firefromthesky2001

A friend of mine in China recommended films by the director Liang Ying. Since living in China for the past five years and having an interest in independent cinema, I checked his stuff out. The first film of his I viewed was The Other Half.

The most impressive part of the entire film is the story and its characters. With my experience in China, I can honestly say that Liang Ying has captured the personality of many of the average Chinese citizens. Through many of the character's mannerisms, I felt as though I could be listening to someone who could be living in my neighborhood here. Even with its somewhat comedic elements, the film felt realistic and gave a view of the population of China that is not reaping the cash rewards of its recent economic boom.

However, while the story itself was interesting, there were many problems with production. For example, the sound quality was sometimes annoying. Often times, the background sounds made it difficult to hear the dialog. For example, Xaofeng had a dinner date with a local Boss, the sounds of the surrounding tables often drowned out the dialog. In the film's defense, anyone, who has ever eaten at a typical Chinese restaurant within China, would tell you that often people get extremely loud there and it is difficult to hear your own conversations. Still, this problem did take away from the overall film.

Overall, the film is worthy to be viewed. However, if you are someone expecting the Western definition of "independent" films with HD video and a high dollar (or RMB in this case) amount spent in production or you are expecting hyper cuts in film as is common in music videos, you will probably be disappointed. However, if you are interested in characters and getting a glimpse into possibly a new culture, or you are interested in seeing what a guy with camera can do with no budget and while having his family and friends star in his movie, you just might like this film. It will inspire aspiring filmmakers just seeing what one can do with desire.