Qin ai de (2014) Reviews

• Touching

  Mag-N-olia2015-06-04

  Since 2004, most of Peter Chan's films were big-budget production, co-produced with China, such as Perhaps Love, Wu Xia, but lost the precious spirit he had. For Dearest, Peter Chan recovers his credit. Not only The watchable Dearest doesn't become the propaganda as most of mainland films like, but also refuse to be anti-govern picture. Dearest honestly focus on lost and return. The screenplay is good writing, but a little weak in the second part, thankfully, upgrading by unimaginable Chiu Mei (aka Zhao Wei). Additionally, Editing and Cinematography are perfect. Chen should thank to his great ensemble cast. Huang Bo proves he is not only the best comedy actor, but also an intelligent drama performer. Hao, who played Lu Xiaojuan, has the most wonderful character, a ex-wife who had cheated her ex-husband, an ill-mannered lady who destroyed her current marriage, a victim who facing the foster mother, and the heart breaking mother whose child has forget her. However, she wast the best role of the film, Hao excelled one dimension of the lost child mother. It's easy to feel sympathy for the role, however, frail it is. Surprisingly, Zhang Yi remarkable portray steal the sense. At Pangpang's birthday party, his helpless and depression should be his award moment. Undoubtedly, the greatest performance from Zhao, an underrated actress in China. Granted, she has less scenes than Huang and Hao, and the poor support by script of her part, but she control the gravity of the whole film. Zhao shows a complex and paradox humanity in a simple, low- educated personality. Her restrained and spell-blinding acting style would establish her as Chinese Ellen Burstyn.

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• Dearest (亲爱的) will be in for a tough fight against The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 which is opening on the same day in Singapore.

  tiffanyyongwt2014-11-30

  I had difficulty getting a friend to watch this film with me, as most expressed disinterest with reasons like, "I don't watch such kind (crying) films." But I thought Dearest is actually the Chinese version of "Taken" minus the actions and kidnapping triads. This is more realistic, given that it was based on the real documentary of how Tian and Lu found their abducted son three years later. The Ayes I did not cry as much as I thought I would, perhaps because I'm yet a parent myself. But I can definitely feel for the parents who lost their kids. This film have various characters where the different groups of audience will be able to relate with. And for me, it's more of the feeling of Lu Xiao Juan's second husband, the Yes-I-Can-Understand-But-I-Am-Not-Part-Of-It group. Most people will think that it's the typical lost-and-found-then-happily-ever-after movie, but nope. The film touches your heart first, and then make you think again. Think of questions that we will usually assume about the abductors. That how most would abduct to make the kids beg for money, that the kids will be suffering and pining for their real parents. It also make one look at the existing policies that might be erred. Like the police report allowed only after the child was missing for more than 24 hour; the rampant child abduction case in China; China's one-child policy; the guilt and repercussion on the parents who lost their child (feeling guilty having another child), all these thought-provoking questions will most probably be at the back of your mind after the film. The various actors were brilliant in their own way. Tian's desperate search for the kid, Lu's depression, followed by her breakdown and revelation on the secret she had been hiding in her heart for months. I teared, at the weirdest scenes, like when the 6-year-old newly-found son held her hand for the first time. The smile that crept onto her face was as if she had to control herself from dancing for joy . Han De Zhong, Captain of the self support group for parents whose kids were abducted and lost, was, I thought, an unimportant role and his performance was actually so-so, until the point where Tian and Lu had recovered their child, and the emotional struggle within him having to deal with a sudden pregnancy with his wife and realizing that only one couple within that support group had found their child. You could almost feel the pain in his heart when he left the celebration to cry in one corner. ... The Nays The opening scene which was the day the 3-year-old son, Pengpeng went missing, was filled with little snippets and details of a daily usual life. Wandering street cat, the massive and messy power line (tied with red ribbon and then marked with chewing gum) and fighting under-aged teenagers. It would be impressive if these details were related and linked to the end of the film (few years down the road). But they were irrelevant, hence making the opening stretch littered with insignificant scenes. This is not a typical blockbuster film that the public will look forward to watching, as it forces people to look at the evilness of humanity. Like Tian, I couldn't understand how could fellow human still try to con and rob a man who had just lost his child with fake news. With such a genre which looks depressing based on the trailer, Dearest (亲爱的) will be in for a tough fight against The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 which is opening on the same day in Singapore.

