I went to see this film on a Wednesday afternoon with a friend. He said he went to see Deng Chao, but I went there because of Han Han. The film is quite good, better than I had expected. The film depicts the China of 1990s,as Han Han understands it. Though a nostaglic mood is a little too early for a 35-year-old writer, the 1990s plays a very critical role in Han's growth and thus must impress him very much. In contrast to the cynicism and social criticism represented in his precessor,Wang Suo's works, Han's works permeat more with rebelism and energy. Han han comes from a small town near Shanghai, so the town presented in this film must be Han's replica of his hometown on a big screen. I hadn't expected Han would make a light comedy, but the production is very funny. But it seems to me the year 1998, which the hero travelled back to is not a good choice. The numerous social events presents in this film seems to be occurring around 1996, not 1998. In that decade, nearly each new year presented a different China, so the accurate selection of the year is very important. While watching the film, I kept thinking of Back To The Future, the American film that impressed many Chinese.I don't know whether Han had watched it, but the plot and style of two films are very similar. But the American film stands the si-ci out very much while the Chinses basically neglects it, only retaining the concept of time travel.
Review of Duckweed
