and fly tirelessly for days and weeks.  Whitman felt that if the bird had his soul, what joys he could experience.  Perhaps there is even a hint of enviousness on Whitman's part. 

Perhaps here, the choice of this poem indicates Zhu Yizhen's state of mind at that point in time or perhaps, even the ultimate goal she had set for herself in life.  She's full of ideals and aspires to do more.  Then, she was only a university undergraduate and just "a speck, a point on the world's floating vast."  But she wants to be part of something magnificent.  She envies the majestic bird and wants to be as capable as the Man-of-War Bird, able to weather all storms, tirelessly and effortlessly.  One thing is certain, Zhu Yizhen sets very high standards for herself.  She was only able to recite this poem with ease because she had already memorised it three days earlier.  Later in the series, every time we see her at "work", her movements are practised and precise.  Even under duress, she never loses focus.  And Zhu Yizhen always takes responsibility even when the fault isn't hers or not entirely hers.

I must say that I found this scene quite delightful.  While Tong Yao's accent was overly American, she recited the poem with great aplomb and that cheeky wink was the cherry on the cake.  That self-confidence, that youthful brashness and fearlessness are all nicely captured by Tong Yao here.  It's not hard to see why Lin Nansheng would find Zhu Yizhen so captivating; she was unlike any girl he had met previously.  This was right after the basketball scene too when Zhu Yizhen had taken charge after the umpire became injured and where Lin Nansheng had been so enthralled with her.

[added in Ver. 2]

The scene in the lecture hall is only the beginning of a series of times that Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is used.   One of the most significant moments that Whitman’s poems are used is at the school dance when Zhu Yizhen and Lin Nansheng finally have their first proper conversation [Episode 8].   Previous to this, Lin Nansheng had been trying to engage Zhu Yizhen in conversation but she had deliberately placed him at arm's length.  She was cordial but distant and he even though he tried to use Whitman to draw her out after he returned her notes to her in Episode 7, she didn’t fall for it.  Instead, it aroused her suspicions and she had gone to his department to do a simple check on him to see if he was really who he claims to be.

This scene is a key scene in understanding the relationship between Zhu Yizhen and Lin Nansheng.  Zhu Yizhen was clearly distancing herself from the events in the hall by sitting in the back row in the hopes that no one would ask her to dance.  She had also gone there in her school uniform rather than a nice dress, implying that she didn’t want to be part of the practice where a girl dresses up to compete for a man’s attention at a dance.  It is in this context when Lin Nansheng asks if he can join her and begins to chat with her.

After Lin Nansheng asks Zhu Yizhen why she doesn’t join in the dance, she explains that she doesn’t particularly like dancing because women are placed in a passive role.  Her eyes light up when Lin Nansheng not only says with conviction that he understands but he also successfully explains why and earnestly adds that he felt that it was unfair.  Lin Nansheng had unwittingly found a way to connect with Zhu Yizhen and she begins to tell him passionately about her opinions about the social conventions that have been placed on women and on herself.  She then continues to proclaim that she felt that she had the capability to serve the country just like men do and perhaps, not just do more but also do more meaningful things.  When she realised that she had been somewhat carried away and had revealed too much, she breaks off and looks away, slightly embarrassed.  This is when Lin Nansheng brings up Whitman.

The Whitman poem that Lin Nansheng uses is One’s-Self I Sing.

One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.
Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
The Female equally with the Male I sing.

(for the full poem CLICK ME)

This isn’t the full poem; they stop at the line that talks about equality between men and women.   They added a nice little touch when after Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen takes turns reciting the poem, they both say the last line about equality together, united in their beliefs.  Then the music crescendos, the young couple laugh freely and happily.  At that one moment, she’s not a Communist agent and he’s not someone trying to infiltrate the organisation she belongs to.  They are two people who understood each other perfectly.

[end of Ver. 2]  

In [Episode 11 TC 9:41] Zhu Yizhen also gives Lin Nansheng a copy of the original edition of the English version of the book.  This is right before Lao Ji tells her that Lin Nansheng isn't Xu Liwen but someone who had been sent by the Juntong to get close to her.  After she hands him the book wrapped in paper, she grew impatient when he took his time to open it and she eventually took over and unwrapped it before handing it over to him again.  It's a tiny but nice detail.  At this point in time, she still has the impulsiveness of youth.  This isn't something you'll see in her later in the series.  The Zhu Yizhen later in the series is more careful, patient and deliberate.

