The Stolen Years

被偷走的那五年

China, 2013, colour, 2.35:1, 111 mins.

Director: Huang Zhenzhen 黄真真 [Barbara Wong].

Rating: 4/10.

Comedy-drama about a couple’s second time around is poorly written and directed.

STORY

Taibei, 2012. After being in a coma for a month, He Man (Bai Baihe) wakes up in hospital with amnesia. The last thing she can remember is having an accident on a motorbike with her husband Xie Yu (Zhang Xiaoquan) while on their honeymoon – but that was five years ago, and He Man is told that she and Xie Yu are now divorced. Her elder sister, He Qi (Dai Junzhu), offers to take care of her after leaving hospital, but He Man says it’s not necessary. She visits Xie Yu at the house they used to share and he confirms they’re divorced and he has a new girlfriend, Lily (An Xinya). As He Man is so emotional, Xie Yu reluctantly lets her stay over, though Lily is not too happy with the arrangement. Still with no memory of the past five years, He Man is still in love with Xie Yu and does her best to please him, though he remains non-commital. However, he does take her to the restaurant, run by Xie Yu’s close friend Danny (A Ken), at which they first met. Philip (Fan Guangyao), the head of the advertising company at which Xie Yu still works and He Man used to, suggests they bring He Man back as their re-branding manager. The move works well, though the staff seem wary of her. Meanwhile, He Man hears from her former best friend, Lu Xiaohuan (Fan Weiqi), that the first three years of her marriage to Xie Yu were ideal, but work pressures and other problems subsequently led to them breaking up. He Man and Xie Yu have to find out whether they can re-ignite their original love.

REVIEW

Following her embarrassingly arch collection of love stories, The Allure of Tears 倾城之泪 (2011), it’s two strikes in a row for Hong Kong writer-director Huang Zhenzhen 黄真真 [Barbara Wong] with her latest romantic drama, The Stolen Years 被偷走的那五年. Like Allure also entirely China-funded, but set and shot on Taiwan with a Greater China cast, Stolen should be a sparky, romantic comedy-drama about a divorced couple rediscovering their love for each other after the wife wakes up from a coma with amnesia. Instead, with a badly organised script by four writers – including Allure‘s Hou Yingheng 侯颖桁 and Zheng Shanyu 郑善瑜 – and a totally maufactured feel to every emotion and development, the movie is a long hawl from a semi-ditzy rom-com to a cliched weepie, and a shameful waste of the talent of up-and-coming Mainland star Bai Baihe 白百何.

Apart from the slick, beautifully packaged rom-com Perfect Wedding 抱抱俏佳人 (2010) – written by Zheng Danrui 郑丹瑞 [Lawrence Cheng] and starring Yang Qianhua 杨千嬅 [Miriam Yeung] at her best – Huang has never shown much command of acting or directorial tone in her movies (Women’s Private Parts 女人那话儿, 2000; Truth or Dare: 6th Floor Rear Flat 六楼后座, 2003), with a tendency towards film-schooly affectations and allowing her players too much freedom. After a set-up that seems to deliberately confuse the audience as much as its amnesiac main character, she gives free rein to Bai to play cooky-cute for the first half (which is initially entertaining) before calling on the actress to switch to TV-style melodrama for the second. In films like Love Is Not Blind 失恋33天 (2011) and A Wedding Invitation 分手合约 (2013), Bai has shown she’s a far more subtle actress than she gets the chance to demonstrate here, and for a movie that’s basically about a couple getting a second chance at their relationship there’s no subtlety at all in the writing or plot development, with obvious dialogue and situations.

The one saving grace is Taiwan lead actor Zhang Xiaoquan 张孝全 [Joseph Chang] (Eternal Summer 盛夏光年, 2006; Prince of Tears 泪王子, 2009), here cast in a non-gay role for a change. As in last year’s Gf*Bf 女朋友  男朋友 (2012), Zhang gives a quietly understated performance that becomes the heart of an otherwise disorganised movie. Apart from the over-egged playing of the best friend by fellow Taiwan actor A Ken 阿Ken, other roles are basically bits – which throws the spotlight even more on the unconvincing central relationship. Technically, the movie is professional, with clean photography by Mainland d.p. Chen Cheng 陈诚 and okay editing by Hong Kong veteran Kuang Zhiliang 邝志良.

CREDITS

Presented by Fujian Hengye Film Distribution (CN), TIK Film (CN), Sichuan Chengcheng Movie Culture & Media (CN), Emei Film Group (CN), Light & Magic of China (CN), Beijing New Film Association (CN), China Movie Channel (CN). Produced by Fujian Hengye Film Distribution (CN).

Script: Huang Zhenzhen [Barbara Wong], Hou Yingheng, Du Guangting, Zheng Shanyu. Photography: Chen Cheng. Editing: Kuang Zhiliang. Music: Li Yunwen [Henry Lai]. Art direction: Guo Zhida. Costumes: Dai Jiayuan. Sound: Du Duzhi, Guo Liqi.

Cast: Bai Baihe (He Man/Mann), Zhang Xiaoquan [Joseph Chang] (Xie Yu), Fan Weiqi (Lu Xiaohuan, He Man’s old friend), An Xinya (Lily), A Ken (Danni/Danny), Xie Junhao (Zhang, He Man’s doctor), Dai Junzhu (He Qi, He Man’s elder sister), Wu Sikai (Lu Yiming, He Man’s psychiatrist), Fan Guangyao (Philip, Xie Yu’s boss).

Premiere: Shanghai Film Festival (Competition), 16 Jun 2013.

Release: China, 29 Aug 2013.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 19 Jun 2013.)