Affair of Half a Lifetime
Affair of Half a Lifetime is a 2003 drama-romance TV series based on the 1948 novel of the same name by Chinese author Eileen Chang. The series stars Ruby Lin, Patrick Tam, Jiang Qinqin and Li Liqun. It had the most simultaneous broadcasts on China cable/satellite TVs during 2004. The series was filmed in Shanghai and Taiwan.
Plot
Affair of Half a Lifetime is set in Shanghai, China, during the 1930s and 1940s. It centers around two sisters from a struggling family, Gu Manzhen and her older sister, Gu Manlu. A college graduate, Manzhen finds true love with one of her colleagues, Shen Shijun. Meanwhile, Manlu, the oldest of four children, supports the entire family. At the age of seventeen, Manlu sacrificed her pride and reputation to become a nightclub hostess. The job helps support Manlu's family, but others find her work disgraceful and look down on Manlu. Even her own grandmother does not her job. Originally, before she takes up her work as a nightclub hostess, Manlu was to marry a respected doctor named Zhang Yujing. However, they are forced to part and Manlu eventually marries a comprador instead.Manlu realizes that she is barren, and fearful for her marriage arranges her sister to be raped by her husband after finding out that Zhu is attracted to her sister. Manlu also lies to Shijun, saying Manzhen has rejected his love because of the disparity between their statuses, thus forcing them to be apart. Manzhen eventually escapes from her abusive family after she gives birth to her son with Zhu, but afraid to contact Shijun in fear of the consequences if he finds out, marries his maternal cousin Shi Cuizhi. Having failed to maintain her chastity for Shijun, Manzhen hopes for the best of his marriage with Shi, and settles somewhere as a recluse and becomes a schoolteacher.
Eventually, both Manlu and Zhu feel remorse of their misdeeds toward Manzhen, and Manlu begs her sister to come back to raise her nephew/stepson with her husband after they locate her, asking for forgiveness before she dies. Despite still hating them for the rape, Manzhen stays with Zhu for the sake of their son. By chance, Manzhen and Shijun reunite in Shanghai, and both talk of each other's lives years after their separation. Knowing that they still love each other, but due to the restrictions of their respective obligations, both Manzhen and Shijun realize that they cannot be together.
Cast
- Ruby Lin as Gu Manzhen
- Patrick Tam as Shen Shijun
- Jiang Qinqin as Gu Manlu
- Li Li-chun as Zhu Hongcai
- Hu Ke as Shi Cuizhi
- Chang Chang as Xu Shuhui
- Xing Minshan as Zhang Yujin
Soundtrack
- Album Title : 半生缘新歌+精选
| # | Track title | Running time | More information |
| 1 | 半生缘 Eighteen Springs | 3:44 | Sung by Ruby Lin Opening song of the TV series |
| 2 | 擦肩而过 Passed Each Other By | 3:51 | This was the ending theme song of the TV series |
| 3 | 過去 The Past | 4:10 | |
| 4 | 想這你 Thinking of You | 3:29 | |
| 5 | 愛再靠近一點 Let Love Move Us Closer | 5:00 | Duet song by Ruby Lin & Kenneth Tong |
Awards
International broadcast
- It aired in Vietnam from October 28, 2005 on HTV7 under the title Bán sinh duyên.