China is a big market for Bollywood, with several Hindi-language releases doing very well at the box-office there. All signs pointed to a local remake from the Chinese industry coming soon and the first one that won out the 2015 Ajay Devgn and Tabu starring “Drishyam”, itself a remake of the Malayalam language film by the same name which has already been redone in different languages across India. Remaking this particular story over other popular titles was an interesting gamble, but one that really paid dividends, because it did exceptionally well. It opened at #1 on the box office and despite of releasing only in December, it managed to break into the top 10 highest grossing films on 2019 in China and ended up as the last box office hit in the country before everything shut down thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Sheep Without a Shepherd” is screening at Fantasia Festival
Li Weijie lives in Thailand with his wife Ayu and daughters Pingping and An-an, where he is friendly with pretty much everyone except corrupt police office Sangkun. He makes a living as an internet service provider and loves watching movies, particularly detective stories. The family isn't very well-off but they get by ok and, save for Pingping's teenage rebellious ways against her father, they get along with each other. When Pingping goes on a summer camp one day, she meets Suchat, the son of Police Chief Laoorn and mayoral candidate Dutpon, who drugs and rapes her and also videos the act.
Upon returning, Suchat blackmails Pingping using the video and demands she meet him in her family's warehouse, who tells Ayu. When Suchat arrives, a scuffle ensues and Suchat is accidentally killed. When Weijie returns home, the ladies inform him of the accident and, his mind and parental instincts instantly kicking into gear, Weijie cooks up a plan to protect his family at all costs. Chief Laoorn, a doting mother, meanwhile undertakes actions to find out exactly what happened to her missing son.
First and foremost, “Sheep Without a Shepherd” is great thriller, for the most part. At its centre is this elaborate plan that Weijie comes up with to create the perfect alibi for him and his family, which, truth be told, is very good. Even if it has shades of a popular Keigo Higashino novel, it is used within the narrative very ably and makes for very thrilling viewing. The story progresses at breakneck speed but never feels hurried. The fact that a parent would go to any lengths to protect or indeed punish those who harm their children is also at the core of the story, as depicted by both Weijie's mind-boggling plan and Laoorn's desperate measures to find out the truth behind her son's disappearance.
Locating the story in Thailand is a calculated move, because the script deals with themes of police brutality and corruption, themes what would have surely run afoul with the strict Chinese censorship rules if depicted in a Chinese setting. These are both themes that have a universal appeal, so much so that not only do they translate well between Indian and Chinese audiences, but also work in the Thai setting, as shown here. However, this setting does also have its drawback, as the proficiency in Mandarin from all the central characters is confusing. The idea that cinema can sometimes be a better teacher than school or books is nicely shown by making Weijie and under-educated person learning all that he needs from watching movies. There is also an underlying discussion of class differences that is never quite explored to its full potential.
The script mostly follows the original quite religiously, rarely deviating apart from to accomodate some cultural and geographical changes, so much so that even the lead character Weijie's name sounds eerily similar to that in the original, where he is called Vijay. However, it does try to set itself apart by an addition at the very end, and here “Sheep Without a Shepherd” falls flat on its face. The best part of “Drishyam” is its absolutely jaw-dropping final reveal in the final scene, but here that reveal is completely ignored. Instead, it opts to go in a very baffling direction with an act which is so confusing and confounding on the character's part, particularly because of how it goes against everything they have done unto that point. Maybe it was once again to appease the censors, but if only it had stopped itself ten minutes earlier, it would have been just the perfect conclusion.
Anchoring the story are two strong performances from Xiao Yang as Li Weijie and Joan Chen as Laoorn. As the two characters go head-to-head in their battle of brains vs power, the two actors portray their changing mental statuses with great conviction. Watch how, for example, Xiao Yang changes from an angry cop he's pretending to be as he teaches his children how to survive an interrogation to a concerned and sympathetic parent when he realises he's upset his little girl. Every time he puts his game face on, you just believe this father will do anything he can to ensure no harm comes to his daughters again. Joan Chen is equally impressive; her change from a worrying mother hallucinating the return of her son to a terrifying monster screaming at a little girl to get the truth out is especially hair-raising. Tan Zhuo also provides good support as Ayu, flourishing in the scenes where she confronts Suchat, trembles in front of Laoorn when summoned or when she faces off with her during the inquiry.
“Sheep Without a Shepherd” looks and sounds very much like the thriller it aims to be. Ying Zhang's cinematography captures the Thai locations in a way that shows them off as being both beautiful and gritty as well as, dare I say, exotic. The constant yellow filter is reminiscent of hit films of similar genre from both Korea and Hong Kong. There is also some nice use of slow-motion, which is best realised in a rain-drenched scene near the climax. The music is also very apt, reminding of Hollywood blockbusters as it amps up at key junctures with the twists and reveals.
With a gripping story carried across well, two eye-catching performances and strong technical aspects, “Sheep Without a Shepherd” is a thriller worthy of the success it had at the box-office. Even if the ultimate conclusion disappoints massively, the journey the characters and the entire narrative as a whole takes is fully engrossing and well worth the price of admission.
