Come Back Home
搜救
China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 106 mins.
Director: Luo Zhiliang 罗志良.
Rating: 4/10.
Search-and-rescue drama set in snowy northeast China is let down by a cliched script and unlikeable characters.
STORY
Lu’neng Shengdi ski resort, Changbaishan, Jilin province, northeast China, 20 Dec 2021. On the last day of their holiday before flying back to Shenzhen, southern China, the next morning, construction executive De (Zhen Zidan), his wife Minxuan (Han Xue) and two young children drive to Lake Tian to satisfy their tantrum-prone young son, Lele (Yuan Jinhui), who wants to see the “monster” there. The usual road is closed but a local recommends another route. Outside a forest farm their car gets stuck in the snow and De gets into an argument with the farmer, Qi. Lele throws a tantrum and runs away. To teach him a lesson, De, who’s as hotheaded as his son, drives off and leaves him there while they find a toilet for their younger daughter (Ai Rui). However, when De comes back, Lele has vanished. After an hour searching, at 17:22 the family report the disappearance to the police. The emotional De gets into an argument with plain-speaking police captain Qian Jun; but after police chief Bai (Hou Tianlai) arrives, a search is eventually started, even though it’s already dark and snowing. Minxuan goes back to the hotel with her daughter while De stays with the police. At 02:00, after eight hours searching, De loses his temper when the police take a rest. he drives off on his own and falls into an icy river, from which he’s luckily rescued by Qian Jun. At the hotel Minxuan is approached by a young woman, Qing (Lin Chenhan), who suggests posting the case on the internet. At 07:00 a full-scale search and rescue begins under the experienced Xiao Jiang (Tang Xu), who reckons Lele can probably survive only for a further 36 hours. After promising to behave, De and his wife are allowed to go along. They find an underground cave but Lele is not there. De starts causing problems for the team by interfering and trying to go his own way, especially when he finds a piece of fabric he claims is from Lele’s down jacket. Meanwhile, false sightings have started to spread on the internet. De believes them and a fierce argument ensues when Qian Jun tries to make him see sense. The argument is filmed by Qing, and by 21:00 it has gone viral, resulting in Qian Jun being ticked off by his superior, Bai. By next morning, on 22 Dec, reporters have descended on the place and, in a fit of emotion, Qian Jun accuses De of abandoning his own son. Finally, the police bureau’s deputy head, Gao (Xu Guangyu), arrives and restores order. But speculation still increases on the internet, with De’s role as a father brought into question and even Minxuan becoming angry with him. Then De receives a text message demanding RMB100,000 for his son’s return. It runs out to be a scam, and De is rescued at the last moment by Qian Jun and the police who arrest the kidnappers. As darkness falls and a heavy snowstorm starts, the search is abandoned as pointless. But at 18:00, some 48 hours after Lele disappeared, De goes to the search-and-rescue HQ and begs everyone to carry on.
REVIEW
A search-and-rescue drama set in the snowy wastes of northeast China, Come Back Home 搜救 represents a belated return to the big screen by Hong Kong director Luo Zhiliang 罗志良 following his period detective dramas The Bullet Vanishes 消失的子弹 (2012) and The Vanished Murderer 消失的凶手 (2015) starring Liu Qingyun 刘青云 [Lau Ching-wan]. Those were two of his best films in a quarter-century career that’s seen only 10 features, including Viva Erotica 色情男女 (1996), police thriller Double Tap 枪王 (2000) and Inner Senses 异度空间 (2002), all with the late Zhang Guorong 张国荣 [Leslie Cheung]. It would be nice to say Come Back Home is a powerful return, not only for Luo’s sake but also for its star (and creative producer 监制) Zhen Zidan 甄子丹 [Donnie Yen], 59, who’s been gradually moving away from purely action roles. But it’s not, and it flopped on Mainland release, taking a nothing RMB20 million.
Entirely funded by the Mainland but with key crew from Hong Kong, the film reteams Luo with regular Hong Kong writer Yang Qianling 杨倩玲, though she’s only billed third after Luo and TVD writer Zhang Xiaolu 张晓露. Whatever the reason, the result is majorly disappointing. Zhen is unconvincing in a basically non-action role; the script has him being either angry or remorseful with nothing inbetween, and not really dominating the drama; the basic plot asks the viewer to sympathise with two hotheads, a father and son; and the whole production can’t make up its mind whether it’s a family drama or an action thriller. Not for the first time in such fare, the d.p. ends up the real star – in this case veteran Hong Konger Zhang Dongliang 张东亮 [Tony Cheung], who did sterling work on the patriotic Everest drama The Climbers 攀登者 (2019) and here makes the snowbound scenery of Changbaishan (up against the border with North Korea) a threatening character all its own.
The script doesn’t waste any time setting up the story: on the last day of a family holiday, De (Zhen) drives his spoilt eight-year-old son to see a lake that supposedly has a monster, but after an argument en route the son has a tantrum and storms off, De also loses his temper and punishes him by leaving him alone for a while, and when he returns the boy has disappeared. The rest of the film is what the Chinese title (“Search and Rescue”) says on the can, with the impulsive De making himself a royal pain with the police and S&R team, and even his wife (classily played, as ever, by Han Xue 韩雪 (Deadly Will 囧探佳人, 2011; Dating Fever 我为相亲狂, 2013; Premarital Examination 婚前故事, 2020) losing her patience with him. As the family comes under pressure, there are cliched flashbacks to happier times at home in Shenzhen; in the present, more pressure comes when netizens and the media pick up the story and call into question De’s suitability as a parent.
The whole mixture might have worked with a less melodramatic script and stronger male lead; as it is, the various issues (including the destructive role of netizens in Mainland society) are handled only superficially, and Zhen’s character, who’s either losing his temper or covering himself in pity, never drives the action as he should. As a result it’s the supports who emerge the strongest, especially drily comic character actor Jia Bing 贾冰 (the train conductor in Lost in Russia 囧妈, 2020; the oily boss in Big Red Envelope 大红包, 2021; the flashy entrepreneur in Give Me Five 哥，你好, 2022) as a straight-talking police captain, Xu Guangyu 徐光宇 as the stern deputy head of the police bureau, and Tang Xu 唐旭 as the no-nonsense head of the S&R team.
The script throws in an avalanche at the hour mark to gussy up the action side, followed by some drama on the cracking ice of a lake as the story reaches its conclusion. Visual effects are solid throughout, and the landscape and sense of cold are tangible. Editing by Hong Kong’s experienced Qiu Zhiwei 邱志伟 [Yau Chi-wai] is trim, and the broad, chordal score by France’s Nicolas Errèra (The White Storm 扫毒, 2013; Mountain Cry 喊•山, 2015; Hidden Man 邪不压正, 2018; Tiger Robbers 阳光劫匪, 2021) does the job without adding much extra. The film was the last by noted Hong Kong production/costume designer Yu Jia’an 余家安 [Bruce Yu], who died on 28 Jul 2022.
CREDITS
Presented by Filmko Film (CN). Produced by Filmko Film (CN).
Script: Luo Zhiliang, Zhang Xiaolu, Yang Qianling, Ying Zhiyun. Photography: Zhang Dongliang [Tony Cheung]. Editing: Qiu Zhiwei [Yau Chi-wai]. Music: Nicolas Errèra. Production design: Yu Jia’an [Bruce Yu]. Art direction: Liu Peng, Lan Zhiqiang. Styling: Tang Ning. Sound: Mao Haifeng, Yin Jie. Action: Mu Ning. Special effects: Wang Naipeng. Visual effects: Zhang Long (More VFX). Executive direction: Gong Zhaoping.
Cast: Zhen Zidan [Donnie Yen] (De), Han Xue (Minxuan, De’s wife), Jia Bing (Qian Jun, police captain), Tang Xu (Xiao Jiang, search-and-rescue team head), Hou Tianlai (Bai, police chief), Xu Guangyu (Gao, police bureau deputy head), Cai Xin (Dongzi), Lin Chenhan (Qing), Yuan Jinhui (Pan Huaile/Lele, De’s son), Ai Rui (Lele’s younger sister), Hu Ming (kidnapping gang leader).
Release: China, 3 Oct 2022.