Yi chu hao xi

So goes a quote: "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious". How true that is of Huang Bo's directorial debut 'The Island', a survivalist dramedy which adapts the familiar premise of 'Lord of the Flies' for a thoughtful study on social hierarchy. Huang himself co-writes the story of a company of white-collar workers who are shipwrecked on a deserted island while on a teambuilding adventure, after encountering a giant tsunami ostensibly unleashed by a meteorite passing dangerously close to Earth. It is no coincidence that these twenty or so members are colleagues; after all, there is invariably a chain of command established among them, which is all but upended when the company boss Zhang (Yu Hewei) proves utterly clueless about what they need to do in order to survive in the wilderness.

Oh yes, it is deliberate irony that the least among the group should emerge as their leader, but hey at least their bus guide Dicky Wang (Wang Baoqiang) knows how to gather fruits, fresh water and fish, so it isn't surprising that the rest choose to submit to the Army veteran and former circus monkey trainer than to Zhang under those circumstances. Though at first reluctant, Dicky begins to relish being in charge, and pretty soon resorts to force and intimidation to get others to work for him. No one likes to be oppressed, especially not someone used to being the authority, and so in time Zhang will establish a breakaway faction in an overturned freighter beached on another corner of the island. Instead of Dicky's communist-style dictatorship, Zhang runs his little fiefdom by capitalist means, with playing cards as the currency to exchange for goods and food.

Amidst the establishment of these two diametrically opposite centres of governance is Huang's middle-aged sad-sack worker Ma Jin, who is on his own desperate quest to get off the island within 90 days in order to claim the 60 million RMB lottery prize he had just discovered that he won before the fateful tsunami. Ma also pines hopelessly for the affections of his fellow co-worker Shan Shan (Shu Qi), but takes for granted the loyalty of his childhood buddy Xing (Zhang Yixin). Ma and Xing have a brief falling out when the latter inadvertently learns of Ma's real motivation for risking their lives to leave; notwithstanding, the tightly-knit pair stick with each other as they go from Dicky's faction to Zhang's faction to forging their own survival within a broken helicopter next to a shallow riverbed.

In time, Ma will be forced to abandon his dreams of ever cashing in his winnings, but it is also at that time a freak occurrence will turn his despair into hope. Without revealing too much, it suffices to say that Ma and Xing will hatch a plan to reunite the two rival factions so as to establish lasting peace among the community at large, and in the process Ma will win Shan's respect and regard. But with a running time of close to two and a half hours, you'll be mistaken to assume that the film is done; in fact, the third and final act explores just how far both Ma and Xing are willing to go in order to safeguard the kind of life they had built up on the island, especially if that entails withholding the truth from the rest of the group. Both have no illusions just how insignificant they will otherwise be in the real world, and it is this fear that ends up perverting their actions.

Oh yes, it's not hard to see that Huang intends a cautionary lesson on how easily power corrupts even the most unassuming of us - whether is it the lowly service staff Dicky who has leadership suddenly thrust upon him, or the meek and modest Xing who had seemed just days ago perfectly content to simply follow in Ma's footsteps, or the self-effacing Ma who assumed the mantle of leader with no more than the noble intention of healing the rift between his warring colleagues. Besides a critical examination of authority, the film also portrays keenly how communities develop and thrive by simple supply and demand of valuable commodities like food, water and other resources. As artificial as the set-up may be, there is little artifice in how the characters respond to the changing circumstances, and this demonstration of social behaviour is captivating to watch.

As an actor-turned-director, Huang ensures that the performances of his ensemble cast are not lost amidst the allegory. Huang himself brings nuance to his role as a debt-ridden loser looking for a break in life, while giving space for the sort of broad laughs that he is known for in his pairings with Wang. Though in just a supporting role, Shu Qi offers a welcome human touch from time to time in her scenes with Huang, especially when the rest of the proceedings threaten to get a little shrill. Huang also proves to be a visually imaginative director, and some of the more outstanding images on display include a life-or-death shave with a massive cargo freighter during the tsunami, the upside-down shipwreck where Zhang sets up his camp and a tree with hundreds of fish hung from its branches to dry.

It's an impressive debut for Huang no doubt, and even though it does go on for too long, 'The Island' establishes his distinctive voice as a social commentator with comedy as his vehicle. Like our opening quote, there may be outrageous moments of humour within, but that absurdity really underlines the very farcical nature of human behaviour in society. Those familiar with Chinese society will certainly read deeper into its portraits of class differentiation, yet its theme will resonate with anyone who's ever wondered about his or her place on the social ladder. 'The Island' also comes at a particular time in Chinese cinema driven by social allegories, and it is a perfect example of a new consciousness seeping into the mainstream as well as popular culture.

