Zhao Ming Shang Dian (2023)

Emotional movie that touches on life and death

If you've seen the trailer, you may think this is a mystery/horror movie but don't be fooled. There are two arcs in this: first half fools you into thinking its horror and the latter half is emotional and a real tearjerker.

Basic rundown of this story without spoilers: the female lead notices her neighbors being weird and tries to find out the reason. There is also a strange light shop down the street that she is suspicious of. She works with her boyfriend to discover the truth. The director does a good job using color to portray the mood of the scene- using dark contrast for the "horror" and warm tones for other scenes. Additionally, the metaphor of using lightbulbs to represent human life is the heart of this movie. Characters enter the light shop to get their lightbulb, others don't have one, and some choose to give up their lightbulb.

You can tell they had a good budget and spent a lot of effort and time to create this movie. The transition between scenes and flashbacks was so smooth, you get pulled into the story even more.

There were a lot of familiar faces in this: Zhang Ruo Nan, Bai Yu Fan, Zheng Kai (cameo), Sun Qian, and Liu Yi Jun. They really embraced their characters. Bai Yu Fan and Zhang Ruo Nan's emotional scenes especially broke me. I was bawling at the end of the movie.

Leggi di Più

Great blend of Horror to Heavy Drama, but too short

Man! They had me in the first half. I came in thinking I was gonna be watching horror, It's going to be great, but I ended up getting sad at the end.

I didn't know this was the Chinese version of the upcoming Korean version as well and also, I didn't know it had a manhwa source to it. I wanted to read the original source at first, but I chickened out because I didn't wanna be that person who's like "No!!! It's not faithful to the original source TTTT". So, I watched this first to avoid being biased towards the manhwa.

The story for the first half was like sloooow burn light horror and mystery. I'm thinking... man, my TikTok brain rot attention span is slowly kicking in, when are they gonna start showing something scary? Because everything that has been shown so far has been vanilla af. I feel the eeriness, the color grading is very dark, the sound design is on point, and everything aside from FL is sus, I thought that, but she was sus as well, and then plot twist! things started happening and I'm like woah?!?!

In the Second half of the story, the genre started shifting, and honestly? They did a pretty good job transitioning the story and who to focus on. Like what is this that I'm feeling right now? And then I understood "Ahh, that's why they took their time to build up everything in the first half". There was like twist after twist, and they tried their best to tie everything, though not perfect, but good enough to make sense.

The characters, I must say, since it was a movie runtime, there wasn't enough for me to care, but they've shown enough story-wise for me to get invested and stick till the end. For FL, it's been a while since I've watched Zhang Ruo Nan. She became even prettier (ughhh!!!), like flowers around me every time she showed up on the screen. I was basically in love with this girl. Her acting? even great, she did a good job. ML, mostly about him was shown in the last minutes of the movie, but imo he's aight. The LGBT couple is what really tickled my heart because the moment Sun Qian's character showed up, I felt the feels man and they had a good chemistry. It's my first time seeing Sun Qian take on an LGBT role/pairing and honestly, you could take those two, have them do a GL drama and it'll probably work. The mother and daughter were also very sad, like goddamn. I went from hating the mother to understanding why she was presented the way she is and the child actress was so good, she didn't have to go that hard on her acting delivery. The old man was aight. His side plot was like another extra variety.

Overall, a good movie, would recommend you check it out. The upcoming Korean version is a series, so it'll probably fix what this movie couldn't show in the 98-minute runtime it had.

Leggi di Più

Unique & Emotional Tale of Life, Death and Light Bulbs!

Stories that tip-toe around life and death always draw my attention. I often wonder what will happen to us after death or what if our loved ones who have passed away see us/be proud of what we are doing with life now. Which is why the upcoming Korean drama based on the same webtoon as this Chinese film has been on high priority for me since long. But I was really curious on the plot and therefore gave in to my urges - as I thought I'll get to know the story in a shorter time since it is a movie.
And while I was prepared for an emotional ride and life lessons - the movie still captivated me with its unique narration, analogy, acting and hauntingly beautiful music score.

➥ POSITIVES | ✦ Unique Narration and Symbolism ✦ Emotional Impact ✦ Acting ✦ Cinematography ✦ Music ✦
The narrative delicately explores life and death, portraying poignant character journeys and deeply capturing human emotions. Innovative storytelling and symbolic light bulbs distinguish the film, initially misleading viewers into thinking it's a horror mystery before revealing deeper layers. Exceptional acting, cinematography, and music harmoniously amplify the emotional impact, connecting the audience to the characters' stories

➥ NEGATIVES | ✦ Predictability ✦ Pacing ✦ Length ✦
Having seen similar stories, I found the plot somewhat predictable, and while well-executed, it didn't deeply impact me. The latter part of the film (main leads' story) dragged slightly, and I ended up skipping forward in some parts, which lessened the overall experience. Additionally, the film felt too short to fully explore its themes, suggesting it might have worked better as a drama series.

➥ VERDICT | Despite some predictability and pacing issues which are more from a personal preference - the movie is a compelling watch that effectively pulls on the heartstrings. I recommend it, but be sure to have tissues handy.

➥ Note: Korean Drama Adaption | Given the movie felt short, I am eagerly awaiting the Korean adaption that will be a drama. Given how good the Chinese movie was and the fact that some of my favorite actors are in the lead role - I already have high expectations from it. I hope it will be more emotional, detailed and end up being a masterpiece of 2024. It would definitely be a good way to end the year, from a drama standpoint.

Leggi di Più

Botched story structure damages potential masterpiece

I will warn you when any spoilers are offered, so feel free to read until then.

1. The Western title of this would be, THE LIGHT BULB MAN

2. In general the entire production values are great. The first half of this piece borrows liberally from David Lynch, but in a good way.

3. I knew 3 people in this cast (the Mom, her daughter, and the light bulb man) and they were as good as ever. My only complaint is that the camera wouldn't leave the crying girl. You're not going to force me to cry because a girl is crying forever. That's cheap and it started to become an obvious ploy.

4. A major issue with the film is it changes genres midway -- which is a serious NO NO! You spend the first half of the film selling us on a dreamy Lynchian world only to flip it to a tearjerker melodrama? Nope. Both must be blended from frame one.

5. The major problem with this film was the story. Without spoiling, reveals needed to be re-arranged. And when 'reality' comes into the story, most of that should have been quick flashes, as to suggest we never should have left the dreamy world. And the Light Bulb Man deserved a more central role. And now, as warned, here come the STORY --

************ SPOILERS ************

************ SPOILERS ************

************ SPOILERS ************

6. In general there should have been a simple and crystal clear quest for our leading lady.

She, like her boyfriend and everyone else, should have 'been' in this weird alter-verse but started to suspect something was off. One by one the others would begin to recall a traffic accident, but never say 'bus'. They would start to recall they were all together, but something is wrong.

Our lead would say, wait, my boyfriend and I weren't in any accident. He'd be like, yes I guess so (for now), and they'd help the others find their bulbs and say their goodbyes. Our lead would help everyone get to that bulb store. She'd often have arguments with the man there, because she knew he was keeping a big picture secret from her.

When the lead and her BF helped the last person, she'd wonder why they were still stuck there. That they had no one to say goodbye too. Only then would the first flashbacks of the accident be seen in her memories, and she'd realized it was BUS ACCIDENT. She'd wonder if her BF was the driver, and he'd say it's time to say goodbye.

Then, and only then, would she wake up at the hospital.

If the above wasn't clear, I've un-divided the film. It's now a dreamy melodramatic tearjerker that still holds a big reveal for the end. This way it's very simple while maintaining a consistent tone.

Leggi di Più