Also after Lin Nansheng changes allegiance and begins work with the Communist underground, the book he was instructed to use to decode coded messages is the Chinese version of Leaves of Grass.  This is also the book that Zhu Yizhen uses to decode messages sent to her.  

Whitman is used to tie both Zhu Yizhen and Lin Nansheng together from the beginning of their relationship to the end of the series.  This narrative element is not merely something that exists in their memories and it's not just a few volumes of the physical item that pops up in their lives.  This is unlike the pen that Zhuo Qiuming gives to Lin Nansheng twice in the series and pops up each time Lin Nansheng thinks of Zhuo Qiuming.  There seems to be no real significant meaning attached to the pen except that it reminds Lin Nansheng of this deep and lifelong friendship.  In Lin Nansheng's and Zhu Yizhen's case, however, Whitman isn't just a tangible item that exists in their lives, it also has intangible meaning.  It's something that symbolises the meeting of their minds because Whitman's poems mean something more to them, it represents their common ideals and beliefs.  Whitman's poems were also used to describe their nature or their situation or to indicate what laid in their future.  Even when they were apart, even when they were on opposite sides, their ideals and their passion for the people and their country keep them connected throughout all those years.

Brooch

To underline the importance of the Zhu Yizhen and Lin Nansheng relationship, there is yet another narrative element that connects the two and that is the brooch that Lin Nansheng gave to Zhu Yizhen when he was hiding her from the Japanese in Shanghai.  He buys her an exquisite French-made brooch in Episode 27 of a series.  The design of the brooch is edged with gold and is a reddish-white butterfly with a pearl attached to it. 

The choice of a butterfly is interesting.  Butterflies are not only beautiful but are often associated with metamorphosis, transformation, rebirth and resurrection.  The butterfly starts out as an egg before it transforms into a caterpillar before it becomes a cocoon, and then the caterpillar "dies" before it breaks forth into a beautiful butterfly.  Perhaps this foreshadows Zhu Yizhen's fate.  At the end of this series, Zhu Yizhen was gravely injured and Lin Nansheng pushes her and falls into the river with her in a bid to save her.  However, he loses her and for a period of time, we do not know if she survived.  At one point, when Lin Nansheng imagines her at the piano playing The Seasons June: Barcarolle, he also recalls in a flashback montage all the people that he had come to care for but have already die, Zhu Yizhen was one of them.  

There seemed to be a suggestion then that Lin Nansheng had come to accept that he might never see her again.  However, a few shots before the credit roll, we hear a voice call out to Lin Nansheng.  It's Zhu Yizhen and for a while, we aren't sure if he was imagining it till we see a "reborn" Zhu Yizhen.  Like a butterfly, Zhu Yizhen has been transformed.  She's laughing, carefree and happy as she sings with some children and playfully poses, presumably, for photos with Lin Nansheng.  Interestingly, she has her two plaits again.  This harkens back to the time when she was still a university undergraduate and when she was at her most exuberant; where she was at her happiest and freest.

While there is certainly room for an interpretation that Zhu Yizhen only survived spiritually and only reunited with Lin Nansheng in his mind and memories, it's worth noting that the official The Rebel Weibo account, as well as Tong Yao's and Zhu Yilong's accounts, indicate otherwise.  They all posted on Weibo on the night of the release of the final episode and they all indicate that she does indeed survive for real and reunites with Lin Nansheng physically.

Butterflies in Chinese culture also have other symbolic meanings.  It is often used to symbolise love and the undying bond between two lovers which is an appropriate way to describe Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen's relationship.  This idea mostly stems from The Butterfly Lovers story.  This is quite representative of their love.  Both Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen loved no other in the series.  Even though they were on opposite sides for much of the series, they still care deeply for each other and found enough common ground to help each other in times of need. 

