Aftershock Reviews

"You can only save one. Hurry up and make up your mind."

To some, 2010's Aftershock may appear to be China's answer to Roland Emmerich's 2012, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not a lavish spectacle merely concerned with visual effects, this is a potent character-based drama that finds time for well-earned tear-jerking. Upon its release, Aftershock became the second highest-grossing film in its home country of China, earning an astonishing 673 million yuan (around $100 million USD). Watching the movie, it is easy to understand the appeal. Aftershock goes above and beyond the call of duty, and it's genuinely rare to come across motion pictures as dramatically satisfying and emotional as this. The icing on the cake is that its production values are on the same level as any big-budget Hollywood blockbuster.

In 1976, a 7.8 magnitude quake struck the industrial Chinese city of Tangshan. It was a devastating event, destroying countless buildings and accumulating a death toll of approximately 240,000. This film shows us a family who are caught in the quake, with mother Li Yuanni (Xu Fan) losing her husband amid the chaos and facing the possible death of her two children, daughter Fang Deng (Zhang Zi-feng/Zhang Jingchu) and son Fang Da (Zhang Jiajun/Li Chen). Both are trapped in the rubble of their home, and saving one of the children by lifting a concrete slab will crush the other. Faced with a tough decision, the distraught Yuanni chooses for her son to be saved. Later, Deng's body is pulled from the rubble and left for dead, but miraculously, she later wakes up. Unaware of where her mother or brother are, and having heard her mother's decision, Deng winds up being adopted by a loving family. Over the following thirty-two years, she lives with her new family, never attempting to find her family or even try to contact them to let them know that she is still alive. Meanwhile, Fang Da grows up and becomes successful in his career, but his mother finds it difficult to move on with her life, unable to forgive herself for her decision.

Aftershock is not a disaster movie in the Hollywood sense, with the title actually referring to the emotional and psychological scars of the earthquake victims in the years following the earthquake. Hence, most of the narrative examines the central characters' lives as they deal with their grief. Running at a substantial 130 minutes, the screenplay is expansive in its exploration of each character, delving into familial drama and coming-of-age scenarios. Consequently, we grow to care about the characters and we get an intimate window into their lives, observing how the events in 1976 forever altered their lives. However, Aftershock falls short of perfection. Due to the lengthy running time, it feels overlong, with some dramatic scenes that could have been trimmed or excised altogether. Worse, Fang Deng marries a Canadian lawyer named Alexander (David F. Morris), and the English-language scenes set in Canada are positively ghastly. Performances are incredibly stilted and awkward, and it sounds like all the dialogue was dubbed. It's genuinely terrible stuff that sticks out like a sore thumb. A huge dramatic development towards the end of the movie is rushed, as well - it seems as if a critical scene is missing, which may leave you baffled.

Aside from the English-language performances, the actors are otherwise top-flight, brimming with honesty and humanity. Each performer handles the material's emotional requirements with confidence, and they always feel desperately human, making it easier to connect with them. The earthquake happens quite early in the film, and the result is horrifying in its immediacy. Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop was behind the special effects, and it is easy to recognise their meticulous digital craftsmanship throughout the chilling earthquake sequence. Buildings collapse, debris falls all over the place, and people are crushed in harrowing ways. It's one of the most jaw-dropping and enthralling earthquake portrayals ever portrayed in cinema. The images of the aftermath are just as extraordinary, with extensive sets and superb make-up. All the more impressive is the fact that Aftershock was produced for a scant sum amounting to approximately $25 million USD. That this technical luminosity was achieved on a meagre budget is nothing short of a miracle.

It's hard to refrain from crying or at least shedding a tear during Aftershock, as it's an emotionally powerful motion picture that does not rely on cheating or manipulation. It never feels like director Xiaogang Feng is twisting the knife or taking delight in evoking emotion. Instead, Fend earns the emotion through powerful performances and superlative craftsmanship. Aftershock also celebrates the resilience of the Chinese citizens. Their collective loss and grief were so huge, yet they bandied together selflessly to save lives and do good deeds in times of great tragedy. And since the movie refuses to make the earthquakes the primary focus, it in no way feels exploitative. This is a magnificent film.

8.1/10

無庸置疑，此片撼動許許多多中國人的內心

很感人，感人的是親人相聚，悲傷的是，終究在男女選擇上，還是有所偏頗，但自責卻會是一輩子。