Social networks have stretched the duration of our so-called 5 minutes of fame to unpredictable lengths and forms. Anyone who gets popular can easily become the next most unpopular person once an unexpected truth comes out or when a strong germ of gossip sprouts on the internet. We love to hate those who have what we don' t: wealth, good looks, professional success, and a huge number of followers.
Post Truth screened at Red Lotus Asian Film Festival Vienna
The expression ‘Chinese whispers' is resurrected in Da Peng's action comedy “Post Truth”, one of the most successful Chinese cinema hits of 2023, which already bagged six awards (among them four WEIBOs: Word-of-Mouth Movie of The year, Breakthrough Filmmaker of The Year, Newcomer of The Year for Xueqin Li, and Audience Favourite Movie of The Year). What happens in the movie is not lost in translation, but rather in the endless pits of human thirst for the scandal and ruin of others. Da Peng, who is multitasking in the project he has (as in his previous projects) co-written with Biao Su – as the director, producer and one of the lead actors, has a keen eye on the impact of the power of social media over our lives. More over, “Post Truth” shows us that death doesn't protect from the public scorn, and that you can be served defenseless to it when the mob gets armed with strong will and even stronger wording and arguments to do it.
Da Peng plays Ping'an, a goofy ex-con who works as a salesman at “Crouching Dragon” undertakers in Ji'an, a job provided to him by his friend Qi Zhifu (comedian Wang Xun) for serving time in prison for him. This background story delivers a solid portion of laughter during the film, as it is -together with other fabricated ‘”truths” – getting re-told so many times that it becomes completely incomprehensible. The mastery of Da Peng & Bia Su's storytelling is in patching all the pieces of side plots and adding them to the core story smoothly, as if they always belonged there. Humorous, but serious in its aim to highlight the obvious, “Post Truth” is a deliciously bitter social satire.
The film kicks off with a scene in which Ping'an, almost an hour late for his daughter's school orchestra concert, climbs his (illegal) way to the venue where he embarrasses not just himself but his family alike. The slightly naive man-child who walks around with green dyed hair, grows up over night so to speak, when a job-related event changes his view on life.
When Wei Ruyi (Xueqin Li) , a young woman who's diagnosed with stage four brain cancer comes to buy a burial plot, she is very particular about the exact place where it should be. Before she dies, a kind of friendship forms between the two solitary people who get to know each other without much talk. For Pang'an, the closeness is triggered by the curiosity about a woman who donated very expensive jewelry to an orphanage, and for Wei – being treated as someone who isn't about to die means the world.
Upon her passing at first praised as a charitable person, Wei will become the target of vicious rumors that her fortune came from prostitution, and a rich family whose son is buried on the parcel next to her wants to have her gone from the cemetery at all costs. Before they can make concrete actions, Ping'an begins his quest for truth.
“Post Truth” is an action comedy drama with a finely balanced pace and entertaining chase scenes. Unfortunately the film loses something of its charm in the final twentysomething minutes through its suddenly ‘preachy' tone about ‘the right thing to do'. The screening at Red Lotus Asian Film Festival in Vienna marked the film's Austrian premiere.