The scene when Lin Nansheng actually gives Zhu Yizhen the brooch was after he had decided that he would undertake a dangerous mission to kill Chen Moqun.  Then, he did not know if he would make it back alive, hence, he decided to buy Zhu Yizhen a gift.  Since he never gave her the LP of the recording of Tchaikovsky's The Seasons June: Barcarolle, this became the first memento that he had managed to give her.  After he had returned to the house with groceries for Zhu Yizhen, he tells her that he still has things to do and asks if she would retreat to her room while he works.  She waits in the room in silence till she hears him leave and the door close behind him.  She swiftly gets up from her chair and enters the living room but he had already left. [Episode 27 TC 39:44]  After considering for a moment, she goes to the window to watch his retreating back with worry and concern.  After she turns away from the window, she sees a box on the table.

Lin Nansheng had placed a small box containing the brooch on her embroidery and placed it on the table.  Zhu Yizhen picks it up in curiosity and opens it.  She's deeply moved and a beautiful smile slowly spreads over her face as she caresses the pearl with her thumb.  However, a sense of sadness soon creeps into her smile as though she knows that there is a deeper reason for this unexpected gift.  She continues to touch the brooch before she sinks slowly and wearily into the chair.  He had silently given her an expression of his love for her and she understood that but also feared for his safety.

The next time we see the brooch after Lin Nansheng had given it to Zhu Yizhen is when she eagerly put it on in [Episode 29 1:54].  She had just made dinner and was about to have a meal with Lin Nansheng before she anticipated that they would be separated for a long time again.  It was obvious from her anxious expression when she was trying to decide where to pin it and when she preened herself in the mirror that this meeting with him was very important to her.  Previously, after he had given her a token of his love for her, she had not yet had the opportunity to show her acceptance of it.  But, alas, this dinner was not to be.

Soon after putting on the brooch, Zhu Yizhen sees a large group of policemen gathered downstairs, outside her apartment.  She knows that they are there for her so she escapes by climbing out of the neighbour's window.  As she's trying to escape, she meets Lin Nansheng who's looking for her too.  She asks him to escape without her because she feels that they both can't die there together.  He looks at her, glances at her brooch intently, grabs her hand and moves off.  Although, this isn't the best of circumstances for him to see that she had worn the brooch he had given her, still the fact he took an extra look at it before they fled that street corner together meant that it meant something to him that she wore it.

We see the brooch again just as Zhu Yizhen was recovering from her gunshot wound.  [Episode 30 TC 22:37] She grasps the brooch too tightly in her hand and then ventures out of the hospital even though she has yet to recover fully.  She has difficultly walking too much and too far but she still struggles to find a jeweller to try to get the brooch fixed.  At this point in time, Zhu Yizhen doesn't know Lin Nansheng's condition and whether he is still alive.  Her own doctor had told her that it isn't easy to recover from a gunshot wound to the lungs and that she should try and believe in miracles, i.e. hope.  Hence, the brooch has become even more important to her as it is her one and only physical memento of Lin Nansheng now.

Perhaps the most poignant scene with the brooch is [Episode 32 TC 31:53].  Just as Zhu Yizhen is about to escape from Hong Kong with her father and the other businessmen, she excuses herself from her father's side and hurries toward the ship's deck. She fastens the brooch as she enters the deck and hangs back amongst the crowd while looking out for Lin Nansheng.  As always, Zhu Yizhen is careful.

When she finally sees him, she moves to the railing and smiles an emotion-filled but radiant smile.  We've not seen Zhu Yizhen so open with her feelings since her undergraduate days.  Even as she left her father's side to come to the deck, she had maintained an impenetrable expression, though her taut body language and her shallow breathing betrays her.  After she spots him and approaches the railing, she is still trying to contain her excitement but she fails and finally smiles a teary smile.  It's the first time they have seen each other since they were wounded and separated in Shanghai, hence, this is also the first time that they have seen each other since they both found out that they had both survived.  This is a momentous but also a bittersweet moment for them because they can only view each other from a distance.  Although they cannot be together, they are both overjoyed that the other person still lives because as Lin Nansheng said in a previous scene, being alive is hope.  There is no dialogue in this scene because they are really too far to even say anything to each other but words are not needed because their eyes and their expressions do all the talking for them.

