Onlinewsma
Absolutely Brilliant!
ChicRawIdol
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
yimcha123
A well made and serious film you shouldn't miss.Back to 1942!How many movie-goers were born before 1942? I think very few...The film is all blood and tear in Chinese history-if you ever read any Chinese history you would know a bit of how the corrupted national party of China ran the country(how they handled the famine) and the history of Japan invaded China (how cold blood of their behaviour against civilians)at the time.To younger people who never experienced war and hunger...please don't expect entertaining plots.
Dai Xueyan
the bad: there is a lack of a decent plot, the movie is more an assembly of different episodes that happened during the famine, told through the eyes of a former landlord and his family. Unfortunately most (if not all) of these episodes are cliché' and predictable (there is a pregnant woman, guess when she will deliver; there is a girl with a cat, guess what will happen to the cat; there are corrupt officials out to buy women for their own pleasure, guess who they will buy;). The episodes told are so many that there is no time to sympathise for a character, or at least that was my feeling. Most scene are a brutal graphic depiction of what hunger is, but I found it less involving than, for example, Fires on the Plain. the good: the subject treated is historically important, especially the fact that the government was aware/unaware able/unable to do something to prevent this catastrophe. The action scenes (the bombing of civilians) are shot with mastery and makes you feel uncomfortable all the way through. What I found more interesting though (but haven't seen anybody pointing it out so far) is that Feng Xiaogang is indirectly (and very subtly, of course) criticising todays government. There are many parallels with what is happening now in China, the top leaders who lost touch with the people, corrupt officials who take money and women, foreigners who have to point out faults of officials, Chinese against Chinese with their insatiable hunger for wealth. Even the Japanese, though enemies, are depicted as more human than the Nationalist officials. The Ugly: Tim Robbin's role, or the whole religious part for that matter. It doesn't add anything to the, already thin, plot. Also why Christians and not Buddhists or Daoists?Overall it's an interesting movie to be watched, not only for the famine, but also as a new step for Chinese cinema becoming more international.6/10
lancequan2046
A tamer version of my review in desensitized words: Good film, could've been a great film.A rather controlled and somber depiction of a dark chapter in modern history, subtly echoing another tragedy that happened 16 years later. Surprisingly un-judgmental and un-sentimental for a historical film recreating despair and lowest possible form of human existence.Feng presents the multiple layers of clues and facts that lead to the ultimate tolls almost as-matter-of-factly, leaving the audience putting together the puzzles and drawing their own conclusions, which is a rather clever way of avoiding censorship and engaging the audience.Could have been A LOT grittier and more affecting. The acting is powerful in this film. However for a film depicting a major famine that claimed over 3 million lives in recent history, not much huger is shown as visuals in the film, most of the lingering hunger is talked about/acted out (as opposed to being displayed visually) which reduces the general affecting power of the film.Xu Fan and Zhang Guo-Li are amazing in this film with their acting. Xu gives her most powerhouse performance yet, portraying the tough bottom- feeder hillbilly b*tch who would attempt anything/everything in defending her and her family's rights to live. However for a country woman who's been starving for over 100 days and more than willing to sell her bottom half for a couple of crackers, what's with her double- chin? (think Jennifer Lawrence's face in The Hunger Game – she can act all she wants but I'm sorry, girlfriend is just NOT that hungry) What TF happens to her makeup artist team and special visual effects people?!Adrien Brody is effectively engaging as a very eager T.H. White who's desperately trying to expose the truth, whether driven by his journalist instincts, Pulitzer, or a genuine sympathy for the poor and depraved. However don't even get me to start with Tim Robbins - why is he even in the film??? The couple of scenes he's in are cringe-inducing. Even if you edit them out altogether it would not affect the story's flow whatsoever.
monica tran
This movie is excellent if you are wanting to learn more about the history of China (war and famine) but not so good if you simply want to view it for leisure. The whole film has no plot in particular. It only focuses on simply aspects like death, find food, starvation, killing etc. There are various disturbing scenes and lots of death scenes. If you can't understand fluent Chinese, I wouldn't suggest you view it. The language spoken is Chinese but with a unfamiliar accent/dialect. The subtitles may be hard to follow. the movie is actually pretty long but it doesn't have any plot. Overall, I didn't enjoy watching this movie,half of the time I was covering my eyes and ears. Too much battling and no interesting plot.
