Movie Digest
The movie spans over 60 years it, is about Guo Xiaolu and Su Lingfang, who grew up together because of an accident. Their paths diverge, and go their separate ways, each coming to terms with a different approach in life. They later reunite after a long time during a prosperous phase in their lives. The film follows the protagonists through their highs and lows, leading up to their death, where they make an unexpected choice.
The Feel-Good Part
The film is a plot-heavy melodrama as it spans over 60 years which helps the audience remain engaged with the story as you become invested in the characters. The film’s score is romantic, which goes well with the plot. The shots of the locations (Czech and Mainland) in the movie are visually appealing, and contribute to the script with compelling narrative switches that goes back and forth, providing the viewers with an engaging experience.
The Disappointing Factor
The story starts to lose the audience by going off the rails, narratively, past the 90 min mark because of increasingly unrealistic elements adding to the plot. The emotional impact of the film is lacking for a story that relies so heavily on its theatrical aspects. The episodic construction of the film may fall flat with a larger audience as the story may not flow well as it goes through different periods.
In-Depth Analysis
The film is elaborate in terms of the construction of narrative as it spans over a long period, time and takes place throughout different regions, which is worth appreciating as it is executed well for the most part. The heavy concepts of memory and immortality may not seem fully fleshed out, but there is only so much that can be done in the given run time. The film would have benefited from scaling down on its themes and concepts as they are lacking in terms of development, it feels like the writer and director took on more than they could handle. There are inconsistencies with pacing and the way the story unfolds because the last forty minutes of the movie starts dragging, while the story seems to spiral out of control.
Star Power
The cast delivers in their roles sufficiently, the main leads may not be as compelling to make the audience believe in the strong emotions the movie tries to convey, still they are competent enough to keep the audience invested. The supporting cast is more memorable and provides the story with an exciting background; this might have been because their respective characters were more fleshed out.
Overall Opinion
The film tries to do a lot in a short period, time and delivers on a lot of the critical elements of the script. The story is compelling for fans of the melodrama genre. The film is worth a shot despite its apparent flaws as it attempts to do something unconventional and tells an elaborate story in a short period, time.