Later, after her return to Shanghai, while out on a mission, Zhu Yizhen sees that Lin Nansheng has returned [Episode 35 TC 9:30] and she is visibly troubled about it.  When she meets Lao Ji to give him the results of the mission [Episode 35 TC 14:41] she feels compelled to confess to Lao Ji that she still cares for Lin Nansheng and she implies that she's anxious about it because they are supposed to be enemies.  Lao Ji listens to her heart-breaking confession with compassion but is unable to give her real comfort.

[Episode 35 TC 20:11] After she returns home, she takes out the brooch, looks at it pensively and is lost in thought.  When Meng Annan knocks to ask to enter the room, she swiftly hides it under a handkerchief.  After Meng Annan leaves the room, she takes the brooch out and looks sadly at it before carefully wrapping it up in her handkerchief and placing it in a drawer, as though she's putting her "heart" and her feelings hidden away in the drawer.

The brooch shows up again in [Episode 37 TC 13:47].  Lin Nansheng is following Chen Moqun because he is trying to get evidence to prove that Chen Moqun and Wang Shian have a connection.  Unfortunately, he is thwarted by Meng Annan which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because he ends up walking past a jeweller shop where he sees the restored brooch sitting in the store window.  There is a nice reflection of the brooch on his suit, perhaps indicating that he too has a metaphorical "brooch" in him.  This discovery is significant for Lin Nansheng for another reason.  He will eventually use this brooch to find out where Zhu Yizhen lives.

The final time we see the brooch is in [Episode 39 TC 10:12].  As described in greater detail in the music section, Zhu Yizhen had come to pick it up at the jeweller's and she's pleased to see it whole again.  She has had the opportunity to get this brooch fixed in Shanghai since she's moved back again for some time.  However, she had chosen to keep it hidden in the drawer till she saw Lin Nansheng again.  She had previously confessed that she was unable to completely rid her heart of him to Lao Ji but in the end, she still chose to make this broken brooch whole again.  Although she feels that she has to be wary of him and perhaps even try and change her feelings for him, by this scene, it seems like she has decided to embrace that contradiction for now.  

What I really wished they did with the ending in the last episode was to continue with the use of the brooch.  I felt that it would have been perfect if she had worn that brooch when she called out to him and when he turned around, he would have been able to take his time to admire it resting on her chest without them both being divided by time and distance.  She would then be able to fully express her love for him by proudly displaying it and he would have been able to fully receive that love.  Instead, they never cut back to her and the camera only remained on Lin Nansheng which deprived Zhu Yizhen of what would have been a well deserved full-on cathartic release.  It also deprived viewers of experiencing that moment with her.  Poor Zhu Yizhen, unlike Lin Nansheng, has been suppressing her emotions for about 2/3s of the series and in the end, we still only get a weeping Lin Nansheng.  What a wasted opportunity for what could have been a powerful moment and what a waste of how much they had done with the brooch till now.

Chocolate

The final prop of significance linking Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen is chocolate.  Chocolate is often used as an expression of love, passion, affection and concern which is why it is often used as a gift.  In The Rebel, Lin Nansheng also uses it to express his love, concern and to lift her spirits.  After he observed that Zhu Yizhen likes chocolate, he started buying it for her later in the series.  

In The Rebel, the first time we see chocolate in the series is when Zhu Yizhen pulls it out of her bag and gives one piece to her friend while she nibbles on a piece of her own.  [Episode 7  TC 17:59] Zhu Yizhen had just sneaked in from the basketball game.  She is busy chatting with her friend and sneaking a little snack to go with it instead of paying attention to her lecturer.  Lin Nansheng is sitting at the back of the hall and while he is seen paying attention to the lecturer, he must have observed that Zhu Yizhen likes chocolate.

[Episode 25 TC 22:48] After the couple saw the explosion that "killed" Lao Ji, Lin Nansheng is frantic when Zhu Yizhen breaks down and later in a rare moment of candour, she revealed the pain and guilt it was causing her.  He comforted her with some words of wisdom and a bowl of noodles then.  Still, when he bought her some necessities like several changes of clothing, he took care to buy her chocolate to cheer her up too.  It was a gesture that Zhu Yizhen really took to heart because, in a later scene, these pieces of chocolate will come to mean something more to her and also bring her comfort.

