Back to the Wharf
Film poster
Simplified Chinese风平浪静
Traditional Chinese風平浪靜
Literal meaningPeaceful wind, still waves (a chengyu meaning a scenario that is calm)[1]
Hanyu PinyinFēngpíng làngjìng
Directed byLi Xiaofeng (李霄峰)
Written byYu Xin (余欣)
Produced byHuang Bo
StarringZhang Yu
Lee Hong-chi
Song Jia
CinematographyPiao Songri (朴松日)
Production
companies
Tianjin Turan Film Co., Ltd. (天津突燃影业有限公司)
Shanghai Dashui Cultural Development Co., Ltd. (上海大水文化发展有限公司)
Release date
  • 6 November 2020 (2020-11-06) (China)
Running time
119 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin

Back to the Wharf (Chinese: 风平浪静) is a 2020 Chinese crime film directed by Li Xiaofeng (李霄峰). This was the third major film created by this director.[2]

Brandon Yu of The New York Times described it as "an allegory about China’s head-spinning modernization."[3] The Houston Chronicle described the film as "Chinese noir".[4]

Plot

The initial portion of the film takes place circa 1992.[5] Song Hao had committed homicide with his father when he was a teenager. Song Hao leaves town and works in Guangzhou.

The bulk of the film takes place in 2007.[5] Song Hao deals with his past after his mother's death as Song Hao comes back to where he grew up. Song Hao also becomes re-acquainted with his friend Li Tang, who became politically powerful in the town; Li Tang had taken a direct admission to university placement because the principal of Li Tang's secondary school sought to get political gain from Li Tang's father, who is the mayor. That spot had been supposed to go to Song Hao. Li Tang, now in a privileged position, is trying to force Wan Xiaoning, the daughter of Song Hao's victim, out of her nail house. Meanwhile, Song Hao's childhood schoolmate, Pan Xiaoshuang, pursues him romantically and the two marry.

Li Tang reminds Song Hao that he knows about Song Hao's crime as he murders Xiaoning by hitting her with the car; he orders Song Hao to bury the body. Song Hao's father tells the man, now with a wife and child, that he needs to endure, but Song Hao breaks down and fatally injures himself. The crimes of the other parties are exposed.

Cast

  • Zhang Yu - Song Hao (宋浩) (adult)
  • Lee Hong-chi - Li Tang (李唐) (adult)
  • Song Jia - Pan Xiaoshuang (潘晓霜)
  • Deng Enxi - Wan Xiaoning (万小宁)
  • Wang Yanhui - Song Jianfei (宋建飞)
  • Chen Jin (陈瑾) - Song Hao's mother
  • Zhou Zhengjie (周政杰) - Young Song Hao
  • Gao Yuhang (高宇航) - Young Li Tang
  • Zhang Jianya - Mr. Zhang, the school principal/headmaster (张校长; 'Principal Zhang')

Reception

Yu praised the acting and the romantic portions as well as the "striking cinematography", while he criticized the "dissonance" that resulted from a conflict between the "rough-edged execution" and the "self-serious attitude".[3]

Wendy Ide of Screen Daily wrote that the film had a "striking visual impact".[2]

Richard Kuipers of Variety wrote that the work is "technically excellent" and "Well paced and moodily shot".[5]

References

  1. ↑ Zhang, Xin (2012). Chengyu as Cultural Performances: Insights into Desigining Pedagogical Materials for Four-character Chinese Idioms (MA thesis). Ohio State University. p. 29 (PDF p. 40/108).
  2. 1 2 Ide, Wendy (2020-12-04). "'Back To The Wharf': Macao Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  3. 1 2 Yu, Brandon (2023-01-17). "'Back to the Wharf' Review: Ghosts of the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  4. ↑ Darling, Cary. "'Back to the Wharf'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  5. 1 2 3 Kuipers, Richard (2021-01-02). "'Back to the Wharf' Review: A Man Is Haunted by a Teenage Crime in Moody Chinese Melodrama". Variety. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
Film trailers, at IGN Movie Trailers (1) and CCTV-6 (2)
video icon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdaZ5vlE_VA
video icon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZuJAMyFAyA
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