Film: Aftershock
Release date: 27th December 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 135 mins
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Starring: Jingchu Zhang, Daoming Chen, Chen Jung Li, Yi Lu, Fan Xu, Jin Chen
Genre: Drama/History
Studio: Metrodome
Format: DVD
Country: China
As China’s highest-grossing film, and their entry for the Oscars Best Foreign Language Film 2011, Aftershock has a lot to live up to. It spans the thirty-two years between the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, both traumatic events within living memory. While dealing with this deeply emotive material, director Xiaogang Feng chose to concentrate on the effect of these disasters on an average Chinese family.
Fang Daqiang, a hard working father, is having a normal kind of day. He picks his children up and sends them home with a new fan for their mother, Yuan’ni. On the way home, the twins are set upon by bullies - Deng protects her brother Da, a pattern that will be repeated with far more dire consequences. That evening, Fang and his wife steal a moment of intimacy in the back of his truck; they are a happy family. Seconds later, the earth begins to shake. Suddenly, their world is quite literally crumbling around them. The parents run back to their home only to find the building collapsing around them. Yuan’ni attempts to run to her children but is held back by her husband who goes to find them himself, sacrificing his life.
As the dust settles on the ruined city Yuan’ni finds Deng and Da trapped beneath a twisted heap of concrete. She is forced by rescuers to make a choice - if one child is rescued the other will be crushed to death. They ask her repeatedly, beating her down, until she eventually chooses her son. With her son free but in urgent need of medical attention, Yuan’ni leaves to find him medical help.
Against all odds, Deng survives and wakes up next to her dead father - her mother’s words ringing in her ears. Tattered and filthy, the fragile child walks through the destruction, where she is found by a soldier and later adopted by a childless couple in the People’s Liberation Army. Deng and Da, once so close, are forced to live separate lives…
The opening shot of dragonflies fleeing from the impending disaster, following the train tracks, brings the viewer neatly to the crossing where the truck containing Fang and his family waits patiently. It is a clever way in which to show how vulnerable humans are in the face of nature. The family are completely unaware of the fate that awaits them, while the humble insect is already taking action. The children’s gold fish also try to escape by jumping out of their glass bowel and are shown flapping helplessly on the wooden cabinet onto which they fall, another metaphor for hopelessness.
Aerial shots are used to document the change in the city from the low-rise 1970s buildings to the high-rises of 2008. They also chart the city’s destruction and subsequent development. While useful, they can appear repetitive. The economic shift depicted in these three decades shows the effect of the reform and opening-up policy during this time in China. As a film Aftershock has been criticised for brushing over the political realities of this period and, although they are occasionally alluded to, there is no in-depth examination.
Chairman Mao is evident in the background of many of the scenes from Deng’s childhood in the People’s Liberation Army barracks. His photo hangs on the wall in the adoptive families flat, and his death is mourned. However, what was in many ways a traumatic time in Chinese history is viewed in a warmly reminiscent manner, with the sets created from a collection of donated, original props. There is an air of cosiness that some would argue is inappropriate. Yet, it is possibly more accurate, within the context of this film, to describe it as such.
The power of the party is also shown through colour. Green and red are often predominant in scenes, more so during Deng’s life with her adoptive family, and allow bridging when the action shifts. When the film moves to Da and Yuan’ni’s narrative, the colours are often muted, except when they honour the dead, and are in a sense reunited, or during celebrations.
Aftershock centres heavily on the psychological impact of the Tangshan Earthquake and the relationships that were made and broken by the disaster. Deng’s character remains removed and cut off from others until she can come to terms with the choice her mother had to make. Yuan’ni remains married to her dead husband, accepting no advances, in deference to his sacrifice, and carries the guilt of her daughter’s presumed death. Yet in spite of this, the characters survive emotionally and the film is hopeful.
As a film, Aftershock has not pleased everybody, despite it being a box office hit. When dealing with recent and sensitive subject matter, it is hard to get it right. In many ways, it can be applauded as an emotive family drama, but it is possible that a greater historical and political perspective would have given it depth and made it more satisfying to those still dealing with the fallout from these events. EM
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