Hai yang tian tang

The marketing for this film went into overdrive with its touting of this being action star Jet Li's first dramatic role. Unless you count his appearance in a non combative role in Founding of a Republic and the various attempts to balance his action status with more dramatic acting chops such as Danny the Dog, then Ocean Heaven will be that maiden effort. Written and directed by Xue Xiao Lu, this modest effort is by no means small in ambition, having the likes of Jay Chou and Kwai Lun Mei lend their vocals to separate title tracks (with Kwai also starring in the film), as well as being lensed by the renowned Christopher Doyle.

Jet Li stars as Wang, a middle aged technician at Qingdao's Ocean World who discovers that his liver cancer is at its 4th stage, and a medical death sentence has been passed, giving him 3 to 4 months to live. His prime concern will be that of his autistic son Da Fu (Wen Zhang) because this means as the main caregiver, he has to find an able, trusted replacement, most likely an institution, but as any single parent can attest to, this effort is none too easy in the absence of direct family support, with places like mental institutions being totally out of place, and Da Fu being too old for an orphanage, and too young for a senior citizens' home. The film opens with a father-son suicide, only for the latter to inexplicably save the both of them, and bringing them back to the drawing board.

It's interesting to note (at least for me) that the Chinese language term for Autism is "Gu Du Zheng" which directly translates to a condition of loneliness. Through the film, Wang cannot shake off the fact that this figuratively applies to him, being alone in his care of his teenage son for many years since the passing of his wife, and not wanting to impose his troubles and issues on others, such as his neighbour and provision shop owner (Zhu Yuanyuan) who undoubtedly has affections for Wang himself. Wang is the classical stoic Chinese man who bottles up his troubles, seeking instead to source for solutions himself than to rely on the graces of others, although help does come from an understanding boss, as well as Da Fu's school principal.

Xue spends considerable screen time in outlining the father-son relationship, albeit that it's not quite the norm because communication almost always seem like a one way street. Wang, with his limited, time, wants to train Da Fu in performing simple tasks in looking after himself, from cooking to taking the public bus, and through many of these scenes, Xue has allowed for an awareness of autism to ring through without resorting to over-reliance on melodrama to do so. Tasks are to be explained with extreme patience, and knowledge imparted through constant rote learning and praising. It's not easy, but as any parent, this unconditional love is something that's quite innate.

Both Jet Li and Wen Zhang share great chemistry, which helps make their individual performance credible. You'll for once feel as exasperated as Li since this time he cannot kung-fu kick his way out of challenges and troubles, and have to rely on perseverance and love to educate his son. You'll feel his pain, and share his pessimism and slim hopes that he'll be able to impart, delegate and leave behind enough for his son not only material wealth, but emotional stability as well, which comes in the form of a sea turtle motif, known for its longevity, Wen Zhang too has this child like quality in his portrayal of autism which endears, and is able to bring out the confusion, fear and anger when he is not understood by others.

The only peculiar performance here will be that of Kwai Lun Mei's Ling Ling, whose role is that of a clown who juggles. I can't place her role anywhere other than to solely beef up the star attraction to this film, because her role and the subplots involving her character all seem a little out of place and useless, and can be done without. Perhaps it is just there to balance that sense of bleak from Wang's point of view, since scenes between Ling Ling and Da Fu mostly hinges on play and friendship, providing that lift to the audience, unbeknownst to Wang, that his son is capable of making new, genuine friends, and that he need not worry that Da Fu will eventually be alone in this world after Wang's own passing.

I won't say this is a tearjerker, but there will be those who will inevitably be touched by Father's love, going by the amount of sniffles in the cinema hall. I suppose Jet Li's foray into a purely dramatic role is quite successful, although personally I can't wait to see him kick serious ass in The Expendables with an ensemble cast of action heroes where he belongs. But of course one can't go on forever in such a role. Maybe he too can adopt the Jackie Chan direction (I'm pretty sure they would have exchanged notes during their pairing in The Forbidden Kingdom) where a film role balancing drama and action is possible ala Chan's Little Big Soldier, or even following what Clint Eastwood is doing in going behind the camera to tell heartfelt stories.

I'm a father of an autistic child, and I Can see my self and my son in this movie all the time. This is a great history that don't use stereotypes as genius children that can break complex codes or make complex mathematics operations in seconds for impress the audience, it is the story of a dying father making the impossible to give his son the possibility of independence before the cancer take his life. The performance of Jet Li as the father is remarkable, he lost him self in the character, and show us that he is an incredible actor. Wen Zhang makes an incredible job as the autistic son of Li, in some moments he makes my believe that he really was autistic. An incredible peace of art that must be running to an Oscar.

