Great action film: visually breathtaking, brutal, and explosively message-driven
Watch this if you:
• love excellent wartime action and spell-binding cinematography
• want to see some underwater wire fu
• are up for epic statements about inhumanity and war
• are willing to go with iconic characters and broad symbolism
• want to see Zhu Yi Long’s amazing acting and 9.5% body fat abs
• want to witness the cinematic messaging power of Wu Lei as icon of goodness and see his amazing acting
• want to watch Ni Ni act like a boss and embody change
• are curious about why “propaganda” is not an insult in the Chinese filmmaking industry
Don’t watch this if you:
• can't watch brutal violence
• prefer realism and naturalistic character development over powerful message delivery
• are never okay with demonizing villains
• are sadly insensitive to the awesomeness of Ni Ni, Zhu Yi Long and Wu Lei.
• always judge a film by the same standards as those of Oscars voters
• think “propaganda” is only and always a bad thing
This is a powerful action movie that made me cry buckets. It's all these things:
A stunning visual encounter with the ocean
A searing portrayal of a heinous war crime
An enraged condemnation of Japanese actions during World War II
A grueling and emotionally devastating experience
A hymn to the spirit of humanity
After seeing it, I needed a few days to move out of the loss and sadness.
A week or so later, I started getting curious about where Dongji Island's filmmaking style fits in Chinese filmmaking history. Because it's quite strongly message-driven. I mean, I usually notice political content in films and tv shows, whether that content is the cultural stance of the moment in Hollywood products or nationalistic moments in cdramas. And after some preliminary internet searching, I learned that being propaganda is not a movie flaw in China the way it would be in my country. It seems like within Chinese filmmaking, propaganda can be art.
Anyway, in my opinion, Dongji Island has elements of extremely well made propaganda, but overall it's simply excellent.
Because of its propaganda elements, though, I don't have much hope for it to become popular in the West. Like, I think Oscars voters, for example, go for stories that run on realism, psychological growth and complexity, and they privilege the individual. Dongji Island is fueled more by the power of the message than it is by psychological arcs. While its characters have individuality and uniqueness, their symbolic weight is emphasized. And the movie puts the individual within the collective.
What’s stayed with me the most are not only the deep emotional impact and the amazing visuals, but also the performances. Besides the leads, Wu Lei, Zhu Yi Long, and Ni Ni, who are all wonderful, I keep remembering moments from supporting actors, especially Chen Ming Hao, Ni Da Hong and Yang Hao Yu.
I’m really grateful for the limited American release, because I was able to see this on the wide screen! The lowest score I gave it was for rewatch value, because I would have to take a lot of deep breaths before I walked into a theater to see this a second time. But it will remain with me from just the one experience.
• love excellent wartime action and spell-binding cinematography
• want to see some underwater wire fu
• are up for epic statements about inhumanity and war
• are willing to go with iconic characters and broad symbolism
• want to see Zhu Yi Long’s amazing acting and 9.5% body fat abs
• want to witness the cinematic messaging power of Wu Lei as icon of goodness and see his amazing acting
• want to watch Ni Ni act like a boss and embody change
• are curious about why “propaganda” is not an insult in the Chinese filmmaking industry
Don’t watch this if you:
• can't watch brutal violence
• prefer realism and naturalistic character development over powerful message delivery
• are never okay with demonizing villains
• are sadly insensitive to the awesomeness of Ni Ni, Zhu Yi Long and Wu Lei.
• always judge a film by the same standards as those of Oscars voters
• think “propaganda” is only and always a bad thing
This is a powerful action movie that made me cry buckets. It's all these things:
A stunning visual encounter with the ocean
A searing portrayal of a heinous war crime
An enraged condemnation of Japanese actions during World War II
A grueling and emotionally devastating experience
A hymn to the spirit of humanity
After seeing it, I needed a few days to move out of the loss and sadness.
A week or so later, I started getting curious about where Dongji Island's filmmaking style fits in Chinese filmmaking history. Because it's quite strongly message-driven. I mean, I usually notice political content in films and tv shows, whether that content is the cultural stance of the moment in Hollywood products or nationalistic moments in cdramas. And after some preliminary internet searching, I learned that being propaganda is not a movie flaw in China the way it would be in my country. It seems like within Chinese filmmaking, propaganda can be art.
Anyway, in my opinion, Dongji Island has elements of extremely well made propaganda, but overall it's simply excellent.
Because of its propaganda elements, though, I don't have much hope for it to become popular in the West. Like, I think Oscars voters, for example, go for stories that run on realism, psychological growth and complexity, and they privilege the individual. Dongji Island is fueled more by the power of the message than it is by psychological arcs. While its characters have individuality and uniqueness, their symbolic weight is emphasized. And the movie puts the individual within the collective.
What’s stayed with me the most are not only the deep emotional impact and the amazing visuals, but also the performances. Besides the leads, Wu Lei, Zhu Yi Long, and Ni Ni, who are all wonderful, I keep remembering moments from supporting actors, especially Chen Ming Hao, Ni Da Hong and Yang Hao Yu.
I’m really grateful for the limited American release, because I was able to see this on the wide screen! The lowest score I gave it was for rewatch value, because I would have to take a lot of deep breaths before I walked into a theater to see this a second time. But it will remain with me from just the one experience.
Was this review helpful to you?