[Episode 26 TC 34:35] In an earlier scene, after reading the newspapers that state that Lin Nansheng had "died" and where she had subsequently covered her tear-filled eyes in despair, Zhu Yizhen now sits in silence, lost in thought.  Soon after that, she remembers that Lin Nansheng had given her a name card and told her that she could use that to contact him in an emergency.  She searches desperately through her purse and in her haste she pulls out the name card but did not notice that she had also pulled out a piece of chocolate that she had dropped onto the table.  She turns to leave the room, pauses, hesitates and thought the better of it.  She turns back again and as she places the name card on the table, she bends over and holds onto the table for support as her body sags a little.  As she breathes heavily, she remains undecided before she regains her composure after some effort and then sinks wearily into the chair again.  Her eyes shift restlessly, betraying the turmoil beneath her tautly held face before she abruptly realises that her hand had fallen on something on the table.  As she picks it up, she realises that it was a piece of chocolate that Lin Nansheng had given her and as she struggles hard to prevent herself from shedding tears, she grasps onto the piece of chocolate as tightly as she grasps on to hope.

The sound design and music are very nice in this scene.  In the beginning, there is no music, just the silence of the room Zhu Yizhen is in.  It is so quiet, you can't seem to even hear ambient sound.  It feels cold, lonely, empty and in another space.  It's like how Zhu Yizhen must be feeling, isolated and detached.  Then suddenly after she snaps out of her trance, we hear the sound of her rummaging through her purse, the chaos of that sound emphasising the franticness in her heart.  Then just as she pulled out the name card and the chocolate from her bag, we hear the first strains of the music.  First starting with the melancholic sound of the violins before the melody builds and more instruments join in.  It's only after she sits down and has regained some control of her emotions that the music ends and we cut to the next scene.

There is no dialogue in this scene only sound, music, mise-en-scene and performance.  Most of the meaning had to come from the actress herself.  Nice work from Tong Yao here, subtle and nuanced.  It's exactly how Zhu Yizhen should be.  

The final time we see chocolate is in [Episode 27 TC 37:49].  It's the same sequence like the one where he gives her the brooch but this happens just before that.  He's about to go on a dangerous mission and he had bought her some supplies.  Aside from some groceries, he had bought her chocolate too.  Interestingly, the series makers make a particular point about this.  As he is unpacking the groceries, his back is to her and he tells her where to place the keys when she leaves in the next few days.  She hesitates briefly and with a hint of concern, she asks him, if this means that he wasn't going to be returning for a long time.  After she asks him this question, he freezes.  The camera shot is a Mid-shot and tilts down, following his hands and stops as his hands with the boxes of chocolate stop moving, in the middle of the frame emphasising the abruptness of the moment and the importance of the boxes of chocolate.

The packets of chocolate hang mid-air in his hands for some time before we finally cut to a two-shot with Lin Nansheng in the foreground and Zhu Yizhen in the background.  As Lin Nansheng tries to decide what to say, she continues to look intently at his back.  She can't read his meaning so she waits patiently.  He finally turns after some time, looks directly at her and says that he will definitely be back as soon as possible.  She senses that something is wrong, raises her eyes slightly to try and meet his but quickly avoids his gaze, nods, her eyes still lowered as though she doesn't wish to let him see her concern and disbelief before she finally makes a sound of acknowledgement.  He asks her to return to her room for a while because he has something he needs to do.  She finally does look at him but her breathy okay and her hesitancy before she leaves and her change of expression right before she walks away betrays the worries she has internally. 

Just as she walks away and approaches the door to her room, Lin Nansheng turns towards her and at almost the same time she turns back towards him quickly and somewhat impetuously, this juxtaposes with her previously measured way of walking away which suggests that she's lost a little control of her emotions.  This movement reminds me so much of the kind of move you see in musicals, as though they want to come towards each other passionately.  However, they both hold back.  

As a slight smile begins to build at the edge of Zhu Yizhen's lips, Lin Nansheng looks intently at her.  The shot cuts back to her and she smiles a small but reassuring smile even as her eyes carry a touch of sadness.  On seeing her smile, he returns a sad half-smile.

After she sees his smile, she blinks her emotionally laden eyes and breaks eye contact.  There is a slight tremble in her lower lip before she closes it into a determined straight line, turns quickly and walks briskly into the room before closing the door.

