Often a tragedy does not only cause grief for the people involved but can have lasting consequences as it leads back to past sins or buried crimes. There have been many cases of bodies that were buried between layers of concrete and that were found when an earthquake or a nearby explosion took place. The idea of a past crime that has been hidden for quite some time and also has been forgotten by many, and then was brought back to the attention of the public is the center of “The Fallen Bridge” by director Yu Li. While the filmmaker/ screenwriter still puts the focus on drama, as with her past projects, she also includes elements of thriller as well as a social commentary pointing at the corruption within Chinese society, which in the end also reflects on the family presented in the story.
After the collapse of a bridge in Huangque City, the investigators make a gruesome discovery within the rubble. A human skeleton is found in one of the concrete pillars, and is later identified as the bridge’s designer who went missing eight years ago. While the police concentrate on a letter being found with the body and the clues it may contain, Wen Xiaoyu (Ma Sichun), daughter of the deceased, comes back to her hometown, greeted by her mother and her godfather Zhu (Fan Wei), a friend of the architect and a high-ranked city official.
On the day after the funeral, as she is about to head for the station, Wen is contacted by Meng Chao (Wang Junkai). The young man has a story to tell which sheds some light into her father’s last day and his death, as well as the involvement of Zhu and other parties. With the reluctant help of Meng, Wen decides to find out what really happened that day and also bring the murderer to justice.
Thriller and drama, even though they may be two separate genres, are a natural fit that has resulted in some entertaining and suspenseful features. In the case of “The Fallen Bridge”, the result is somewhat mixed, as especially the thriller-aspects of the story often fall flat. Some of the revelations (if you can call them that) are predictable and have been hinted at for quite some time in the action. Only the finale, with an explosion about to bury another unfortunate witness to a crime, delivers on both premises. However, considering we are talking about a two-hour movie which, by the time of that scene, still has some mileage to go, this is not enough to grab an audience, as also indicated by the reactions of Chinese audiences reported online.
Focusing on the drama, this is where “The Fallen Bridge” finds its footing. This is especially thanks to the performances, with Ma Sichun and Wang Junkai being on the forefront. Sichun highlights the struggles of a young woman trying to honor her family’s reputation and to find out what really happened to her father and mentor. On the other hand, Junkai as Zhu steals many scenes as a Janus-faced official, manipulating others and always looking out for his own interests. Obviously, the identity of the villain is no real mystery as it is revealed quite early, but still the actor makes the most of his scenes, which is a true delight in a movie whose story drags on for quite some time and fails to deliver some memorable moments.
In conclusion, “The Fallen Bridge” is an uneven mixture of drama and thriller. While the former elements are okay, the story overall lack suspense, with the dramatic aspects feeling needlessly drawn-out and predictable.