It's good. It's not a comedy. It's more about reflecting human nature. It's not bad. Huang Bo's acting skills are good

The Island is a mostly entertaining mixture of a survival drama with some social criticism, slapstick comedy and romantic elements. It tells the story of about thirty work colleagues who get into a heavy storm and strand on an isolated island. When nobody comes to their rescue, the group elects a military veteran as their leader who soon starts to abuse his power. The group splits into two camps when a clever businessman discovers a shipwreck with useful tools and convinces some of his colleagues to join his group. The story follows two unlucky brothers who soon realize that the military veteran is a sadist while the clever businessman is a liar and decide to live on their own. In order to feel superior just once in their lives, they successfully plan to play the two groups off against each other in order to become the new leaders. As time goes by, the two brothers need to decide whether they want to be leaders on an isolated island or ordinary people in a civilized world.

The movie starts very well with stunning special effects in a dramatic storm. The different characters are nicely developed and very distinctive. Every character has obvious strengths and weaknesses but living in the savage nature shows who the characters really are. The story is less interesting than the gripping character developments that have major impacts on the plot. The film finds the right balance between serious survival adventure with some social criticism related to the selfishness of mankind and some more light-hearted elements such as situation and slapstick comedy but also a romance between the older brother and one of the female co-workers.

The Island also has a few minor flaws. The movie is at least twenty minutes too long and the middle section is both repetitive and drifts at times off into the realm of fantasy instead of keeping the realistic survival story mode. The ending of the movie also feels stretched as there are additional scenes during and even after the credits. A more concise film would have been much more intense for the viewers. Personally, I didn't like Qi Shu's performance very much and don't understand why she is featured in so many movies these days. She is neither a particularly good actress nor a particularly beautiful woman that she often has to incarnate in my book. While other characters evolve mentally but especially physically on the island as they grow beards, long hair or get dirty and rough skin, Qi Shu's character always looks as if she came out of a beauty studio with perfect teeth, clean skin and smooth hair, even after having spent far over one hundred days on an isolated island. Her character simply feels misplaced and looks like a Barbie Doll in a cabinet of horrors.

In the end, I would still recommend The Island if you are looking for a quirky survival drama with intriguing characters. The story is somewhat shallow and the movie has its lengths but it's overall still very good thanks to outstanding acting performances, great camera work, exotic locations, poignant sound effects and impressive special effects as well as an interesting and mostly balanced mixture of different genres.

Zhang Yixing was praised by his real name. He was able to become an actor among a number of senior actors. Thanks to Huang Bo's script and trust, he gave him a role to play. Back to the film itself, the whole viewing process fluctuates like an electrocardiogram. Whenever you feel good, it will collapse soon, but when the insufficient places pass, new highlights will appear. After all, it's a debut. You can't ask Huang Bo for super high standards because he is the director. The first play dares to challenge a large group of plays with such rich elements. I'm afraid Jiang Wen doesn't have this courage. Jiang Wen's fifth film was only one step away, while Huang Bo's first film was shot. The scene of falling from a cliff at the end was too similar to the scene of Ma Zori jumping down, leaving enough room for the audience to interpret. Therefore, we can foresee the terrible polarization after the official release of the film, but I can say for sure that this is one of the most courageous attempts of 2018 Chinese film. Finally, I want to say that the next drama is not implanted in any advertisement. In the last days of fables, what Kwai is fun and fast is really too low.

A stranger darkly-comic satire than The Island will not come your way this year and maybe ever. Like an amalgam of Lord of the Flies and The Tempest, it is uncompromising about humanity's ability to screw each other over given a chance to attain power at others' expense.

As the formula would have it, a group of co-workers is stranded on an island after a cataclysmic storm seems to lay waste to the world. Faced with the daunting task of setting up a new world, they experience every form of survival strategy, mostly of a capitalist kind (lending, stealing, hoarding, bartering, etc). most of the time it is not pretty.

Lurking in the wings is Love, the great pacifier, and after scores of days, they seem to get its importance, not only for their mental health, but also for creating heirs should the world have been devastated. Getting to harmony is as difficult for these islanders as it is for those stranded in life.

Speaking of which, and argument and a strategy take place as they struggle what is real and what is fake in their new culture. The audience will take only a split second to make the connection with today's stranded politicians who excoriate "fake news" while they make it.

Although The Island's first part is a slog through hysterics and fast subtitles, the second part settles nicely into satisfactory allegory about the human condition. This little film will never do the business the much slicker and more class-conscious Crazy Rich Asians does; yet, it has its own charms about life as we commoners experience it.

Suffice it to say, we need to see more of these entertaining and culturally rich films because I think Asians are here to stay in our lives.