Land of Broken Hearts

After almost two decades of chaos, Chinese cinema has finally settled into predictable cliches that make sure invested money is being recuperated. Shipei Wen's Land of Broken Hearts [Fu Fu De Zheng] obviously didn't get the memo, as it reminded me of the times when directors were still actively looking for the Chinese identity. And what a delightful time that was. It's good to see some people are still willing to take risks, though it no doubt helped that Wen was backed by producer Ning Hao, one of the directors who helped establish China's contemporary film DNA.

After years of catering rural poverty porn (and the odd martial arts epic) to international markets, the late 90s saw a big change for Chinese cinema, which was finally looking inward, trying to provide for the local people. The problem was that nobody knew what Chinese blockbusters and genre films were supposed to look like, which led to a wildfire of experimentation. It was a great time for anyone who likes their films to do things differently. Those times are well behind us now, but you'll still see remnants of that time popping up from time to time.

Land of Broken Hearts reminded me of films like Baober in Love and Lee's Adventure. Romances at heart, but not like most typical romantic cinema out there. Various genre elements help to flesh out the film and give it strong creative impulses. In this case, the main character's life is filmed by a crew of aliens (rather visibly too, as they hang around at all times). It adds a meta layer that Wen is happy to exploit, but it's also applied smartly to add some weight to the romance later on. It's small but influential details like these that help the film to stand out.

Huang lives a boring life, going through the same routines every day. He goes to work, takes care of menial housework, and sleeps until the next day arrives. After breaking up with his girlfriend he moves in with Li, a young woman with plenty going on in her life. They rarely meet as they live on different schedules, but one fateful night they end up on the couch. It's the beginning of a passionate relationship between two people who don't belong together. The film crew documenting Huang's life agrees the script needs them to separate, but Huang feels deeply for Li.

On a visual level, Land of Broken Hearts is both moody and playful. Wen makes great use of modern Chinese architecture to give the film a more futuristic vibe, whereas the effects are often quite classic (the aliens are made to evoke a clear retro charm). Pleasant use of color and soft imagery help with the romantic parts, but there's always some tongue-in-cheek and a level of frivolity to it, keeping things from coming off too cheesy. It may not look quite as impressive compared to the films I referenced earlier, but it looks a lot better than most romantic movies out there.

The music isn't on the same level, but I've complained about that before. Chinese films/directors don't seem to pay too much attention to the soundtrack, often littering it with generic background music and forgettable filler tracks. As cool as the visuals are, so boring is the soundtrack. It's a missed opportunity and it creates somewhat of an imbalance, but they get away with it as long as there's enough creativity elsewhere. I wish they paid a bit more attention to it, just to add that little bit of extra spice, but it seems that they simply don't care enough (or lack the talent).

The performances are fine, with Yilong Zhu reminding me of a younger Takeshi Kaneshiro. There's plenty of chemistry between him and Tian Qiu, who aces her role as if she's been at it for years. It's true that she is helped by Wen's dreamy direction (and also the costume dept), which does everything in its power to make her shine extra bright. The rest of the cast is solid, but their parts are purely supportive and there to drive the narrative It's all about the two main actors and their blossoming relationship, and both actors delivered performances that fit the brief.

At the very core, Land of Broken Hearts is a baseline romance. There may be a bunch of quirky details trying to distract you from the fact that the narrative structure is quite predictable, but seasoned fans will immediately understand there aren't many big narrative surprises up ahead. Boy meets girl, opposites attract, something pushes them aside, and well... you can fill in the rest. That's hardly an issue when the film is so very creative. At least, if you're like me and you value the experience more than the goal. Just keep your expectations in check.

Together with Escape from the 21st Century, Land of Broken Hearts is a film that revisits the creative outburst of 00s Chinese cinema. It's a mash-up of genres and creative ideas that bring life to an otherwise stale genre. Shipei Wen's direction is confident, the presentation is lavish and the central performances are strong, turning this into a veritable delight. I'm excited to try his earlier work and I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next, if availability permits of course, because getting your hands on Chinese cinema is still a bit of a gamble.