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• Saddening truth about the terrible state in China on multiple fronts

  Kicino2015-02-13

  Dearest's trailer is sensational, showing all kinds of crying faces and I was not looking forward to see it. But I like Peter Chan, Wei Zhao and Bo Huang. So I went anyway. Well, I cannot say I like it but I think it is worth watching as it shows how disorganized and terrible China is as a country. And I think the director has presented all the facts in quite an objective way. Based on true events, Dearest tells the heartbreaking story of a divorced couple losing their three-year old son in the coastal city of Shenzhen and the ordeal of searching for him. Yet it is not simply a child abduction story, through the story of Tian Wenjun (Bo Huang) and Li Hongqin (Zhao Wei), we realize that child abduction is widespread in China, as with woman kidnap, and the heartless scam of people tricking parents of the kidnapped kids, and the ridiculous policy of allowing parents to have a second child only after proving their first child is dead. What the movie did not show is what the abductors do to the children – be it training them to be thieves, or sedating them to be beggars, or child labors, or child prostitute, or selling them overseas or to parents who cannot have kids … More depressing truths. But what it shows is already thought-provoking and disheartening. I cried quite a number of times. For a child, it is sad enough being taken away from your family. But what is sadder is being taken away from another family again and could not recognize your birth parents. Wei Zhao is brilliant in portraying a desperate, innocent but determent mother from a remote village who descends to the southern city of Shenzhen to look for her son. Her motive is pure and noble but the complex situation, including her husband's lies has put her in some pathetic situation. It is appalling that this is based on a true stories as at the end credits, we see pictures of the original parents, the farmer, the abducted child and the support group of parents losing their children. Very impressive but sad because these abductions are still happening every single day. Another thought is, with such vast geography and disparity of wealth, the quality of the people are incredibly low. So low that they often resort to physical violence to solve problems – even outside the courthouse! We heard about these abductions in the news and on the net but this is the first time I encountered these on the big screen. Looking around us, so what if you have your kid in safety in China, you need to shop around for reliable formula milk powder that is safe. That explains why Chinese are snatching up formula milk from supermarkets all over the world from Japan to Germany, let alone Hong Kong. Life must be very tough if you were born and being raised in China. There is no system, or if/when there is, it is inhuman and unreasonable, not to mention the widespread corruption that hinders justice. Under this kind of system, it seems it would be hard to nourish caring, rational and reasonable human beings who looks beyond money and short term profit. The ripped off paralegal Gao Xia (Dawei Tung) sums it up well though awkwardly in the movie: if people would consider others' point of view this country would have been so much better. They have just forgot/ignored Confucius' Golden Rule. How ironic. A great glimpse into the terrible life in China.

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• Wow, FINALLY.....Congratulations!