This is a lovely scene powered again mostly by mise-en-scene and performance.  There is a lot that is left unsaid.  Their concern for each other is presented in actions and even in inaction.  It's obvious they want to say more and do more but they both refrain.

As has been typical of many of the Lin Nansheng x Zhu Yizhen scenes after her return to Shanghai, Lin Nansheng does most of the talking in this scene.  In this scene, even though he talks more than her, he keeps it pretty neutral and doesn't touch on anything emotional.  Instead, how he tries to express his feelings for her is by buying her stuff.  He buys her groceries so she doesn't have to leave the house too much.  He buys her chocolate because he knows she likes it and he buys her something pretty, ie. the brooch.  Zhu Yizhen, on the other hand, barely says anything at all.  She says a total of three short sentences, one word and used exclamative particles twice in this scene.  As she'd been doing a lot of, she prefers to study him and likes to watch him wordlessly.  And when she wants to express her concern for him, she mostly uses actions.  She wants to know if he's eaten, when he says he has, she pours him water to drink.  When he puts the groceries away, she looks at him and suddenly she thinks of another thing she can do for him and goes to make his bed.  When he says he needs her to go back to her room so that he can get some work done, she complies after she gives him a comforting smile. 

The music in this scene is nice too.  They use a version of Tchaikovsky The Seasons June: Barcarolle which is one of the pieces of music that link the couple.  At first, we just have a quiet piano playing.  Then just after Zhu Yizhen asks him if he will be gone for a long time, the deep sounds of the cello kick in seemingly representative of Lin Nansheng's internal voice.  At the same time, they introduce some higher notes, possibly from a harp, and this seems to represent Zhu Yizhen waiting expectantly for an answer.  After he says that he will definitely try and be back as soon as possible, more instruments join in and the music builds and dips at the moment when they both turn to face each other.  Then it increases in volume and intensity and builds even more near the end of this sequence till after she sits down after opening the box that contains the brooch.

This is the last time we see chocolate in the series because after this Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen will be separated for some time.  When they meet again, he won't have the opportunity to give her any more gifts.  While they were able to work together in some capacity in the middle of the series because they had a common enemy, i.e. the Japanese, by the last section of the series they were well and truly on opposite sides.  By then, the Japanese had already lost the war and the fight was now between the Kuomintang and the Communists.  Although Lin Nansheng had already defected to the Communists, Zhu Yizhen will not know that till the final episode and Lin Nansheng was not able to tell her that till then too.

CONCLUSION

I must really commend the series makers for putting so much thought into building this relationship.  This was not the easiest of relationships to build given how many constraints the script and the series makers placed on themselves.  Both Tong Yao and Zhu Yilong did an excellent job too with expressing the contradictions and the internal conflict that their characters had to deal with when it came to their relationship.  The two actors had a lot of chemistry too which helped make this relationship where so much is left unsaid work.  

I do wish that they had given Zhu Yizhen a more momentous and emotional moment at the end of the series.  I really wished they had cut back to her and finally allowed this character to let out all the emotion she had suppressed for 2/3s of the series.  Seriously, Zhu Yizhen deserves at least that.  But alas, they still chose to just focus as much as possible on Lin Nansheng which is something that I felt was a flaw in The Rebel and something I also expressed in the review on the series.  I felt that that was a mistake because it just felt like such an injustice for Zhu Yizhen not to finally get her moment.  Also, because I can imagine just how much more impactful that would have been, it just felt like such a wasted opportunity.

Tong Yao had a difficult job because her character was the most guarded, reserved, restrained and taciturn in the series which meant that many scenes had to be played very subtly and very nuanced.  I thought she did a very good job but I know that some people on Weibo wanted her to go bigger and was critical of her for not going bigger.  I, however, disagree.  I think this interpretation of Zhu Yizhen is the correct one and I agree with director Zhou You for directing Tong Yao to play it this way.  I wish to address this by writing about this character and why I liked this character in my planned third post on this series. (Hopefully, I will be able to finish that sooner rather than later. 😅 )

Finally, if you made it this far.  Thank you for reading.  I know the review and this post were pretty long.  I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  If you would like to discuss the series, I would be happy to but please do keep it civil, thanks.