MyRating: YYYYDirector: Xue Xiaolu
Cast: Jet Li, Wen Zhang, Kwai Lun-mei, Zhu Yuanyuan, Dong Yang
A moving story about Wang Xingchang (Jet Li), a terminally ill single father due to 4th stage liver cancer, working as a technician at Qingdao Polar Ocean World, who attempts to find his 21 year-old autistic son, Dafu (Wen Zhang), a suitable home before he passes away. Wang also tirelessly teaches his son the necessary life skills in order for him to survive on his own, including hanging keys, changing shirt, boiling eggs, recognizing money, and taking a bus. Meanwhile, as an autistic person who is difficult to concentrate and only like to play, Dafu finds it difficult to master even the very basic skills. His main interest is swimming, as he is an expert swimmer, and playing with dolphins in his father's workplace. However, Wang knows that he has to finish his tasks before his time comes, no matter what, and every single moment left that he shares with his son is the moment that could never be repeated again.
This 7 Million Yuan (1 Million U. S. dollars) Chinese-Hong Kong film is the first movie where Jet Li got his full drama role. As a long time fan of Jet Li and his martial arts movies (especially his old Hong Kong films), and the promising drama theme that this movie offered, I was waiting to see this. And what I saw was a deeply moving and heart-touching movie.
Jet Li successfully comprehended and pulled his role heartily as a noble father, whose sacrifice and unconditional love for his son was very inspiring. He did not have one single punch or kick in this movie, but his acting will show you another side of him. A shy man, and brittle due to his sickness, but he also has a strong determination in his heart to do and fight the best for his son. You will feel sorry for his dying condition, but at the same time you will also feel sympathy for his character, with his limitedness as a human being and all his struggling to give his son a better place and a better future. And this is the same guy that you usually see him kicking other people's ass. A good job done by Jet Li.
While as the autistic son, Wen Zhang, a Chinese actor, gave a pretty impressive performance as Dafu. He played his character naturally as that of an autistic person, without over played it. Walking in straight lines, waving his hand awkwardly, putting things in perfect order, repeating after people, and always smiling happily without any burden in his life. And Wen Zhang portrayed his character spot on. You will just fall in love with his naive and childlike character. This young actor did a lot of homeworks though. In order to understand the way of thinking and the gestures of autism people and to portray his character well, he visited an autism school everyday to observe them. He also went for swimming everyday, as his character is an expert swimmer. The amazing thing is this actor previously did not know how to swim, and finally he can become an expert swimmer himself. Those are the efforts of an actor that needs to be appraised.
The chemistry between Jet Li and Wen Zhang itself was great, with a heart-warming relationship between a father and a son, that will inspire you to have the same relationship in real life. You will smile when you see them playing together, but at the other time, you will feel your heart shaken, or even wipe your tears, when you see them crying and suffering due to their unfortunate lives.
Kwai Lun-mei, a Taiwanese young actress, played the character of Ling ling, the love interest of Dafu. She takes a role as a clown girl of a small circus, visiting and performing in the Ocean World. The friendship between Dafu and Ling ling was a sweet thing to watch. Kwai Lun-mei also sang one of the soundtrack of this movie.
One point I must highlight here is regarding the pace of this movie, which was rather slow. Some of the scenes were even felt repetitive, as the director felt it was necessary to show the depth of their relationship and to convince the audiences regarding the pains they are going through.
Nonetheless, this is a good drama, that will make us to value the times that we have on earth, and to value the relationships that we have within those limited times, especially with the people that we love. It will make us think and do a reflection of our own lives. Don't find yourself one day to have to say "Good Bye", while there are still many important things that you haven't done to your loved ones. (MJ)
Soundtracks from OCEAN HEAVEN: (To not exit this page - please open the song in new window with right click)
- Shuo Le Zai Jian (Say Goodbye) - by Jay Chou
- Hai Yang Tian Tang (Ocean Heaven) - by Kwai Lun-mei
