Aftershock

Aftershock is one of those movies where you really feel the experience and journey of all your characters for the length of its time and really connect with the characters. Even those who don't understand Chinese (myself included) will connect with the human story and its wonderful drama, not to mention some amazing visual effects at the beginning.

I'm not going to go into the plot of the film but it is essentially a very real human family drama that deals with the pain of continuing to live with guilt and having to restore one's life after a tragedy. It may sound familiar but the beauty of Aftershock is that its emotional core is something it never shies away from. You see and feel the journey of all three central characters and how a natural disaster can shape our destinies and change our perspectives on ourselves and those around us.

While you can sort of see the plot unfolding before it gets there in the end, it is essentially what you want. I really cared about these characters so anything less than what you would expect would have been even more harrowing. But the resolution which seems to solve everything yet still leaves an emptiness is remarkable.

This is a film not to be missed. I was almost in tears by the end of the film - it has been one of the most captivating films I have seen in a long time and is a remarkable piece of cinema. Not to be missed.

This has to be one of the best films I have ever seen! From the minute you are drawn in by the amazing cinematography and the story set before you, you are hooked.

This film flows like the Three gorges dam, powerfully! Have a box of tissues handy as you'll need them. The film moves along at a nice steady pace punctuated with moments of such drama that if your of a certain disposition you will weep openly.

At 2 hours 15 minuets I was so glad it ended. Not because I hadn't enjoyed it but because I was an emotional wreck.

I could wax lyrical for paragraph upon paragraph about this film but the most poignant thing I could say is... Just watch it.

10/10 easily.

As an old white guy I have this knee jerk reaction to resist all things not American. Darn. That said, and considering all the dribble that comes out of Hollywood these days, juxtaposed against this truly wonderful film from China, all I can say is... if this is the kind of stuff they are capable of, "Hollywood, look out". One of the things that makes this movie so compelling is that it is not a "Chinese" story, its a "human" story. While the production and graphics are stellar, its the STORY that steals the show. How many times have we all sat through an hour and a half of incredible (and often gratuitous) graphics with a mediocre story sandwiched in between stuff being blown up. Here the graphics are truly great, but take second place to whats important... the story.

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.

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.