  BasicLogic2015-05-02

  I have to repeat what I said in the Summary: Wow, finally we got a well scripted Chinese Screenplay, directed by a very normal and sane Chinese director, played by a bunch of great Chinese actors, and yes, this film was largely based on the true incidents happening in China 24/7/365, and yes, some of the plots/storyline/twists were dramatically invented and inserted into the whole movie just to make it more watchable. To me, this film has saved the Chinese movie industries in many ways. It showed us that at least there are still some Chinese movie producers, writers, directors and actors who did not want to turn themselves into jerks and clowns, they really wanted to produce something not just watchable, at the same time, they really wanted to tell us something that really happened, happens and happening in China: The god-awful "KIDNAPS" that have destroyed so many families, homes, marriages, relationships and most of all, the hope. I could never imagine how many of the Chinese would become so monstrous and evil, making "kidnapping" as a business, a commercial commodity, even an enterprise. Those kidnappers are everywhere, in every Chinese city, every corner, every busy public thoroughfare. The god- awful inhumane Chinese government in order to control the population, the Communist Party released a law to force every family can only have one child, and this cruel law has also created a booming business, "kidnap". And this is the story of parents who lost their kids and tried so hard to look for their lost kids. A great story based on one of the true incidents and very fortunately, it turned out to be one of the rarest watchable films since most of the Chinese movie producers had lost their sanity and turned almost 99% of their movies into nothing but farce, turned their actors into jerks and clowns, destroyed their audiences and viewers better judgments and made them become morons. What I would like point out is, although the actress who played the kidnapper's wife had won 'The Best Actress of Hong Kong Film Festival 2014", I still think the actress who played the wife/ex-wife who lost her kid had performed even better. You have to watch carefully about how she played the wife and mother, and when her lost son finally grasped her hand to walk along with her, the reactions of her performance was just out of the world! And that wonderful moment of acting was so superb that made my eyes teary. There were so many other great performances by this great actress in this film that you really need to pay more attention to appreciate her. Because it was such a great performance, showing how a mother finally getting and salvaging her lost son, there is only one American actress, Diane Lane, in "Unfaithful 2002", when she met a handsome younger man and uncontrollably to commit an adultery and an affair, betrayed her husband (played by Richard Gere), when she sat in the train going home and thought about her possible intimate sexual desire with that young stranger, her acting of that moment, from the moment when she thought about her encounter with that young man to uncontrollably thought about making love with him, the rapid changes of her expressions in trance, her face suddenly blushed; sexual desires made her cheek, neck and her upper chest turned hot red; the subtle micro expressions on Diane Lane's face; the sexual desires were so strong and so real, like what a real woman would have responded and reacted and wet herself when uncontrollably thought of making love to a mysterious stranger and future secret lover....Wow, that....and until this superb Chinese actress showing us how a recovering mother she was, is the 2nd time that I've found myself in awe to watch such a great performance, so real, so true, so natural and, so powerfully touching. "The Best Actress Award" should be hers instead. China and the Chinese people need more movies like this "Dearest" kinda movies to put them back onto the right track sooner than later, before their whole movie industries turn every movie into nothing but SH@T, an incurable and unstoppable diarrhea! A warning to the Chinese movie investors: DO NOT USE YOUR ¥¥¥REN-MIN-BI¥¥¥ AS TOILET PAPERS, USE IT WISELY.

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• One of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen!

  NoxSeismica2017-11-28

  This movie left me speechless. It is, for me, definitely on the same level as other classics like "So-Won" and "Miracle in Cell No. 7" and what it has in common with those movies is that it also explores human relationships, especially those between sons/daughters and their respective parents. The story is pretty much simple.. or at least, it seems so. A couple getting through a divorce has to deal with the disappearance of their only son. They try to find him and in the process, heal, as well. What I really liked about this movie, putting aside the amazing performances, is the way it portrays the story and it portrays it in a such way that we look at it from various perspectives. Of course, we sympathize with the birth parents and the pain they're feeling but we also cannot help but sympathize with the mother who has now, like them, lost their children. We also feel sad for this kid because it is sad enough to be taken away from your family one time but, two times, that's enough. The scene where Li runs after the parents while they try to take her son away or the scene where she is shoved away by different people when she tries to hug her son are very difficult to watch and we cannot wonder if they're doing to her what it was done also to them. Her involvement in the kidnapping of her son is not truly explained: did she know or was she just lying? We don't know and she's in a complex situation but we can't help but still sympathize with her, especially at the very last scene when it is revealed that she was also a victim, that she could in fact reproduce and was lied to by her husband. The director did a great job by switching the perspectives on the second half of the movie and the movie does not ever lose its focus, on the contrary, it makes it even more compelling. Every one of the actors is great, the way they portray their pain on screen is so real that sometimes it's like we also feel their pain but I can't help but feel completely amazed by Zhao Wei's performance. She completely blew me away. At the end, when there's pictures and videos of the original parents in which the movie was based on, we realize we're not just watching a movie, we're watching something real; we're watching the real state of China where child kidnapping is a current. This movie was a wonderful experience, one that definitely marked me and I won't ever forget it.

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