After an devastating earthquake reduces a prosperous town to rubble, a young sister and brother are torn apart - and it takes another disaster to resolve the situation.
This is melodrama, no question, and it's appropriate that the initial earthquake would cause so much grief and terror. The quake seems to take over two minutes, causing such complete destruction that not a single structure remains standing - but that's part of what makes TANGSHAN DADIZHEN such an emotionally taxing film. The digital effects are competent if overdone, and but the drama itself attempts to transcend many of the typical pitfalls of the genre, and mostly succeeds with its grand scale and intimate stories. It takes a while for the plot to coalesce, with grave seriousness (and not a hint of humor) - and I expected a wider range of emotions.
This is melodrama, no question, and it's appropriate that the initial earthquake would cause so much grief and terror. The quake seems to take over two minutes, causing such complete destruction that not a single structure remains standing - but that's part of what makes TANGSHAN DADIZHEN such an emotionally taxing film. The digital effects are competent if overdone, and but the drama itself attempts to transcend many of the typical pitfalls of the genre, and mostly succeeds with its grand scale and intimate stories. It takes a while for the plot to coalesce, with grave seriousness (and not a hint of humor) - and I expected a wider range of emotions.