On January 23, 2020, Wuhan was put on lockdown in the face of the sudden epidemic. Xue Xiao-lu, director of “Finding Mr Right” focuses on what happened during the time, through four stories of people from all steps of the social ladder, through an approach, though, that is quite romanticized. Let us take things from the beginning though.
Embrace Again is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
A Yong is a courier transferring goods for hospitals, and a volunteer who tries to organize the whole service against many odds, in the process neglecting his son, who still considers him a kind of a hero, and his wife, who is quite frustrated with his choice. Wu Ge delivers food through her motorcycle, which is what eventually gets her acquainted with piano teacher Ye Zi Yang, when she carries him in her motorcycle, and nurse-in-training Xia Xiao, both of which eventually become good friends with her. Retired doctor Xie Yong Qin and restaurant owner Pei Ye are split during the lockdown but the latter has to take care of her grandson and his father, while middle-aged couple Liu Ya Lan and Li Hong Yu, who run a travel agency and a supermarket, find their relationship in strain during the lockdown. Their lives briefly intermingle, as the circumstances in the city become direr.
Xue Xiao-lu directs a very tender movie that shows how the lockdown affected the lives of the aforementioned people, thus creating a very detailed portrait of how life in Wuhan was at the time. The fact that love and friendship seems to bloom or re-emerge emits a rather pleasant sense, even if the deaths of some of the protagonists close to the end give a whole new perspective to the various stories, one rather more realistic one. Also of note are the production values here, with the cinematography being astonishing throughout, if not on the occasionally quite polished approach, then on the presentation of the empty streets and highways, also including a number of panoramic drone shots, which give the city a dystopian, but also very realistic essence. This artistry extends to the many different locations presented on film, including warehouses, hospitals, restaurants, and various types of apartments, with the visual aspects essentially being the best asset of the movie.
The second most significant trait is the acting (and casting), with a number of actors giving quite memorable performances. Huang Bo as A Yong is excellent in his dedication to the cause and his effort to balance being a father and a husband, with the “performance” scene under his balcony being the apogee of his performance. Jia Ling as Wu Ge spreads warmth whenever she appears on screen, highlighting her evident charisma, while the presence of Zhou Dongyu, in another rather cheerful performance, rounds up the excellent job done in the acting.
On the other hand, the narrative presents a number of issues. Despite the fact that some of the deaths that occur give a somewhat realistic perspective to how the whole covid issue unfolded in Wuhan, the overall approach here is highly unrealistic and romanticized, with Xue presenting it as something of a fairy tale, not to mention the lack of mentioning of any issues resulting from the government’s handling of the pandemic, which many foreign documentaries have highlighted quite intently. The same applies to the characters, who are illogically cheerful and optimistic, with the same applying to the way their issues eventually are resolved. A number of scenes showing government workers fogging the streets or administrating lockdown provisions moves in direct propagandistic ways, with the same applying to the exemplification of volunteering, in a rather sanctimonious fashion.
As such and despite its evident visual prowess, “Embrace Again” emerges as a movie that becomes hard to watch after a fashion, also due to its excessive 125 minutes, particularly since the context is so highly unrealistic. .