It is hard to go from primarily western films to this, especially when so much of my context for asian cinema is in the action and kung fu or shootouts. Add to this learning that a woman director's first film, made it surprising because the film is so masterful. Of course she was bringing the most powerhouse collaborators from some of the best films of all time, the pedigree comes off like a wishlist of a film student, if asked, what would your dream movie would be like... Joe Hisaishi... Christopher Doyle... and a world renowned star subverting their whole persona. The thing is, nine times out of ten this is going to be a recipe for a disaster, and the film will fail. It will be too obvious, or too boring.

Why it works is because the tone is just right, it is both understated but stylized, the performances hits the exact right notes start to finish. I found Ocean Heaven refreshing in a timeless way, that even when I view acclaimed arthouse films of today from international directors, you know those ones that win all the awards, I do not really connect to them. They're too self-important, political, or cliche. Point is, it is difficult to achieve the right mix of elements in the voodoo process of filmmaking, something this film achieves.

That brings me to the reason everyone would talk about this, that is Jet Li's performance. If you have seen the dozens of films with him doing Kung Fu, you would not realize what a tremendous actor he is. It is unbelievable his most impressive feat is not the karate, but playing a father. He displays so much sensitivity and resilience at once. He is able to evoke a cinematic father that is impossible not to think about your own. Every gesture is elevating this movie into something far more meaningful than its modest tone. You could not imagine the movie with any other actor than Li and his son, played by Zhang When. The performance is like a masterpiece painting, from a source you didn't realize was there all along, you go of course, he is a man obsessed with excellence. I could not view his other films the same way after this, so I give props to the director for seeing what no one else saw.

(2010) Ocean Haven/ Ocean heaven/ Ocean Paradise (In Mandarin with English subtitles) DRAMA

As a fan of Jet Lee or Jet Li's martial art movies, this is quite a transition for him, but at the same time I was never a fan of movies about people suffering from down syndrome or people with mental disorder films since they're the easiest thing to do if anyone were to become an actor as I always thought even before seeing Lars Von Trier's controversial film "The Idiots" saying that it involves more peculiar movements and less thinking dialogue. Besides "The Idiots", the only other films that demand recognition in terms of less dialogue acting roles are probably "The Miracle Worker" with Anne Bancroft and "My Left Foot" which their minds are intact but their bodies are not. The reason I say this is because everybody regardless who you're can act or verbally talk irresponsibly and carelessly once in awhile including me. Therefore, down syndrome or other mental disorder films can on some level or another can be an everyday occurrence and is not hard to do saying that anyone can do it- just be self absorbed, selfish and inconsiderate of others while allowing others to help you. Anyways, I had to see this movie because I like Jet Lee and stereotypical I did not know he can be in a drama film. The film is written and directed by Xue Xiao Lu, which may be a personal film based on actual experiences. At the beginning, Jet Lee as Wang Xingchang or as the characters in the movie call him Old Wang ties a rope to his son's leg along with his while sitting on a boat for it's very evident that his teenage son doesn't have any normal tendencies. Old Wang jumps into the water from his boat for the intention of killing himself as well as his only teenage son his name is Dafu. We assume at this point that it's one of those movies which the beginning is the end. But that is not the case at all for his son, Dafu saves him since he must be an excellent swimmer. The next scene has both of them coming into their apartment, and are not wet anymore but smell quite badly as acknowledged by his young female next door neighbor who's just stopping by to drop off some eats. And it was at this point he reveals to the audience that his son is autistic. That the reason he was attempting to kill himself by means of drowning along with his son was because he is dying of cancer for his son is unable to take care of himself and felt that it would be unfair to him if he couldn't get the proper care that he needs. Now because the setting takes place somewhere China, we get to witness some of the customs regarding how autistic people are treated in some areas. For instance, Old Wang is allowed to take his son to work which is maintaining the 'ocean resort' which includes janitorial and electrical, while his son is allowed to swim in the pool with the sea animals which is where he learned to become a great swimmer. This movie makes the possibility that although it's possible to take your child with you when you go to work, it's not possible to find the proper care he needs if that person happens to be the only parent who can look after him and that it'll be much harder if that specific parent is not around anymore. What I liked about this film is that it's not so much about the son as much as it's about whether or not one can find the proper care for him if anything were to happen to the parent which can be any parents dilemma. For it's generally harder to look after someone who is mentally disabled than it would be to look after a cat or a dog which owners don't have to worry too much about them all the time in comparison to a child who's suffering from mental disabilities. What prevented me to like this film even more is the expected cliché scenes of Old Wang training his autistic son to cook for himself and so forth... for it's different with each person and in my opinion didn't need it since the gov't can also provide some of the help too.

