Tremblement de terre à Tangshan

In some ways, Aftershock as a big budgeted epic sort of plays out like Feng Xiaogang's Assembly, with the money shots concentrated in the first few minutes, followed by a masterful treatment of human drama against an historical backdrop of events in China. As a fan of Feng's films thus far, he continues to show that he's equally adept in handling commercial, studio tentpole films like this one, and smaller, more intimate films like If You Are The One, dealing with equal ability a cast of plenty, or just a handful.

Aftershock cuts to the chase and puts the audience smack into 1976 Tangshan, China, just about when the big quake struck. We're introduced to a family of four, where soon enough Mother Nature's unforeseen wrath swallows up the entire city, and shattering countless of lives and families in the process. What follows will set the stage for the entire two more hours to come, where Yuan Ni (Xu Fan) has to make that Sophie's Choice of which twin for the rescuers to save - son Da Feng, or daughter Fang Deng - since a beam separates the two. Tradition, culture and custom will unfortunately make this a no-brainer when push comes to shove, coupled with the fact that the death of her husband in rescuing her, and her role as the dutiful wife to ensure the preservation of the family line, but worst, this decision is made within earshot of Fang Deng who's fighting for her life in the rubble.

Heaven's compassion means Fang Deng survives the ordeal nonetheless, but gets picked up by a PLA soldier and sent to a survivor's camp, where she gets adopted into a foster family (Chen Jin and Chen Daoming in excellent form here as foster mom and dad respectively). The narrative then tangents into two halves, one following the grown up Da Feng (Li Chen), and the other Fang Deng (Zhang Jingchu), in their trials and tribulations of growing up in China in the last 30 years, interspersed with shots of a growingly vibrant Tangshan (and other cities of China) where we see the economic development of the country. However, Nature still is that unfortunate leveller, and for all the technological advancement, human emotions and a mother's love still continue to form the basis of a heart-wrench when dealt with an unfair card in life.

Based upon a novel, What works here are the many small subplots that get introduced, such as teenage romance, filial piety, and essentially the all important theme of family, that merges well with the inclusion of landmark events such as Chairman Mao's death, and another more recent quake that brings characters together. What more, all the cast members gave stellar performances (Save for the token Caucasian) that will tug at your heartstrings, and enable the melodramatic, emotional finale to be all the more powerful as we come to learn how bitterness and hatred accumulated over the years, can dissipate with the passage of time, and the opportunity presented to seek forgiveness.

Which somehow the editing seemed to give way under the weight of emotions, and introduced some abrupt cuts away from scenes you'd think will linger for a more emotional closure. However, art direction from costuming to sets here are superb in capturing the look and feel depicting the different eras from the 70s to the 90s, and brought to mind other similarly crafted dramas like Heaven Eternal, Earth Everlasting and Electric Shadow, both films that you should give a watch as well should you dig powerful dramas like Aftershock.

I can't attest to how great this film would have been on a larger than life IMAX screen simply because Singapore, for all our record movie attendance, we still find it not viable to have one (we had one before), but one thing's for sure, the special effects employed here is on par with what Hollywood can dish out. While Hollywood can serve exaggeration for that wow factor (think 2012 where everything falls apart), Feng employs digital effects prudently to ensure that the emotional aspect doesn't get neglected. For all the individuals affected by the Big Quake, one will actually feel for them when they get pulverized, and it's hard not to be saddened when you realize it's actually all very futile when the ground beneath you starts swallowing everything. As one character said in the film, there's no worry if it's a small quake, and if it's a big one there'll be no escape anyway. It's this exasperation and resignation from a survivor that succinctly explains not only the physical scars, but the emotional ones as well that lingers far longer with the survivors, coming close to becoming pangs of guilt.

So don't go in expecting a special effects extravaganza like what Hollywood will do. An earthquake doesn't last for that long, but the emotional journey of family members set apart by a catastrophic event goes on for much longer. Aftershock is that film set on the right path in choosing to focus on this aspect, and delivered a film rich in the human emotions of pain, distress and suffering. Highly recommended, and a natural inclusion to the shortlist of this year's best.

"god! you BASTARD!" wow... that scene took my breath away. i actually had to snap out of the movie for a second and make myself realize that i'm watching a movie, and its not real! (atleast not for me. but to imagine people actually go through such emotions in times like this makes you feel nauseous.) what an amazing movie! i only saw the 1st hour of it for time restraints... but i cannot wait to finish it. nothing i've seen in recent years compares to this movie. i don't know a word of Chinese, but the acting is just superb. i was reluctant to watch a movie in a language i don't understand, especially reading reviews about it being a "heart-felt" and "touching" movie; i'm so glad i didn't skip this one. brilliant!brilliant! brilliant!

An epic disaster picture, disguised with a special human core...

