-唐山大地震"AfterShock"
"AfterShock" 唐山大地震( in pinyin: táng shān dàdì zhèn
English translation: AfterShock)
As director Feng Xiaogang brought his latest film "Aftershock" to Tangshan for the world
premiere Monday, residents of the city scarred by the devastating earthquake 34 years ago
had mixed feelings about "reliving" the catastrophe.
More than 240,000 people perished when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the
underdeveloped north China city on July 28, 1976, a time when a radio would cost
an ordinary worker four months wages and an electric fan was considered a symbol
of family wealth.
About two-thirds of the premiere's 15,000 people in the audience were sitting in chairs on
the grass at Tangshan Stadium, wearing blue or orange T-shirts handed out to them by
sponsors."Tangshan moves the world," said the words on the back of the T-shirts, which
were believed to be in Feng's handwriting.
Directed by: Feng Xiaogang
Movie star: Xu Fan, Zhang Guo Qiang, Chen Dao Ming, Zhang Jing Chu
Genre: Story
Release date(s):2010
Country: China
Language: Mandarin
Tangshan Earthquake, 28 July 1976.
When a mother is informed by the rescue team that, as her 7-year old twins are buried
under the debris close to each other, digging one out would result in further collapse of
the wreckage on the other, she is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life.
As the clock ticked away, she finally ended her struggle and chose to save the boy, and
though heartbroken, she had no idea her decision was overheard by the daughter.
Deemed as a dead person, the little girl miraculously survived and was rescued after
being buried for days. Suffering from the emotional shock of the disaster and the painful
memory of her mother’s choice, she refused to reveal who she was. She was adopted
by a young couple and later moved to the US, but shadowed by the traumatic experience
from her childhood; she forever remained emotionally closed up.
When the Sichuan earthquake takes over 80,000 lives in 2008, she volunteers to join the
rescue team and returns to her homeland, China. As she witnesses the tribulations people
go through when a natural disaster takes place, she finally unlocks the pain she had felt
all these years and finds forgiveness. She finally reunites with the mother and twin brother
she had parted from after 32 years. A human drama about finding forgiveness, ‘Aftershock’
depicts not only the fatal tragedy that is brought on by natural disaster of great levels but
also the strength and courage that is demonstrated when we are in face of extreme and
devastating situations.
