Her Story

Giving this an 8/10 rating

This is a super film from writer director Yihui Shao, which has been so popular that every showing has sold out, I finally managed a seat today and it was well worth it, this might be the best film from China this year, so I do recommend it.

This drama about a parent and daughter, the next door neighbour female trio has everything, soul searching, plenty of laughs, full on great story and acting, some very good looking shots too. Jia Song, Elane Zhong and Isabella Zeng are the main three who are on full on top form with the juicy script that is just full of delight, Zeng really steals the film and holds her own. The men are not left out, Mark Chao and Yu Zhang deliver as well, and are just plain out and out funny, and given the situations for all involved, you just have to follow the madness of the ups and downs of the cast.

As this is spoiler free, I can't write anything more on the plot, but it is such a well made film I do say it was worth seeing and worth the wait.

Too many movies settle for just scratching the surface of deep topics, whereas "Her Story" jumps right in. This film is a triumph across the board; the playful artistic choices, colorful dialogue, and effortless flow from scene to scene. The dinner conversation may go down as one of my favorite film moments of the year. The film explores a variety of topics from motherhood to childhood education to depression without judgement and without pandering, respectfully leaving audiences to ponder them. It's a joy in English, even better if you know a little Chinese. Her Story (Hao DongXi) will rightfully go down as one of the best films of 2024.

NOTE: Minus 1 point for a depiction of a jobless single woman drinking Singleton straight out of the bottle, you must be joking single malts ain't cheap people..

Wow a movie with an outspoken feminist female character? And two simps around her? Championing female autonomy and independence? That's bold in the land that calls females over 27 leftover women I guess. A country that still holds women up to patriarchal ideals of sacrificial motherhood. But anyway I think what's bold is using these concepts and ideas in the dialogues. The mentality is already very prevalent among urban women, whether they call it feminism or not.

It's funny how desperate the government has gotten trying to encourage marriage and childbearing.

Anyway, it was a fun and frustrating movie at the same time. I had terrible subtitles, probably machine translated or something and it was clearly not what was being said a lot of the times and it took from my enjoyment of watching it. It also probably made some of the characters more obnoxious or unpleasant then they're meant to be in certain scenes. The second dinner scene was very funny though, even with the bad subtitles. The one with the "feminist performing men" line. I didn't get what her ex was after with that behaviour. And I'm sure I missed a lot of the humour and the warmth again cause of the subtitles. I felt the movie's intentions and the point the characters were making, it just didn't really reach me as it should have, and I don't know if the subtitles are the only thing I can blame here.

Was that really Mark Chao? Damn...

This movie has been highly praised in my friend circle, but due to scheduling conflicts, I missed the theatrical experience and ended up watching it at home. Unfortunately, I found myself somewhat disappointed.

The director attempts to build up the characters, but much of it is done through exposition rather than organic character development. As a result, the emotional impact falls short.

If judged purely on its storytelling and execution, I would rate it a 5. However, I do appreciate the film's intent, which in many ways feels more significant than the movie itself. The message is powerful, even if the delivery leaves something to be desired.

Delightful movie that brings up serious topics about expectations from both society and from people themselves, without being somber or bringing in antagonists. All the characters are very mature, and shine through how they introspect and deal with their own issues.

Although the main topic woven through the plot is feminism, the film shows us similarities to expectations about talent, relationships, parenthood and school. How the characters grow around these topics is the real substance of the movie, and it's put together in a way that balances humor and substance well.

What's really bolding this back though, is that there are a few moments were the writer/director let themselves get carried away and we get characters essentially dictating what we are supposed to think in that moment. This is unnecessary as the movie was already getting us to think about these topics, and it really whiplashes you out of the movie at those points.

This even happens with the Shanghai location: at some point we see her walk past the Sihang storehouse full with bullet holes from where the legendary RoC company made their last stand against the Japanese, and the dad says something about not making noodles much because they're southerners. But then later the mom just says "we live in Shanghai" to her own daughter.

Overall definitely recommend, very uplifting and likeable for a large variety of audiences.