This has been touted as Jet Li's first starring non-action drama. While that is interesting it is probably the wrong approach to think of Li's past roles before watching this movie. This is a simple bittersweet realist drama that is a moving cinematic experience because of the earnest performances. Jet Li's minimalist characterization is the right approach for his character Wang Xuechang and quite different than his action persona. The director describes Li's character as "like a man who has become a mother." He is described by others in the film as a good man, which he is. He is doing the best he can with this situation with dogged determination, not with brilliance or luck, but perseverance. Wang is a maintenance work for an aquarium and had lost his wife fourteen years ago. He also has complete responsibility of his son Dafu (Wen Zhang: also acts with Jet Li in the later The Sorcerer and the White Snake) who suffers from severe autism. Wang is also dying from liver cancer and is given around three months to live.

The film stars off inauspiciously. Wang takes his son out to the ocean to drown him and himself. This does not work because the son had secretly untied the rope and the son has one special gift in his mostly closed world -- he is an excellent swimmer. So Wang goes back to his home and work determined to leave his son prepared for his passing while his pains get worse by the day. At first he tries to find a place where he can leave his son. But either the institutions are for kids or seniors which the 22-year old does not qualify. While this proves difficult he also spends time going over simple behaviors like riding the bus, cooking eggs, and spending money so he can have some semblance of a normal life.

While Dafu spends his days swimming in the aquarium tanks he befriends a traveling circus clown and juggler Ling Ling (Kwai Lun-mei: also acts with Jet Li in the later Flying Swords of Dragon Gate; she also sings a song for the film) who also gives Dafu someone else to trust. But given that her life is nomadic and that Wang's life is slowly ebbing away you are left to wonder what is going to happen to Dafu.

This is Xue Xiao-lu's first directed film. Her only other screen credit is for the writing on Chen Kaige's Together. Xue has stated she has worked on this project fourteen years, referring to her volunteer work with autistic children, and by the time the screenplay got to be read by Jet Li it was in its seventh draft. What is impressive is the crew that was put together for this film. For the cinematography you have Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Hero), for the music you have Joe Hisaishi (Kikujiro, Spirited Away) and production design by Yee Chung-man (Tokyo Raiders, Shaolin). Having this triumvirate is quite unbelievable considering the modest budget. Their collaboration helps the film immensely in sound and image.

This is a beautiful looking film. The cinematography and production design is dominated by blue hues throughout as a constant allegory to the water in their lives. The acting from Li and especially Wen is quite good. There relationship is quite touching as is the relationship between Dafu and Ling Ling. That one is underplayed, but I think that is the right decision for this film. So much of the success of this film depends on how Wen portrays his character's interactions with these two. There are no magical solutions to the familial issues, just a lot of hard work from caring people. There are no real antagonists in this story. Some might consider this a negative, but the movie does not need it. I am glad, because Dafu's life is difficult enough and the movie is emotional enough. I had to watch it in two sittings because the first half depressed me quite a bit. I do recommend this movie and hope those who are on the fence about watching this to give it a watch. I think it is quite a good film.

There are certainly some parallels between this film and Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung's Heart of Dragon. Both films were dramatic roles dealing with a caretaker having no choice in dealing with a mentally challenged relative and both were popular action stars getting a chance to expand their acting repertoire. This film also reminds me of Zhang Yang's underrated Shower in which the relationship between Er Ming and Liu parallels that of the two main characters here. There is also a water motif present in both films though I think the allegory is stronger in Shower and more matter-of-fact here. I mention these films because both are interesting and different approaches to similar matter. Shower is also one of my favorite films.

I saw this on the R1 Well Go DVD release. But there is also a R1 BD/DVD combo available from Well Go which should have the same extras. For the extras there is an 11 minute "Making of" extra which has interviews from Jet Li, Kwai Lun-mei, Wen Zhang and Xue Xiao-lu and inserted footage from the movie. It has some good information, but is ultimately too short. There is a trailer and a teaser for the movie as well. The start-up trailers (not accessible by menu) are 1911, The Stool Pigeon and The Man From Nowhere. I found a mistake in the description on the back cover which uses names for the two characters (Sam and David) that appear nowhere in the film and there is no English dub so I am not sure where they came from. The two dubs for this are a Mandarin 5.1 Dolby and a Mandarin Dolby Stereo. There is also an R3 Edko release of this film that came out in 2010.