Movie recreates deadliest quake
By Min Lee |
July 4, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ON July 26, 1976, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck Tangshan in north China's Hebei Province, killing at least 240,000 people as the city's industrial landscape was reduced to rubble.
Thirty-four years later, movie director Feng Xiaogang is revisiting modern China's deadliest natural catastrophe in a 135 million yuan (US$20 million), 135-minute epic due out on July 22.
In addition to recreating the sheer physical destruction, Feng uses "Aftershock" to examine its aftermath through the story of a present-day mother's three-decade journey to an emotional reunion with the daughter she thought she had lost to the disaster.
"You can call it a disaster movie, but the real disaster is the havoc it wreaks on the human heart after the earthquake," the 52-year-old director said in Hong Kong yesterday.
It's not your typical summer blockbuster fare, especially for a successful commercial filmmaker well-known for his comedies.
The release comes just two years after another deadly earthquake in the southwestern Sichuan Province left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.
In April, another earthquake in Qinghai Province killed nearly 2,700 people.
The Tangshan city government funded half of Feng's budget and the director recruited actual survivors as extras, including them in an aerial shot showing the city dotted with small fires - survivors burning paper offerings for their loved ones.
"They were really crying. They were burning paper as they were expressing their love for their relatives," Feng said.
"It seems that everyone feels that China needs a movie like this that showcases the Chinese people's love of family and their character," he said.
Feng said the production was a technical breakthrough for the Chinese film industry.
He drew help from visual effects experts from South Korea and the post-production division of French media company Technicolor. New Zealand's Weta Workshop - the Oscar-winning design company behind the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy - gave advice on the miniature models that doubled for 1976 Tangshan.
"This was a very valuable experience for us," he said.
Thirty-four years later, movie director Feng Xiaogang is revisiting modern China's deadliest natural catastrophe in a 135 million yuan (US$20 million), 135-minute epic due out on July 22.
In addition to recreating the sheer physical destruction, Feng uses "Aftershock" to examine its aftermath through the story of a present-day mother's three-decade journey to an emotional reunion with the daughter she thought she had lost to the disaster.
"You can call it a disaster movie, but the real disaster is the havoc it wreaks on the human heart after the earthquake," the 52-year-old director said in Hong Kong yesterday.
It's not your typical summer blockbuster fare, especially for a successful commercial filmmaker well-known for his comedies.
The release comes just two years after another deadly earthquake in the southwestern Sichuan Province left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.
In April, another earthquake in Qinghai Province killed nearly 2,700 people.
The Tangshan city government funded half of Feng's budget and the director recruited actual survivors as extras, including them in an aerial shot showing the city dotted with small fires - survivors burning paper offerings for their loved ones.
"They were really crying. They were burning paper as they were expressing their love for their relatives," Feng said.
"It seems that everyone feels that China needs a movie like this that showcases the Chinese people's love of family and their character," he said.
Feng said the production was a technical breakthrough for the Chinese film industry.
He drew help from visual effects experts from South Korea and the post-production division of French media company Technicolor. New Zealand's Weta Workshop - the Oscar-winning design company behind the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy - gave advice on the miniature models that doubled for 1976 Tangshan.
"This was a very valuable experience for us," he said.
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