Bondevia

Plot:

CGI Effects

China productions have come a long way ever since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon made it to fame in the Oscars. This movie will not disappoint you in terms of animations of the earthquake, the storyline and the quality acting skills of the casts. Shown in IMAX for the very first time, I feel that this movie can be compared to its Hollywood counterparts. The bricks, soil and the enormous scene of devastation was beautifully crafted in detail, everything seemed so real. The sound effects were superb from the thundering, ground shaking bass to the soft subtle wailing of the victims. I must say, the movie effects surprised me and brought my expectations of China productions to a whole new level.

Review

Unfolding over a period of 30 years, Feng leads his audience closely into the parallel lives of Fang Deng and Fang Dan- until the Sichuan earthquake of 2008 which brings them back together. The events of their lives in between these 30 years aren’t particularly remarkable- Fang Deng or Fang Dan didn’t become some national hero after their ordeal- and very often it feels like this could have happened to any other person. But it is precisely because of their unassuming quality that makes them all the more credible and poignant.

Indeed, the film portrays Fang Deng and Fan Dan as no more than ordinary citizens trying to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives, albeit forever imprinted with the trauma of the disaster. Theirs is a story of resilience and a call of hope, not just for the people of Tangshan who survived the quake that year, but also for the people out there whose lives and families have been wrecked by disasters, to stand up and stand strong. Of course, coming two years after the even more devastating Sichuan earthquake, its voice is especially resounding for a country still reeling from the magnitude of the calamity.

Feng’s film needs to be seen in this light- it is a fictional story set against real events- and therefore threads a tightrope between fact and fiction, a tightrope of wounded hearts and lives. Kudos to Feng for accomplishing a film that is respectful but never condescending, empathetic but never manipulative, so that while the subject matter may be heavy handed, his film always finds the right balance to give the proceedings both gravity and optimism.

Still, one can’t help but feel that Feng, better known for his hit romantic comedies like “If You Are the One”, is slightly out of his league. Despite generous help from visual effects experts including Lord of the Rings’ Weta to recreate the quake, Feng lets these scenes unfold with little continuity, so the raison d’être for this to be China’s first IMAX film becomes non sequitur. He also films the aftermath of the quake with misty-eyed sentimentality- using slow-mo shots and a mournful score- that threatens to become overly maudlin.

It is therefore a good thing that “Aftershock” soon moves away from being a disaster film to a film about the people moving on from the disaster. Feng Xiaogang have always displayed careful attention to the characters and their relationships in his films, and once again demonstrates that flair here in creating characters that his audience can not only identify, but also empathise with in their joys and sorrows, trials and tribulations, hopes and anxieties. When Fang Deng and Fang Dan are finally reunited in a tearful reunion, only the hardest of hearts will not be moved

Hollywood Reporter, one of the first non-Chinese publications to review the film, said:

While the state-of-the-art effects of the brief earthquake scenes lend the film an epic feel, and the story arc clearly harbors ambitions of encapsulating China’s strenuous road to prosperity through one family’s saga over 32 years, “Aftershock” is ultimately a small family melodrama revolving around perennial themes of love, forgiveness and coming-of-age. Feng ditches his usual sharp-tongued humor and feisty characters to concentrate on stimulating the tear ducts through traditional but polished storytelling technique.

Rating

I cried 2 times in the movie, all thanks to this movie.

8 Facts about Aftershock / Tangshan Earthquake movie.

1) This is the first IMAX film made outside the United States, a joint product between China’s Hua Yi Brothers, and IMAX

2) Richard Gelfond, IMAX CEO on why they chose this particular film: “In the U.S., one of the key criteria we have is the director, and that’s why whether it’s Chris Nolan or James Cameron or Tim Burton, they work in IMAX. We knew Feng Xiaogang had an extremely high reputation in China and we also knew he was good at marketing films. All these factors pointed to Huayi as a logical choice.”

3) The film is set to receive the widest theatrical release in modern Chinese history, at up to 4,000 screens in China,  an amount comparable to  the widest release ever in America of 4,146 screens (Eclipse).

4) In a few short days at Cannes when previewed, Tangshan Earthquake was signed to seven countries and, along with Detective Dee, became the first Huayi Brothers Chinese film to be released across Asia and in multiple regions.

5)The movie is based around the Tangshan Earthquake, the second deadliest earthquake of all time, and the largest earthquake of the twentieth century by death toll.

6) This film was partly funded by the Tangshan city government, and shot there. The director recruited actual survivors as extras, including them in an aerial shot showing the city dotted with small fires — survivors burning paper offerings for their loved ones. “They were really crying. They were burning paper as they were expressing their love for their relatives,” Feng said.

7) This is the first time actress Xu Fan has appeared  in a Feng Xiaogang film in six years, since the well-received A World Without Thieves. She plays a mother whose heart has been broken for 32 years after he earthquake takes away her husband and forces her to make life’s most difficult and most painful choice.

8)  Movie producer Chen Kuo-fu: “The essence of this movie is still the power of emotions, the power of family love, the power of family. There isn’t a place in the world like China, that sees family love and family as an important foothold and support as one’s own life.”

Trailer

Special Thanks: