Eye of the Storm

When I watched this film, I didn't see the trailer or read the movie description. I went in with the expectation that it might be a current affairs discussion related to COVID-19. To my surprise, the moment I saw the characters using old-style mobile phones, I knew it was going to be a story about the tragic events at a Taiwanese hospital during the SARS outbreak over a decade ago.

Honestly, a single movie can't cover everything, and it can't delve into the depth and poignancy of each individual story the way a short series like 'Hoping' did. 'Eye of the Storm' seems to focus more on the discussion of responsibility. Career choices and job positions are individual decisions and perceptions, but society relies on the functioning of many roles. So, from the beginning, Wang Bojie's portrayal of Dr. Xia becomes the central axis of the entire film. The ending also echoes the sacrifices made by this central character.

I recommend watching this film and appreciating the contributions of the many real-life heroes in our society.

Eye of the Storm tells the emotional effect that an infectious disease can have on the ones who are at the forefront of the battle. I can see how the film tries to portray different personalities and how they each sacrifice for the greater good, but it just feels flat. It tries to paint this canvass with all these different colors but nothing really jumps out. There is also not a whole lot of story going on here, and it doesn't have a satisfactory closure at the end. Audience is thrown around in each character's emotional struggle during the pandemic but it is hard to latch onto anyone specifically.

Movies with issues like this should have more diverse viewpoints. For the retrospective events that reproduce history, only the mentality of medical staff is discussed. I don't know what reflection this film can bring to the audience. Although the actors performed very well, the photography and sound effects were too aggressive, and I felt uncomfortable many times during the viewing process. It can only be said that the director avoided the connotation that should be discussed. In order to avoid being scolded and being involved in political issues, he made this film useless except for reviewing history, which was quite a sadness.

I'm not sure what people expect of this movie... but what I got from it is an accurate portrayal of a hospital in lockdown mode when and outbreak of SARS occurred in Taiwan. This isn't a fairy tale and it doesn't pull punches. There are no "mask controversies" here, no fake news (at least, not once the outbreak was confirmed), and no sugar-coating.

This is full-bore contagion situation, with just the right amount of drama added by portraying the frenzied efforts of exhausted and under-staffed hospital workers, scared and selfish people objecting to the lockdown, and the lives of key individuals as they adapt to the reality of a fairly unknown and deadly disease.

Don't go into this expecting sunshine and picket fences. This is one of the most realistic movies I've seen of such a situation.

The SARS outbreak happened 20 years ago and it was similar to COVID in that it happened suddenly and was highly infectious. This movie will probably remind people of how it was when the COVID pandemic just started. Everything was chaotic and the medical field had the most responsibility, this people who worked in hospitals especially had the most difficult time.

This movie had some emotional scenes which nearly brought me to tears. I think the cast did an excellent job and it showed the different sides of medical professionals. I liked the pacing too and honestly the ending didn't disappoint me. Instead I was relieved that it was somewhat of an open ending.