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| Tookey's Review |
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| Mixed Reviews |
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| Trailer |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2010 |
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| Genre: |
DISASTER
DRAMA
EPIC
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| Origin: |
China |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
135 |
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Big and bold - but subtle, it ain’t.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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The biggest-grossing Chinese film of all time is part disaster movie, part soap opera, depicting the 1976 Tangshan earthquake and its aftermath.
240,000 lost their lives, but director Feng Xiaogang focuses on one woman’s decision whether to save her seven year-old son or daughter, twins trapped beneath the same pile of rubble.
She chooses the son, but – unknown to her – the daughter is saved a few days later and chooses to live under a new identity.
The story that unfolds over three decades (and 135 screen minutes) is far from tedious, but it does rather wallow in melodrama and misery. The over-emphatic score wasn’t to my taste either.
I’ve seen this called Spielbergian, but you shouldn’t expect the subtlety or power of Schindler’s List. It’s schlock, but on such a grand scale that it’s quite fun to allow yourself to be carried along on its tsunami of emotion. Millions of Chinese have taken this film to their hearts, and it isn’t hard to see why.
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