Aftershocks works because it believed in the simple message about human lives – value. In the midst of today's world, people always conjure on the negatives, rather than the positives in our lives. For a moment of two, we forget about the person next to you, and focuses on the troubles that surrounds us. Ultimately, Aftershock is a movie about human survival and it works not because of the impact of the earthquake, but how human beings deal with the aftermath of an extraordinary earthquake. Director Feng Xiaogang delivers an epic that is not about special effects, but one that touches the very essence of a human heart by tackling important themes like survival, how one deal with death, love, life and ultimate sacrifice. Aftershocks is a highly successful film, that manages to be commercially saleable and also extremely humane. In doing justice to the victims, it is certainly aren't easy, but somehow, Feng manages to engage, express and emotes.

Zhang Jingchu is a wonderful actress. Her main strength is the ability to make a character performance so believable yet human, is almost extraordinary. In saying that she is the central to the success of this film, will be an overstatement, but without her, Feng would not be so successful. Look no further than the scenes when she faces her mum again, after 32 years for a moment of heart to heart cinematic performance. The highlight for me is most certainly the person who played Jet Li's Hero, in the class of Chen Daoming. While he was subtlety cunning in Hero as the first emperor of China, Chen is all class and humane as the caring fostering father of Zhang. His portray of the fatherly role is fitting and steals the show with his glaring eyes. His moments of anger are a joy to watch, along with his interaction with his wife and daughter.

All in all, Aftershock is the blockbuster Chinese epic of the year and to wipe internal tears from my heart, Feng have created something very special. It is not a easy job to satisfy both Chinese censors and still manages to create something worthy of our 5 senses. Feng knows the impending audience and smartly delivers what is essential a human drama about the aftermath of a devastating event. In the journey of their survival and seeing how every one of these characters due with life in their own way, allows us to re-think, re-evaluate, refresh and re-value the very essence of our own lives. It isn't so bad and it's good to be alive and loved. Most certainly the Chinese blockbuster, not to be missed...(Neo 2010)

I rate it 10/10

• www.thehkneo.com

When I bought this movie from Amazon, I believed it to be a disaster movie in the likes of Hollywood movies such as "Volcano", "2012" and such. And the cover and text on the back of the cover didn't really let on to what this movie was, it all just showed something of a typical disaster movie.

So I wasn't prepared for what was ahead. Also because I hadn't done any research of reviews prior to buying (and watching) the movie. So I was in for one big surprise. There are those rare moments when you stumble upon something truly unique by sheer luck, and this was one such moment for me.

"Aftershock" blew me away. This movie is so much more than your average disaster movie. Sure there is a breathtakingly amazing disaster scene early on in the movie. And you just sit there with your hands clenched and biting your lip, because that whole part is so intense and so amazingly shot. It is like you are there right in the midst of the chaos. I will go as far as saying that the earthquake scene in this movie far outshines any of that I have seen in Hollywood disaster movies.

But "Aftershock" is not just a disaster movie, it is also a movie that has a very touching story to tell, a very sad and unfortunate story as well. But it tell its story in a very good way, without being too much. You really get immersed in the story, and it sweeps you off your feet and takes you along on an emotional roller-coaster ride. You might actually want to have some tissue at hand, because there are some very, very emotional scenes in this movie. It is also a story of emotions; a story of how our lives and fates can change in the blink of an eye.

The characters in "Aftershock" are very believable and they are so well portrayed on the screen by the actors and actresses. Each and every of the main characters are given so much room to grown and develop that you really get to feel with them, grow with them, feel their sadness, loss and happiness. And for this, the director was right on the money. This story was so well-told and well-shot that it is hard not to get caught up in the moment.

The 130 minutes that the movie is in length doesn't feel that long, because you get so caught up in the movie. I didn't leave the screen for a single moment. I just sat there mesmerized, wanting to see what happened next, what would happen to Fang Deng, Fang Da and everyone else.

I am a big fan of Asian cinema, though I had never heard about this movie prior to finding it by sheer luck on Amazon. Now that I have seen it, "Aftershock" will stay with me for a long, long time. It was one of the most emotional and honest stories I have had the pleasure of witnessing in a long, long time.

Even if you are not a fan of Asian cinema or have a phobia of watching movies in a foreign language, you should overcome that and do yourself the pleasure of sitting down to watch this movie, because it is really worth it. This movie is truly an amazing one, and it the story is one that deserves to be told.

After reading the other very eloquent and well thought of reviews posted so far I believe there is little I can ad to this string. That is, unless I can express my view as a true outsider of Chinese cinema and relatively inexperienced at your beautiful culture.

It's nearly impossible to find words to describe quickly I was sucked into the plot and became a member of the family of four portrayed in this masterpiece. I was in awe of the human tragedy this earthquake was and the amazing technology used to recreate it. However, nothing could have possibly prepared me for the tragic, sad, warm and beautiful human drama that would follow.

I was hoping to say I enjoyed this as much as or even more than any other movie. However, I have never experienced a movie that I can even begin to compare this to. This is a masterpiece and treasure.